Steadying the Heart, Stirring the Soul

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Qiu Yan unleashed a surge of power from his feet!

Boom!

With a deafening roar, the entire ground collapsed!

The Void-Driving Dao Lord and Qiu Yan, who were engaged in battle, both sank into the ground!

Those who witnessed the battle on the sidelines gasped.

With the Void-Driving Dao Lord, his imposing aura vanished. Hu Qi and Dai Guo finally recovered completely. They disregarded everything else, swayed, and arrived in front of Chen Yun, supporting him before looking at the collapsed ground.

"Was that really the Void-Driving Dao Sect? That's too strange. He was right in front of us, but when he fought the young master, the commotion was so great, yet we didn't see any of his energy dissipate to us?"

Looking at the collapsed scene, Dai Guo felt puzzled, a mix of fear and unease. They had seen the situation clearly; anyone who wasn't blind would know that Qiu Yan was at a disadvantage!

Hu Qi calmed himself down and replied, "Young Master Qiu and Void-Driving Dao Lord are both unparalleled masters with meticulous control over their power. Every bit of strength is contained within them and does not dissipate. Although we were close by, we were not affected."

At this point, he frowned. "However, what's truly strange is that this collapsed area appears to us as a large expanse of land, but once we shift our gaze, it seems to be confined to a very small area, as if space itself has been distorted."

After this period of secluded cultivation, Hu Qi's cultivation level surpassed Dai Guo's, and his insight also exceeded the latter's, noticing details that Dai Guo had overlooked.

The battle between Qiu Yan and the Void-Driving Dao Lord was extremely fast, happening in the blink of an eye, and it was also extremely dangerous. Just by looking at the scene on the ground, you could tell that it was not something an ordinary person could withstand.

The strange thing is that the two fought right in front of the temple and houses, only a few steps away from Hu Qi, Wang Yifu and the others, yet their massive battle formation didn't affect any of them. Instead, the collapse of the ground created a strange effect, as if the ground where the two were fighting had expanded out of thin air, but it didn't affect the surrounding area.

The most direct manifestation is what you can see with your eyes. You can feel that at least ten square meters of land has collapsed. But if you look around and compare it with the surrounding scenery, you will find that the collapsed area is very small, only enough for two people to stand side by side.

In this way, what the eyes see becomes disconnected from the actual situation.

Hu Qi had some knowledge, but he could only look for the reasons in what he knew, and he was also puzzled.

"The Void-Driving Dao's as its name, and its mastery of 'emptiness' is unparalleled. Although it primarily focuses on Life Cultivation and secondarily on Nature Cultivation, it takes a different path, using one's own reality as its foundation to develop a set of methods. It can create and control a temporary space through Martial Dao Will and Martial Dao Spirit! The energy that erupts in that space is difficult to detect from the outside."

At this moment, Chen Yun recovered from the pressure and said something that cleared up their doubts.

But these words caused Hu Qi and Dai Guo to change color drastically. "So, our young master has fallen into the control of the Void-Driving Dao Lord? What should we do? By the way, Brother Chen, do you know what level of cultivation the Void-Driving Dao Lord possesses?"

Chen Yun did not answer, but raised his hand and held up four fingers.

Hu Qi and Dai Guo's faces turned deathly pale.

Boom!

The ground shook, the soil churned, and the entire ground trembled. The group felt as if they were standing on a ship's deck, sensing an impending crisis and a sense of unease pounding in their hearts.

"Go!" Hu Qi and Dai Guo didn't waste any time. Each of them grabbed one of Chen Yun's shoulders and quickly retreated!

Everything happened too fast, and they didn't have time to react. Although Chen Yun explained the abilities of the Void-Driving Dao, they still dared not be careless. If they were to let their guard down, it would be a matter of life and death!

With this retreat, they found themselves in the woods a dozen or so feet away in the blink of an eye.

In the distance, Wang Yifu and the others were also startled by the tremors beneath their feet and ran as fast as they could. However, their cultivation had been crippled or their powers had been sealed, so their running speed was no different from that of ordinary people.

"You two, why don't you go and help them?" Chen Yun said after a moment's thought.

"Help them?" Dai Guo's eyes widened. "It's good enough if they don't kill them!"

Chen Yun let out a breath and then said, "If he wanted to kill, Brother Qiu would have done it long ago. Why go through all this trouble? I haven't known Brother Qiu for long, but I can tell that he's not someone who speaks without purpose. Everything he does is planned. Since he's letting Wang Yifu and the others study and farm, he must have his reasons. How can he change his mind because of the current situation? You two mustn't ruin his plans."

"Young Master Chen is right," Hu Qi nodded and stepped out. "Leaving aside our young master's plan, Wang Yifu's earlier words alone are enough to impress me. Bringing them here is a piece of cake, what's there to argue about? Given their situation, can they really cause any trouble? Besides, if the situation turns unfavorable, a few more of them won't make a difference."

As he spoke, he leaped and landed in front of Wang Yifu and the others. Then, he waved his hands, releasing his True Qi, which propelled Wang Yifu, Tong Shou, and the others to quicken their pace. A few breaths later, they returned to the Lin Zhong.

"Thank you for your help, Brother Hu." Wang Yifu composed himself and bowed respectfully.

Hu Qi shook his head. "No need to be so polite, it was nothing."

After these words were spoken, both sides fell silent. The situation was complex, and it was difficult to distinguish friend from foe, so neither side wanted to say more.

In Hu Qi's and the others' view, Qiu Yan had already fallen into a disadvantageous position, the situation was not good, and they were feeling heavy-hearted, so of course they had no intention of speaking.

As for Wang Yifu, he felt that his sect leader's cultivation was profound, and that even if Qiu Yan had the means, he was no match for him. Just as he was about to escape, he became anxious and uncertain. On the other hand, when he recalled the scene when Qiu Yan appeared earlier, he felt a little worried and was unwilling to speak.

As a result, both sides' gazes fell upon that strange, twisted, and sunken ground.

The tremors had stopped, and the surroundings were completely silent; you could hear a pin drop.

The silence brought an unspeakable sense of oppression, settling in the hearts of several people.

What is the current state of the battle?

Boom!

The body of the Void-Driving Dao Lord sank rapidly, pressed downwards by the powerful impact!

Wherever his body passed, his Martial Dao Spirit spread, and the soil changed accordingly, becoming a distorted landscape!

As he sinks, he must also guard his mind, expelling the distracting thoughts and Thought Fire that are eroding his body, shaking them off to prevent any potential problems.

Immediately afterward, a massive figure charged down from above, swinging its enormous fist and slamming it down!

Crackling! Crackling! Crackling!

The Martial Dao Spirit along the way was shattered by the aftershocks of the punches!

The Martial Dao Spirit is on the same level as the methods of Nature Cultivation, but the methods of cultivation are a level higher than the Dao Arts!

This Martial Dao Spirit combines the Kidney Fire, Core Fire, will, and True Essence of a Fate Dao, enabling it to interfere with Yin-Yang and yang, project the image in one's mind, which is equivalent to interfering with reality with the physical body! It is truly unpredictable!

The method of the Void-Driving Dao Emptiness is based on oneself and the control of illusion. The teachings of the Way clearly state that everything except oneself is real and can be regarded as false and controlled.

The Great Void-Reality Rotation Art embodies this idea. It blurs the lines between illusion and reality, using the Martial Dao Spirit to create this distorted space, directly manipulating the surrounding soil, changing its properties, and enveloping and compressing Qiu Yan to refine him into a pill!

However, the situation then changed. Although Qiu Yan was trapped, he did not lose his ability to resist. Instead, he collapsed the ground, causing the two of them to sink, and then released the berserk Heart Ape.

The Heart Ape, formed from distracting thoughts, was restless and easily angered, constantly igniting flames. Its combat power was in no way inferior to that of a cultivator in the Fourth Realm. It was locked in a Void-Driving Dao Lord Master, who for a moment had no energy to pay attention to Qiu Yan, who was enveloped in Ethereal Mud!

"This Qiu Yan, what bizarre methods! The ferocious ape he visualized far surpasses the combat power of the Third Realm cultivator, comparable to the Fourth Realm cultivator! How did he do that? Could he possess some kind of great treasure?"

While thinking, the Void-Driving Dao Lord still had to endure the bombardment of the raging ape. The Heart Ape seemed to be a visualization, but it was not. It was brought out by Qiu Yan after he subdued Scholar Forest. Its instincts were amazing. It was controlled by Qiu Yan with his mind, and even his Divine Soul was trapped inside. A continuous stream of divine power gushed out from the Soul Aperture to maintain his energy consumption. It was already equivalent to a master of the Fourth Realm!

Moreover, the incident happened so suddenly that the Void-Driving Dao Lord was quickly suppressed in his haste!

However, despite the ferocity of the Heart Ape and the endless stream of Thought Fire, the Void-Driving Dao Lord was no pushover either. Needless to say, his Divine Ability were beyond question, and his Martial Dao Spirit technique was so masterful that even when the Heart Ape shattered his body and struck him, his body would sometimes disperse, like gas!

"The cultivators of the Fourth Realm are indeed unexpected. I wonder if their physical condition is due to their Cultivation Method or something unique to their realm." With his Divine Soul focused on his Heart Ape, Qiu Yan had a clear grasp of the battle situation. After noticing the changes in the Void-Driving Dao Lord, he had some thoughts.

His current physical body hasn't even reached the Third Realm yet, so naturally he can't understand the changes in the Fourth Realm. However, he has fought with cultivators in the Third Realm and subdued and captured several experts, so he is not unfamiliar with the Third Realm of Life Cultivation. He knows that in the four stages of the Third Realm, the first stage can give birth to Kidney Fire and the Seven Souls Transformation, while in the second stage, after condensing the False Core, the body can change its nature depending on the Cultivation Method. For example, Tang Lai once transformed into a stream of water and traveled freely.

While thinking and controlling his Heart Ape to fight against the Void-Driving Dao Lord, Qiu Yan was also paying attention to the changes in his physical body.

The essence of the Heart Ape is distracting thoughts. Even if it is impacted and damaged, it will not affect its combat power. However, the physical body is currently wrapped in illusory mud, which is constantly squeezing it, causing the muscles and bones to crack.

The ethereal soil is different from ordinary soil. It has been tainted by the Martial Dao Spirit and controlled by the Martial Dao Will, and its nature has changed. Although Qiu Yan's physical body is tough, being wrapped up like this puts him in imminent danger.

This crisis originates from the instinct of living beings and is a response to external crises. It does not change with the level of cultivation. In addition, after the Divine Soul leaves the body and the flesh is squeezed, the sense of crisis spreads uncontrollably, accumulates and increases, and finally approaches the critical point!

The final result was...

Break out!

But what erupted was not Qi and Blood, blood, True Qi, or primordial qi, but seven Soul Shadow that traversed through flesh and bones!