Soul Emperor Awakening

An instant kill. It showcased not only Lin Xuan’s dominance, but the dominance of the Yulan Sacred Fire as well. In the past, his abilities would have, at most, severely injured his opponent and made them cough up blood. But now, paired with the Yulan Sacred Fire, a violent surge of its power had instantly turned Liao Sheng into an ice sculpture.

Once turned into an ice sculpture, he became extremely fragile. And just as expected, he was shattered in midair by the aftershock of the Extreme Point Inch Light. This dealt Liao Sheng a fatal blow, killing him instantly. Even the most top-tier Elixir Pills were now useless.

The man had been reduced to a pile of ice shards, making recovery seem impossible. How could he possibly still be alive? Even the highest-grade Elixir Pills required the person to have a breath left, or at least for the body to be mostly intact, to be effective. He had been turned into nothing but icy fragments; how could he possibly be resurrected?

This scene left Liao Yuan dumbstruck. His own brother had died in the blink of an eye—utterly and completely dead. He had never anticipated such terrifying explosive power.

"That power... it’s just unbelievable..." Wei Song stared at the puddle of icy fragments on the ground, a lingering fear in his heart. ’If that had hit me,’ he thought, ’I would have ended up the same way.’

Perhaps it was partially due to the Yulan Sacred Fire, but he felt the main reason was simply that Lin Xuan was incredibly strong! This was the first time he had ever seen Lin Xuan make a move, and who would have thought that he would instantly kill his opponent with Thunder Power.

"You... you actually killed my brother!" Liao Yuan roared, his eyes bloodshot with rage. The brother he had relied on his entire life had just died right before his eyes. How could he not be furious?

"When you decided to do this, you should have been prepared for the consequences!" Lin Xuan snorted, devoid of any pity. To him, these two deserved no sympathy. That was why his strike was absolutely lethal; leaving an enemy alive could prove fatal to himself.

Besides, the Liao Brothers had a history of doing such things; death was always going to be their final fate. Lin Xuan was merely serving justice.

"I’ll kill you!"

Liao Yuan lost all reason, abandoning the cold indifference an assassin should possess. He instantly ignited his own Essence Blood, spitting out a mouthful as it was completely unleashed. In that moment, his aura surged, forcefully raising his Cultivation by an entire Level. His eyes grew even more bloodshot, and the golden light from the claw-like Weapon in his hand blazed ever more brightly.

With a furious roar, Liao Yuan split into eight clones—the absolute limit of his ability, a feat that required him to burn his Essence Blood. The eight clones moved as one, their golden light so dazzling within the room that they looked like eight Golden Pearls strung together, utterly indistinguishable.

Illusionary Charm Domain!

A light flashed in Lin Xuan’s eyes as he enveloped Liao Yuan in his power. But unexpectedly, his opponent immediately shut his eyes, not daring to meet Lin Xuan’s gaze. The Secret Technique of the Demon Fox Race was easily broken; by simply closing one’s eyes and avoiding eye contact, the Illusionary Charm Domain was rendered completely ineffective.

The technique was nullified, but in exchange, Liao Yuan had lost his sight—an even more fatal disadvantage. He could now only rely on sound to judge his opponent’s position, but this was effectively meaningless. With Lin Xuan’s Cultivation, creating misleading sounds was trivially easy. Trying to fight based on hearing alone was a futile endeavor; even someone of Lin Xuan’s caliber wouldn’t be able to do it.

Relying on a single sound might be feasible, but with multiple sounds, it would be impossible to distinguish anything at all.

’Closing your eyes? That’s just asking to die!’ Lin Xuan hefted his Chi Dragon Heavens Rod, a cold light flashing in his eyes. No matter how many clones Liao Yuan created, they were meaningless to him. With the help of the Soul Pearl, he instantly identified the real body.

The other clones possessed some Elemental Power, making them virtually identical to Yuan Yi. Of course, Yuan Yi wasn’t something created by Qing Liuyun; it was a fundamental concept that had always existed, waiting for someone to be the first to grasp it.

FWOOSH!

Flames erupted from under his feet, followed by a wisp of azure smoke. In the next instant, he transformed into a streak of blue and red light, hurtling toward Liao Yuan’s true body at extreme speed. He was so fast that he became a long, dazzling ribbon of light in the air.

Just as Lin Xuan was about to strike, Liao Yuan snapped his eyes open. The first thing he saw was Lin Xuan’s real body hurtling toward him, completely unaffected by the illusion. But a mere instant later, he himself was plunged into an Illusion Technique.

As assassins, their Spiritual Power was by no means weak, but Lin Xuan’s was simply Heaven-Defying. Faced with a power on the level of a Fox King’s Realm, they stood no chance of escape. Unless one reached the Spirit Pill Stage Level, they would easily fall prey to this Charm Technique.

Liao Yuan paid it no mind. With a furious roar, his eight clones rapidly converged, surrounding the position where Lin Xuan had been. In that brief moment of clarity, he had pinpointed Lin Xuan’s location.

Facing the encroaching clones, a cold sneer played on Lin Xuan’s lips as he continued his charge. The scene that followed left Wei Song stunned. Lin Xuan didn’t dodge; he kept pressing his attack. But Liao Yuan’s assault seemed faster—the claws of all eight clones pierced into Lin Xuan’s body!

"Overconfidence leads to destruction! You’re still too green!" Liao Yuan’s claws had also plunged into Lin Xuan, and he could feel the solid, real impact of his strike.

"You’re the one who’s too green, idiot!" The impaled Lin Xuan sneered, then promptly dissolved into a wisp of azure smoke.

That smile made Liao Yuan freeze. He instantly realized he was the one who had been played! Before he could react, he felt a chill on his back as a terrifying force slammed into him. A wave of frigid power flooded his body, and his vision went black. The last thing he saw was Wei Song’s utterly dumbfounded expression.

CRACK!

Liao Yuan’s body shattered in midair, meeting the same fate as his brother. The outcome was inevitable, and entirely of their own making. If they hadn’t been so intent on killing Lin Xuan, he wouldn’t have attacked them without cause. No one goes around killing for fun. They had no one to blame but themselves for picking a fight with him.

"Th-that’s terrifying... Your strength is immense. Are you really at the Fourth Layer of Essence Pill Stage?" Wei Song swallowed hard, finding the result hard to believe. But reality was laid out before his eyes, leaving him no choice but to accept it.

Lin Xuan was, in fact, at the Fourth Layer of Essence Pill Stage, but his overall combat prowess far exceeded that Level. Combined with the terrifying Yulan Sacred Fire, he possessed the ability to instantly kill other experts at his stage.

Unless he faced an opponent who could completely suppress him, he had no fear fighting even those at the Eighth and Ninth Layers of the Essence Pill Stage. The ability to fight and win across such a massive gap in Levels was absolutely jaw-dropping; the disparity was simply too great.

In essence, Cultivation is like water. The higher the Cultivation, the more water one has. The Elemental Power consumed during an attack is like expelling that water. Thus, a higher Cultivation allows one to last longer in a fight. At the same time, their Elemental Power is more condensed, and the resulting power of their attacks is greater.

Lin Xuan’s Cultivation was not as high as his opponents’, but his foundation was incredibly solid, and his ability to control the density of his Elemental Power was far superior. His only weakness was that he couldn’t fight a prolonged battle of attrition. The higher the burst of power, the greater the consumption, so his stamina naturally couldn’t compare to those with higher Cultivation.

Relatively speaking, however, he felt no pressure facing a Cultivator who was merely a few Levels higher. ’If I can’t even handle this,’ he thought, ’then all my hidden aces would truly be wasted.’