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**
Exerting force through a single arm, Ling Xiao fiercely charged forward several more steps. The soul power within his body circulated faster and faster as he swung the Profound Sky Axe in rapid succession.
Between the strength enhancement from his second soul skill and his own naturally formidable power, every axe strike was exceptionally violent.
However, Yan refused to admit defeat. As someone who also relished head-on, brute-force combat, how could he possibly dodge Ling Xiao's assault?
Yan charged directly into the fray.
At times, he met axe with fist, countering offense with offense; at other times, he relied on his powerful Martial Soul defense to tank Ling Xiao's attacks head-on.
At this moment, the advantages of the Flame Lord as a large-scale elemental Martial Soul were fully displayed. After the Martial Soul Possession, it provided not only staggering strength but also an incredibly high level of defense.
His entire body was like a single slab of iron, a physique of solid rock where every limb served as a weapon. Even against Ling Xiao's strikes, he could withstand them frontally.
Furthermore, the flames radiating from the Flame Lord Martial Soul significantly boosted his attack power. Under Yan's cultivation, both arms of the Martial Soul burned with intense fire.
As Yan attacked, the flames rose wantonly, leaving trails of fire dancing in the night sky.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The continuous, thunderous explosions signaled the terrifying power of their exchange.
The Profound Sky Axe was inherently sharp and heavy.
Under the explosion of Ling Xiao's strength, it produced an astonishing might.
Even a top-tier elemental Martial Soul like the Flame Lord, naturally gifted in strength and defense, was actually being suppressed and forced into the underdog position. The flames were cleaved apart by the axe's momentum, and the rock-like body was now covered in scars.
Although Yan tried his best to avoid taking hits in the same spot and circulated his soul power to repair the damage, he still sustained heavy wounds from Ling Xiao. As the Flame Lord Martial Soul began to suffer damage, Yan couldn't help but feel waves of sharp pain.
Enduring the agony, Yan suddenly threw a punch. With a loud bang, he forced back Ling Xiao's Profound Sky Axe. Snorting coldly, he no longer relied solely on the Martial Soul's innate defense. He stomped his right foot heavily onto the ground and channeled the power of his soul ring.
A yellow soul ring, radiating intense energy fluctuations, released its light. As Yan activated his second soul skill, Rock Body, a violent surge of deep brown light erupted from his body.
However, it did not completely cover him.
Instead, it concentrated on his upper torso and both arms.
As the light gradually solidified and the energy materialized, a layer of extremely thick, deep brown rock appeared over Yan's Martial Soul form, making his stature appear even more imposing.
After years of cultivation, Yan's control over his second soul ring had improved significantly. He was no longer clumsily using soul skills; he no longer simply allowed the soul ring's instinct to form a layer of rock over his entire skin like he did years ago.
Just as he was doing now, he applied the power of Rock Body only to his upper body, focusing on the defense of his chest and arms. While enhancing his defense and strength, he minimized the impact on his speed and flexibility.
The Fire Mountain Rock Flame, flowing like liquid lava, moved slowly over him as if he were being baptized by magma. The high-temperature flames it emitted burned furiously, making Yan's body resemble volcanic lava itself.
At this moment, the Flame Lord Martial Soul displayed both the powers of Fire and Earth, merging them perfectly so that they complemented one another.
"Oh? The perfect fusion of Fire and Earth... truly extraordinary." Ling Xiao watched as the rock body on Yan's frame perfectly integrated the flames through the power of the Fire Mountain Rock Flame.
Not only did the defense remain solid, but the surface was also teeming with scorching fire. It was as if he had sculpted a true Flame Lord's body, transcending the state of an energy-based Martial Soul to become like an elemental entity from the world of soul beasts.
Ling Xiao couldn't help but recall what his teacher, Mu Chen, once said: Yan's Flame Lord Martial Soul was one of the most suitable Martial Souls in the world to follow the path of Dual-Attribute Fusion Stream, possessing perfect innate compatibility.
The reason was that the greatest difficulty of the Dual-Attribute Fusion Stream lay in merging the powers of two attributes.
Generally, when a Soul Master followed this path, they possessed both powers and could coordinate them well enough to fight Soul Masters who specialized in a single attribute, but that was only the most basic level of fusion.
For a Soul Master of this path to become truly powerful, they needed to merge the two powers further. Simple combination wasn't hard, but merging the essence of two attributes completely was a daunting task.
If an ordinary Fire-attribute Soul Master attempted to fuse Earth power into their Martial Soul and possessed a second soul skill similar to Yan's, they might be able to apply fire to their earth abilities through intense study, but they could never achieve the ease and synergy Yan possessed.
The Fire Mountain Rock Flame controlled by the Flame Lord was not only a top-tier flame but also contained the power of Earth.
Born with the fusion of Earth and Fire, it served as a bridge between the two powers. By taking this path, Yan was naturally at a more advanced level of Dual-Attribute Fusion from the start.
Unaware of Ling Xiao's thoughts, Yan let out a roar and charged.
Through a frontal assault, he reclaimed the momentum he had lost, his attacks becoming violent and fierce. Every punch contained startling strength and surging flames.
A casual strike could easily kill a Soul Grandmaster at the peak of the Rank 30.
At this moment, even though Ling Xiao's second soul skill, Dragon-Elephant Colossal Strength, provided a massive boost to his power, and his physical body was naturally no weaker than any top-tier Beast Martial Soul master.
Not to mention his cultivation of the Tiger Demon Bone-Refining Fist—it was a pity that he had only just started the Tiger Demon style, and the Ox Demon Force Fist had yet to reach Great Completion.
In terms of raw physical strength, he was still slightly inferior to Yan when the latter was buffed by soul skills. However, with the Profound Sky Axe in hand and his coordination, the strength and offense he unleashed were not at all inferior to Yan's—in fact, they were even superior.
Yan's frontal assault suited Ling Xiao perfectly.
Seeing a worthy opponent, Ling Xiao didn't resort to other tricks.
Relying solely on the strength boost of his Dragon-Elephant skill, he held his axe and engaged Yan in close-quarters combat. The Profound Sky Axe's movements were masculine and fierce, yet they did not lack sharpness and speed.
After years of hard practice, Ling Xiao's mastery over the axe had reached Great Completion; the heavy greataxe was like an extension of his own arm.
He swung it repeatedly, clashing head-on with Yan's attacks or cleaving directly into his chest, only to be blocked by the lava-rock body.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the two powerhouses clashed, explosive sounds rang out one after another. Fist met axe, creating powerful shockwaves that rippled outward. Under the vibration of their soul power, visible energy ripples appeared in the air.
With one swing, he knocked back one of Yan's punches.
Ling Xiao braced the axe horizontally, gripping the handle with both hands. Under his guidance, the Profound Sky Axe radiated an intense light of soul power. While fully driving his Martial Soul, he gathered strength in his feet and lunged forward with a burst of speed.
He executed a heavy horizontal slash, and before Yan could react, the axe slammed into his chest.
With a crack, the lava-rock armor on Yan's chest emitted a fracturing sound. Combined with the previous axe marks Ling Xiao had left, a massive gap was finally torn through the thick rock.
Yan was unable to hold his ground and was shaken back several steps by the force of the blow. He looked down at the massive axe mark on his chest; it was deep enough to have almost completely penetrated his Rock Body and injured his Martial Soul.
He couldn't help but secretly marvel at the Profound Sky Axe's attack power. With his current defense, even Xie Yue—who was also a Rank 30+ Soul Elder—would be unable to inflict such a wound in a formal duel unless he used his powerful third soul skill.
In the distance, Ling Xiao narrowed his eyes, equally surprised: Such powerful defense. As expected of the Flame Lord. Even with the ferocity of the Profound Sky Axe, several consecutive strikes only caused this much damage.
Yan, having stepped onto the path of Dual-Attribute Fusion, might truly manifest the full potential of the Flame Lord Martial Soul in the future.
After all, ancestors who possessed this Martial Soul in the era before the "Fusion Stream" was established only ever displayed its prowess in fire and offense. The Earth attribute and the defensive aspects were never truly known to the world.
Ling Xiao let out a light chuckle.
"What a defense. Yan, let me test your strength!"
Having said that, he swung his right arm, resting the Profound Sky Axe by his side. He clenched his left fist and held it before his chest, his surging soul power circulating rapidly and gathering in his left arm.
He stepped down heavily.
Between the explosion of his physical strength and the soul power thrust of his Explosive Steps, he shot toward Yan like a cannonball. Borrowing that momentum to bolster his might, he threw a punch aimed directly at Yan's chest.
"Eight Extreme Collapse!"
**
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Thanks for reading!
I have 100+ advanced chapter now on Patreon. I will post 5 advanced chapter on Patreon everyday except Sunday