Breaking One Rule

The third day.

Ye Xuan went out once.

He did not return until the middle of the night.

By dawn, something had happened in Suotuo City that shocked the entire city.

A pile of Soul Masters' corpses had been left in the center of Suotuo City. Most notably, all of them were criminals who had committed heinous deeds, and nearly all were well-known figures in the city.

Beside the pile of corpses stood a sign.

It read:

"Criminals who commit heinous deeds will be shown no mercy by Spirit Hall."

When the people of the city saw the words on the sign, the ordinary citizens all celebrated. Some Soul Masters with wicked intentions were also cowed and temporarily put their schemes aside.

Among the crowd of onlookers were two people Ye Xuan knew.

They were none other than Flender and Yu Xiaogang.

Looking at the sign, Flender asked in confusion, "Xiaogang, do you think someone from Spirit Hall did this?"

"If someone else had done it, why would they hand the credit over to Spirit Hall?" Yu Xiaogang naturally didn't believe anyone would do such a good deed and then give away the credit.

"Those people aren't particularly strong, but they were hiding in the city. Finding them wouldn't have been easy for just anyone. I suspect that kid Ye Xuan did it," Flender surmised.

"He's in Spirit Hall. If he's only helping Spirit Hall with things like this, that's fine. I'm just worried he'll do something else, too," Yu Xiaogang warned.

"Ye Xuan doesn't seem like that kind of person. Xiaogang, why are you so hostile toward him?" Flender couldn't understand why Yu Xiaogang inexplicably disliked Ye Xuan.

"He's definitely no good. He's just better at hiding it," Yu Xiaogang said.

"Why?" Flender asked, unconvinced.

"Instinct," Yu Xiaogang replied.

Spirit Hall Main Branch.

One of the subordinates hurried to find Sading and report what had happened.

"Interesting. This Young Master Ye really is capable of anything. We truly aren't worthy of speaking with them. I wonder how much longer it'll be before someone from headquarters arrives," Sading said with a sigh.

"Bishop, he went to the library again today. Young Master Ye is even more studious than I expected. He really is a strange one," the person reporting to him remarked.

"He truly is unlike anyone I've ever seen," Sading said.

Ye Xuan spent a month at Spirit Hall, reading every book there.

During that month, Ye Xuan guided Zhu Zhuqing in her cultivation, and she made astonishingly swift progress.

The reason Ye Xuan was so eager to finish reading all the books there was simple: he knew Sading and the others would send someone to notify Spirit Hall headquarters.

Spirit Hall headquarters couldn't simply ignore someone as unusual as him.

It was unclear whether Spirit Hall's people would let him stay here after they arrived. So he had to absorb all the knowledge here first.

After reading all the books, Ye Xuan had gained a great deal.

That day, he sat in meditation in his room, eyes closed as he sensed the laws of heaven and earth in this world.

After a long while, Ye Xuan felt his consciousness enter a hazy, gray space. In that space, a pair of cold, piercing eyes stared at him.

Suddenly, Ye Xuan felt a dark shadow rush toward him, moving incredibly fast and carrying a terrifying murderous intent.

Ye Xuan spun around at once. Sword energy gathered in his hand, forming a sword. With the sword in hand, he blocked the attacker's strike.

His assailant was a fierce-looking man. Alongside the terrifying murderous intent in his eyes was a trace of divine might, as if it were meant to make Ye Xuan submit.

Dark red demonic patterns covered his body. His eyes were bloodred, and he held a long, crimson sword.

His sword clashed with Ye Xuan's. After a brief exchange, the two retreated dozens of paces.

Ye Xuan stared at him and asked, "Who are you? No, what god are you?"

"I am the Asura God. I have come to eradicate a heretic." As soon as he finished speaking, he swung his sword and charged again.

His murderous intent froze into ice, surrounding Ye Xuan from all sides.

"Hmm? This isn't his true body." Feeling the sword strike coming at him, Ye Xuan understood at once. This could only be considered a clone of the Asura God, and it wasn't particularly powerful.

Besides, this was a world of the mind. Ye Xuan had no reason to fear him here.

Ye Xuan raised his hand and shifted his thoughts. Countless flying swords appeared in an instant and shot toward the Asura God.

Their swords clashed in midair. In moments, they had exchanged hundreds of blows, while Ye Xuan kept testing the clone's attack patterns.

After more than a dozen exchanges, Ye Xuan was certain this wasn't even a clone of the Asura God. It was more like a manifestation of this world's laws, whose sole purpose was to eradicate Ye Xuan, the heretic.

In turn, if Ye Xuan killed this "Asura God," he would break part of the rules, allowing him to wield even greater power.

After observing him for a moment, Ye Xuan stood motionless as the sword intent around him began to surge wildly.

At that moment, the "Asura God" merged with his sword and charged straight at Ye Xuan.

Just as he was about to reach Ye Xuan, the space and time around them suddenly froze.

The Asura God stopped in place as well. Ye Xuan's soul seemed to leave his body once more, appearing before the Asura God.

Ye Xuan raised his hand and pointed. Countless streams of sword energy burst from his fingertip and poured straight into the Asura God's forehead.

After a brief moment, the Asura God's body exploded. A rain of swords fell from the sky, and Ye Xuan's soul returned to his body in that space of consciousness.

Then the space of consciousness began to crack, inch by inch.

Power continuously spilled out from within, and Ye Xuan absorbed it all at once.

The power transformed into Soul Power. When Ye Xuan had obtained his Second Soul Ring, his Soul Power hadn't increased and had remained at level 20.

But the power he absorbed now was all Soul Power.

Ye Xuan's Soul Power instantly reached level 30.

If not for the restriction of his third Soul Ring, his Soul Power would have continued to rise.

Ye Xuan's rough estimate was that his Soul Power alone had probably reached the level of a Soul Saint.

Of course, improving his Martial Soul was secondary. More importantly, the restrictions on his own power had eased, allowing him to use more of it.

If he faced Tang Hao again now, he was confident he could win with ease.

He stood up and checked the time outside. It was already dusk.

Just then, Zhu Zhuqing's voice came from outside.

"Brother Ye, the bishop and the others are here to see you."

"I'm coming," Ye Xuan replied, then stepped outside.

When he reached the courtyard, Ye Xuan saw that besides Bishop Sading, there was also a Titled Douluo.

A sinister aura radiated from the Titled Douluo. Given his power and bearing, Ye Xuan immediately guessed who he was.

Bishop Sading hurried forward to introduce him. "Young Master Ye, this is Ghost Elder, from Spirit Hall."

"Young Master Ye, I am Gui Mei, an elder of the Hall of Elders. I've come from Spirit City to ask you about a few things." Gui Mei stepped forward and spoke in an indifferent tone.