Ye Xuan hadn't expected Tang Hao to still be here.
He knew Tang Hao would be coming to Suotuo City soon, but he should have left after teaching Zhao Wuji a lesson.
He hadn't expected Tang Hao not only to stay, but to find him here.
Ye Xuan didn't refuse Tang Hao's request. On the contrary, he was a little excited.
During the five years he'd been trapped, he'd practiced his sword day and night, dying over and over again.
Those five years of cultivation had been equivalent to decades of cultivation for someone else.
Though he'd gained tremendous strength, once he came out, he couldn't find a worthy opponent to force him to give it his all.
And Tang Hao, who'd appeared just then, was perfect.
Though Tang Hao was only at level 95, he was definitely second in strength only to those few top old monsters.
"Good!"
Ye Xuan agreed readily, which made Tang Hao pause in surprise.
He'd thought the young man would refuse.
"Come with me." After speaking, Tang Hao headed straight out of the city.
With his strength, if he wanted to give it his all and unleash his power, the city was clearly an unsuitable place.
Tang Hao raced ahead, while Ye Xuan followed at an unhurried pace, never falling behind.
Before long, the two arrived at a deserted grove.
There, Tang Hao said, "I'm Tang Hao. May I ask your name?"
Tang Hao had introduced himself because he considered Ye Xuan a formidable opponent.
If he were merely teaching some junior a lesson, he naturally wouldn't have been so formal.
"Ye Xuan!" Ye Xuan cupped his fist in greeting.
"When you fought Zhao Wuji, you didn't use your Martial Soul. Where did your strength come from?" Tang Hao asked curiously.
"I have my own method of cultivation." Ye Xuan's meaning was clear: he wasn't going to tell him.
"Please!"
After speaking, Tang Hao released his Soul Power and summoned the Clear Sky Hammer into his hand.
One by one, his nine Soul Rings appeared.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black tinged with red.
The reason his ninth Soul Ring wasn't completely red was probably that he had planted Ah Yin.
Faced with his powerful pressure, Ye Xuan began to draw on the power within his body.
One-tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths...
When he had drawn on eight-tenths of his power, he suddenly felt as if something had fixed its gaze on him.
When he reached nine-tenths, it was as though a sword hung in the sky, ready to fall from above his head at any moment.
What's more, he now discovered to his horror that he couldn't draw on any more power from within his body.
I can't draw on all my power. Am I being restricted by this world's rules?
Ye Xuan was stunned.
By then, Tang Hao had already swung his Clear Sky Hammer and charged at him with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.
The immense power seemed to form a whirlpool, with Ye Xuan at its center.
Ye Xuan's expression turned grave. He urged his true qi, instantly blasting apart a small tree nearby.
His true qi quickly carved a wooden sword from the trunk, and it flew into his hand.
Gripping the wooden sword, Ye Xuan summoned his sword energy to block Tang Hao's attack.
The hammer came crashing down again and again, its power increasing with every strike.
Sword energy surged around Ye Xuan, and countless flying swords formed of condensed sword energy rose around the wooden sword in his hand.
As the sword energy clashed with the Clear Sky Hammer, it continually dispersed its force.
A moment later, Tang Hao finished his eighty-first strike.
"Just as I thought, I was right to seek you out. You're strong, but this still shouldn't be your limit." As he spoke, Tang Hao began to use the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes.
Every move contained the fury of a thousand jun and the force of ten thousand jun.
Ye Xuan raised his sword, drawing on the nine-tenths of his power he could currently access to unleash the Demon Flow Sword, renowned for its wild ferocity.
Frenzied sword energy poured from him, and every one of his deadly, razor-sharp moves struck to kill.
The two exchanged dozens of blows in midair. As hammer met sword, frenzied sword energy slashed dozens of wounds across Tang Hao's body. Ye Xuan's webbed hand was numbed by the force, and as he used the Demon Flow Sword, the world's restrictions grew even more obvious. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
The battle ended, and the two flew back in opposite directions.
Tang Hao put away the Clear Sky Hammer, paying no attention to the wounds on his body.
They were only superficial, and would heal quickly.
What he cared about more was Ye Xuan's condition.
After exchanging blows, he could tell that Ye Xuan hadn't used his full strength.
It wasn't that Ye Xuan looked down on him or underestimated him. He simply couldn't.
It was as if some power had restricted him. Tang Hao didn't know what it was, but Ye Xuan himself surely did.
Tang Hao thought it must have something to do with Ye Xuan's method of cultivation.
"Let's stop. You can't use all your strength, so there's no point in fighting on," Tang Hao said.
"Even if I can't use my full strength, it's still enough to deal with you," Ye Xuan said calmly.
If they truly fought to the death, he could even kill Tang Hao.
After all, he'd died in life-or-death battles more times than he could count.
To kill the Tang Hao of today, he could use Sword Twenty-Three.
Using that move might drain all the power he could currently access, but it would absolutely let him kill Tang Hao with a single strike.
After all, with everything frozen in place, Tang Hao wouldn't even be able to detonate his rings.
Of course, there was no need for that. Tang Hao wasn't his enemy.
"I believe you, but that wouldn't make for a satisfying fight. You're being restricted because of the cultivation method you practice, right?" Tang Hao asked.
"Yes." Ye Xuan nodded.
He actually had Tang Hao to thank. If not for their battle, it would probably have taken him a while longer to notice.
The laws of this world wouldn't allow a power like his to exist.
There were only two ways for him to freely wield all his strength.
The first was to transform his true qi into Soul Power and integrate it into this world.
The prerequisite was to use his sword to refine a new Martial Soul for himself.
Using that Martial Soul as a medium, he could absorb nine Soul Rings and should be able to reach level 99, becoming a Limit Douluo in one go.
But if he did that, then to become a god, he would have to follow this world's God Trial rules.
Ye Xuan naturally wouldn't accept that outcome.
As for the second way, it was to break this world's restrictions himself.
He needed to build on what he had now, comprehending and grasping new rules of his own, breaking this world's restrictions and allowing his own rules to merge into it.
That way, he would become a god as well. What's more, with his new rules integrated into this world, people here would also be able to cultivate sword techniques and follow the path he walked now.
This method would be difficult, because there was no one who could guide him. All he could do was figure it out on his own, little by little.
But fortunately, he had plenty of time.
He was still young, and the laws of this world wouldn't simply kill him.
As long as he didn't force himself to wield all his power, the world wouldn't forcibly kill him with its rules.
Using nine-tenths of his power already made him nearly invincible, so he could take his time studying them.
Besides, he now felt that he could also improve his Martial Soul a little.
Only by personally learning about Martial Souls and this world's power system could he better distinguish them from his own cultivation and, in turn, comprehend his Sword Dao.
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