At the moment Xiao Yan died completely, Gu Xun'er's hand, holding the flaming longsword, suddenly froze. Her body stiffened, trembled slightly, and her eyes widened, her pupils contracting sharply.
Gu Xun'er could feel that at the moment of Xiao Yan's death, something seemed to have entered her soul, rendering her immobile for a moment.
However, Gu Xun'er didn't panic much. In the secret chamber of Wutan City, during the first few days, she had already experienced the greatest despair and darkness in the world.
After recovering, her mind was incredibly resilient. Except for matters related to Hun Changqing, few things could stir up any waves in her heart. Faced with this strange situation, Gu Xun'er was able to maintain absolute calm.
Gu Ming, standing behind Gu Xun'er, also noticed her unusual state and, not daring to be careless, used spatial teleportation to appear directly beside her.
He scanned Gu Xun'er with his soul power but found nothing amiss. Puzzled, he tentatively asked,
"Miss Xun'er, are you... alright?"
Before Gu Ming could finish speaking, Gu Xun'er suddenly felt her tense body relax. Her soul, which had been compressed by some unknown force, suddenly released its pressure.
With this release, Gu Xun'er suddenly felt her soul power surge at an incredibly terrifying, almost precipice-like speed.
Seeing this, Gu Xun'er didn't have time to think. She quickly sat cross-legged, her hands forming a hand seal used for cultivating soul power.
"Crack, crack!"
Shortly after Gu Xun'er sat down, a sound like a mirror shattering echoed deep within her mind and soul.
The surging soul power deep within Gu Xun'er's soul shattered the bottlenecks of her soul realm with overwhelming force, relentlessly climbing towards its peak...
The soul realm is divided into four major realms: Mortal Realm, Spirit Realm, Heaven Realm, and Emperor Realm.
These are further divided into three minor realms: Early Stage, Mid Stage, and Great Perfection.
On the Dou Qi Continent, breaking through even a single minor realm of the soul realm is as difficult as trying to catch the moon's reflection in the sea!
At this moment, Gu Xun'er's soul realm was climbing at a speed unimaginable to countless powerful figures on the Dou Qi Continent.
"Early Spirit Realm..."
"Mid Spirit Realm..."
...
"Early Heaven Realm!"
Finally, Gu Xun'er's surging soul realm gradually stabilized at the early Heaven Realm level, without the slightest fluctuation.
As the soul power gradually stabilized, it slowly gathered within Gu Xun'er's sea of soul. At this moment, she had no aura whatsoever, no breath escaped from her mouth or nose, and she seemed completely dead.
Suddenly, Gu Xun'er's tightly closed eyes snapped open, her golden pupils, like amber, crystal clear. As her eyes opened, an extremely dazzling golden radiance shot out from them. This brilliant golden
light shot towards Gu Ming, who was looking at Gu Xun'er with worry. A dazzling golden light swept through the air, and then it arrived before Gu Ming.
The speed was beyond description; almost the instant Gu Xun'er opened her eyes, the golden light was already before Gu Ming's soul. This speed could almost be described as a descent. Moreover, this golden radiance was unlike ordinary energy; it was condensed from the vast and surging Heavenly Realm soul power deep within Gu Xun'er's soul. Its power was terrifying, its attack unpredictable, and ordinary methods were utterly ineffective in resisting it. It struck directly into the depths of the enemy's soul, making it impossible to defend against.
Gu Ming's pupils contracted sharply as he watched the dazzling golden radiance approaching him. He felt the power contained within this golden radiance, condensed from soul power, and an invincible feeling arose within him. Faced with this attack, his mid-stage Spirit Realm soul began to tremble uncontrollably.
This golden radiance attack carried a trace of soul-shaking effect, capable of causing those with a soul realm lower than Gu Xun'er to waver in the face of this attack.
However, Gu Ming's cultivation was ultimately far superior to Gu Xun'er's. Gu Ming only hesitated for a moment before reacting.
With a thought, spatial ripples appeared in the narrow gap between him and the radiance. The golden radiance arrived instantly, piercing through the spatial ripples and also through Gu Ming's body.
However, it seemed as if Gu Ming and the golden light existed in different dimensions. The golden light passed through Gu Ming's body, only creating ripples on his surface like flowing water, before disappearing into the black rock wall behind him without a trace.
The golden light was a soul attack and could not harm anything tangible; it only affected the soul.
At this moment, as the golden light shot out from Gu Xun'er's eyes, Gu Xun'er stood up.
She completely concealed her aura and soul power, her face expressionless, her heart as still as a deep well.
At this moment, her figure was somewhat ethereal; although she was standing there, a sweep of soul power could not find any trace of her, making her seem extremely eerie.
Gu Xun'er stood with her hands behind her back, her graceful figure exuding an aura of otherworldly refinement. This earth-shattering change in her was entirely caused by the sudden surge of her Heavenly Realm soul power.
Soul power is wondrous and has many uses; it is normal for it to cause such a change in a person.
Gu Xun'er slowly stepped forward, smiled faintly, and said to Gu Ming,
"Elder Gu Ming, my strength suddenly surged just now, but I couldn't control it. I hope you won't blame me."
Gu Ming stroked his beard and said with a smile,
"Hehe, Miss Xun'er has encountered such an opportunity, and her strength has surged. I'm overjoyed! With such a prodigy as Miss Xun'er, our Gu Clan will surely prosper!"
Gu Ming didn't ask why Gu Xun'er's strength had suddenly surged to such a terrifying level. He knew what he should and shouldn't ask.
He only needed to pretend to be confused. Anyway, the stronger Gu Xun'er became, the higher his status in the Gu Clan would be. There was no need to do such unnecessary things.
Gu Xun'er slowly walked to the charred ashes of Xiao Yan's corpse. At this moment, two strange flames flickered and burned on the corpse, their aura somewhat weakened.
Clearly, the death of its master had affected the very essence of its strange fire, requiring a considerable price to recover. However, Gu Xun'er didn't care; with the boundless resources of some ancient clans, what price couldn't she afford?
Taking out two storage rings and storing the Azure Lotus Earth Core Fire and the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire, Gu Xun'er noticed a storage ring amidst the charred ashes, reflecting a faint light from the strange fire.
Gu Xun'er raised an eyebrow, pondered for a moment, then flicked her finger, sending a wisp of flame landing on the charred ring, burning away the grime before carrying it to her hand.
After placing the ring and the storage ring into her own, Gu Xun'er nodded, then turned her gaze to the pillar of light beside her, where the serpentine energy emitted fierce hissing cries of the Fallen Heart Flame. A cold smile appeared on Gu Xun'er's face.
Her gaze sharpened, and once again, brilliant golden light gathered and condensed in Gu Xun'er's eyes. Then, with a thought, a beam of golden light shot forth from her eyes, instantly descending upon the Fallen Heart Flame.
"Hiss!" A
shrill wail instantly erupted from the serpentine energy's ferocious maw, revealing the Fallen Heart Flame's resentment, despair, and hatred. Then, its soul was utterly shattered by the golden light, vanishing into nothingness.