Invincible Soul Emperor

Ye Qingchen drew his Qingfeng Sword and cleaved the fireball, but it simply split in two and continued its attack. He kept swinging the Qingfeng Sword, but whenever he split a fireball, it would just multiply into smaller ones.

Li Rui sneered, ”To think you can block this move with just a superior-grade spiritual weapon is utterly ridiculous.”

Seeing that the Qingfeng Sword couldn’t shatter the fireballs, Ye Qingchen simply stopped swinging and let the small fireballs crash into his body.

”Arrogant! Even a Second-Layer Martial King Realm practitioner wouldn’t dare take this move head-on. You, a mere Eighth-Layer Martial Spirit Realm practitioner, are simply asking to die.”

Watching Ye Qingchen choose to take the attack with his own body, Li Rui grew even more disdainful. He assumed Ye Qingchen had given up resisting and resigned himself to his fate. To Li Rui’s surprise, however, the fireballs struck Ye Qingchen’s body without causing so much as a ripple, as if he had absorbed them. An attack capable of killing a Second-Layer Martial King Realm practitioner had absolutely no effect on him.

Of course, this wasn’t because Ye Qingchen had become so powerful. It was mainly due to the Fen Tian Earth Fire within his body. Although it was only an Earth-Level Exotic Flame, it was far superior to the mundane fire in those fireballs. Furthermore, his body had been refined through countless hardships, and the Qingfeng Sword had already weakened the initial large fireball. All Ye Qingchen truly had to endure was the spiritual energy from nature that Li Rui had manipulated, so he was naturally unharmed.

Li Rui sneered as he watched the unscathed Ye Qingchen. ”You do have a few tricks, being able to withstand twenty percent of my power. But the game is over.”

After he spoke, a shadow wreathed in flames rose behind him, revealing the indistinct figure of a fiery beast. This was Li Rui’s eight-star Martial Soul: the Suan Ni Martial Soul!

The Suan Ni, a legendary offspring of the true dragon, could exhale smoke and mist and naturally possessed a very powerful Fire Attribute.

With the appearance of the Suan Ni Martial Soul, Li Rui’s entire demeanor changed drastically. His previous icy coldness was gone, replaced by an expression of pure madness.

”Chen Qingye, meet your death!” Li Rui bellowed. The Suan Ni continuously spewed smoke that merged into his body, causing his muscles to swell and his skin to turn a deep red.

Ye Qingchen frowned. Is he sure this technique won’t burn the user to death?

Immediately, he witnessed a surprising scene. As the Suan Ni continued to exhale smoke, its body grew smaller and smaller until it finally fused completely into Li Rui’s body.

Martial Soul Fusion? Ye Qingchen had only recently learned how to manifest his Martial Soul externally. Seeing someone fuse a manifested Martial Soul back into their body for the first time made him curious about the effects of such a technique.

Soon, Li Rui completed the Martial Soul Fusion. His entire body was now crimson, with flames faintly licking his skin. With a light tap of his foot, he left a half-meter-deep pit in the solid ground. Then, like a bullet fired from a gun, he shot toward Ye Qingchen.

In an instant, Li Rui was in front of Ye Qingchen, hammering a fist down at his head. The terrifying temperature of the strike seemed to incinerate the very air around it.

Ye Qingchen dared not be careless. He immediately used his martial technique, Sword Dusting the Wind, to block Li Rui’s punch.

CLANG!

When the Qingfeng Sword met Li Rui’s fist, it was knocked away with the sound of clashing metal. Although the blow was blocked, Li Rui seemed immune to pain and swiftly swung his other fist. Ye Qingchen could only continuously use Sword Dusting the Wind to fend off the barrage, growing more alarmed as the fight wore on.

Sword Dusting the Wind was a high-level Xuan Rank Martial Technique. Its power, enhanced by the Qingfeng Sword, was formidable. Yet Li Rui was now matching it blow for blow, relying solely on the strength of his physical body!

The more Li Rui fought, the more frenzied he became, his fists flying ever faster. Ye Qingchen, already at a speed disadvantage from having to continuously execute a martial technique, was now being forced to retreat again and again.

”Chen Qingye, is this all the strength you have? My warm-up is over now!” Li Rui shouted madly, his fists never slowing. ”If this is your full strength, then prepare to die!”

As he spoke, the flames on his fists blazed even more intensely. Each swing left a trail of faint white smoke in its wake—proof that the air itself was being scorched.

”Flame Meteor Fist!”

Li Rui’s aura surged once more as both his arms transformed into flames. Each punch left an afterimage, and in just a brief moment, he had thrown over a hundred punches in succession. This was his lower-grade Earth-Rank Martial Technique, Flame Meteor Fist. It could unleash his potential in a short burst, increasing his attack power and speed by more than tenfold to kill an opponent with lightning speed. Li Rui had once used this very move to easily slay a Third-Layer Martial King Realm expert!

What shocked Li Rui, however, was that Ye Qingchen was still effortlessly parrying every single strike of his Flame Meteor Fist using the same Sword Dusting the Wind technique. These new punches were more than ten times stronger than his previous attacks!

Could this guy be holding back, too? Li Rui thought in alarm. If that’s true, then he’s terrifying. He’s only an Eighth-Layer Martial Spirit Realm practitioner, yet he neutralized a move that could kill a Third-Layer Martial King Realm expert. And he was still holding back?

Li Rui’s suspicion was correct; Ye Qingchen had not used his full strength. He wanted to gauge how much of a boost the Martial Soul Fusion gave Li Rui. So, when Li Rui unleashed his Flame Meteor Fist, Ye Qingchen had summoned the Ancient Jade Spiritual Fire and infused it into his Sword Dusting the Wind. Although the move was the same, its power had increased enough to withstand the assault.

Li Rui’s meteoric assault finally came to a temporary halt. Gasping for air, he stared at Ye Qingchen with wide eyes and said incredulously, ”You... you... Were you holding back just now?”

Ye Qingchen gave a faint smile and replied noncommittally, ”Weren’t you doing the same?”

Li Rui’s expression sharpened. It seemed Ye Qingchen had indeed not exerted his full strength.

So this is the man who caught the Saint Heir’s interest! Li Rui lamented inwardly, but he knew he couldn’t waste any more time. After all, the Memory Crystal was recording the entire battle. If the Saint Heir saw him struggling so much to kill a mere Eighth-Layer Martial Spirit Realm practitioner, he would surely be deemed a worthless failure.