Su Yun's Martial Soul

Su Yun held his aim, the silver Desert Eagle reflecting a bone-chilling glint in the sunlight.

A wisp of smoke curled up from the muzzle.

He didn't hurry to holster the gun. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and gently blew on the still-hot muzzle.

"Whoo—"

The smoke dispersed.

Then, with an incredibly nimble flick of his wrist, he spun the heavy, oversized handgun around his fingertips in a dazzling flourish.

"Click."

The crisp sound of it sliding into its holster.

Truth was back in its place.

Su Yun raised a hand to adjust the Sunglasses on his nose. The corner of his mouth curled in a nonchalant smile as he said coolly,

"Beyond seven paces, a gun is faster. Within seven paces... a gun is both accurate and fast."

"Gulp."

Red Hair swallowed hard. His legs gave way, and this time, it wasn't to curry favor—he was genuinely too terrified to stand. With a thud, he collapsed onto the ground.

The three lackeys behind him had gone deathly pale. They stared at the black leather holster at Su Yun's waist, their eyes filled with fear of the unknown.

That instant when the Soul Beast's head exploded had hit these street thugs, who had only ever seen Soul Skills used in brawls, far too hard.

"B-Big brother..."

Green Hair tugged at Red Hair's sleeve, his voice trembling.

"Just now... did you see that clearly? There wasn't any Soul Power fluctuation, and he didn't even build up power... That iron tube went boom, and the four-hundred-year-old Soul Beast's head was gone?"

Red Hair shakily climbed to his feet. He'd originally wanted to cling to Su Yun's leg, but when he looked at the holster, he didn't dare go near him.

He wiped away his cold sweat, his voice filled with deep reverence.

"What iron tube? That's a divine weapon! It's my adoptive father's secret ultimate weapon!"

"That was brutal... That move just now was... incredible!"

Blue Hair shuddered, and the way he looked at Su Yun changed completely.

If he'd called Su Yun his adoptive father before for the money, now the title carried far more reverence.

"From now on, anyone in Notting City who dares raise their voice at us, just take that iron tube—no, take Truth—and talk some sense into them! Adoptive father! That trick of yours... is insanely powerful!"

"Adoptive father is simply... both incredible and powerful!"

Tang San hadn't knelt, but he was every bit as shocked as Red Hair and the others.

He stared intently at the holster at Su Yun's waist, pushing his Purple Extreme Demon Eye to its limits as he tried to see through the leather and make out its construction.

"No Soul Power fluctuation... A purely mechanical weapon..."

Tang San's fingertips dug deep into his palms as his mind churned with shock.

"With that kind of power, even a Soul King defending with all his might would probably be pierced through in an instant. And it doesn't need to charge up or require complicated mechanical operations. All it takes is a single pull of the finger..."

"Big Brother Su is unfathomable! The force behind him must have mastered technology far beyond the Tang Sect's! My pride and joy, the Silent Sleeve Arrow, looks so... primitive in front of his Truth. Almost ridiculous."

At that moment, Tang San's reverence for Su Yun reached unprecedented heights.

Just as everyone was still reeling in shock, a rustling came from the tree.

"Cough, cough... cough, cough!"

Yu Xiaogang struggled down from the branches.

The Grandmaster was not only covered in soot from head to toe; the lingering stench of Luo Sanpao still clung to him.

But he paid it no mind.

The instant he landed, Yu Xiaogang glanced at the corpse on the ground. His eyes suddenly shone with the unmistakable gleam of someone eager to teach.

The battle was over. Now came the part where they absorbed the Soul Ring.

This was his moment to shine as a theoretician!

The Grandmaster's time in the spotlight had finally come!

Yu Xiaogang forced himself to straighten his back and clasp his hands behind him, striving to project an air of inscrutable wisdom and overpower the stench of farts clinging to him.

"Ahem, Su Yun."

The Grandmaster walked over to him, his voice serious.

"Though the battle is over, this is only the first step. For a Soul Master, hunting is merely the means. Absorption is the goal."

He glanced at the Void Shadow Rat on the ground. A flicker of wariness crossed his eyes, but he quickly replaced it with confidence.

"This Void Shadow Rat is space-type. For an ordinary Soul Master, absorbing its Soul Ring would be a near-certain death."

At that, Yu Xiaogang lifted his head proudly and swept his gaze over the others.

"But there's no need to worry. I, Yu Xiaogang, am here!"

"I'll guide you with my original Guidance Method! As long as you follow my theoretical steps to the letter, I'm ninety percent certain I can ensure your success!"

"Now, follow my instructions! Calm your mind! Sink your breath to your dantian!"

Su Yun looked at the Grandmaster, whose expression practically begged him to ask for guidance, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

He wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but he did need someone to watch over him.

He took off his Sunglasses and casually handed them to Red Hair, who was waiting nearby. Then he drew a deep breath, closed his eyes, and adjusted the flow of Soul Power within him.

"Whoo..."

As his breathing gradually evened out, Su Yun slowly opened his eyes. They were like two unfathomable pools.

He slowly rose to his feet and walked over to the headless corpse. Raising one hand toward empty space, he made a grasping gesture.

"Martial Soul, awaken!"

His low voice rang out like a great bell.

Hum—!!

A terrifying surge that made the very space around them tremble erupted from Su Yun.

It was a crushing force from another dimension.

The air before him shattered and warped like glass struck by a heavy blow.

As everyone watched in astonishment, a Light Gate a meter and a half tall appeared out of nowhere, its frame flashing with arcs of deep-blue lightning!

The doorframe was made of some sort of silver metal, and dizzying streams of data flowed across it.

But what made their hearts tremble most was the space within the frame.

It was a vast, swirling nebula, deep and profound, as though it held countless stars!

The nebula turned slowly, with meteors occasionally streaking through it. It seemed bottomless, as if it led to the deepest reaches of the universe—or connected to another great civilization.

This was the first time Su Yun had fully revealed his Martial Soul before people in this world.

"This..."

Tang San instinctively activated his Purple Extreme Demon Eye.

But under its gaze, the aura within the gate seemed as vast as the sea, utterly unfathomable.

Just one look made him feel as if the swirling nebula were about to draw his soul inside.

"This is Big Brother Su's Martial Soul?!"

Cold sweat ran down Tang San's forehead as he unconsciously took a step back.

"What terrifying pressure! This isn't a Beast Martial Soul, nor is it an ordinary tool-type Martial Soul... That gate seems to connect to some vast world beyond my comprehension!"

Red Hair and the others were dumbstruck.

Beneath the nebula's light, they felt as insignificant as specks of dust.

"There's... there's stars inside the gate!"

"Is that the gate to the Divine Realm? My adoptive father really is a god from the heavens!"

But no one's reaction was more intense than the Grandmaster's.

Yu Xiaogang stared at the Light Gate, trembling with excitement. His face, blackened in patches, flushed red, and even the finger he pointed at the gate was shaking.

"S-Space made tangible?!"

"A Mutated Martial Soul! This is definitely a top-tier space-type Mutated Martial Soul!!"

The Grandmaster's voice grew shrill with excitement.

"It not only has a tangible form, it also contains such pure spatial power! This even surpasses the bounds of an ordinary Martial Soul!"

"A genius! This is a genius who could change the history of the Soul Master World!!"

Yu Xiaogang frantically pulled out his notebook and began scribbling. The humiliation of being blasted by a fart and the bitter disappointment of having the gun steal his thunder vanished in an instant.

If he could guide a genius like this through absorbing a Soul Ring, his name, Yu Xiaogang, would once again resound across the continent!

"Quick! Su Yun!"

The Grandmaster's eyes were bloodshot as he shouted himself hoarse.

"While your Martial Soul is fully manifested, draw in the Soul Ring! This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity!!"

Hum—

Under everyone's gaze, the deep-yellow ring slowly floated up from the Void Shadow Rat's corpse.

A hint of purple glimmered within it, a sign that the Soul Beast had been close to five hundred years old.

Su Yun took a deep breath and followed the Guidance Method the Grandmaster had just taught him. He carefully controlled the yellow Soul Ring, slowly guiding it toward the deep-blue Star Gate.

Closer.

Closer still.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the sacred moment of fusion.

However.

The instant the Soul Ring touched the frame of the Star Gate—

Something unexpected happened!