Chapter 28: Elder Xuan Shocked? What Kind of Monster Is This?
Inside the ruined expanse of the dense forest, the biting chill had yet to dissipate. Jagged ice crystals clung to the shattered trunks of ancient trees, refracting cold, prismatic light under the dappled sunlight that pierced through the canopy. The metallic tang of fresh blood hung heavy in the air, mixing with the sharp scent of frost.
Long Aotian, Vina, and the rest of the Body Sect disciples formed a tight, protective circle around Liu Yuan.
During their brutal sparring sessions back at the Sect, they had all witnessed the absurd resilience of Liu Yuan's Undying Body. They had long since mentally categorized it as his ultimate defensive trump card, a technique that allowed him to shrug off heavy blows and crushing impacts.
Yet, knowing about it in theory and watching him perform a literal rebirth from severed limbs were two entirely different things.
Just moments ago, he had been cleanly bisected at the waist by a frantic attack. Now, they stood in absolute silence, a turbulent shock crashing through their hearts as they watched the impossible unfold.
"Every time I see it, I feel like this ability exists solely to mock the common sense of the entire Soul Master world." Wang Yanfeng swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. He subconsciously rubbed his own arms, trying to banish the phantom chill crawling over his skin. The sheer visual impact of a human body knitting itself back together from two separate halves lingered in his mind, refusing to fade.
Standing a short distance away, Ling Luochen was trapped in a state of shock far deeper than anyone else present.
As a top-tier student of the inner court of Shrek Academy, she walked with the ingrained pride of the continent's number one institution. She considered herself a true genius who had seen countless bizarre Martial Souls, heaven-defying Soul Skills, and monstrous talents. But the scene playing out before her completely shattered the boundaries of her cognition.
A Soul Grandmaster, barely over level twenty, had been cut in half by a desperate, five-ring Evil Soul King. By all the laws of heaven and earth, he should have died instantly. His internal organs should have spilled across the dirt.
Instead, within a mere few dozen seconds, those shattered bones, severed meridians, and torn muscle fibers began to writhe. They reached out for each other, growing and reorganizing rapidly as if the flesh itself possessed an independent, stubborn consciousness.
Her entire worldview underwent a violent, destructive reshaping in that very moment.
Ling Luochen stood frozen in place, the knuckles of the hand gripping her ice staff turning white. Her cold, clear eyes were blown wide, filled with absolute disbelief.
It was only when Liu Yuan's deathly pale complexion gradually regained a healthy, ruddy hue, and the horrific, gaping wound across his waist and abdomen sealed shut beneath a layer of flawless, smooth skin, that she finally snapped out of her daze.
'Is... is this really just a Soul Skill?'Ling Luochen let out a helpless, silent groan deep in her heart. She bit down hard on her lower lip, finally squeezing out a mental evaluation.'What a... completely perverted guy!'
"Cough, cough."
Liu Yuan pushed himself up from the cold, blood-stained ground. He flexed his fingers, feeling the newborn flesh stretch and settle as his soul power began to circulate through his repaired meridians once again.
Although the Undying Body had flawlessly repaired the catastrophic physical damage, the phantom echo of that agonizing pain and the massive drain on his soul power still left him feeling a wave of hollow weakness.
"Are you okay?" Vina broke from the circle, hurrying forward to support his arm. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her voice trembled violently. "If you hadn't pushed me away earlier, I would probably have already..."
"We're on the same team, why say such things?" Liu Yuan smiled nonchalantly, waving a hand to signal that he was perfectly fine. His tone remained calm, utterly devoid of the panic one would expect from someone who had just been cut in two.
Long Aotian walked up, his brow furrowed in concentration as he carefully sensed the fluctuations of Liu Yuan's aura. After a tense moment, he let out a long breath, confirming that his junior brother's foundation remained entirely undamaged. He reached out and patted Liu Yuan heavily on the shoulder, his eyes filled with lingering relief.
"It's good that you're fine. Your life is a hell of a lot tougher than I expected. But listen to me carefully—in the future, leave this kind of suicidal, life-risking nonsense to me, your Senior Brother."
Liu Yuan offered a helpless, dry chuckle. "The situation was critical earlier. I couldn't exactly just sit by and watch."
The heavy, suffocating atmosphere eased slightly at his casual demeanor. Slowly, the collective gaze of the Body Sect disciples shifted away from Liu Yuan and landed on the mysterious girl holding the ice staff.
Sensing their attention, Ling Luochen forcefully suppressed the surging emotions in her chest. She tapped her staff against the ground, causing it to vanish into motes of icy blue light, and offered a slight, formal bow to Liu Yuan and the others. When she spoke, her tone had returned to its usual cold, polite, and distant demeanor.
"If it weren't for this friend shooting through the Evil Soul Master's wings and knocking him out of the sky at the critical moment, I probably would have had a hard time keeping him pinned down in this dense forest. Thank you all for your assistance."
Long Aotian stepped forward, taking on the role of the team leader as he returned a measured, courteous nod. "It was just a small effort. Nothing worth mentioning."
He paused, his sharp eyes evaluating her. "I am Long Aotian. We are here under the direct orders of our Sect to clear out Evil Soul Masters in this region."
"Seeing that the young lady possesses extraordinary cultivation and an extremely rare ice-attribute Martial Soul, I cannot help but wonder which faction managed to train such a genius? And why were you hunting a five-ring Evil Soul Master all by yourself?"
Facing Long Aotian's direct inquiry, Ling Luochen's eyes flickered slightly, a guarded glint flashing through her pupils.
As an active member of the Shrek Supervisory Team, concealing her identity while executing field missions was a strict, unbreakable order from the Academy., while the overall cultivation levels of the youths standing before her were not particularly high, the incredibly thick, dense, and peculiar soul power fluctuations emanating from their bodies made her instincts scream. She could vaguely sense that their background was absolutely extraordinary.
"We are just passing acquaintances, merely stepping in upon seeing injustice on the road." Ling Luochen did not answer his question directly. She offered a vague, noncommittal reply, her gaze drifting toward the darkening sky above the canopy. Her voice remained indifferent.
"Since the mission is over and the injured party has recovered, I should take my leave. Farewell, everyone."
Having said that, she did not give Long Aotian a single opening to press the issue. With a light, graceful tap of her toes against the frosted earth, her body dissolved into a streak of azure light, instantly darting away and disappearing into the shadowy depths of the dense forest.
"This woman... her personality is seriously cold and arrogant," Wang Yanfeng muttered, crossing his arms as he stared at the spot where she had vanished.
"Forget it. Soul Masters with high-tier ice-attribute Martial Souls tend to have relatively cold personalities. It comes with the element." Long Aotian shook his head, his expression quickly turning serious as he surveyed the devastated surroundings.
"The commotion we caused earlier was too big. The energy fluctuations will definitely attract more trouble if we linger."
He turned back to the group, his tone carrying absolute authority. "Since Liu Yuan is fine, we will set off and return to the Sect immediately. We cannot stay in Yaluo City any longer."
Everyone nodded in unison, fully agreeing with his assessment. Without wasting another breath, they gathered their belongings, adjusted their formations, and quickly vanished into the trees, heading straight toward the hidden territory of the Body Sect.
Several days later. Shrek Academy, deep within the serene boundaries of Sea God's Island.
Inside a quiet, elegantly constructed pavilion overlooking the misty waters, the highest authority in charge of the Shrek Supervisory Team—Elder Xuan—was lounging comfortably. He lazily shook the worn wine gourd in his left hand, taking a long swig before tearing into a massive, greasy chicken leg with a look of absolute satisfaction.
"Elder Xuan, Luochen has returned."
Ling Luochen walked silently through the thick, rolling mist that perpetually blanketed the island, stopping a few paces behind the old man and bowing respectfully.
"Oh? Was that little five-ring bat caught?" Elder Xuan asked casually, not even bothering to turn around. He chewed loudly, grease shining on his chin. In his view, a tracking and elimination mission of that level was merely a matter of time for an inner court genius like Ling Luochen.
"Killed. But during the chase, there was a small accident." Ling Luochen's voice was heavy. Despite the days that had passed, a distinct hint of lingering shock still colored her tone.
Elder Xuan stopped chewing. He swallowed the meat, slowly turned his head, and looked at the usually stoic girl with a flicker of genuine surprise. "An accident? Did you get hurt? Or did those busybodies from the royal family of the Heavenly Soul Empire try to intervene?"
"Neither. I encountered a group of teenagers in the forest. They looked to be around twelve to sixteen years old at most, but their foundations were incredibly solid, and they were all very strong." Ling Luochen hesitated for a brief second, her mind flashing back to the blood-soaked clearing. She finally recounted the scene that had haunted her thoughts for the past few days.
"Especially one of the boys. His cultivation was only around level twenty-seven, a mere Soul Grandmaster."
"But I saw it with my own eyes. Relying solely on two crimson beams of light shot directly from his eyes, he precisely sniped and killed several Evil Soul Masters of the same rank in the middle of a chaotic battle. Even more terrifying was that when facing a desperate surprise attack from that five-ring Evil Soul King, he threw himself in the way to save a companion. He was cut completely in half at the waist..."
Elder Xuan's originally murky, careless eyes suddenly sharpened, a terrifying light piercing through his drunken haze. "Level twenty-seven blocking a five-ring Soul King? Cut in half? Then he must be dead."
"I thought so too at the time." Ling Luochen took a deep, shaky breath, her composure cracking slightly.
"But the moment his body was severed, not only did he manage to counterattack and blast off the Evil Soul King's wings with his first Soul Skill, but in the less than one minute that followed... his body actually... right in front of me, reconnected bit by bit. The flesh, the bones, the skin—it all healed flawlessly, as if nothing had happened at all."
"That kind of monstrous vitality is simply unheard of."
"What did you say?!"
With a loud, sharp bang, the precious wine gourd slipped from Elder Xuan's fingers and smashed against the pavilion floor, spilling fragrant, aged wine everywhere.
But at this moment, the old man didn't care about the spilled alcohol at all. He stood up abruptly. In that instant, a terrifying, suffocating pressure erupted from his body, descending like a physical mountain. The sheer weight of his aura caused the tranquil waters of Sea God's Lake surrounding the pavilion to ripple violently, waves crashing against the wooden pillars.
"Level twenty-seven, and he has the power to injure a five-ring Evil Soul King? And he can perform a physical Rebirth from being bisected?!" Elder Xuan's voice trembled, his eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and an emerging, dreadful realization. "What kind of monster is this?"
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