Martial Soul Fusion Skill vs. Liu Erlong, Yu Xiaogang's Dirty Secret

The Hell Spirit Cat turned into a streak of deep-blue light, letting out a clear cat's cry as it shot straight into Fang Fan's Seven-Colored Light Sword like a swallow returning to its nest.

"Martial Soul Fusion Skill—Seven-Colored Nether Slash!"

The Seven-Colored Light Sword abruptly changed color the instant it merged with the Hell Spirit Cat.

A trace of pure darkness seeped into its endlessly flowing seven-colored radiance,

and light and darkness intertwined around the blade, neither repelling nor devouring each other.

Instead, they formed a symbiotic state so harmonious it was suffocating.

A ring of deep-blue radiance appeared along the edge of the seven-colored sword aura, while its Sword Intent gained the Hell Spirit Cat's unique sharpness and ferocity.

Fang Fan raised his sword one-handed, its tip pointing straight at the heavens, then slashed forward fiercely—

A massive seven-colored Hell Spirit Cat roared out from the sword's edge.

It possessed the Hell Spirit Cat's nimble body and sharp claws and fangs, yet its entire body shimmered with the brilliant radiance of the Seven-Colored Light Sword.

Deep-blue and seven-colored streams of light rippled across its body like water,

and every flicker of its halo released Sword Intent sharp enough to cut through anything.

The spirit cat raised its head in midair and swung its forepaw, five claw blades infused with Sword Intent and Nether power ripping through the air,

before colliding head-on with Liu Erlong's Raging Fire Thunderclap.

"Boom—"

An earth-shaking explosion erupted through the stone-paved alley.

The shockwave of intertwined flames and Sword Intent spread wildly in all directions. Countless cracks burst across the walls on both sides of the alley, and shattered stones rained down.

A scorched crater was blasted into the ground. The stone slabs around its edges had melted under the intense heat before rapidly cooling, leaving behind a glasslike sheen.

Liu Erlong only felt an irresistible force surge out from the center of the collision,

sending her staggering back seven or eight steps, each step crushing deep cracks into the stone slabs beneath her feet.

Her back slammed heavily into one side of the alley, and white plaster showered down over her head.

"How is that possible?"

Liu Erlong steadied herself and looked up at the other side.

That white-robed youth was still standing where he had been, one hand resting on the black-skirted girl's shoulder,

while the other held the Seven-Colored Light Sword, which still retained traces of Nether aura. His robes snapped in the lingering wind of the explosion.

There was even that lazy curve at the corner of his mouth, as if that strike had been no more than a stretch.

The full-force attack of a Level 78 Soul Sage had been shattered head-on by the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of a boy and a girl.

What shocked her even more was that she had clearly seen it—the Hell Spirit Cat was Zhu Zhuqing's beast Martial Soul, while the Seven-Colored Light Sword was Fang Fan's weapon Martial Soul.

How could a beast Martial Soul fuse with a weapon Martial Soul?

Yu Xiaogang stood behind Liu Erlong, his mouth wide enough to fit a fist, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

He had thought that once Liu Erlong acted, a Level 78 Soul Sage dealing with three juniors would be nothing but a complete rout.

But now, as he stared at the Seven-Colored Light Sword that still carried traces of Nether aura, every theory in his mind was collapsing madly.

Beast Martial Souls and weapon Martial Souls could not fuse—

That was an ironclad rule acknowledged throughout the entire Soul Master world, a conclusion he had written into the Ten Core Competencies,

and one of the foundations of his life's theoretical system.

Yet that sword strike had perfectly blended the Shadow Power of the Hell Spirit Cat with the Sword Intent of the Seven-Colored Light Sword.

It was not a simple stacking of attributes, but a genuine fusion that had reached the level of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

His theories had been punched full of another hole by this youth.

Zhu Zhuqing stood frozen in place and looked down at her hand,

then raised her eyes to the Seven-Colored Light Sword in Fang Fan's hand, which was still humming softly.

She clearly remembered the feeling from that instant—

Her Hell Spirit Cat had pounced into Fang Fan's sword as eagerly as a kitten finally finding its owner,

and it had not felt like being forcibly drawn out, but like willingly rushing toward him.

So her Martial Soul really could merge with his sword. It was not the shallow resonance from her dreams, but a true Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

The powerful resonance she had felt when she first saw his Seven-Colored Light Sword in the wasteland,

the intimate intertwining of the Hell Spirit Cat and the Seven-Colored Light Sword whenever they slept in each other's embrace—

So all of it had been building toward this moment.

Ning Rongrong's eyes widened as well, her green skirt swaying gently in the lingering wind from the explosion.

She had seen Grandpa Sword's Seven Killing Sword and Grandpa Bone's Bone Dragon, but she had never seen a beast Martial Soul fuse with a weapon Martial Soul.

First there had been the dark-attribute light sword, then Shadow Kill, and now a Martial Soul Fusion Skill—

Just how many more surprises was Fang Fan hiding?

Fang Fan casually spun the Seven-Colored Light Sword in a flourish. The Nether aura on its blade slowly dissipated, returning it to pure seven-colored radiance.

He looked at Liu Erlong, who had fallen against the wall, then glanced at Yu Xiaogang behind her, whose expression kept shifting, and spoke calmly.

This time, his gaze settled on Yu Xiaogang. His tone remained as calm and unruffled as ever,

yet his words cut precisely into the old wound Yu Xiaogang feared most to have touched.

"Liu Erlong, you don't know this, do you?

Back when you were getting married and were just about to marry Yu Xiaogang, Yu Luomian brought people in and broke you apart—

Do you know how Yu Luomian learned where you were?"

He paused.

As Liu Erlong's pupils suddenly widened and Yu Xiaogang's face went deathly pale,

he delivered the final blow:

"It was Yu Xiaogang himself who wrote a letter to notify his second uncle."

"Y-you... you're talking nonsense!"

All the color drained from Yu Xiaogang's face in an instant, leaving him paler than the plaster on the wall.

His lips trembled violently, and veins bulged on his forehead.

He sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on,

his trembling finger pointing at Fang Fan.

"What evidence do you have? This is slander!"

"Evidence? Don't you know perfectly well?"

Fang Fan did not even raise his eyelids much.

"Other than the two of you, only Flender knew the location and time of your wedding. But Flender was Liu Erlong's devoted simp, so he would never have told anyone.

Liu Erlong did not even tell her closest sisters, because she knew Yu Luomian would never approve.

Yu Luomian was thousands of miles away.

Without someone informing him, how could he have brought people to storm the church on the very day of the wedding?"

Liu Erlong's entire body shook violently.

The fragments of memory she had deliberately sealed away for over twenty years

were linked together by Fang Fan's words at this moment, forming a cold chain.

She remembered every detail of that day—

She had stood in the church wearing the wedding dress she had sewn herself.

Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows onto her body. It had been the happiest moment of her life.

Then Yu Luomian had burst in with a group of powerful clan members.

Before everyone, he announced that she was Yu Xiaogang's cousin, that she and Yu Xiaogang were uncle and niece, and that they could not marry.

She would never forget Yu Xiaogang's expression in that moment—

It had not been shock, nor fury, but a complicated look mixed with guilt and relief.

She had once believed that guilt came from his feeling that he had dragged her into this.

But thinking back on it now, that guilt might have meant something entirely different.

"Xiaogang..."

Liu Erlong slowly turned her head. Her flame-filled eyes were now frighteningly bright.

She stared directly at Yu Xiaogang, her voice hoarse and low.

"Was it you?"

The three words were soft, yet they struck Yu Xiaogang's heart like three heavy hammers, one blow after another.