Soul Emperor Awakening

"If there’s a profit to be made, why not make it?"

Lin Xuan’s words stunned Lan Sheng. This was a blatant provocation, practically declaring that Lin Xuan was certain to win, not him!

"Looks like you’re pretty confident in yourself. What about your Puppetry Technique? Your Phoenix? Go on, summon them all!" Lan Sheng pulled a long staff from his Storage Ring. It was covered in dense patterns that flickered with a red light, like a pair of bloodthirsty eyes in the dead of night.

This was an extraordinary Top Level Spiritual Artifact, and its price was considerable. He wanted the Cloud Return Technique and the Chi Dragon Heavens Rod. He had always cultivated Staff Techniques; otherwise, he wouldn’t have tried to buy them.

There weren’t many people who used a long staff as a Weapon, but they weren’t rare either. Spears were a far more common choice. A spear, with its pointed tip, definitely had slightly more destructive power than a staff, which was why most people used spears instead of staves.

"I don’t need any of those things to deal with you..." Lin Xuan lightly swung the Chi Dragon Heavens Rod in his hand, warming up a bit. He looked at Lan Sheng and said indifferently, "We’re both using staves. To use anything else would be an insult to myself!"

’Below the Lin Family, there are no true Staff Techniques! Therefore, since we’re both using staves, I won’t resort to any other aids, not even a Soul Pearl. To deal with this Lan Sheng, I don’t need any Soul Possession. I’m more than enough on my own.’

"An insult? You’ve got the nerve to say that! It seems you’re tired of living!" Lan Sheng pointed his staff at him and roared, "I was originally just going to injure you, but now it seems I’ll have to break your legs before you realize who you’ve provoked!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Lan Sheng raised his staff and charged at Lin Xuan. Having been pampered since childhood, he had never been so insulted and was easily enraged.

The full power of the Third Layer of the Essence Pill Stage erupted from him. His fair arms suddenly swelled, and even the muscles throughout his body bulged. He instantly grew taller, his clothes stretching taut as explosive power radiated outward.

This was a unique ability of the Demon Cloud Sea’s inhabitants: they could drastically increase their strength for a short period. It wasn’t that their strength was lacking to begin with; rather, when they fully unleashed it, they could slightly raise their own physical limits!

Li Wei, who had been chasing him, was the same. When he had unleashed his full power, his speed had surpassed even that of a Tiger Fish. He swam faster than others could fly, all thanks to that explosive strength.

"Celestial Level Martial Arts, Wandering Dragon Enters the Clouds!"

Lan Sheng roared, raised his staff, and brought it smashing down toward Lin Xuan’s body. A dragon’s cry roared out from the staff, which seemed to transform into a red Giant Dragon coiling around his arm. Combined with his explosive strength, the downward swing bent the entire staff into a half-moon shape, like a writhing red dragon about to tear into the spot where Lin Xuan stood.

In mid-air, the space around the staff distorted from the vibrations of this terrifying force. Sheer power alone was almost enough to shatter space itself!

"Cloud Return Technique!"

Lin Xuan rapidly activated the Cloud Return Technique. The blood in his body began to circulate wildly, all of it flowing into his right hand. In an instant, his arm swelled, and every vein bulged, looking somewhat terrifying. But on closer inspection, one could see terrifying Elemental Power flowing beneath the bulging veins, gathering together and being infinitely compressed!

The first time he activated the Cloud Return Technique, he felt most of his blood gather in his arm. He felt his strength increasing at an incredible rate, but more than that, the blood throughout his body began to boil. Not only did his arm turn crimson, but his entire body began to glow red.

It was as if a savage beast within him had awakened and was roaring wildly. At the same time, his strength skyrocketed, and faint wisps of white smoke began to rise from his skin. This phenomenon was rather subtle, so many people didn’t notice any specific change, only that Lin Xuan seemed different.

Down in the audience, the mysterious seller stared intently at Lin Xuan, his body trembling slightly, as if he had just witnessed something that shook him to his core.

Lin Xuan suddenly looked up. His eyes were filled with a red glow—it wasn’t killing intent, but the activation of his bloodline!

"Cloud-Entering Form!"

Lin Xuan gave a low roar and, without hesitation, thrust the Chi Dragon Heavens Rod upward. This most basic move remained unchanged. The moment he thrust it out, the crowd felt it was completely ordinary, and their reaction was mostly mockery.

"Going head-to-head with the Lan Family... Outsiders are really something else. The strength of us Demon Sea People isn’t that simple!"

"If you ask me, his arm is probably going to be shattered by the impact. He’s really overestimating himself."

"Whatever. This was expected anyway. Let Young Master Lan play with him for a bit..."

...

Mockery, endless mockery. They mocked Lin Xuan for his ignorance. Between Cultivators of the same level, the Demon Sea People were far stronger than outsiders. Having spent their lives swimming in the Demon Sea, they had long since adapted to its terrifying pressure, so their strength was naturally much greater than that of people from the outside.

Outsiders could barely move without using Elemental Power, whereas they didn’t need it at all and could still swim faster than anyone.

This mockery didn’t reach Lin Xuan’s ears. His gaze was fixed solely on Lan Sheng. The thrust of his Chi Dragon Heavens Rod was completely unadorned, but at the moment of contact, a burst of air exploded from the tip of the staff, as if it had truly pierced a layer of cloud! He had unleashed a force of nearly 300,000 jin.

BOOM!

Two ultimate forces collided. There was no earth-shattering explosion, just a pure confrontation of strength against strength. The staves crossed, each resisting the other, but one could faintly see that Lin Xuan’s thrust was beginning to gain the upper hand, bending Lan Sheng’s staff back!

’This—how is this possible!’ Lan Sheng felt that Lin Xuan’s strength was even more terrifying, and it was still rapidly increasing. At such close range, he could see the meridians all over Lin Xuan’s body bulge as a red light raced through them, a truly frightening sight.

"I refuse to believe I can’t overpower you!" Lan Sheng roared, unwilling to accept this. He frantically boosted the Elemental Power in his body, and his strength erupted once more. He had been holding his staff with one hand, but now he used two! In an instant, he turned his slight disadvantage around, raising his strength to a full 350,000 jin!

The two-handed grip instantly increased his power considerably, bending Lin Xuan’s upward-thrusting staff back down.

"Get lost!"

Lin Xuan snarled, the blood in his right arm circulating even faster. His power stacked layer upon layer as he pushed up heavily. In that instant, the Cloud-Entering Form he executed gained a crimson glow, as if it had been dyed by the blood in his veins!

An ultimate power erupted from his hand, instantly unleashing a force of nearly 400,000 jin. It was an increase of more than 100,000 jin from before, completely surpassing the power Lan Sheng had unleashed.

THUD!

Lan Sheng didn’t even have time to react before he was sent flying by the impact. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger had actually been torn open!

Lan Sheng had lost in a contest of strength!

The minds of the many spectators went blank. And he had lost to a kid at the Peak of the Spirit Refining Stage.