Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan!

Chapter 240: Mid Soul Formation Realm!

”What? Lei Zhensheng has reached the Mid Soul Formation Realm?”

”Just how much of a monster is he? Even reaching the Soul Formation Realm is as difficult as going up against Heaven, but he goes beyond and reaches the Mid Soul Formation Realm.”

”I thought Chu Ziyan had a chance, but it looks like it will be Lei Zhensheng’s victory.”

...

While only a difference of a single minor realm, it was bigger than a realm difference when one is in the Core Formation Stage or lower realms.

To advance in the Soul Formation Realm was extremely difficult, often taking years.

Therefore, under twenty-five years of age, there were almost none who went beyond the Early Soul Formation Realm.

But Lei Zhensheng had done it.

The moment his cultivation flared in full, a wave of oppressive pressure rolled through the arena.

Stone tiles groaned and cracked beneath the weight of his aura; the very air seemed to tighten until each breath felt like swallowing thunder.

Lei Zhensheng’s long hair whipped behind him, crackling arcs of violet lightning dancing across his frame.

His eyes glinted like storm-forged steel as his voice cut through the heavy silence.

”Now... let’s see how you dance.”

Boom!

His figure blurred—not merely fast, but so fast the space he vacated rippled like water disturbed by a stone.

One heartbeat, he was yards away. The next, his sword was already descending toward Chu Ziyan’s shoulder with enough force to split a boulder in two.

Clang!

The blow struck—

And was deflected.

Chu Ziyan hadn’t just dodged—she had turned his killing stroke aside with a flick of her wrist, the sound sharp and clean, her stance as steady as a mountain.

Lei Zhensheng’s brows knit.

(She reacted? Even at this speed?)

He vanished again, this time his blade becoming a streak of lightning that curved like a serpent, aimed straight for her flank.

Clang!

Again, the strike was met and deflected.

The spectators gasped.

It was as though his leap into full strength had done... nothing.

Lei Zhensheng landed lightly a few paces away, his breathing calm but his mind in turmoil.

(No—this wasn’t possible.)

He had just revealed the power that crushed his peers, the speed that none could follow...

Yet the woman before him moved with the same composure, the same unshaken poise, as though nothing had changed.

”What...” he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing. ”What is going on here?”

Slowly, he looked at her—really looked.

Chu Ziyan stood there, her sword lowered slightly, calm as still water. But now... now he could sense it.

A faint ripple beneath the surface, like a great beast resting in the depths.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

”You...” his voice was low, almost incredulous. ”...You’re also in the Mid Soul Formation Realm?”

Chu Ziyan didn’t answer.

However, there was no need for her answer—her speed and the power behind her parries had already said everything.

The crowd murmured in growing disbelief.

Just when they had convinced themselves that Lei Zhensheng had been hiding his true strength... Chu Ziyan revealed she had been doing the same.

”She’s... also in the Mid Soul Formation Realm?”

”No way! How is this possible? In the previous Dragon and Phoenix Competition, there was only Early Soul Formation Realm. Now, there is two?”

”Perhaps the winner of this match would eventually become the winner of the Competition.”

...

In the arena, Chu Ziyan’s eyes gleamed like tempered steel. Her sword rose once more, and in the next breath—

Shing!

She moved.

The Chu Family’s Earth-Grade technique unfolded again, but now, infused with the full depth of her cultivation, each arc of her blade cut the air like a tidal wave crashing down.

The air itself rippled, the ground splintering under the shockwaves of her strikes.

Lei Zhensheng met them head-on.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Lightning roared from his sword with every clash, scattering her energy like fragile glass.

His strikes didn’t just block—they tore her techniques apart mid-flight, shattering them into harmless motes of qi.

”Even so...” he said, stepping through the storm of shattered sword-light, ”...your technique lacks power. That will be your downfall!”

His words landed like a hammer.

The audience exchanged grim looks.

”He’s right. Without a Heaven-Grade technique, she’ll never overpower him.”

”She’s fast, she’s strong, but Lei Zhensheng’s foundation is terrifying. He has the Crimson Thunder Palace—one of the sect’s Heaven-Grade techniques.”

”If he uses that... it’s over!”

After all, even if two people have the same talent, background makes a difference.

With Lei Zhensheng being the heir of the Crimson Thunder Palace, the techniques he is taught would be far superior to anything Chu Ziyan could learn in her Chu Clan or Heaven Sword Sect.

On the stage, Lei Zhensheng’s sword dipped slightly, his free hand curling into a complex seal.

Violet lightning shifted—deepening, darkening—until streaks of blood-red thunder began to coil around him like a living dragon.

The oppressive pressure doubled, then tripled, pressing on the lungs of every spectator.

”This...” one of the elders in the stands whispered, ”...this is it. The Crimson Thunder Palace’s Strongest Technique.”

Lei Zhensheng’s gaze locked on Chu Ziyan.

”Be honored,” he said, his voice a low growl beneath the rumble of thunder.

”You’ll be the first to fall under this technique in three years.”

The arena held its breath.

Lei Zhensheng’s voice rang out like a peal of thunder:

”Crimson Thunder Descent!”

The air above the arena darkened, clouds boiling into existence out of nowhere.

Scarlet lightning coiled through them like serpents of the apocalypse, each arc carrying the scent of burning metal.

The ground beneath his feet blackened and cracked, hairline fractures racing outward in all directions.

A single step forward—and the storm moved with him.

From the stands, cultivators shielded their eyes against the searing glare.

But Chu Ziyan was not idle.

Her stance shifted, drawing her blade close to her chest, qi surging through her meridians in an unbroken tide.

The arena’s shattered tiles trembled beneath her feet, fine cracks forming in a perfect ring around her.

Lei Zhensheng’s gaze sharpened, then curved into a smirk.

”You’re still preparing? Foolish! My Crimson Thunder Descent is the most destructive art under heaven—there is nothing you can use to defend against it. You’re wasting your time!”

He raised his sword, lightning roaring louder, pressing down like the wrath of the heavens.

In the corner, the referee’s brow furrowed.

He was preparing to rescue Chu Ziyan and needed to be quick. Who knows what would be the result if he delayed even for a second?

If she failed to defend herself, the strike would cripple her—or worse.

However, even with his Spirit Severing Realm, Crimson Thunder Descent isn’t going to easy for him to handle.

But then—

Boom!

A surge of qi erupted from Chu Ziyan, not wild but refined, each strand sharp as a drawn blade.

The wind screamed around her, condensing into the shape of countless swords that shimmered in midair, their edges humming in unison.

Her lips parted—

”Heaven Severing Tide!”

Sword-light poured forth like an endless ocean, each wave cresting higher and sharper than the last, converging into a single, blinding arc aimed straight at Lei Zhensheng’s storm.

The elders in the high seats jolted forward.

”That’s...”

”A Heaven-Grade technique?!”

”I thought the Chu Clan possessed none—where did she learn this?”

”That doesn’t seem to be a technique from Heaven Sword Sect either.”

...

Many powerful elders could quickly identify the technique grade just from the power, and most of them were already familiar with almost all the Heaven-Grade techniques in Desolate Heaven Empire but had never seen the one Chu Ziyan used.

On the other hand, Bai Zihan just sat calmly, knowing where she got the technique from.

The Ancient Ruins!

She, along with 9 others like himself, had mastered the Heaven-Grade Technique. This technique, he was sure, she got from the Ancient Ruins.

Below, Lei Zhensheng’s confident grin froze for the briefest instant.

Scarlet thunder and oceanic sword-light met in the center of the arena—

And the world shook.