Soul Secret Arts

Inside the cave...

"I've received an unknown signal. It expresses an intent to come to the interior of Center Island," Chunqiu said, clinging to Chen Beixun's shoulder.

"The interior of Center Island?" Chen Beixun asked, feeling both suspicious and cautious.

"Make contact with it and see if you can extract any useful information."

"Understood."

Chen Beixun frowned slightly, rubbing the Gold Soul Stone in his hand as he pondered, "An Immortal-level treasure must be fraught with danger. If I can receive the signal, others can too."

"Better to be cautious."

"Master, three Universe-level beings are approaching from the distance. The strongest among them has reached the sixth rank of the Universe level!" the Demon Island Vine communicated via consciousness.

Chen Beixun was startled at first, then ordered, "They are likely just passing through. Continue monitoring. The moment they cross the warning line 24 kilometers out, kill them immediately!"

"Understood," the Demon Island Vine replied.

Chen Beixun stood up, several flying blades circling him, his gaze sharp as lightning. "Regardless of anything else, I am determined to obtain this Immortal treasure!"

Chen Beixun said coldly, "Chunqiu, how far away is it?"

"52 kilometers!" Chunqiu replied.

"Hmm." Chen Beixun nodded, then glanced at the tiny red tendrils emerging from the armor on his body and said, "Don't be impatient, Demon Island Vine."

"40 kilometers!"

"35 kilometers!"

Chen Beixun's gaze turned icy, his hands clenching; the flying blades hovering around him vibrated slightly.

"23 kilometers!"

"Demon Island Vine!" Chen Beixun shouted, waving his hand to unleash the second stage of the Tianqu Cone, which struck out toward the three figures in the distance.

The Demon Island Vine armor on his body expanded instantly, extending countless vines that reached straight into the clouds.

"What is that?" The three figures in the air halted, and the burly man in silver-white armor exclaimed in horror.

"An Undying realm being!" The female martial artist among the three turned pale with fright and turned to flee.

Emperor Jing, the calmest of the three, hurriedly shouted, "Come back! Emperor Yun!"

A white dot, resembling a falling star, flashed past—it was the Tianqu Cone, striking toward Emperor Yun with overwhelming momentum.

Emperor Yun had no time to react; he was instantly obliterated by the Tianqu Cone, his shredded flesh and fragments of black armor scattering in the air.

A thick, pungent scent of blood filled the nostrils of the remaining two.

The Tianqu Cone did not strike at them, which struck the pair as strange.

"Emperor Jing, what should we do now?" the burly man transmitted via voice.

Emperor Jing stared at the distant Demon Island Vine, his heart unable to calm down for a long time, while the Tianqu Cone behind him emitted waves of unbearable, piercing shrieks.

"Deliberate taunting?" Emperor Jing wondered, but upon seeing the movements of the Demon Island Vine, he exclaimed in shock, "Encirclement!"

"Emperor Meng, it seems we are going to fall here."

Emperor Jing's face stiffened; he lowered his head slightly, his gaze drifting toward the scarlet Demon Island Vine tendrils.

"That is Emperor Jing," Chen Beixun thought to himself as he stepped on the Gold Cloud Shuttle, flying rapidly through the air.

"I will kill, or let the Demon Island Vine do it; just leave one alive for interrogation."

Chen Beixun's hand tightened involuntarily, and the Demon Island Vine armor on his body grew dim due to the massive separation of its mass.

Chen Beixun was clearly not one for womanly kindness, yet he was not entirely heartless either. It was just that fate was cruel; to seize the opportunity for a breakthrough, he had no other choice.

I also want a stable life, and I also want to make a few life-or-death friends to adventure with!

But now, I only want to seize the treasure here! Who lives or dies is none of my business!

Chen Beixun's eyes were incredibly firm, his teeth gritted as he communicated with the Demon Island Vine via consciousness.

"Demon Island Vine, finish off whichever one you want; leave the other to me."

"Understood, Master!" the Demon Island Vine replied.

Dozens of massive vines separated Emperor Meng and Emperor Jing, the terrifying shockwaves causing the air to ripple.

"Damn it!" Emperor Meng swung his battle axe at the scarlet vines. A burst of explosive sound echoed through the space, and Emperor Meng's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the axe handle remaining in his hand; the head of the axe had already shattered into several pieces.

"This!"

Emperor Meng glanced at the scarlet vines to the side, a sense of unease welling up in his heart as he spat out a few words.

"Wait—"

The Demon Island Vine had not expected this insignificant creature to dare speak up. Without waiting for Emperor Meng to react, the scarlet vine lashed out at him with extreme speed, like a snapping ship's hawser.

"Ah!"

Emperor Meng was sent flying by the sudden strike, unable to stop himself from crying out.

The Demon Island Vine did not relent in the slightest, its vines whipping frantically. Each strike was powerful enough to split mountains and shatter the earth; if the Demon Island Vine had wanted to, it could have killed him in one blow, but right now, it was merely toying with him.

Emperor Jing hovered in the air, his golden pupils fixed intently on the Demon Island Vine. The moment he heard the cry from Emperor Meng, his heart turned to ash.

At this moment, Emperor Meng had already been reduced to a mist of blood, with only a hand still gripping the handle of an axe left lying on the ground.

I... I must survive. If I die, what will become of my kin? Emperor Jing roared internally.

His eyes darted around, his face ashen. The veins on the hand gripping his massive hammer bulged; had the hammer been made of any other material, it would have long since been ground to powder.

Suddenly, a thunderous shout rang out.

"Emperor Jing!"

Upon hearing the voice, Emperor Jing froze for a split second before reacting. His gaze turned electric as he pinpointed the location, then he exploded into motion, flying to strike down Chen Beixun.

Chen Beixun moved his telekinetic power, stepping onto the Gold Cloud Shuttle to retreat backward.

Emperor Jing missed his mark, but within a second, he shot forward again to attack Chen Beixun.

If I can control him, perhaps I can force those vines to hesitate, was the only thought in Emperor Jing's mind.

From the moment Chen Beixun spoke to the moment Emperor Jing attacked, less than 0.2 seconds had passed.

"Death throes!" Chen Beixun's gaze turned cold as he unleashed a soul-based secret technique.

Three crystals within his sea of consciousness silently drilled into Emperor Jing's mind.

Emperor Jing's pupils dilated in shock, and he desperately channeled his soul-defense technique, the Starry Sky Tower, to block them.

The formation formed by those crystals could do nothing against the Starry Sky Tower that guarded his soul.

"A soul-defense technique!" Chen Beixun's eyes widened in astonishment, and he immediately stepped onto the Gold Cloud Shuttle to flee.

He looked at Emperor Jing in the distance, surprised, "This guy actually possesses a soul-defense technique!"

"Demon Island Vine, keep him contained," Chen Beixun commanded.

He thought for a moment, "I was being foolish. How could he possibly escape?"

"Heh, this is the perfect chance to practice the Twilight Art!" Chen Beixun unleashed his full combat power, forming a grand array with nine crystals that relentlessly assaulted the Starry Sky Tower.

With a thought from Chen Beixun, the nine crystals aligned in a row, like a fleet of warships, and slammed into the Starry Sky Tower. The tower merely vibrated slightly, remaining a steadfast guardian of the soul.

"Such high intensity!" Chen Beixun's gaze faltered, and he immediately summoned the Tianqu Cone, manipulating it to fly and strike at Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing stood his ground with his eyes closed. Sensing a wave of killing intent, he snapped his eyes open and met the attack head-on with his massive hammer.

Blue electric arcs splashed across the frozen, snowy landscape. The world was dim and gloomy, with white stretching for a thousand miles, as two streaks of light—one white and one blue—collided within it.

Chen Beixun controlled the Tianqu Cone to execute the first layer of the Flying Wheel. The wheel tore through the air, accompanied by gusts of frigid cold.

Its sharp edges shimmered with a cold light, reflecting brilliantly in the dim, dark world, reaching Emperor Jing in an instant.

Emperor Jing transformed into a bolt of blue lightning to dodge, but the Flying Wheel turned ninety degrees to pursue him. Arcs of electricity danced wildly over Emperor Jing's body as he swung his hammer with all his might at the wheel.

The wheel and the hammer collided, the extreme cold and the lightning fusing into a thunderous ice sculpture that stretched from the clouds down to the ground.

The shockwave from their clash kicked up a snowstorm hundreds of meters high, sweeping in all directions like a tsunami.

Emperor Jing had lost an arm, his hammer lay in a deep crater in the ground, and half of his body was encased in ice.

Chen Beixun flew to Emperor Jing's side on the Gold Cloud Shuttle and said, "Give me the secret technique, and I will spare your kin, perhaps even protect them a few times."

Emperor Jing smiled faintly at these words and replied, "You could simply kill me and take the technique; why bother with this?"

Chen Beixun controlled the blades of the Tianqu Cone to surround Emperor Jing and said, "That was my intention."

"However," Chen Beixun stared coldly at Emperor Jing, "would you really carry the technique on your person?"

Naturally, Emperor Jing, who cared for his kin, would not. He had long recognized the unique nature of this technique and had hidden it in his tribe's treasury.

Chen Beixun had considered exactly this.

"It is in our tribe's treasury. I can have Elder Heng of my tribe retrieve it. I beg you, do not torment my kin," Emperor Jing pleaded.

Chen Beixun pondered for a moment and said, "Remove the protection on the technique! And do not resist."

Emperor Jing's gaze faltered. He swallowed hard and said resolutely, "Fine!"

An invisible force drilled into Emperor Jing's mind, lunging straight for his soul. After a brief soul-search, Chen Beixun raised an eyebrow.

"You truly did not lie to me. I will leave your body intact." Chen Beixun's expression was indifferent. The nine crystals in his sea of consciousness extinguished Emperor Jing's soul with lightning speed. Emperor Jing's eyes went blank, and he collapsed to the ground.

Chen Beixun looked around. Snowflakes drifted through the air, with a few electric arcs still jumping between them, illuminating the silver-clad, white wasteland below.