Suppressing the Evil Soul

The entire venue fell deathly silent.

Everyone present abruptly widened their eyes, staring blankly at the arena as their breathing stopped completely.

A second Martial Soul! A Martial Soul-exclusive domain!

The scene was crystal clear, reflected unobstructed in everyone's eyes.

Immediately afterward, the domain's power silently spread, even more domineering than when it had first awakened.

His Heartbroken Red Domain had not originally been this powerful, but after his obsessions and hatred were amplified severalfold by the soul, both the domain and his Martial Soul had changed imperceptibly.

The stronger his emotions were, the stronger the domain became. The more clear-hearted and detached from desire he was, the less he could summon his Martial Soul.

This was not merely an advantage; it was also a flaw that could emerge at any moment.

In the arena.

The domain's power seeped layer by layer into everyone's minds, stirring the deepest desires buried in their hearts.

Below the stage, Ma Xiaotao, Gongyang Mo, and every instructor present felt it with the greatest clarity.

The instant the domain unfolded, their minds seemed to sink together into that boundless ocean of crimson illusion.

Ma Xiaotao was young and had spent years desperately suppressing the evil fire within her body.

This time, through constant cultivation, she had finally escaped the backlash of the evil fire, and her cultivation path had never been smoother.

Her Soul Power had advanced by leaps and bounds, even faintly surpassing Yue Ling. She had secretly taken pride in it and enjoyed her companions' recognition and admiration.

At that moment, she instinctively lifted her snow-white neck arrogantly, even thinking of comforting Yue Ling later over his lower Soul Power.

But the next second, endless scorching evil fire suddenly erupted from the depths of her Soul Power, crazily burning her meridians and soul.

Intense pain instantly swept through her entire body!

Ma Xiaotao could not help letting out a shrill scream as overwhelming terror engulfed her heart.

She desperately tried to call for her teachers and companions, but no matter how she opened her mouth, she received not the slightest response.

She could only remain alone, trapped in that blazing sea-of-fire illusion, endlessly enduring the agony of evil fire gnawing at her heart.

On the other side, Gongyang Mo looked frail and gentle, but his resolve was exceptionally tenacious.

Ever since his Martial Soul awakened, he had hidden an obsession and unwillingness deep within his heart.

He envied those Spirit Masters who possessed powerful assault-type Martial Souls and could fight head-on.

Although his Rainbow Dragon was a noble and rare dragon-type beast Martial Soul, blessed with extraordinary natural talent, and dragon-type Martial Souls were never weak, he was ultimately only an auxiliary Spirit Master.

Here, his Martial Soul had mutated into an incomparably powerful assault form, allowing him to experience the thrill of wielding ultimate power and fighting without restraint.

During that time, he had fought alongside Yue Ling and Ma Xiaotao, claiming the Freshman Elimination Tournament championship. Countless teachers had favored him, and students his age had praised him.

Applause and acclaim came one after another. For a time, he had become flamboyant and confident, and the pride in his heart had reached its peak.

But that glory was fleeting, and his Martial Soul eventually returned to its original auxiliary form.

To possess it briefly and lose it so suddenly—the gap had become the deepest obsession and regret in his heart.

The Heartbroken Red Domain Yue Ling released at that moment was extraordinarily unusual.

It could not be blocked by Soul Power, shattered by spiritual skills, or used to restrain anyone's body. Everyone within the domain remained perfectly conscious.

Yet no one wanted to break free, nor could they bear to wake up.

The domain did not attack the body or destroy Soul Power. It merely drew out the deepest, purest obsessions and emotions hidden within one's heart with flawless precision.

Those with love in their hearts would drown in tender illusions; those with obsessions would sink into visions of fulfillment.

Only when every hatred, grievance, and regret in their hearts emerged, and that illusory fulfillment was utterly shattered, would the extreme sense of loss instantly engulf their bodies, becoming an invisible mental prison that locked tightly around every heart.

Sink into it...

Accept it...

Love and hate intertwined, truth and falsehood impossible to distinguish.

This was the true terror of the Heartbroken Red Domain.

Yan Shaozhe on the high platform felt it most thoroughly.

His pupils abruptly contracted, and his eyes flew wide open.

Within the illusion, the young Xian Lin'er, Cai Mei'er, and Feng Ling as she had been when he first met her—three figures he had thought of day and night—slowly appeared at his side.

Their brows and eyes were gentle. A faint springtime tenderness flowed through their gazes, light blushes spread across their cheeks, and their affectionate eyes all fell upon him. Each possessed her own charm and peerless beauty.

Yan Shaozhe's mind completely fell apart. He subconsciously dispersed his Martial Soul, his gaze locking onto Xian Lin'er, unable to move away even a fraction.

He slowly stepped forward, his hands trembling slightly as he gradually reached out, filled with guilt and regret.

"Lin'er, you... forgave me?"

Xian Lin'er's face was as tender as water. She did not answer or reach out in reply. She merely raised a hand lightly, lifted his chin, and gazed into his eyes with deep affection.

The tenderness in her eyes struck directly at the softest part of his heart.

Even though he knew everything before him was an illusion, his mind had long since sunk into it, completely controlled by the domain.

Cai Mei'er and Feng Ling slowly approached. Their gentleness lingered around him, warmth wrapped around his body and soul, making him willingly drown in it, unwilling to awaken.

Everyone in the venue had fallen into the illusion. Only Xuan Zi remained standing where he was from beginning to end, his mind as steady as a rock, without the slightest ripple.

After nearly two hundred years of life's vicissitudes, the world's love, hate, anger, infatuation, obsessions, and grudges could no longer easily shake his heart.

Xuan Zi's gaze was sharp as he stared unblinkingly at Yue Ling in the center of the black mist, not daring to relax in the slightest as he remained on guard against the Evil Soul's Remnant Soul causing an even more extreme upheaval.

No one knew that this Lovesick Heartbreak Red had been born from the world's most extreme devotion and obsession. It was innately capable of suppressing all evil, malice, and hatred, making it the natural nemesis of all darkness.

Within Yue Ling's Spirit Sea.

The surging hatred and evil aura that had originally filled the place, along with the Evil Soul's consciousness attached deep within his soul, were all drawn out by the power of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red.

The immortal flower's petals trembled gently. Like a whale swallowing the sea, they forcibly absorbed every negative force corroding his soul.

That black malice, enough to tear apart one's mind and corrode one's soul, was wrapped tightly by layers of crimson petals along with dense evil Soul Power, sinking layer by layer as it was continuously purified.

In the end, all the filthy evil power compressed and gathered, forming a blood-red Spirit Ring around Yue Ling.

This Spirit Ring was completely different from an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring obtained by hunting a Soul Beast.

A closer look made it clear that its color was deeper and more translucent, its crimson so vivid that it was breathtaking.

Xuan Zi had lived for nearly two hundred years and witnessed countless strange events across the continent, yet even he suddenly widened his eyes in utter disbelief, completely unable to comprehend the heaven-defying phenomenon before him.

Within the Spirit Sea, the Remnant Soul that had been roaring wildly and attempting to seize Yue Ling's body completely seemed to have crashed into its natural nemesis.

All the hatred, malice, and evil thoughts that supported and strengthened its existence were instantly drained by more than half!

"What?! Impossible! The power of my hatred... my soul power is weakening! My Soul Power... no—!!"

The Evil Soul's furious roar, full of unwillingness and shock, exploded through Yue Ling's Spirit Sea.

It had continuously grown by feeding on the hatred and negative emotions in Yue Ling's heart. It had been only one final step away from completely taking over his body and controlling it.

Yet no one had expected Yue Ling's Lovesick Heartbreak Red to use his own obsession to devour and suppress everything that formed the Evil Soul's foundation!

Having lost its supply of negative emotions, the Evil Soul's Remnant Soul power plummeted off a cliff. The body seizure and corruption that had nearly succeeded were forcibly interrupted completely.

Below Yue Ling's feet, the nine Spirit Rings that had just appeared from nowhere—one yellow, three purple, and five black—rapidly dimmed, faded, and dispersed layer by layer before vanishing back into his body.

The strange phenomena around him vanished, and his Spirit Rings returned to their original normal appearance: one yellow and two purple.

The gently glowing Lovesick Heartbreak Red hovered steadily in the air, locking tightly onto the remaining fragments of the Evil Soul. It forcibly suppressed that strand of evil power that had nearly emerged to wreak havoc, driving it back into the deepest part of the Spirit Sea and completely imprisoning it.

A weak, hoarse, broken voice struggled out from Yue Ling's dry throat, which was being choked.

"First Soul Skill, One Inch of Longing... One Inch of Sorrow, a Strand of Remnant Thought... Breaks the Heart."

"Grief..."

That newly formed blood-colored Spirit Ring suddenly lit up, and dazzling crimson radiance burst forth from the depths of Yue Ling's soul.

Countless faint, fragmented petal phantoms slowly drifted and spread throughout his Spirit Sea.

The power of ultimate solitude and ultimate grief instantly permeated every part of his body, leaving Yue Ling feeling hollow in the flesh and drained in the soul, as though most of his soul had been extracted in an instant.

He saw the moment the entire village rejoiced when he awakened Twin Martial Souls. He saw the moment Evil Soul Masters massacred the village. He saw the moment his parents fell.

Every image stabbed into his vividly beating heart like shattered mirrors.

This soul skill would never violently tear apart an Evil Soul directly, but it could turn the deepest longing and most painful obsession into invisible, intangible shackles.

Empowered by the domain, every crimson petal here wrapped around and restrained the fleeing fragments of evil thoughts with flawless precision.

It dragged every trace of evil power left behind by the Evil Soul Master, along with all the frenzied obsessions for slaughter, hatred, and plunder buried deep within it, into a boundless illusion of sorrow.

The black evil thoughts, which had originally raged violently and churned without end, instantly froze like ice, completely stagnating and solidifying.

"No... impossible! How could you have a Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring? This is impossible..."

The Evil Soul's Remnant Soul's roar grew weaker and duller.

Layer upon layer of crimson petals continuously tightened and wrapped around the struggling tide of evil thoughts, firmly binding it as they gradually erased its power.

Fine beads of cold sweat covered Yue Ling's forehead, and his face was as pale as paper.

His soul was enduring the extreme agony of the soul skill's backlash. The despair and pain of losing his parents as a child replayed over and over in his mind, crazily stabbing at his consciousness.

To hurt others was to hurt oneself first. The price of this soul skill was bearing the pain himself.

He clenched his teeth tightly, his jaw trembling faintly from the strain, and forcibly endured the double agony of his soul being torn apart as he continued to drive the soul skill's power and tighten every shackle.

The crimson petals filling the sky slowly drew inward and gathered, completely suppressing the final struggling Remnant Soul and every evil obsession in the deepest corner of his soul, forcing them into complete silence with no power left to cause trouble.

All the black malice raging through the Spirit Sea dispersed, leaving only that strand of Remnant Soul.

The evil fluctuations that had just been on the verge of completely losing control and seizing his body rapidly faded and dissipated at a visible speed.

Yue Ling's body trembled slightly, and the chilling, terrifying evil aura around him vanished without a trace.

He steadily held the blood-red Lovesick Heartbreak Red in his palm. That one-of-a-kind blood-colored Spirit Ring quietly hovered beneath him, gentle flowing light slowly circulating across it.

The emptiness and daze in his once lifeless eyes gradually faded, and clarity returned to them.

However, fine bloodshot veins filled his eyes, concealing the extreme exhaustion and ache left behind after a life-and-death struggle.

His consciousness had finally returned fully to his control.

The endless torment in the illusion, the Evil Soul's unceasing whispers and temptations, the despair of nearly sinking completely—all those scenes and all that pain remained vivid in his memory, engraved into his bones.

It had been his own second Martial Soul, this Lovesick soul skill that saved himself through himself, that had forcibly devoured, purified, and suppressed the Remnant Soul.

The Evil Soul Master had failed to seize his body, failed to emerge into the world to wreak havoc, and failed to harm anyone present.

Darkness faded, and light returned.

Yue Ling was still Yue Ling.

On the high platform, Xuan Zi's body, tense to the limit, suddenly relaxed, and the heart lodged in his throat finally settled.

The enormous Martial Soul phantom spread around him slowly withdrew into his body, and the terrifying pressure that had enveloped the entire venue gradually dissipated completely.

Overwhelming lingering fear churned in his eyes, along with shock so extreme that it could not be concealed.

Everyone remained immersed in the lingering aftereffects of the illusion. No one was awake.

No one had expected that in this life-and-death crisis, enough to overturn everything, the one who ultimately saved Yue Ling and defeated the darkness had never been anyone else, but Yue Ling himself.