Thwarted at Every Turn

Cao Ying and Dan Chen slumped to the ground, staring blankly at Xiao Yan's proud and upright figure, looking as if their minds had collapsed.

The two women had already exhausted all their strength, and even one more Soul Testing Bead would not be enough to withstand it, but Xiao Yan controlled those Soul Testing Bead to spin around, and his effortless manner made the two women feel a sense of powerlessness well up from the bottom of their hearts.

"Xiao Yan is still number one," Xuan Kongzi announced the result with a dull expression.

Back then Pill Gathering Xuan Kongzi couldn't beat Yao Chen at the Pill Gathering, and now his disciple Cao Ying has been crushed by Yao Chen's disciple Xiao Yan. This makes Xuan Kongzi feel that he made a mistake coming today and that he should have sent Xuan Yi instead.

"The final test requires demonstrating the aggression of the soul, which is also a good self-defense method for Alchemist. The five of you will enter this circle and fight using your Soul Power. Whoever is left in the circle at the end will be the winner," Xuan Kongzi said, pointing to a red circle ten feet in diameter.

Xiao Yan did not react, but the other four all turned their gazes to him.

After the first two rounds of testing, the situation is quite clear. Even if the other four join forces, they are no match for Xiao Yan. Now, they can only hope that Cao Ying and Dan Chen have some special methods.

"If there are no problems, let's go in over there!" Xuan Kongzi said calmly.

The five of them flashed into the red circle, but their positions drew cheers from the crowd.

In previous years, at this stage of the assessment, the participants would definitely scatter, with the five people occupying five different positions, maintaining distance, and each fighting their own battle.

However, Xiao Yan put too much pressure on the other four. They stood almost side by side, on the other side of the red circle, opposite Xiao Yan.

"Those two seventh-rank cultivators should give up on their own. Even the aftershocks are too much for you to handle. If your souls are damaged, you can forget about participating in the Pill Gathering," Xiao Yan kindly reminded them.

The representatives of the Bai and Qiu families hesitated. They were well aware of the vast chasm between the seventh and eighth ranks, but if Xiao Yan and Cao Yingdanchen restrained each other, they would not have a chance.

They were both unwilling to give up just like that.

"Alright, you can begin!" Xuan Kongzi called out, interrupting their hesitation.

Xiao Yan nodded to the four of them, then closed his eyes, revealing no trace of his aura, and quietly waited for their actions.

Even so, the other four dared not be careless in the slightest, and each controlled their Soul Power to surge out, first and foremost protecting themselves.

After a brief standoff, the group realized that Xiao Yan was indeed not making any moves, completely adopting an attitude of "I am invincible, do as you please."

The four tentatively gathered their Soul Power, creating a storm that crashed into Xiao Yan.

However, the storm vanished silently the moment it touched Xiao Yan, and the four of them didn't even realize what Xiao Yan had done!

Cao Ying frowned slightly, her jade-like hands quietly forming a hand seal. The immense Soul Power surrounding her rapidly condensed, transforming into a Phoenix.

As the Phoenix flapped its wings, space itself distorted, and even faint, subtle spatial cracks began to spread out.

Although the Phoenix is formless, its imposing aura weighed heavily on everyone's hearts, causing the Bai and Qiu families to hesitate.

"Go!"

Cao Ying pointed her jade finger lightly in Xiao Yan's direction, and a clear phoenix cry instantly resounded throughout the hall. The soul Phoenix then flapped its wings, creating a gust of wind, and rushed towards Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan glanced up slightly and noticed that this Phoenix seemed to have some real substance, reminding him of the Xiao Yan 'Phoenix Nirvana Land in the Scorching Volcano Range.

However, the difference between the two was like heaven and earth, so Xiao Yan only glanced at it before closing his eyes again, letting the invisible Phoenix crash into him.

As expected, the invisible Phoenix vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea, without causing the slightest ripple.

Cao Ying frowned even more deeply. During this collision, she vaguely sensed something unusual— Xiao Yan's ability to remain as steady as Mount Tai was not due to his Soul Power, but rather to an extremely scorching aura that could burn away Soul Power the moment they made contact.

This reminded Cao Ying of the Fallen Heart Flame, but the rules forbade the use of Dou Qi, and since her teacher Xuan Kongzi did not point out that Xiao Yan had violated the rules, Cao Ying could only suppress her doubts for the time being.

"Dan Chen, go and try to devour his Soul Power, but be careful. I just faintly sensed a scorching aura that annihilated my Phoenix," Cao Ying said hesitantly.

Dan Chen nodded and approached Xiao Yan like a butterfly fluttering, then carefully grabbed Xiao Yan's arm.

Xiao Yan instantly felt a tremendous suction force coming from the point of contact, but given Xiao Yan Soul Realm, he could ignore it.

So Xiao Yan didn't even open his eyes, letting Dan Chen exert all her strength, her little face turning red, without any reaction.

Dan Chen could only retreat helplessly and shake her head at Cao Ying.

Cao Ying took a deep breath, clenched her teeth, and slowly extended her slender, fair hand, which then formed another strange hand seal.

As the hand seal was formed, Cao Ying's vast and boundless Soul Power rapidly gathered in her palm, and a faint hand seal gradually took shape.

Cao Ying's hand seals changed like lightning. After a series of dazzling afterimages, the Soul Power gathered in her palm instantly solidified, and Soul Hand Seal similar to her palm slowly took shape.

However, at that moment, Xiao Yan suddenly opened his eyes, and several invisible flames instantly appeared in Cao Ying's palm, destroying several nodes in the hand seal. The hand seal that Cao Ying had painstakingly condensed was thus destroyed by Xiao Yan.

After doing all this, Xiao Yan closed his eyes again as if he hadn't done anything at all.

Despite the setback, Cao Ying's face lit up with joy. "He didn't let the handprint take shape! The handprint worked on him!"

Upon hearing this, the other three perked up, as if they saw a glimmer of hope in defeating Xiao Yan.

Without Cao Ying giving any instructions, the three of them simultaneously activated their Soul Power, launching a fierce attack on Xiao Yan to buy Cao Ying time to gather her hand seals.

Despite the combined efforts of the three, Cao Ying's painstakingly crafted hand seal was once again destroyed by Xiao Yan, who seized the moment it took shape.

"Xiao Yan, are you even a man?! Do you dare let me condense the Soul Profound Seal Palm into its full form?!" Cao Ying shouted angrily.

Xiao Yan merely raised the corners of his mouth slightly, without replying.

Cao Ying didn't know what Xiao Yan meant, so she could only bury her head and gather her hand seals again.

The other three also gave up their pointless harassment and focused their expectant gazes on Cao Ying, hoping that her attack would shake Xiao Yan's seemingly indestructible figure.

This time, Cao Ying finally succeeded in condensing the Soul Hand Seal into shape, which swept through space and charged towards Xiao Yan.

Just as the handprint was about to touch Xiao Yan's body, a vast Soul Power burst forth from between Xiao Yan's eyebrows, instantly shattering the tiny handprint!