Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 232: Chapter 232 Leaf Blade Storm Advances to Earth Rank!

Elder Yang was truly a cautious man. After leaving, he returned again after a short while.

However, Ye Qingchen had already made his plans. It was nearly dark now, and he wouldn’t act rashly before daylight, much less expose his own aura. Therefore, even though Elder Yang returned several times, his efforts were in vain. He eventually had to resign himself to continuing his search in the next area.

In Elder Yang’s mind, Ye Qingchen was now on his must-kill list. He resolved that Ye Qingchen had to be killed within the Qingyun Mountain Range. If Ye Qingchen escaped the mountains, his talent, combined with the Qingyun Sect’s nurturing, meant his strength would surpass Elder Yang’s in no time. At that point, the one to die would be Elder Yang himself.

With Elder Yang’s strength, he could move almost unchallenged within the Qingyun Mountain Range, so his search was also very fast. In just one day, he had searched through most of the mountain range. What puzzled him, however, was that he still hadn’t found any trace of Ye Qingchen.

Logically speaking, Ye Qingchen was just an early-stage Great Martial Master. Even if he had used a Movement Technique Martial Skill to escape his sight temporarily, the Qingyun Mountain Range was crawling with Monster Beasts. No matter how careful Ye Qingchen was, it was impossible for him to avoid all of them. If he were to be entangled by a Monster Beast, his position would surely be exposed, and Elder Yang would find him. Therefore, Elder Yang speculated that Ye Qingchen must have found a place to hide.

With this in mind, Elder Yang slowed his pace and began to meticulously search every corner of the Qingyun Mountain Range.

At that moment, once Ye Qingchen sensed Elder Yang had left, he quickly took out Low-grade Spirit Stones from his storage ring and began to cultivate.

After the Alchemy Dao competition, Pavilion Master Zhang had offered to give Ye Qingchen half of the 200,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones rewarded by the royal family, but Ye Qingchen had refused. In the end, Pavilion Master Zhang could only follow the original rules, giving him 30,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones and telling him they were his rightful reward.

Initially, Ye Qingchen had planned to exchange these Spirit Stones for medicinal herbs or Spiritual Artifacts to enhance his combat strength. But now, at this critical juncture between life and death, he could only use these Spirit Stones to fuel his cultivation.

With Ye Qingchen’s current strength, after merging with the Ancient Jade Spiritual Fire, he had reached the Second Layer of the Great Martial Master Realm with an exceptionally solid foundation. He then refined the Pure Energy from the Fire Poison, reaching the Third Layer of the Great Martial Master Realm. Thus, even if he now used Spirit Stones to forcefully break through, it would not affect his foundation.

Knowing that time was short and that Elder Yang could arrive at any moment, Ye Qingchen took out the Spirit Stones. He began to circulate the Divine Wood Art, frantically absorbing the Spiritual Energy within them.

Under the full power of the Divine Wood Art, a single Low-grade Spirit Stone was drained in the span of one breath. A vast amount of Spiritual Energy continuously entered his body. However, the Fen Tian Earth Fire and the Ancient Jade Spiritual Fire refined the spiritual energy, while the mysterious woman also devoured it frenziedly. Because of this, the amount of Spiritual Energy that actually entered and was absorbed by Ye Qingchen was probably less than a tenth of the total.

But this Spiritual Energy was incredibly pure. Gradually, it transformed into Spiritual Liquid, flowing into Ye Qingchen’s Dantian as his strength steadily increased.

After a day and a night of continuous absorption, Ye Qingchen finally reached the Fourth Layer of the Great Martial Master Realm after consuming a horrifying total of over 10,000 Low-grade Spirit Stones.

He wanted to press on and break through to the Fifth Layer of the Great Martial Master Realm in one go, but a faint feeling of bloating in his Dantian forced him to stop his cultivation. Ye Qingchen understood that his bottleneck had arrived. If he continued to forcefully absorb Spiritual Energy, he might succeed, but it would damage his foundation—a loss not worth the gain.

Moreover, it had been less than half a month since he advanced to the Second Layer of the Great Martial Master Realm during the Alchemy Dao competition. In that time, he had already jumped two levels to reach the Fourth Layer. This speed was already astounding. Not daring to be greedy, Ye Qingchen put away his Spirit Stones and began to consolidate his new realm.

To his surprise, however, when he circulated the Divine Wood Art, the Dual Pupil Martial Soul in his mind began to activate on its own.

Ye Qingchen furrowed his brows slightly. The last time the Dual Pupil Martial Soul had activated on its own was when it had perfected the Divine Wood Art for him.

Could it be?

With this thought, Ye Qingchen hurriedly began to inspect the Martial Techniques he had been cultivating.

As expected!

When he checked Leaf Blade Storm, a high-grade Xuan Rank Martial Technique, he was astonished to discover that it had been perfected once more, reaching lower-grade Earth Rank.

Earth Rank Martial Techniques were rumored to possess world-destroying power. They were terrifyingly powerful and equally scarce. Even within the Qingyun Sect, Ye Qingchen had rarely heard any information about them.

He could hardly contain his excitement and continued to check his other Martial Techniques. To his slight disappointment, the others, like Sword Dusting the Wind, had not advanced again.

Nevertheless, Ye Qingchen was quite content. Possessing one Earth Rank Martial Technique was enough to multiply his combat power. To ask for more would be like a snake trying to swallow an elephant!

Now that Ye Qingchen had thoroughly consolidated his cultivation, he began to practice the perfected Leaf Blade Storm. Although Earth Rank Martial Techniques were formidable, cultivating them was also incredibly difficult. This was despite him having already mastered the original Leaf Blade Storm; the practice was still somewhat challenging. Ultimately, it took Ye Qingchen three full days to successfully master this Earth Rank Martial Technique.

Now, the Leaf Blade Storm he could unleash was at least several times more powerful than before.

Ye Qingchen let out a soft breath and mentally calculated the time. He had been hiding here for almost five days. It was time to leave.

Moreover, with his current strength, even if he encountered Elder Yang, a Ninth Layer Great Martial Master, he might just have a fighting chance.

Thinking this, Ye Qingchen gathered his belongings, then broke the seal at the cave entrance and stepped outside.

As he felt the sunlight on his skin again, Ye Qingchen had a surreal feeling, as if a lifetime had passed. Remembering how he had been hunted by Elder Yang like a stray dog ever since entering the Qingyun Mountain Range, Ye Qingchen’s anger began to simmer. Now that his strength had improved again, it was time for revenge.

Although he wasn’t sure if he could defeat a Ninth Layer Great Martial Master, he was certain it would now be impossible for Elder Yang to kill him. Back at the Third Layer of the Great Martial Master Realm, he could exchange dozens of moves with Elder Yang and hold his own. Now, he had not only reached the Fourth Layer, but his Leaf Blade Storm had also advanced to a lower-grade Earth Rank Martial Technique. This boosted his combat strength by more than tenfold.

Ye Qingchen knew Elder Yang wouldn’t give up hunting him. Therefore, all he had to do was release his aura, and Elder Yang would deliver himself to his doorstep.