Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 393: Chapter 393 The Venus Lion King

Ye Qingchen boarded the Spirit Boat specially prepared for him by Liang Xiong and headed south toward Northern Barrier City. This Spirit Boat was comparable to a superior-grade spiritual weapon. It only needed to be powered by Low-grade Spirit Stones and have its direction set with Soul Power to navigate on its own.

Thus, inside the Spirit Boat, Ye Qingchen had time to comprehend his own realm.

That time on the life-and-death arena, he had forcibly broken through to the Martial King Realm. Although his strength reaching the Martial King Realm was a natural progression, Ye Qingchen still felt his foundation was somewhat unstable.

Ever striving for perfection, Ye Qingchen would not allow his body to have a single flaw. The first thing he did after recovering was to use his Dual Pupil Martial Soul to meticulously examine every inch of his body. This process not only uncovered some physical issues but also gave him a new understanding of the abilities of a Martial King.

The greatest difference between the Martial King Realm and the Martial Spirit Realm was the qualitative transformation of spiritual energy within the body. It was like a pocket with a fixed volume; filling it with cotton versus steel would result in a vast difference in weight and quality. To make a comparison, the spiritual energy of the Martial Spirit Realm was like cotton, whereas the spiritual energy of the Martial King Realm had the quality of steel.

Summoning just a sliver of it now was comparable to his all-out strike back in the Martial Spirit Realm!

It’s a good thing I had the Fen Tian Earth Fire back then. That was the only reason I was able to slay Martial Kings while still in the Martial Spirit Realm; it refined my spiritual energy to the point where it could contend with an ordinary Martial King’s. If I had encountered a Martial King like my current self back then, I could have crushed ten of my past self even without using my Martial Soul abilities or the Fen Tian Earth Fire!

Apart from the qualitative change in spiritual energy, a Martial King could also attempt to communicate with nature’s spiritual energy. This not only greatly enhanced the power of one’s Martial Techniques but also reduced personal energy consumption. Furthermore, since Ye Qingchen could integrate his Willow Wood Martial Soul, this effect became even more absurdly powerful. As long as he didn’t indiscriminately use high-level Martial Techniques, Ye Qingchen could theoretically fight indefinitely.

However, communing with nature’s spiritual energy was ultimately a method exclusive to the Martial Emperor Realm. Only the most brilliant of Martial Kings, such as Li Rui or the Saint Heir, ever had a chance to master it.

When Ye Qingchen broke through to the Martial King Realm, he had already felt a faint affinity with nature’s spiritual energy, but he had no opportunity to carefully perceive it then due to his battle with the Saint Heir. After stabilizing his body and foundation, what Ye Qingchen was doing now was comprehending how to use nature’s spiritual energy.

For an ordinary Martial King, this was an inconceivable task. But for Ye Qingchen, it wasn’t difficult at all.

After all, he had the Dual Pupil Martial Soul, which greatly enhanced his perception. Furthermore, Ye Qingchen had personally experienced the Ninth-Layer Immortal Array in the Chaotic Labyrinth. Its ability to gather Heaven and Earth Vital Energy had provided him with significant insight. One must know that Heaven and Earth Vital Energy was several levels above nature’s spiritual energy. With these two advantages, Ye Qingchen was very confident that he could now master this combat technique, one thought to be exclusive to the Martial Emperor Realm.

And so, Ye Qingchen continued to comprehend nature’s spiritual energy and practice the Divine Wood Technique within the Spirit Boat. Ten days passed quickly.

The Spirit Boat had long since left the borders of Chaoyun Country and was now unknowingly traveling through a mountain range. Having reached the Martial King Realm, ordinary Martial Artists or ferocious beasts could no longer pose a threat to him. Moreover, the map showed no particularly dangerous places along the way, so Ye Qingchen paid it little mind, letting the Spirit Boat navigate on its own. All he had to do was add Spirit Stones at regular intervals.

Sure enough, the unexpected happened.

Just as Ye Qingchen was at a critical moment of comprehending nature’s spiritual energy, he suddenly felt the Spirit Boat shake violently, as if it were under attack. He hurriedly activated his Dual Pupil Martial Soul and saw a lioness over fifty meters tall beneath the Spirit Boat, leaping hundreds of meters into the air and repeatedly slamming against the vessel.

The Ye Qingchen of today was no longer the naive rookie he once was. He recognized the lioness at a glance. It was the legendary Gold Star Lion King, whose strength was on par with a human at the Sixth Layer of the Martial King Realm!

Ye Qingchen couldn’t help but frown. There shouldn’t be such a powerful ferocious beast in this area. Still, the continent is vast, and mapping it is a lengthy process. It’s entirely plausible that some ferocious beasts have evolved in the time since the map was drawn.

The Gold Star Lion King must have a strong sense of territory, he realized. My Spirit Boat flying over her domain must have been mistaken for a provocation, prompting her attack.

While Ye Qingchen was momentarily stunned, the Gold Star Lion King struck the Spirit Boat several more times. Although the Spirit Boat was a superior-grade spiritual weapon, it couldn’t withstand such an assault and finally gave way, plummeting downward.

Ye Qingchen quickly leaped from the Spirit Boat, landing on the ground a moment before it crashed.

BOOM!

The Spirit Boat crashed, sending up a massive cloud of dust.

The gaze of the Gold Star Lion King fell upon Ye Qingchen. Compared to the massive beast, he appeared exceedingly tiny. The lioness appeared furious, continuously scraping the ground with her front paws, ready to pounce and tear the tiny figure before her to shreds.

Ye Qingchen cautiously observed the enormous lioness. Her body was covered in bright gold fur. With each swipe of her mighty front paws, dust billowed into the air. As the Gold Star Lion King let out a series of roars, bursts of Metal-Attribute energy periodically radiated from her body.

Although Ye Qingchen, at the Ninth Layer of the Martial Spirit Realm, had defeated the Fifth-Layer Martial King Huan Yuehua, he had still triumphed even after she used a Secret Technique that boosted her power to a level comparable to the Sixth Layer. However, Huan Yuehua’s power at that time was merely *comparable* to the Sixth Layer of the Martial King Realm; she had not been a true Sixth-Layer Martial King.

Besides, under normal circumstances, a ferocious beast’s combat power was stronger than that of a human Martial Artist at the same layer. This was because beasts possessed inherent advantages in strength, speed, and physical toughness. It was only because ferocious beasts typically had lower intelligence that human Martial Artists had a chance to win. But in this battle against a higher-level opponent, the Gold Star Lion King was even more troublesome than a human Martial Artist of the same layer would be.

Moreover, the Gold Star Lion King was of the Metal Attribute, which naturally countered Ye Qingchen’s Willow Wood Martial Soul, making the gap between them even more pronounced.

However, Ye Qingchen did not shrink back. This was the perfect opportunity to test the combat strength he had gained from his recent insights.

Worst case, escaping with the Mystifying Steps shouldn’t be a problem.