Chapter 8: Envious Huo Yuhao! So, the Spirit Eyes Can Be Used Like This?
At this moment...
Tang Ya stood frozen. Her wide eyes remained locked onto the mangled, lifeless husk of the Soul Spider. Slowly, she shifted her gaze toward the youth standing a short distance away. Liu Yuan was calmly withdrawing his gaze, his expression completely undisturbed. For a long moment, the young sect master found herself entirely at a loss for words.
"Th-this... it's dead already?" she stammered.
Just seconds ago, the three of them had exhausted every ounce of their strength. They had layered crowd control over relentless bombardment, draining their spirit power until their lungs burned and their limbs felt like lead. Yet, that massive arachnid had simply skittered back and forth, shrugging off their desperate assault as if it were nothing but a light drizzle.
Then Liu Yuan stepped in. He hadn't even moved his hands. A mere shift of his gaze, a single flash of domineering red light, and the grueling battle was over.
The sheer, absurd contrast made her mind spin.
"Brother Liu Yuan..." Bei Bei took a deep, steadying breath, forcibly suppressing the violent shock rippling through his chest. He closed the distance between them with quick strides, stopping right in front of the youth. His usually calm eyes were now burning with intense inquiry.
"How did you manage that strike just now?" Bei Bei asked, his voice tight. "With that kind of concentrated destructive power... even if my Thunder Dragon Claw landed a direct hit on its vitals, I doubt it would produce such a devastating effect."
Liu Yuan offered a faint, understated smile. He had no interest in playing the mysterious master. Pragmatism dictated clear communication.
"Actually, it isn't that my raw attack power is overwhelmingly high," Liu Yuan explained smoothly. "It is mainly a matter of grasping the perfect timing."
He raised a hand, pointing toward the shattered, oozing remains of the Soul Spider's head. "I observed its attack patterns from the very beginning."
"I noticed that while this specific type of Spirit Beast possesses an abnormal, almost instantaneous recovery ability, that regeneration does not come without a steep price."
Liu Yuan's dual-pupiled eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled the beast's movements. "Every single time it prepared to activate that instant healing trait, it was forced to highly compress the entirety of its bodily spirit power and mental force. It gathered all of that volatile energy into one specific location—that grey-white spot right on the crown of its head."
He lowered his hand. "In other words, the exact moment it triggers its greatest recovery skill is also the exact moment its overall bodily defense drops to its absolute weakest. That gathering point becomes a massive vulnerability."
"My strike just now didn't actually carry much brute force," Liu Yuan concluded, his tone casual. "It acted more like a single spark thrown into a powder keg. I simply pierced that weak point and detonated the massive, unstable energy it was already accumulating inside its own body. Essentially, it blew itself up."
Hearing this clinical, precise breakdown, sudden realization washed over both Bei Bei and Tang Ya.
"Borrowing force to strike, using a mere ounce of effort to deflect a thousand pounds of weight... So that is how you did it!" Bei Bei nodded, his face filled with genuine admiration.
"The underlying principle sounds simple enough," the senior disciple continued, shaking his head in awe. "But to remain completely calm in the chaotic center of such an intense life-and-death battle... to precisely gain insight into that hidden mechanic, and then decisively execute a killing blow in a fleeting fraction of a second..."
Bei Bei cupped his fist in a gesture of deep respect. "Brother Liu Yuan, your insight and combat intuition are truly terrifying."
These were not empty pleasantries. Bei Bei meant every single word from the bottom of his heart.
After all, just moments prior, their entire team had been fighting under the direct tactical assistance of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing. Both he and Tang Ya had a three-dimensional, omniscient view of the battlefield. They could see every twitch of the Soul Spider's legs.
Yet, caught up in the frantic rhythm of attacking and defending, neither of them had managed to spot this fatal, underlying pattern.
This was the true gap between them.
Off to the side, Huo Yuhao silently walked over. He stared at Liu Yuan's eyes, his own gaze swirling with intense curiosity, awe, and a deep, inexplicable trace of longing.
"Liu Yuan," Huo Yuhao began hesitantly, "is your Martial Soul... also the Spirit Eyes?"
Liu Yuan nodded. The overlapping rings within his irises flickered with a faint, mysterious light. "You could say that. However, my eyes underwent a much more thorough mutation, which is why they look a bit strange."
'It really is the Spirit Eyes...'
A stormy sea of emotion surged violently within Huo Yuhao's chest.
They both possessed an eye-type Body Martial Soul. They both relied on mental attributes.
But just look at Liu Yuan!
His very first Spirit Ability unleashed an incomparably domineering, lethal red ray capable of obliterating a thousand-year Spirit Beast in a single hit!
Then, Huo Yuhao looked inward at himself.
Sure, possessing a million-year spirit ring sounded incredibly intimidating on paper. And yes, his four Spirit Abilities—detection, sharing, interference—were undeniably practical. But they were all strictly support skills!
His only offensive method, Soul Shock, relied entirely on the opponent having weaker mental force than him. If he misjudged his target, the backlash would instantly scramble his own brain.
'How could the difference be this massive?'Huo Yuhao felt a bitter wave of dejection wash over him. Unable to hold back his frustration, his consciousness sank inward.'Brother Tianmeng,'he called out within his Sea of Consciousness.'Since we both have the Spirit Eyes, why is Liu Yuan's first Spirit Ability so ridiculously strong? Can I also fire destructive lasers like him?''Hmph! Stop dreaming!'Deep within the Sea of Consciousness, the chubby, translucent form of the Tianmeng Iceworm rolled its massive eyes, its voice dripping with utter exasperation.'Kid, take a good look at what kind of eyes that boy has! Even if it falls under the category of Spirit Eyes, the inherent quality of his Martial Soul sits on a completely different dimension compared to yours.'The giant silkworm wriggled, its tone turning deadly serious.'also, the sheer condensation level of that kid's mental force is nothing short of terrifying.''Right now, his total volume of mental force might only be slightly higher than yours. But in terms of pure quality? He completely and utterly crushes you! If your mental force is a fluffy ball of cotton, then his mental force is a tempered steel needle! That extreme density is exactly why he can compress his mental force and spirit power to the absolute limit and fire it out as a lethal beam!'The Tianmeng Iceworm paused, its voice taking on the frustrated tone of a master scolding a slow disciple.'It isn't that your Brother Tianmeng lacks capability. It is that your current physical foundation is simply too poor! If you manage to train your eyes and condense your mental force to be as strong as that kid's, your Soul Shock could easily blast a person's brain into bloody slag like a cannonball! But as for right now... you had better honestly stick to playing support!'
Even as he scolded his host, the Tianmeng Iceworm felt as though his own heart was actively bleeding out.
His round, glowing eyes stared fixedly at the projection of Liu Yuan in the outside world. The sheer, agonizing regret gnawing at his soul was almost unbearable.
'Ahhhh! Heavens above! Why?! Why must the heavens play such a cruel joke on me?!'The million-year beast mentally thrashed about in despair.'If I had known that such a peerless, top-grade uncut jade was hiding inside the Star Dou Great Forest, why in the world was I so anxious to bind myself to this silly kid?!''That mental force Martial Soul looks so incredibly domineering! If I were residing inside that kid's Sea of Consciousness, combining his monstrous foundation with my million-year Origin of mental force... we would be an absolutely unstoppable combination! We would have taken off straight to the pinnacle of this world in the blink of an eye!'
The Tianmeng Iceworm was so thoroughly annoyed that he genuinely wanted to find a block of tofu and smash his head against it until he died.
Unfortunately, the die had already been cast.
He had fully completed the fusion process with Huo Yuhao. Even if his metaphorical intestines were turning green with regret, it was far too late to reverse it.
'Sigh... I suppose this is simply fate...'The Tianmeng Iceworm let out a long, weary sigh, forcing himself to find a silver lining.'Forget it. Let it go. Although this kid Huo Yuhao's natural aptitude is severely lacking, he wins out by having a solid, unyielding heart and an honest nature. I will just have to make do with what I have.'
Back in the physical world.
Liu Yuan naturally had no idea that the ancient, million-year entity residing inside Huo Yuhao's body was currently drooling over his potential and weeping tears of bitter regret.
His attention was entirely focused on the thoroughly dead Soul Spider. Hovering quietly above the mangled corpse was a thousand-year spirit ring, radiating a rich, captivating purple glow. A trace of genuine heat flashed through Liu Yuan's dual pupils.
"Everyone, since the Spirit Beast has been dealt with, I will go ahead and absorb its spirit ring," Liu Yuan said, turning his head to address the trio.
"Mm, go ahead and absorb it without worry. We will act as your protectors," Bei Bei nodded firmly. He immediately signaled Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao to fan out, establishing a vigilant defensive perimeter around the clearing.
Liu Yuan did not waste time with further pleasantries. He walked over to the side of the Soul Spider's corpse and sat down cross-legged on the damp forest floor.
He took a deep, steadying breath, adjusting his internal state to its absolute peak. Slowly, he closed his eyes. In the brief moment before his eyelids shut completely, a sharp, piercing essence seemed to flash from his double pupils.
'Come!'
With a single thought, Liu Yuan extended his spirit power, locking onto and guiding the purple thousand-year spirit ring.
Hum!
As if answering a direct summons, the vibrant purple ring slowly drifted downward. It settled heavily over Liu Yuan's body before suddenly contracting violently!
Boom!
A massive, chaotic torrent of energy instantly surged into Liu Yuan's meridians.
This was the concentrated, violent resentment of a thousand-year Spirit Beast upon its death, accompanied by a massive, crushing impact of raw spirit power!
Liu Yuan's body trembled slightly under the sudden pressure, but his expression remained entirely placid. He did not panic in the slightest.
He already possessed the prior experience of absorbing a spirit ring., both his physical constitution and his mental force had undergone a qualitative evolution since then. Handling this level of violent energy was a task he approached with cold, calculated calm.
...
Time ticked by, second by agonizing second.
Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao stood guard with unwavering diligence. They kept their eyes scanning the dark woods, not even daring to breathe too loudly for fear of disturbing Liu Yuan's critical absorption process.
It was difficult to tell exactly how much time had passed in the quiet tension of the forest.
Roughly an hour later.
Liu Yuan, who had remained as still as a carved statue, suddenly erupted with a terrifying suction force. The surrounding Heaven and Earth Origin Power was violently dragged toward his body in a crazed, swirling vortex.
Immediately after.
Hum—
Two distinct spirit rings slowly rose from beneath his feet, hovering rhythmically around his body.
One yellow. One purple!
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