Profound Heaven Soul Sovereign

Having broken through to Three-Stars, the Life Martial Soul had grown significantly, from one foot long to three. Emerald green leaves now sprouted from its willow-like vine, and these leaves were covered in abstruse, complex patterns.

The patterns were so abstruse and intricate that they made Ye Xuan feel dizzy just by looking at them.

Furthermore, for some unknown reason, Ye Xuan could clearly feel that his Life Martial Soul seemed incomparably hard, possessed of an indestructible, all-penetrating quality.

It was clearly a tender, emerald-green willow branch, yet it gave off an indestructible aura. The contradiction was so unsettling that Ye Xuan instinctively activated it.

To Ye Xuan’s astonishment, the Life Martial Soul above his head shot out with a SWISH. It transformed into a streak of green light and punched a small hole straight through the stone floor, as if piercing a block of tofu.

"How is that possible?"

Ye Xuan shot to his feet, crying out in shock.

As a Soul Refiner, Ye Xuan was all too familiar with the nature of Martial Souls.

What was a Martial Soul? In essence, it was a special form of energy that existed within the human body, similar to the bloodlines of the Demon Race.

There was still no universally accepted theory on the Celestial Profound Continent as to how Martial Souls were formed.

However, one popular theory among Soul Refiners was that Martial Souls were likely a form of genetic energy left behind by humanity’s ancestors countless years ago. Much like the bloodlines of the Demon Race, this energy could be awakened under specific conditions.

The Soul Refining Realm of the Celestial Profound Continent also held a few other consensus beliefs. For instance, a Martial Soul could not survive outside the human body, nor could it directly attack physical entities. It had to rely on Profound Power or Profound to launch an attack.

To put it simply, if a Martial Artist’s Martial Soul was fire, that fire couldn’t directly burn someone to death. At best, a Martial Soul was a unique type of soul power that could not affect the physical world.

Likewise, if a Martial Artist’s Martial Soul was a Yinfeng Wolf, that wolf couldn’t directly kill anyone either.

And yet, one often sees cases where a Martial Artist releases a fire Martial Soul and burns an opponent to death, or releases a Yinfeng Wolf Martial Soul and mauls someone to death.

This is because the user combines the power of the Martial Soul with their own Profound Power, giving the Martial Soul its offensive capability. Ultimately, the attack is still fueled by Profound Power.

But just now, Ye Xuan had clearly felt that he hadn’t channeled a single trace of Profound. The Life Martial Soul had pierced the ground on its own, as if it were a physical object.

’Could it be that the current theories about Martial Souls on the Celestial Profound Continent are all wrong?’

Ye Xuan couldn’t help but sink into contemplation. Of his three Martial Souls, both the Devouring Martial Soul and the Life Martial Soul had defied two fundamental principles of the Soul Refining Realm. This shocked him and forced him to wonder if those principles themselves were flawed.

’What exactly is a Martial Soul? What principles govern its formation?’

All of it left Ye Xuan, a former Eighth Grade Carefree Soul Emperor in his past life, feeling somewhat lost.

But he quickly snapped out of his reverie. In his past life, his focus on the Martial Dao and his premature death had prevented him from even reaching the level of a Ninth Grade Soul Emperor. There was no point in him pondering such profound theories about Martial Souls now.

What interested him more was the strength of his Life Martial Soul.

The floor of Xiuyi Pavilion was paved with Cyan Pattern Stone, which was extremely hard, equivalent to Tier Three materials. Yet his Life Martial Soul had pierced it with a single, effortless poke. Its attack power was clearly far beyond Tier Three.

To test the Life Martial Soul’s strength, Ye Xuan took out various materials of different hardness levels to test against it. The results left him dumbfounded.

Tier Four Profound Iron!

Tier Five Spiraled Steel!

Even Tier Six Obsidian!

Even the toughest Tier Seven materials couldn’t stop the Life Martial Soul’s piercing power.

Finally, Ye Xuan took out a Tier Seven Profound Soldier, which was finally able to offer some resistance to the Life Martial Soul.

’Incredible.’

Staring at the damaged Tier Seven Profound Soldier in his hand, Ye Xuan found it hard to believe. The piercing power of his Life Martial Soul was freakishly strong. An unactivated Tier Seven Profound Soldier was pierced in an instant. Only when activated could it offer some resistance and avoid being destroyed in a single strike.

This meant that if a Tier Seven Martial King were caught off guard by a sneak attack from the Life Martial Soul, he would likely be pierced through, even if he were wearing Tier Seven armor. He would be gravely injured, if not killed outright.

As for a Tier Eight Profound Soldier, Ye Xuan didn’t test it.

The hardness of a Tier Eight Profound Soldier was far greater than a Tier Seven one. Since an activated Tier Seven Profound Soldier could already offer some resistance, the Life Martial Soul certainly wouldn’t be able to penetrate a Tier Eight weapon.

But his Life Martial Soul was only at Three-Stars. Ye Xuan couldn’t begin to imagine how strong it would become once it broke through to Four-Stars, Five-Stars, or even Six-Stars.

Though shocked, Ye Xuan didn’t dwell on his Life Martial Soul any longer. Instead, he took out the Vast Light Grand Thousand Mirror and began cultivating with his eyes closed.

In less than two days, he would be refining the Emperor’s Heart Pill. He needed to sharpen his Profound Sense as much as possible in the limited time he had to ensure the refinement was a success.

He cultivated for several days. When Ye Xuan sensed that Elder Yao and the others were likely finished with their preparations, he finally emerged from his room.

"Manager Jiang Huarong, how are the preparations coming along?" Ye Xuan asked immediately, as Jiang Huarong was the first person he saw upon exiting.

"Young Master Ye, Elder Yao and the others have prepared everything. We’re just waiting for you," Jiang Huarong replied instantly. He then added, "But Young Master Ye, Steward Guan from the Household Registration Section has been saying he wants to see you for the past few days."

"Steward Guan?" Ye Xuan frowned.

Jiang Huarong gave a wry smile. "Yes. He’s been coming once a day to wait for you. In fact, he’s in the reception hall right now."

As far as they knew, Guan Wei was the only one who knew they were behind the Profound Light Pavilion. Furthermore, he was a steward in the Household Registration Section and had connections in the Celestial Capital Prefecture, which made Jiang Huarong quite worried.

"I’ll go see what he wants," Ye Xuan said, not knowing Guan Wei’s purpose and not bothering to guess.

Led by Jiang Huarong, Ye Xuan soon arrived at the reception hall. Sure enough, Guan Wei was sitting there drinking tea, with Su Xiuyi keeping him company.

"Pavilion Master Su, if you have something important to do, please feel free to go. I’m fine waiting here by myself. You really don’t have to go to such trouble every time."

Guan Wei was speaking to Su Xiuyi when Ye Xuan entered. Hearing the footsteps, he immediately turned his head. His eyes lit up, and he walked forward respectfully. "Young Master Ye, you’re out of seclusion!"

Guan Wei’s attitude was extremely deferential; he didn’t seem to bear any ill will.

Ye Xuan scanned Guan Wei’s condition with his senses and smiled. "It seems the issue with your imbalanced Soul Yuan is almost resolved, Steward Guan."

"That’s all thanks to your guidance, Young Master Ye. If it weren’t for you... sigh. I’m afraid I would have died without even knowing why."

A trace of excitement colored Guan Wei’s face. After accepting Ye Xuan’s treatment and taking the medicine he’d been prescribed, he had felt his body make an astonishing recovery. Not only could he condense his Profound with ease again, but his Profound, which had been stagnant for over six months, had finally begun to advance once more. He was ecstatic.

Ye Xuan smiled and got straight to the point. "Steward Guan, is there something you needed to see me about?"

Steward Guan’s expression turned serious. "Young Master Ye, you must be aware of what happened at the trading center recently. I heard at the Household Registration Section that your Xiuyi Pavilion has been renamed to Profound Light Pavilion. I wanted to ask if your Profound Light Pavilion is the same one that was selling Venerable Pills at the trading center."

Su Xiuyi’s heart skipped a beat, and his eyes turned cold. ’Just as I thought. He’s asking about that.’

Ye Xuan’s brows furrowed deeply. He watched Guan Wei calmly, saying nothing.

Sensing the strange tension in the room, Guan Wei quickly waved his hands in a placating gesture. "Young Master Ye, please don’t misunderstand! I have no ulterior motives. I just want to confirm whether it’s true. As far as I know, there’s no such Profound Light Pavilion in or around the Celestial Capital Prefecture. The only exception is what you told me last time, that your Profound Light Pavilion was preparing to open for business..."

Ye Xuan listened to Guan Wei’s explanation, puzzled. ’Judging by his expression and tone, he doesn’t seem to have any ill intent. But why would he come here specifically to ask this question?’

Ye Xuan didn’t answer directly, merely frowning. "And what if it is? What if it isn’t?"

Guan Wei immediately explained, "It’s like this, Young Master Ye. You should know that my position as a steward in the West District’s Household Registration Section is only possible because I have a powerful backer. And the faction supporting me is an immense one."

Ye Xuan listened quietly. He still didn’t understand Guan Wei’s objective, but he was confident the man would continue.

Indeed, seeing that Ye Xuan wasn’t asking any questions, Guan Wei went on. "Pavilion Master Su has been in the West District for many years now; I’ve heard of him for a long time. However, as far as I know, his Xiuyi Pavilion is merely a faction of Loose Cultivators, without the backing of any great family."

Guan Wei looked at Su Xiuyi seriously. "Pavilion Master Su must be well aware of the difficulties a faction faces trying to develop in the Celestial Capital Prefecture without the support of a major power. This is especially true now that your Venerable Pills have caused such a commotion at the trading center, Young Master Ye. I can guarantee that a great many eyes are on you now."

"The faction behind me happens to have a certain interest in the Pill trade as well, so my intention is..."

"You’ve already told them about our Profound Light Pavilion?" Guan Wei hadn’t even finished his sentence when Ye Xuan’s expression turned grim, his voice dropping to an icy tone.

At the same time, a terrifying pressure erupted from him, seething with fury.