Chapter 428: Refining the Soul Origin
Facing the terrified expression on the face of the Heavenly Tomb's soul, Xiao Xuan merely smiled slightly. Without saying another word, he raised his hand covered in black-and-white flames and made a grasping motion toward the former. Instantly, a terrifying suction force formed in his palm. From the giant mouth of the tomb soul, violent ripples surged—as if something was being forcefully torn out.
"Xiao Xuan, you're courting death!"
The tomb soul roared furiously, causing the entire Heavenly Tomb to tremble. Its enormous mouth opened wide, and a several-hundred-zhang-long invisible soul spear burst out, tearing through space and shooting fiercely at Xiao Xuan.
"My strength has been somewhat restored, and with the aid of Heavenly Flame—you cannot stop me."
Despite the tomb soul's resistance, Xiao Xuan remained calm. Smiling faintly, he reached out his hand and made a light grasp. The soul spear, carrying a sharp sonic boom, instantly froze. Then, with a casual flick of his sleeve, it reversed course and shot back toward the tomb soul with even greater force—now coated in the black-and-white Yin-Yang Flames.
Whoosh!
The spear moved with incredible speed. In an instant, it turned into a fiery streak and pierced straight through the giant face. Instantly, the attached Yin-Yang Flames ignited like dry tinder.
"Ahhh!"
With flames spreading, the tomb soul let out a shrill, agonizing scream. Had this been a regular battle, it would have feared Xiao Xuan but not dreaded him. But now that Xiao Xuan possessed a complete soul form, in the environment of the Heavenly Tomb, he could be considered a peak Nine-Star Dou Sheng. Even Gu Yuan himself wouldn't fare well here!
Moreover, for a soul body as chaotic and unstable as the tomb soul, Heavenly Flame was especially lethal.
In the sky, the soul's massive face was consumed by the dual-colored fire. It rapidly shrank, and at the same time, waves of violent soul shockwaves erupted continuously from within it, stirring the entire world into chaos. All other energy bodies fled in panic, terrified of being caught in the storm and obliterated.
The sea of flames formed by the Yin-Yang Flames shielded Xiao Yuan. Though the soul shockwaves were powerful, breaking through Xiao Xuan's protection to harm Xiao Yuan was extremely difficult.
"Xiao Xuan, I will never forgive you!"
The giant face shrank amidst the flames. After a while, it transformed into a humanoid shape. Its blood-red, furious eyes stared fixedly at Xiao Xuan, overflowing with killing intent.
Xiao Xuan paid no heed to the tomb soul's bluster. He pressed his palms together and swiftly formed a series of complex and intricate hand seals. As his seals changed, countless black-and-white fire threads shot from his fingertips and rapidly intertwined in the sky, forming a massive formation—with the tomb soul trapped at its center.
Zzz zzz!
As soon as the array took shape—before the tomb soul could react—countless fiery threads rained down, piercing through its body and wrapping around it tightly, suspending it in midair.
Boom boom!
In desperation, the tomb soul struggled wildly. Soul shockwaves strong enough to kill Xiao Yuan bombarded the fire threads like artillery. But these seemingly fragile threads had immense restraining power over soul energy. No matter how strong the attacks, the moment they touched the threads, they rapidly faded and dissipated into nothing.
"Though I'm not at my peak strength, I'm at least eighty percent there in the Heavenly Tomb. If I couldn't subdue you like this, you'd be seriously underestimating Xiao Xuan."
Xiao Xuan looked at the struggling tomb soul and gave a faint smile. His voice was not loud, but it carried undeniable authority. Even with only his soul left, the aura of a former supreme powerhouse still remained.
"Xiao Xuan, let me go! We can negotiate anything you want!"
After failing to break free for so long, the tomb soul's tone softened. It knew that Xiao Xuan was far more powerful than it now, and bluster would do no good. Perhaps begging might work.
"There's no need. What I want is your soul origin. So today—you must die."
Xiao Xuan's tone was ice cold. A crimson-gold clan mark emerged on his forehead, and his aura grew increasingly terrifying.
Then, he changed his hand seals again. The fire threads that had pierced into the tomb soul began to pull downward. Accompanied by the motion, a crystal-clear ring about a zhang in diameter was slowly dragged out from the tomb soul's body.
As just a portion of the ring emerged, radiant light poured down from within.
Bathed in the glow, Xiao Yuan felt a soothing warmth surge from the depths of his soul. In that moment, it was as if he could hear his soul crying out greedily.
"So this is the soul origin of the Heavenly Tomb's soul…"
Roar!
As the soul origin was forcibly extracted, the tomb soul roared like a wild beast. But it was no more than a trapped beast at this point.
Its cries were meaningless. Xiao Xuan didn't even glance at it. His hand seals continued, and the fire threads grew ever stronger. The crystal ring was already more than halfway pulled from the tomb soul's body.
"Xiao Xuan, I'll fight you to the death!"
Feeling its power rapidly draining, the tomb soul's eyes filled with desperation. Light erupted from its body, and faint flames began to flicker—it was attempting to self-immolate its soul!
Smack!
But just as the flames appeared, an overpowering palm imprint descended from the sky and struck it directly in the face. The force sent it flying, and at the same time, the crystalline soul ring was completely yanked from its body with a loud pop.
Watching from the side, Xiao Yuan felt his scalp tingle.
That palm strike… it was a Heaven-tier Dou Technique!
Xiao Yuan still had to charge up to perform such techniques. But in Xiao Xuan's hands, it was as effortless as flipping his hand.
A peak Nine-Star Dou Sheng was truly terrifying!
"No! Give it back!"
With its soul origin forcibly removed, weakness spread instantly through the tomb soul's body. It howled and charged toward the soul origin.
But Xiao Xuan merely waved his sleeve. A fierce gust of wind blew the tomb soul away, smashing it into the ground.
As it fell, the distant energy bodies' eyes turned blood-red. With hatred gleaming in their eyes, they surged forward with low, furious roars, unleashing all their techniques upon the weakened tomb soul.
Ahhh!
The frail tomb soul stood no chance against the combined assault. Soon, its screams echoed through the land. Its body was torn apart, and a final, angry remnant soul floated up—only to scatter with the wind.
As the tomb soul vanished, the energy bodies on the ground regained clarity in their eyes. The desire to devour one another faded. After a moment of stillness, nearly all of them knelt respectfully toward the sky where Xiao Xuan hovered.
Xiao Xuan ignored their actions. The crystalline soul origin floated before him. Glancing at Xiao Yuan, still protected in the sea of flames, he smiled.
"So, did my methods disappoint you? Whether you break through to the Emperor-tier soul realm now depends entirely on your own fortune."
"Ahem, Brother Xuan, you know… some of our clan's advanced Dou Techniques have been lost. You'll have to teach me a few!"
Xiao Yuan rubbed his nose and approached with a grin.
"Haha, you've got quite the nerve. First, absorb this!"
Xiao Xuan chuckled, then flicked his finger. The crystal ring drifted slowly downward, radiating a warm, sun-like glow.
Xiao Yuan stared at the floating crystal ring, its vast soul power as deep and unfathomable as the ocean. Even his mid-Heavenly-tier soul seemed minuscule in comparison. Formed from countless remnant souls, the tomb soul's energy could only be described as terrifying.
"Alright!"
Xiao Yuan yearned deeply for the legendary Emperor-tier soul.
Without hesitation, he took a deep breath, stepped forward, and entered the glowing ring. Light flashed, and his figure was instantly engulfed.
In the sky, Xiao Xuan's form appeared faint—he had consumed considerable energy in the last battle. But with his soul now complete, and supported by Xiao Yuan's Soul-Nurturing Pearl, he could recover with time.
"Perfect. I can guard him while waiting for that other little guy."
Xiao Xuan smiled faintly and sat cross-legged outside the light ring. His calm gaze occasionally swept the ground. Under his watchful eyes, all the energy bodies hurriedly lowered their gazes and backed away. The soul origin was immensely tempting to them, but under Xiao Xuan's pressure, their desires were extinguished.
After all, even together, they couldn't survive one casual strike from Xiao Xuan.
The truly strong fought in ways that were brutally simple.
This was a vast sea of soul power. Waves surged and crashed. Roars like those of souls echoed faintly across the ocean.
Xiao Yuan's figure hovered in midair, staring down at the ocean below. His eyes brimmed with shock. Though the crystal ring had seemed small, within it was an entire world—a boundless sea formed purely of soul energy!
Such a vast and terrifying soul force—this was the first time Xiao Yuan had seen anything like it. Compared to this, his mid-Heavenly-tier soul was no more than a trickling stream.
But with the tomb soul now gone, this soul energy was ownerless.
Xiao Yuan swallowed hard. He didn't know if he could ascend directly to the Emperor-tier, but reaching the Heavenly-tier Perfection realm was guaranteed!
Even just achieving Heavenly-tier Perfection would allow him to contend with Two-Star Dou Shengs.
Of course, his body's strength was still lacking, so he'd be disadvantaged against higher-ranked opponents.
Nevertheless, after this, Xiao Yuan would have firmly stepped onto the peak of the Dou Qi continent!
Xiao Xuan's gift… was truly immense.
Clenching his fists, Xiao Yuan's eyes burned with determination. Since fate had brought him this far, he would bet everything on reaching the Emperor-tier soul realm!
"Time flows differently here compared to the Heavenly Tomb…"
Sensing the difference, Xiao Yuan showed surprise. The dense soul power here actually altered the flow of time—it was even slower than in the Heavenly Tomb!
A tomb within the tomb!
Whoo…
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yuan calmed his mind. Refining such an ocean of soul energy wouldn't be easy.
He sat cross-legged in midair, slowly descending to the surface. Soul power burst from between his brows and transformed into a massive illusion over a hundred zhang tall—an ethereal figure seated in the same position as him.
Then, five Heavenly Flames surged from deep within Xiao Yuan's soul, forming five rings of fire that locked around the soul projection, wrapping him completely.
A powerful suction force emerged from within. Pillars of soul water, each a hundred zhang thick, rose continuously from the sea and poured into the soul projection.
Zzz zzz!
The seemingly solid soul pillars hissed violently as they touched the five-colored flame, thick white mist rising and transforming into clouds that shrouded the massive soul figure.
Although this soul energy was vast, it was somewhat fragmented, formed from countless warrior remnants. But with Xiao Yuan's five Heavenly Flames, this was no trouble.
With his control over flame, refining the energy to its purest form was entirely doable.
As time passed, the sea of souls began to churn and roar like a storm.
And Xiao Yuan's soul strength steadily grew, inching ever closer to that legendary realm.
(END CHAPTER)
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