Free Web NovelChapter 359: Chapter 359: Tracking the Soul Seal
If he could choose, Yin Jiu would rather he had never clashed with Ye Xuan. But now that they were fighting, he had to kill him. Otherwise, once Ye Xuan returned to wherever he came from, Yin Jiu would be the one to die.
Yin Jiu didn’t believe for a second that he could survive a manhunt launched by one of the ten great powers.
With this thought, Yin Jiu bit the tip of his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood essence. The Profound Power within him churned wildly, his eyes turned crimson, and his sharp claws slammed viciously toward the Zhenyuan Stone Ye Xuan had summoned.
He was going all out. Even if it meant burning his blood essence, he had to kill Ye Xuan.
But to his surprise, the moment his hands struck the Zhenyuan Stone, a power so overwhelming that he was utterly unable to resist surged through him.
He spat out another mouthful of blood. It felt as if his internal organs had been violently rearranged in that instant. The bones in his hands creaked, on the verge of shattering.
’Just what kind of Profound Treasure is this?’
He was aghast. He had never witnessed such a terrifying Profound Treasure. After a single blow, faint cracks had appeared on his clawed gauntlets.
He couldn’t help but gasp. ’My gauntlets are Peak of Fifth Grade Profound Soldiers! Even a Profound Treasure at the Peak of Fifth Grade would struggle to leave a scratch on them. Don’t tell me Ye Xuan’s black stone is a Sixth Grade Profound Treasure?’
While he was still reeling in shock, Ye Xuan had already directed the Zhenyuan Stone to attack him once more.
At this point, Yin Jiu had completely abandoned any thought of killing Ye Xuan. The boy had an endless stream of treasures; who knew what else he was hiding? In fact, the moment he saw Ye Xuan summon the Zhenyuan Stone, the will to kill had vanished from his mind.
’He even has a heaven-defying treasure like this. This kid must be an absolutely terrifying genius, even among the ten great powers. A person like him would be cherished and protected like a crown jewel.’
’If I dare kill him, and his faction becomes enraged, it’ll be useless for me to flee to the ends of the earth.’
’Haven’t I seen it for myself? When the Profound Mystery Sect’s Elder Gale died, the entire Dream Realm Plain was plastered with wanted posters for the killer.’
At this thought, Yin Jiu’s heart filled with regret. He hastily shouted, "Your Excellency, wait! I was blind and failed to recognize your greatness! I’ve offended you. Why don’t we talk this over..."
A cold, disdainful smile touched Ye Xuan’s lips. ’Begging for mercy now? Too late!’ WHOOSH! The Zhenyuan Stone smashed down mercilessly.
BANG!
Yin Jiu spat out another mouthful of blood as he was sent flying backward.
Seeing that Ye Xuan was completely ignoring him, panic finally seized Yin Jiu’s heart. He knew his opponent was dead set on killing him.
"Brat, do you really think I don’t dare to kill you? Stop this instant, and we can negotiate! Otherwise, don’t blame me for getting vicious!"
Yin Jiu shouted in a mixture of panic and fury, but Ye Xuan paid him no mind, relentlessly commanding the Zhenyuan Stone.
A vicious resolve suddenly flared in Yin Jiu’s heart. ’You stinking brat, you really think I’m scared of you? Big deal! I’ll just leave the Dream Realm Plain and roam the world!’
In his fury, the eagle-shaped Martial Soul above Yin Jiu’s head flared with brilliant light once more. A fifth astral ring suddenly manifested, and the ferocious power of the Martial Soul surged toward Ye Xuan like a tidal wave.
At the same time, Yin Jiu spat out another mouthful of blood essence. With crimson eyes, he activated his chakram and lunged madly at Ye Xuan.
Seeing that Yin Jiu was now fighting for his life, Ye Xuan activated his Earth Martial Soul. A layer of Rock Armor instantly covered his body as he simultaneously unleashed the Zhenyuan Stone and the Chaotic Heaven and Earth Grinding Disc.
BOOM!
The Chaotic Heaven and Earth Grinding Disc first sent the chakram flying, then blocked Yin Jiu’s charge. Only then did the terrifying Zhenyuan Stone descend.
Violently spewing blood, Yin Jiu was sent flying like a human fountain of gore, with crimson streams bursting from his entire body.
The sharp cracks of his bones shattering sounded like a string of firecrackers.
In contrast, the blast of Profound Power Yin Jiu had unleashed only managed to chip off a layer of Ye Xuan’s Rock Armor; Ye Xuan himself remained completely unmoved.
Only then did Yin Jiu realize he had still underestimated Ye Xuan’s strength. With no time to even retrieve his chakram, he hastily summoned a shield, dragged his mangled body, and turned to flee.
Ye Xuan had brought out the Zhenyuan Stone precisely to end this fight quickly. How could he possibly let Yin Jiu escape now? The massive Zhenyuan Stone spun through the air once more.
If, before, a desperate Yin Jiu could barely withstand the Zhenyuan Stone’s assault, he was now completely helpless.
The massive Zhenyuan Stone smashed the shield aside and appeared above his head in an instant. Yin Jiu stared up in despair at the madly spinning stone, its terrifying aura crushing his last bit of fighting spirit.
He knew that even if he summoned every last ounce of his strength, he could not block this attack.
SPLAT...
Blood splattered everywhere as the Zhenyuan Stone smashed Yin Jiu’s entire body into a meat paste. Just before death, he heard one final sentence: "You thought you could rob me of my treasures with this pathetic amount of strength?"
Unfortunately for Yin Jiu, no matter how furious he was, he could no longer express it.
Ye Xuan retrieved Yin Jiu’s Storage Ring from the air with a gesture, used his Devouring Martial Soul to consume the man’s martial soul power completely, and then departed from the forest.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Not long after Ye Xuan left, several Martial Artists suddenly appeared at the site of the battle.
"Huh? There was definitely a fight here a moment ago. How come no one’s here now?"
"Is the fight over already?"
"Judging by the traces left behind, it looks like a battle between two experts."
"Look, there’s a body! The winner must have gotten some good loot. Should we go after him?"
"Yeah, we can still catch him if we hurry! Don’t let him get away. After a fight that intense, he must be badly injured."
The Martial Artists chattered among themselves. They were all adventurers from near the Imperial Capital who had been passing by when they heard the sounds of battle from the forest and rushed over at once.
"Not so fast. Let’s see who the dead one is first." The elderly man leading the group turned over the face-down corpse.
HISS! A collective gasp echoed through the clearing.
"It’s Slaughter Venerable!"
Expressions of utter shock appeared on their faces.
As a Tier Six Second Layer Martial Venerable, Slaughter Venerable’s strength was astonishing. But he was ruthless, exceptionally cruel, and had killed countless people; there was hardly anyone who didn’t know of him. It was always him killing others, never the other way around. Who could his opponent have been to make him die such a miserable death?
’It’s a good thing we didn’t give chase. We’d be dead for sure.’
The group was overcome with lingering fear, cold sweat breaking out on their backs.
An expert capable of killing Slaughter Venerable could kill them as easily as breathing.
After leaving the forest, Ye Xuan returned without pause, re-entering the Imperial Capital through its gates.
An unremarkable Martial Artist who witnessed this quickly turned and hurried to a room in the underground black market. freёwebnovel.com
"Well?" The man sitting in the room was none other than Manager Feng You of the underground black market. He squinted and asked.
The Martial Artist immediately responded with respect, "Manager Feng You, Slaughter Venerable did indeed follow that young man out of the city..."
"Oh?" Feng You sneered before the Martial Artist could finish. "So, Slaughter Venerable made another big score? Where is he now? Contact him for me. See if he has anything he wants to sell at our black market."
The Martial Artist shook his head. "Manager Feng You, Slaughter Venerable didn’t come back. The young man did."
"What?" Feng You shot to his feet, his face a mask of astonishment. He frowned, looking down. "Impossible. With Slaughter Venerable’s temperament, how could he possibly let that young man go? Don’t tell me the kid managed to escape his pursuit."
An intriguing smile played on Feng You’s lips. "This kid really has some tricks up his sleeve. I wonder which faction he’s from, to be able to evade Slaughter Venerable. His strength can’t be weak. Keep investigating."
In Feng You’s mind, Ye Xuan must have used some clever trick to evade Slaughter Venerable.
However, to his surprise, a piece of news arrived an hour later.
Some Martial Artists had discovered Slaughter Venerable’s corpse in a forest outside the Imperial Capital.
Slaughter Venerable was a well-known figure among the Martial Artists operating outside the Imperial Capital. When the news broke, it sent the entire community into a frenzy of discussion.
The many Martial Artists in the underground black market who knew the sequence of events were stunned into a state of shocked silence, followed by an uproar.
But the most shocked of all was Feng You. When he received the news, he couldn’t help but draw a sharp, cold breath, his eyes filled with terror.
He was now certain that Ye Xuan had killed Slaughter Venerable. But for that young man to kill Slaughter Venerable in such a short amount of time... it was simply unheard-of.
’Just which power does that young man belong to?’ Feng You wondered, inwardly shaken.
He immediately sent someone to find out which room Ye Xuan was staying in at the Celestial Breath Tower. With his status as a manager of the black market, getting such information from the Celestial Breath Tower was a simple matter.
Once he had the information, he immediately assigned men to watch Ye Xuan’s room, with orders to notify him the moment he returned.
After returning to the Imperial Capital, Ye Xuan seemed to be searching for something, his path soon leading him to a chaotic area of shacks.
This appeared to be the slums of the Imperial Capital. Dilapidated houses were everywhere, the ground was covered in filthy water, and the stench was overwhelming.
Ye Xuan frowned but continued walking until he reached a particular house. He pushed the door open and went inside. freёwebnovel.com
The furnishings in the room were sparse. A woman in her early twenties was doing chores. She had a graceful figure and was wearing an apron, giving her a very simple, unassuming appearance.
When she saw Ye Xuan enter, the woman looked up in surprise, her expression bewildered.
"Alright, drop the act," Ye Xuan said, glancing at the woman. "Hand over the item. I don’t have time to play games with you."
The woman’s bewildered expression instantly twisted into one of shock. "How did you recognize me?"
"I told you not to be so confident in your Disguise Skill."
Ye Xuan stated calmly.
This woman was the cloaked figure from before. Ye Xuan had placed a unique Soul Seal on her, allowing him to easily track her aura as long as she was within a hundred-li radius.
