Soul Emperor Awakening

He unleashed the powerful Spirit God Technique, and it surged wildly in all directions. The Elders surrounding Lin Xuan tried to use their Spiritual Power to resist, but they were all easily overwhelmed as the attack tore viciously into their minds.

A sharp, intense pain made them scream and fall into a momentary daze. Seizing this opportunity, the summoned statues charged forward and landed heavy follow-up punches, sending the Elders flying! They were either gravely injured or killed. No mercy was shown.

Showing mercy here was tantamount to suicide. If he held back, his enemies certainly wouldn’t. Actually, on second thought, they *would* show mercy of a sort. Because his bloodline was so important, Xu Qianlong wanted to absorb his Bloodline Power, so they wouldn’t beat him to death.

At that point, death would be a luxury for Lin Xuan. It would be a fate worse than death. They would keep him alive, forcing him to provide his blood until the day he died of old age.

The mere thought of such a torturous existence sent a chill down his spine. That was why he would be absolutely ruthless to anyone who coveted his Bloodline Power. He would show no mercy!

"Block my path and die!" Lin Xuan’s gaze turned cold as his Soul Power swept out once more. No one dared to get near him.

This was the power of a Soul Attack. He could launch a ranged, area-of-effect attack without even lifting a finger, and it was completely invisible. It could be defended against, of course, but their abilities were simply not enough to block it.

Lin Xuan’s body was only at the Spirit Pill Stage Level, but the Soul Power in his mind had reached the standard of the Core Formation Stage—or more accurately, the standard of a Sixth Grade Pattern Master. Calling it Core Formation Stage standard wasn’t quite right, because even some cultivators at the Core Formation Stage had weaker Soul Power than Lin Xuan.

Compared to Martial Intent, Soul Attacks had both pros and cons. The pros were their invisibility and strong penetrating power. The cons were that they could also be easily defended against. Even if an opponent’s Soul Power was weaker than Lin Xuan’s, they could use their Elemental Power or treasures to block it. It was even possible to cause a backlash against the attacker.

Attacks using Martial Intent, while more obvious, excelled in their brute force. Even if an opponent shattered the attack, the user wouldn’t suffer any backlash. Soul Attacks were different. When two clashed, the loser’s soul would be damaged.

It was a life-or-death struggle!

Meanwhile, Hai Qingdong had quickly swallowed an Elixir Pill and was beginning to recover from the damage to his soul. More accurately, the pill stabilized the excruciating pain. The agony had been nearly unbearable, but the actual damage to his soul wasn’t enough to completely stop him from moving.

"You’re not getting away!"

Hai Qingdong roared. The moment he felt even slightly better, he charged forward. He threw out an enraged palm strike, sending the Golden Dragon King statue flying. Its chest caved in, a clear display of his tyrannical power.

Lin Xuan knew this advantage wouldn’t last long. He immediately dashed downstairs. He had been fighting while trying to move toward the exit the entire time, but with so many people in the way, his progress was slow. By the time Hai Qingdong flew into a rage, Lin Xuan had already charged down from the upper floor.

It was no small feat to break out of the Divine Seal Pavilion. Unless his Cultivation reached the Core Formation Stage or the Void Spirit Level, he would find it nearly impossible to break through the powerful patterns sealing the building. ’Besides,’ he thought, ’if my Cultivation really was at the Core Formation Stage or higher, I wouldn’t be the one running away. It’d be Hai Qingdong and his lackeys.’

He didn’t bother with the statues, leaving them upstairs to run interference. He had a large supply of Five-Colored Spirit Wood in his Storage Ring, so he could simply create a new batch once these were destroyed. He wasn’t worried at all. Before returning, he had received a great deal of Five-Colored Spirit Wood from Tuo Shengfeng, so he had no concerns about being wasteful.

"Hold them all back!"

A glint flashed in Lin Xuan’s eyes. He commanded his six statues to block the way, sealing the exit from the upper floor so that Hai Qingdong and his men couldn’t get down—at least not for a little while.

"Burn!"

The Phoenix Fire within Lin Xuan’s body blazed to life. He hurled it at the bookshelves on the second floor. The Phoenix’s Immortal Fire immediately latched onto the shelves and began to burn furiously, consuming everything.

He knew the books on these shelves were all copies, not the originals. Still, he wanted to create a bit of chaos. He was here to cause trouble, after all, so destruction was a perfectly fine goal. His only real objective was to acquire the Spirit God Technique; everything else was irrelevant.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to venture deeper into the pavilion, but he lacked the status to do so and would have been easily found out.

As he burst out of the Divine Seal Pavilion, his eyes fell upon the familiar figure of Sun Zhe. His gaze turned cold as he gave chase, easily catching up to him. "Long time no see," Lin Xuan said with a faint smile. "Been keeping well?"

Sun Zhe’s heart pounded. He turned his head, and his eyes filled with terror. He never imagined Lin Xuan would escape so easily. He immediately broke into a full sprint, not daring to utter a single word in reply. He even grabbed a nearby disciple and hurled the poor man toward Lin Xuan.

"Harming your own sect-mates. You really will stop at nothing, will you!" Lin Xuan snorted. He casually batted the thrown disciple away and was instantly back at Sun Zhe’s side. He sneered, "What’s wrong? A moment ago, you were talking about getting revenge. Well, I’m right here. Weren’t you going to harm the women in my life? Here I am. Go on, make your move!"

"I... I was just joking..."

Sun Zhe had lost all will to fight. Lin Xuan was simply too Heaven-Defying; he had no power to resist whatsoever. ’A wise man knows when to yield,’ he thought, immediately changing his tune. In his heart, he hated Lin Xuan to the very core, wishing he could devour his flesh and blood, but the problem was that he was no match for him now.

He could only beg Lin Xuan to let him go. Only by surviving could he ever hope to get revenge! If Lin Xuan crippled him again with a single palm strike, any chance of that would be gone for the rest of his life.

"A joke?" Lin Xuan grinned, but his expression was utterly chilling. "Sometimes, you have to pay the price for what you say. You can’t just claim it was a joke and walk away..."

The words had barely left his mouth when he thrust his palm toward Sun Zhe’s chest. Sun Zhe could only watch in horror as the palm descended, wanting to defend himself but finding he was far too slow.

THUD!

With a muffled thud, Sun Zhe was sent flying. He spun several times in mid-air before crashing to the ground and rolling to a stop, already unconscious. A faint blue Palm Seal was imprinted on his chest. The Yulan Sacred Fire was surging wildly through his body, destroying his meridians and his Dantian!

His future in Cultivation was over. Unless he could somehow obtain an extraordinary elixir, like a Top Grade Five-Colored Lotus, he would never recover.

Lin Xuan hadn’t killed him. For someone like Sun Zhe, living was far more painful than death.

Sometimes, a person has to pay the price for their words. You can’t just say whatever you want, and you certainly can’t make certain "jokes."