Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 100+ advanced chapter now on Patreon.
**
In the distance, Bu Le had narrowly evaded that Profound Sky Shatter.
He was thoroughly shaken, filled with both shock and dread.
From that single strike alone, he understood clear as day that he was absolutely no match for this newcomer. Now, relying on the bright moonlight, he finally caught sight of the newcomer's face and couldn't help but gape.
He had originally assumed this person was a member of Spirit Hall, or perhaps an out-of-town Soul Master drawing his blade to help a stranger in need. Judging by the Soul Ancestor realm cultivation he had sensed, he assumed the man would be around his own age.
He never expected it to be a youth.
Although the boy was exceptionally tall, standing no shorter than a fully grown adult man, his facial features indicated he was only about fifteen or sixteen years old. To possess such cultivation and combat strength at such an age was truly terrifying.
Much like the young girl, he was bound to be a descendant of some colossal power, only far more monstrous. After weighing the situation rapidly in his mind, a sycophantic smile spread across Bu Le's face.
He said in a slightly flattering tone, "Young man, to think you possess such strength at such a tender age! You are truly extraordinary, a rare young talent on the continent, a veritable youthful genius!"
"If you want to step in and uphold justice, no problem! This one will absolutely not stand in your way. Besides, this can be considered a hero saving a beauty. This girl's figure and looks are nothing short of spectacular, and her background is likely pristine."
"She is well-matched for you; the two of you are a perfect pair of talent and beauty. Now that you've saved her, the young lady will surely pledge herself to you in gratitude for saving her life. It will be a beautiful tale for the ages!"
Bu Le spoke with utter shamelessness, slapping on flattery by the bucket load.
Ling Xiao listened in complete speechless silence, gaining a whole new appreciation for the sheer depths of this man's audacity.
The girl on the side listened to Bu Le's completely unbridled words. Even though she usually possessed a cold temperament, her face couldn't help but flush a deep crimson. She glared at Bu Le in a mixture of shame and fury.
She had always presented herself with cold detachment, but her current display of furious, blushing beauty caught Bu Le's eye when he accidentally glanced over, nearly dazing him once more.
"Ahem, that... this one wishes you well in winning the beauty's heart. I shall take my leave now and won't disturb the two of you any further. Young man, you must seize the opportunity!"
Though Bu Le secretly lamented that the beauty in his grasp had flown away, his face remained plastered with a pleasing smile.
"Hmph. When it comes to being shameless, I'm afraid there are truly few under heaven who can match you," Ling Xiao said flatly as he looked at Bu Le, his resolve completely unfazed by the villain's bootlicking.
"A wretched, lustful rogue like you is a stain upon Soul Masters. Since I've crossed paths with you today, allow me to send you on your way!"
The moment his voice fell, dark-red soul power radiance instantly erupted around Ling Xiao.
Stomping his foot violently against the ground, he shattered the earth beneath him and charged toward Bu Le with a ferocious, savage momentum. Flashing with dark-red light, he resembled a cannonball shooting straight out of a barrel.
"Wait, wait! Stop! Just treat me like a fart and let me go!" Bu Le cried out, his face contorted in sheer terror.
Seeing that Ling Xiao turned a completely deaf ear to his pleas, Bu Le had no other choice. Left with nothing but desperate resistance, he rapidly channeled his soul power into his martial soul to unleash his strongest fourth soul skill.
As a purple thousand-year soul ring manifested and spun, he thrust his hands forward. The pink, bowl-shaped martial soul above his head rapidly discharged a massive deluge of black mist to meet the attack.
As it surged toward Ling Xiao, the bowl-shaped martial soul expanded rapidly, and the black mist radiating from it condensed into two giant black claws, each extending from a large pink bowl. It looked bizarre to the absolute extreme.
Ling Xiao didn't even manifest his martial soul. He simply circulated his soul power, driving it internally through his body. He brought his right hand down like a blade, swinging it out like a massive battle-axe.
Instantly, a crescent-shaped, massive axe-light cleaved through the air. The dark-red energy was incredibly condensed, and with a brilliant flash of light, it arrived right before the enemy.
The moment the two giant black claws condensed from the black mist collided with the razor-sharp axe-light of the Profound Sky Slash, they were torn apart almost instantly without offering the slightest resistance.
They dissolved into wisps of black vapor before vanishing entirely into nothingness.
As for Bu Le's martial soul itself—that pink, bowl-shaped martial soul teeming with black mist—it took the Profound Sky Slash head-on.
With a dull bang, it was sent flying backward.
A massive axe scar manifested across the surface of the martial soul; having forcefully endured this single strike of the Profound Sky Slash, his martial soul was nearly split entirely in two.
With his martial soul suffering such a catastrophic blow, how could the Soul Master—whose very life and soul were intrinsically tied to it as his life-bound essence—possibly feel fine? Bu Le looked as though he had sustained a fatal wound.
A wave of agonizing pain surged through his body like a tidal wave, causing his internal organs to spasm in excruciating torment. He couldn't hold it back and directly sprayed out a mouthful of blood.
His martial soul was so severely damaged that it was nearly impossible to control. Seeing his attacker closing in, a desperate urge to survive welled up in Bu Le's eyes. He gasped out layout with great difficulty, "Please, spare me! I'll never do it again!"
However, Ling Xiao acted as if he had heard absolutely nothing. Soul power erupted beneath his feet, instantly generating an incredibly powerful propulsive force.
Paired with his own physical might, his velocity skyrocketed even further, transforming him into a dark shadow radiating a thoroughly violent aura. His right fist erupted with a surging wave of soul power fluctuations as he punched straight toward Bu Le.
"Eight Extremes Collapse!"
Ling Xiao had practiced this lethal technique for many years, having long since reached the grandmaster realm of mastery.
When unleashed, his entire physical strength was condensed into a single point, while the soul power inside his body—under his exquisite control—transformed into eight fiercely rigid streams of soul power force.
Combining for a total of nine distinct forces, they viciously assaulted the enemy.
Right now, in coordination with the Explosive Steps, Ling Xiao's sudden assault was both savage and lightning-fast. The heavily wounded Bu Le had no time to dodge and took the impact of the Eight Extremes Collapse squarely in the chest.
The moment it struck Bu Le's chest, a loud thud rang out.
The area where the fist connected visibly caved inward, sounding as though something had been utterly shattered. Bu Le immediately coughed up fresh blood; before he could even let out a miserable shriek, his body was sent flying violently backward under the overbearing force of the punch.
While he was airborne, a muffled explosion echoed from within his body, and a streak of dark-red soul power force erupted out from his back. A thick pillar of blood instantly shot out from Bu Le's chest, sending a rain of fresh blood spraying across the sky.
Evidently, Bu Le's physical body had been almost completely pierced through by the fist force of the Eight Extremes Collapse, and his heart had been blasted to smithereens.
Although Bu Le's cultivation was at the exact same level as Ling Xiao's—both being in the Soul Ancestor realm—it was a pity that despite their similar cultivation, the gap in their actual combat strength was vast.
Setting aside the disparity between their respective martial souls for a moment, their application of martial soul power alone had already created an incredibly stark contrast.
Without even directly summoning his martial soul, Ling Xiao merely had to circulate its power internally to unleash a single Profound Sky Slash, which was enough to dismantle the man's fourth soul skill and severely damage the true form of his martial soul.
Furthermore, after his martial soul was heavily injured by Ling Xiao, it became incredibly difficult to channel. Facing Ling Xiao's follow-up fist, he could only rely on his bare flesh to endure it head-on.
Yet a man like Bu Le spent all his time and energy indulging in women, leaving his body severely drained. When it came to physical constitution, he was likely inferior even to an ordinary tool martial soul Soul Ancestor.
How could he possibly compare to Ling Xiao?
**
Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 100+ advanced chapter now on Patreon.