Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 100+ advanced chapter now on Patreon.
**
Time flowed by in a flash.
Since Ling Xiao and the others last escaped the pursuit of that ten-thousand-year Dark Thunder-Horned Rhinoceros Dragon, seven months had passed. By a rough estimate, they had been surviving in this Death Canyon for nearly a year.
On a wasteland within the Mystic Trace Canyon, Ling Xiao's group of four had been surrounded by packs of Wasteland Wolves more times than they could count. Perhaps it was the scent of blood they carried from slaying other Evil Beasts that attracted them.
Perhaps it was because their very presence—atmospheres that did not belong to the denizens of the Mystic Trace Canyon—made them exceptionally easy targets for Evil Beasts like the Wasteland Wolves.
The clothes of all four were somewhat tattered and dirty, but the aura they exuded was cold and violent. The soul power ripples coming from them clearly surpassed what they had when they entered the valley a year ago; all of them had reached the Rank 40 realm.
They might have even slightly exceeded it, but because they had not yet absorbed a fourth soul ring and their Martial Soul seals remained unopened, soul power above Rank 40 could not manifest.
Even so, their strength had seen a significant increase. Breaking through to Rank 40 brought a growth in soul power that far exceeded the jump from Rank 38 to Rank 39.
Although it seemed like a difference of only one rank, the former meant one was still in the realm of a Soul Elder even at the peak, while Rank 40 meant having already stepped onto the threshold of a Soul Ancestor.
As soon as they absorbed their fourth soul rings and their Martial Soul Origin underwent a massive growth, they would truly step into the Soul Ancestor realm.
At this moment, even without the rings, the breakthrough in soul power allowed their Martial Soul Origins to be nurtured and strengthened, making them far more powerful than they were at the peak of the Soul Elder level. One could call them "Half-step Soul Ancestors."
Across the wasteland, bursts of wolf howls echoed continuously.
Over a hundred Wasteland Wolves, their eyes glowing with a green, eerie light, stared intently at Ling Xiao's group as if looking at a delicious meal. The scale of the Wasteland Wolf pack Ling Xiao and the others encountered this time was not small.
There were at least a dozen wolves with over a thousand years of cultivation. The leader of the pack, the largest Wasteland Wolf, had a cultivation level exceeding five thousand years, perhaps even approaching six thousand years.
Its body length reached nearly six or seven meters.
As a medium-sized wolf-type soul beast, its physique was not at all smaller than the Ghost Tiger with roughly five thousand years of cultivation they had encountered when they first entered the valley.
This indicated its cultivation was certainly stronger.
The spikes above its neck were densely packed, each at least a meter long, looking utterly hideous.
"End this quickly. Kill them!"
Words as cold as a bitter winter left Xie Yue's mouth, devoid of any emotion. Surviving in this place for a full year, they were constantly at odds with these Evil Beasts, spending every day in a cycle of slaughter.
They were drenched in countless amounts of blood.
Just for the species of Wasteland Wolf alone, each of them had killed over ten thousand; even if the thousand-year-level wolves didn't reach a thousand kills, there were at least several hundred. If one added other types of Evil Beasts, the number was simply uncountable.
For the four of them, activating their Martial Souls to kill and fight had become as instinctive as eating or drinking. If they were to fight against their past selves from a year ago, they could quickly slay their former selves even with identical cultivation levels.
Brilliant light flashed as Ling Xiao's group charged forward almost simultaneously. Though the four were surrounded by the wolf pack, their aura made it seem as if they were the ones hunting the Wasteland Wolves.
A blackish-red light flashed, and a bronze-colored, ancient giant axe swung out.
A massive axe-light erupted from the Profound Sky Axe. In an instant, over a dozen Wasteland Wolves were cleaved in half on the spot. Blood splattered everywhere, and the black wolf blood instantly stained a large area of the ground.
Ling Xiao didn't even need to mobilize his soul rings to use soul skills.
As he drove his Martial Soul power, the blackish-red light on the Profound Sky Axe flared intensely, its sharpness surging. A massive axe-light manifested, but it did not fly out; instead, it condensed onto the axe blade, enhancing its cutting edge.
The heavy yet sharp giant axe was like an extension of his arm, moved with fluid ease.
His moves were extremely exquisite, possessing their own logic and variations while also being innovative. He no longer relied solely on the various changes of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Astral Axe passed down by Mu Chen.
While those were impressive, they were somewhat rigid and lacked a certain spiritual spark.
Clearly, after this year of combat and tempering, Ling Xiao's every strike and stance had moved beyond the limitations of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Astral Axe, except when intentionally unleashing high-powered soul skills.
Through constant realization and derived variations in battle, he had turned the techniques into his own axe style.
His mastery of his Martial Soul had reached a higher level.
Relying on precise control over the Profound Sky Axe and the foundation of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Astral Axe, combined with his battle insights, he had attained a superior realm of skill.
Every swing contained peerless force.
Coupled with the sharpness of the Profound Sky Axe, even a Wasteland Wolf with nearly a thousand years of soul power was not a match for a single strike from him. Surrounded by Wasteland Wolves snapping and biting at him, Ling Xiao did not use speed to dodge.
Instead, he faced the onslaught head-on, using the Profound Sky Axe to forcibly block. With the wide axe face and the condensed blackish-red axe-light, every swing cut toward several Wasteland Wolves at once, covering a vast area.
Amidst the flashing axe-lights, the originally cruel and murderous Wasteland Wolves couldn't help but let out bursts of mournful cries.
Every attacking wolf was either cleaved in two on the spot, or, if they managed to avoid the edge of the Profound Sky Axe, they were struck by the weight of the axe, leaving their muscles torn and bones shattered.
Suddenly, a foul wind rose sharply from behind.
Ling Xiao showed no hint of surprise or doubt.
He spun around and swung his axe.
Under the activation of the Profound Sky Axe, he fully unleashed the Profound Sky Slash. The massive axe-light on the blade instantly tore through the air, slashing toward the pouncing Wasteland Wolf head-on.
The giant half-moon axe-light stood upright as it flew out, the fierce sharpness it emitted carving a deep trench into the ground.
Puchi!
Relying on the sharpness of the axe-light transformed from the Profound Sky Slash, a Wasteland Wolf with roughly three thousand years of cultivation was instantly split into two equal halves, starting from the skull.
The remaining power of the strike did not diminish; the axe-light continued its path, slaying several more Wasteland Wolves in succession. In a single breath, a massive spray of blood erupted, creating a scene of incomparable tragedy as the stench of gore permeated the entire field.
Though the slaughter was so violent and cruel, Ling Xiao's eyes remained completely unmoved. Throughout this year, he had killed countless times. He knew not how many fierce Evil Beasts he had personally slain, nor how many times he had been wounded by them.
Whether it was his own bleeding injuries or the asura-like scenes of butchering Evil Beasts, he had long since become desensitized to it all. The training in the Mystic Trace Canyon had a profound impact on the four of them.
Aside from Ling Xiao, even Hu Liena—who originally wasn't particularly specialized in combat and killing—now possessed methods that were cruel and ruthless. Her movements were incredibly fast, like a silver phantom, continuously harvesting the lives of the Evil Beasts.
Even when surrounded by the Wasteland Wolf pack, which was known for its own exceptional speed, they found it impossible to trap her.
Instead, she continuously struck them down. Between her strikes, searing flames surged and billowed. Her flame claws repeatedly dealt tearing attacks while her three flame tails struck out in succession like rampaging fire dragons.
Furthermore, she frequently employed mental control techniques. Perhaps because she had used her first soul skill, Charming Heart, so many times this year in the Mystic Trace Canyon alongside their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Charm Moon.
Her comprehension of this first soul skill had deepened continuously. Even without explicitly intending to create a mental charm technique that functioned independently of the Charming Fox Domain.
She had already learned how to cast mental charm skills by relying solely on her own soul power circulation and her Charming Fox Martial Soul—without the aid of a soul ring—to impose mental control upon her enemies.
This mental soul skill, distinct from a Mental Secret Technique, originated from her first soul skill. To distinguish it from Charm Moon, she also named it Charming Heart.
With Hu Liena's current mental strength, once Charming Heart was unleashed, every wolf except for the Wasteland Wolf leader would fall under her control, instantly revealing fatal openings.
Although Hu Liena's Charming Fox Martial Soul was currently only at the three-tail level, both her sub-attribute of fire power and her primary attribute of mental power had nearly reached the peak of the three-tail stage for her current cultivation.
The powers of these two attributes had begun to take shape. Compared to these mid-tier bloodline Wasteland Wolves, Hu Liena's advantage in practicing the dual-attribute fusion path began to manifest.
Not only could she use fire-attribute power to face enemies with an Agility Attack System combat style, but she could also utilize mental-attribute power to cast mental abilities.
By using the Charming Heart soul skill to constantly impose mental control on the Wasteland Wolves, she forced them into illusions, creating openings and finding opportunities to strike while evading their pincer attacks.
In addition, she occasionally used a Mental Secret Technique she had learned, Spirit Shock, to attack the spirits of the Wasteland Wolves.
Those wolves under a thousand years old, or those thousand-year wolves that were already heavily injured, would often die instantly from severe mental trauma under her Mental Shock, bleeding from their seven orifices.
Thus, while Hu Liena was weaker than Ling Xiao in terms of direct destructive power and her method of killing was not as direct and violent, her efficiency in slaughter was not low.
Although her Martial Soul was only at the peak of the mid-tier level, the combat power Hu Liena erupted with—relying on her dual-attribute, three-tailed Charming Fox Martial Soul—was almost not inferior to a Soul Master with a high-grade Martial Soul of the same cultivation.
Ling Xiao and Hu Liena were not the only ones whose strength had grown significantly during this tempering; Yan and Xie Yue were the same.
If Ling Xiao and Hu Liena had reached the Rank 40 cultivation level about three months ago—using the growth of soul power to nurture and expand their Martial Soul Origin to greatly increase their strength—
Then the strength of Xie Yue and Yan had improved even earlier and more significantly. Upon entering the valley, Xie Yue and Yan were already extremely close to Rank 39, on the verge of breaking through.
Within less than half a year after entering, they had already broken through to Rank 40. Had it not been for the fact that the Mystic Trace Canyon was filled with Evil Beasts—making it unsuitable to hunt for soul rings—the extra soul power they had cultivated would be hidden.
Xie Yue and Yan's soul power cultivation should actually be slightly higher than Ling Xiao and Hu Liena's; of course, not by much—at most a gap of about two ranks. After all, the interval between them breaking through Rank 40 was no more than half a year.
Regarding soul power cultivation, the further one progressed, the slower the speed became. When the four of them were cultivating in the late stages of the Soul Elder realm, increasing a single rank of soul power took at least three months.
Facing the attacks of this Wasteland Wolf pack, although they seemingly held no advantage in cultivation and were outnumbered, Xie Yue and Yan were like tigers among a flock of sheep; almost none of the wolves could be considered their match.
A cold light flashed in his eyes, but Xie Yue did not unleash any high-powered soul skills, nor did he transform his Martial Soul into the crescent blade form. His silver-white scimitars flickered with brilliant light, ever-changing, as saber qi crisscrossed the air.
His killing process was not as fierce and domineering as Ling Xiao's use of the Profound Sky Axe, but it possessed an extra layer of coldness and swiftness, and his speed was by no means slow.
Furthermore, between the changes in Xie Yue's blade techniques, he would often adopt an entirely different style. One moment he was as fast as lightning, his blades striking like the wind; the next he was upright and steady, combining hardness with softness.
Sometimes his techniques were exquisitely sophisticated, while other times they were simple, ancient, and grand—his striking style shifted constantly. It was hard to believe that a young man of only seventeen could master so many different styles of blade techniques.
Moreover, this combat style was vastly different from that of ordinary Soul Masters. Ordinary Soul Masters typically won through raw power, focusing on internal soul power circulation techniques while paying little attention to external technique variations.
Xie Yue's current combat style clearly placed extreme emphasis on external skills and forms. Yet, at the same time, the power behind his soul power injected into the blades through special techniques was not to be underestimated.
The combination of ever-changing saber forms and astonishingly powerful saber qi gave birth to another kind of strength. Xie Yue's body seemed to embody a path different from that of common Soul Masters.
If someone from the Soul Martial Hall of the Star Luo Empire were present, they might recognize that Xie Yue's style was extremely similar to that of a Soul Warrior.
Walking such a path with the status of a Soul Master, perhaps no one knew what the future would hold. This path seemed to have never been trodden before, and it was unknown if anyone would follow it in the future.
Suddenly, Xie Yue's striking style changed again.
His techniques became extremely sinister and ruthless, and his striking angles became incredibly bizarre, vastly different from his previous styles.
His earlier styles were either based on speed, uprightness, or cleverness—all belonging to the category of orthodox blade techniques. However, the saber moves and momentum Xie Yue displayed now were exceptionally vicious and cruel.
His killing intent was at its peak, and his entire being radiated a powerful murderous aura. He had completely pursued the essence of slaughter. If one practiced the saber through the method of killing, their progress would likely be incredibly fast.
This set of techniques was called the Blood Blade Technique.
It was created by Xie Yue during his daily slaughter and tempering within this Death Canyon. By coordinating it with his previously mastered blade techniques, the orthodox and the sinister supplemented each other, bringing his saber cultivation to yet another level.
**
Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 100+ advanced chapter now on Patreon.