My Arts Evolve When Perfected

"Cough, cough, cough—GURK—"

The emaciated neck was like a wooden twig; Jiang Qiu could snap it with just a little force. The Supreme Elder’s mask flexed and warped, a symbol of his soul trembling on the brink of death.

Faced with the young man’s brute force, he was powerless to use any of his skills. Even when he activated a Secret Technique of the Hundred Ghosts Dao, it was useless. His opponent’s Soul Strength was terrifyingly powerful!

Peeking into his soul was like meeting the gaze of a True Dragon. A True Dragon, a True Dragon, a True Dragon...

"Still not coming out?"

After muttering to himself, Jiang Qiu snapped the Supreme Elder’s neck. Instantly, the man’s consciousness shattered like a splintering bamboo stalk.

SPLAT.

A foot came down, and the body—already embedded in the ground—burst like a watermelon. The surging Nether Dark Spirit Charm within it had yet to disperse. It swirled into a black mist that spread out ten meters, gradually coalescing into the shape of an eight-headed serpent. "Bastard, how did you find me here...?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, BaKi. What are you doing in the Hundred Ghosts Sect of the Yin Yang Great Realm?" Jiang Qiu stared at it calmly. Though smaller in size, he radiated a dangerous aura that could not be looked down upon. "And still existing as a Cultivation Dish, I see."

"Hmph. This Great Realm is an excellent place for soul cultivation. I came here for my grand plan of resurrection, of course," BaKi’s ten-zhang Soul Body loomed over the bean-sized Jiang Qiu, its eight heads poised above him. "The Laws of this Great Realm conceal one’s appearance. With the masks on, I didn’t realize it was you at first. And now you’ve gone and exposed yourself."

Although it was just a Soul Body, its strangeness had reached an extreme. It was not only unafraid of Jiang Qiu’s gaze but even seemed ready to pounce, like a tiger on a rabbit.

Jiang Qiu found its Realm somewhat difficult to gauge. It didn’t have the oppressive presence of the Fusion Realm, nor the weakness of those below the Peeping Dao Realm.

Jiang Qiu raised an eyebrow slightly. "You think you can kill me?"

’The BaKi before me is definitely in a Cultivation Dish state. But perhaps because of the unusual way it merged with the Supreme Elder, it remains fearless even though its host is dead.’

’How strange.’

"So what if I can’t kill you?" BaKi laughed, its eight heads making a cacophony. "Can you kill me?"

Of course, it didn’t have the ability to instantly kill Jiang Qiu. After all, it had come here to recuperate and didn’t even have a suitable physical body. Oh, wait, it did have one, but it was just crushed by some woman who looked like a Dragon Maiden.

By now, its Soul Realm had been cultivated back to the Peak of Dao Entry Realm, but limited by the Hundred Ghosts Dao, it still hadn’t broken through to the Fusion Realm.

And without a physical body, how could it fight Jiang Qiu?

Its greatest talent was survival.

"Senior Brother, what is that thing? Why does it have eight heads?" Xue walked over through the void, raising an eyebrow as she observed each head with great curiosity. "This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like it..."

The Yin Yang Great Realm had very few types of Demon Race to begin with, and the Hundred Ghosts Sect was a particularly reclusive Sect. Ordinary disciples were not allowed to leave their peaks at will, and even Elite Disciples only went out when absolutely necessary.

As a result, everyone’s experience was quite limited.

Xue hadn’t left this place in ten years, and she had spent so long as a maid. What worldly experience could she possibly have...?

"I was once a Demon Emperor, an existence at the Peak of the Unity Realm! Even in your world, I would have been on the Yin Yang Celestial Pride List, so show some respect when you speak," BaKi snorted, its arrogant aura flaring out. "Besides, in terms of age, I’m old enough to be your ancestor!"

The moment the words were spoken, an unprecedented aura of death surged into the depths of BaKi’s soul. Its body, formed from Nether Dark Spirit Charm, went still as its sixteen ghostly green eyes rolled back in their sockets.

CRACKLE...

As if swatted away like a puff of white mist, the towering ten-zhang body of BaKi before Jiang Qiu and Xue dissolved into streams of black light, its unique soul pressure vanishing completely.

"Huh?" Xue’s eyes widened. "It’s gone?"

"Ah?" Jiang Qiu was also stunned. ’It escaped so quickly this time!’

He truly hadn’t sensed how BaKi had escaped. It felt as if it had died in an instant; he hadn’t had time to react at all. It was as if its very soul had dissipated.

He hadn’t even detected any soul entering or leaving the specially sealed Secret Realm. ’It just escaped right under my nose, without a sound?!’

But before that thought could fully settle, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH! One after another, splinter souls burst from the bodies of the watching Elders and Direct Disciples, shattering like fireworks.

At that moment, Jiang Qiu sensed the aura of countless BaKis disintegrating and was startled. ’So many backup bodies, and I didn’t notice any of them before?’

’Wait a minute...’

’If these were backup bodies, its main soul was already exposed. Why would it reveal its splinter souls now?’

’There’s no need for them all to escape at once.’

’Could it be that it really died?!’

’Soul annihilation!’

As this idea shot through his mind, Jiang Qiu suddenly recalled the recent conversation. He hadn’t noticed anything unusual. Xue had jumped in with a couple of sentences, and then BaKi had just dropped dead.

"Senior Brother, why are you suddenly looking at me like that?" Xue blinked, her slender, jade-like hand touching her own mask. "Is there blood on my mask? Is it too dirty?"

"Do you have any idea what just happened?" Jiang Qiu asked, his eyes narrowed with curiosity. "When BaKi died, did you feel anything... special?"

’Logically speaking, the two of them had undergone a great fusion. Their souls were connected to the point of being two souls in one body. No matter what happened, they should have shared the experience, but he hadn’t felt a thing just now.’

’He had just watched helplessly as BaKi died.’

"A special feeling..." Xue pondered for a moment, her eyes brightening. "I felt my heart start to race, and I want to be close to you."

"What kind of nonsense have you been looking at on the Yin Net again?"

Jiang Qiu put a hand on her mask as she flew toward him, and his entire arm was immediately wrapped in her soft hands as she snuggled against it.

’It seems she doesn’t really know what happened to her either. BaKi’s sudden death was probably related to her background from a past life...’

"We can get close later. For now, let’s absorb the souls," Jiang Qiu said, releasing a pulse of his Vast Water Spirit Charm to push Xue away. "There are still a lot of people to deal with."

"Whatever Senior Brother says."

Xue gently pressed down on her bouncing chest and giggled. She shot into the sky like a bolt of white silk and raised her white-jade-like right arm. "Time to start absorbing."

Her whisper rippled outwards, and countless soul fragments swirled toward her, coalescing into a vortex. The Soul Power of those who had been killed could not escape and was now all in her hands.

Among them were the souls of Netherworld, the Supreme Elder, and BaKi.

Her eyes narrowed. Like a dragon devouring its prey, a ceaseless stream of power merged into her body. Simultaneously, Jiang Qiu’s soul trembled as his Realm in the Hundred Ghosts Dao skyrocketed.

And with it came BaKi’s memories from all its years of lying dormant in the Hundred Ghosts Sect...