Battle Mage

After seeing that neither of them had any problems, Bibi Dong left the study and headed straight to the Pope's Palace to handle Government Affairs.

After Bibi Dong left, Jun Xuehan followed soon after, intending to visit the Library Pavilion and look through texts on Self-Created Soul Skills to see whether they contained anything helpful to him.

As Hu Liena watched Jun Xuehan leave, the anger she had felt that morning had already vanished. After all, Jun Xuehan had always been aloof and cool; it was understandable for him to speak a little too bluntly.

In the Library Pavilion, Jun Xuehan held a book and flipped through it continuously. At times, his eyes showed contemplation; at others, understanding.

After a while, Jun Xuehan closed the book in his hands, a faintly thoughtful look appearing in his eyes. Based on the insights into Self-Created Soul Skills and his own use of the Silver Dragon Spear, Jun Xuehan came to a conclusion.

Whether used individually or combined together, elements could be applied in battle. However, due to the inherent flaw of Jun Xuehan's martial soul, the current offensive power of his elements was not as strong as his Melee Combat abilities.

The advantage, however, was that they could be used for Ranged Attack, Single Target Attack, and wide-area bombardment. For example, creating a giant fireball or raining down a large swath of Fire Rain was still something Jun Xuehan could do.

Jun Xuehan: A new class—Battle Mage—was born.

Ahem, it seemed something strange had slipped in.

After returning the book to its original place, Jun Xuehan left the Library Pavilion directly. He planned to find somewhere to incorporate Elemental Attack into his techniques, allowing it to connect seamlessly with his Melee Combat attacks.

Finding an unoccupied spot in the rear hall, Jun Xuehan released his martial soul: the Silver Dragon Spear. One yellow and one purple soul ring flashed continuously beneath his feet.

Calming his mind and following his will, Jun Xuehan swung the Silver Dragon Spear through the air. Elemental light gathered within the Silver Dragon Spear as Soul Power flowed into it. With a horizontal sweep, Fire Rain condensed from the Fire Element spread out in a fan shape and shot forward.

Spear Flowers blossomed in midair. The Fire Element within the Silver Dragon Spear transformed into the Wind Element, and as the Silver Dragon Spear danced, Wind Blades condensed from the Wind Element continuously shot out in all directions.

Half an hour later, Jun Xuehan stopped swinging his silver spear and casually found a place to sit, quietly contemplating.

"Sure enough, the connection between Elemental Attack and Melee Combat attacks isn't very smooth. It doesn't have that flowing, effortless feeling." Jun Xuehan spoke softly as he withdrew the Silver Dragon Spear in his hand.

It was not that he did not want to continue practicing, but his Soul Power consumption was simply too great. Every time he attacked using elements, he consumed Soul Power. If he kept practicing, his Soul Power would likely be completely drained.

So, he needed to rest for a while, replenish his Soul Power, and then continue practicing.

Jun Xuehan sat cross-legged and entered a state of Meditative Cultivation.

An unknown amount of time passed.

When Jun Xuehan opened his eyes again, he was startled to discover a handsome middle-aged man sitting before him. The man wore a simple gray robe and appeared to be only in his thirties or forties.

Before Jun Xuehan could ask a question, an incomparably enormous pressure emerged from the middle-aged man and bore down upon him.

Aura Pressure was the pressure exerted by high-level soul masters upon lower-level soul masters through their presence. When the gap in Soul Power between two sides was too great, a high-level soul master could suppress a lower-level soul master through Aura alone.

It was not as though Jun Xuehan had never experienced Aura Pressure before. Back when he was at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he had felt the Aura Pressure belonging to Dugu Bo.

But Dugu Bo had released his martial soul at the time, whereas the middle-aged man before him had not even released his martial soul. Yet the Aura Pressure he produced was no weaker than Dugu Bo's—only stronger.

"Oh? Interesting." The middle-aged man looked at Jun Xuehan before him, a trace of surprise appearing in his eyes.

Generally speaking, a soul master who could withstand pressure equal to two-thirds of their own Soul Power was already considered quite good. If they could endure pressure equal to, or even exceeding, their own Soul Power, then they were a genius.

Yet from the very beginning, he had released Aura Pressure equivalent to that of a Level 22 Soul Grandmaster, but he had not even managed to force Jun Xuehan to release his martial soul.

The Soul Power pressure gradually increased. Jun Xuehan's expression had initially remained unchanged, but his brows could not help furrowing slightly.

When the Soul Power pressure rose to Level 28, Jun Xuehan felt an all-pervasive pressure, like invisible Shackles binding his body.

This pressure made Jun Xuehan feel extremely uncomfortable, but it was still within the limits of what he could endure.

When the Soul Power pressure rose to Level 30, the middle-aged man looked at Jun Xuehan, who still had not released his martial soul, and nodded slightly. "Very good. Your future is promising."

Although he said this, the pressure radiating from the middle-aged man showed no sign of being withdrawn. Instead, it continued to increase.

When the Soul Power pressure reached Level 33, Jun Xuehan felt a suffocating pressure like roaring mountains and crashing seas. The Silver Dragon Spear appeared in his hand, while one yellow and one purple soul ring flashed beneath his feet.

"What a powerful martial soul. It even carries traces of divinity within it." Surprise flashed through the middle-aged man's eyes, but he quickly returned to calm.

When the Soul Power pressure rose to Level 38, Jun Xuehan used the Silver Dragon Spear to support himself, barely remaining upright. The External Soul Bone: Silver Scale Armor appeared over his body.

When the Soul Power pressure rose to Level 42, beads of sweat continuously streamed down Jun Xuehan's forehead and dripped onto the ground. His straight body also bent slightly.

When Jun Xuehan was nearing his limit, the middle-aged man withdrew his Aura Pressure. He nodded in satisfaction and said, "Very good. Your future is promising indeed."

Hearing the middle-aged man's words, Jun Xuehan merely panted heavily and did not answer immediately.

After a while, Jun Xuehan's breathing finally steadied, and he slowly said, "Greetings, Great Worship Elder."

Jun Xuehan's voice was calm, and his eyes were filled with indifference.

The identity of the middle-aged man before him was not difficult to guess. This was the rear hall, and very few people could enter it. The Worship Hall was also adjacent to the rear hall.

Therefore, there was a high chance this middle-aged man came from the Worship Hall. Jun Xuehan had only been at the Pope's Palace for a short time, and there were hardly any people who knew of him.

The moment this middle-aged man saw him, he released Aura Pressure to test him, which meant he knew who Jun Xuehan was.

There were only three people he was familiar with in the Worship Hall. Two were elders of the Worship Hall, while the last was Qian Renxue. And the only person who could have brought Jun Xuehan to the attention of the Worship Hall was Qian Renxue.

The person in the Worship Hall closest to Qian Renxue was none other than the Great Worship Elder: Qian Daoliu.