How Could You Possibly Condense a Blood Soul?!

Just as martial arts novels had martial techniques, martial cultivators on the Cloud Soaring Continent had Combat Techniques as well.

After condensing a Blood Soul within one's body, one would produce a special energy known as Blood Soul Power. Normally, one cultivated and strengthened it by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth through breathing exercises.

Only by unleashing it through Combat Techniques could one make better use of the Blood Soul's power.

Of course, besides Combat Techniques, there were also cultivation arts. A good cultivation art could make one's cultivation smoother and faster.

However, what mattered most was one's comprehension of the Martial Dao. Whether Combat Techniques or cultivation arts, they were merely auxiliary means. The Blood Soul was the foundation—the stronger the Blood Soul, the stronger one's power.

Even with his Vampire physique, which gave him confidence that he could face someone at the late stage of Spirit Martial Tier Three while only at the early stage of Spirit Martial Rank One, that was merely a judgment based purely on the strength of their power.

At the same cultivation level, having Combat Techniques and lacking them made an enormous difference.

"The Combat Techniques and cultivation arts of the Cloud Soaring Continent are divided into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow. I won't even think about Heaven Rank and Earth Tier ones. Forget Wuzhou City—even the entire Jiangnan Circuit might not have them. The Li Family does have one or two Mystic Tier Combat Techniques, but those things are probably beyond the reach of anyone but the Lineage's core upper echelon. I need to find a way to get hold of a couple of Yellow Tier Combat Techniques to practice!"

The four ranks of Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow were each further divided into three minor grades: low, middle, and high. Generally speaking, Rogue Cultivators without backing found it difficult even to obtain Combat Techniques, much less cultivation arts that could increase their cultivation speed.

However, as one of Wuzhou City's Three Great Families, the Li Family did not lack such things.

Of course, even the Li Family only possessed some Yellow Tier Combat Techniques and cultivation arts. Most were low- or middle-grade Yellow Tier, while high-grade Yellow Tier Combat Techniques were rare. Even if they existed, the Lineage would treasure them carefully.

As for Mystic Tier Combat Techniques, there were only rumors of them. No one knew whether the Li Family possessed any.

"Looks like I need to find an opportunity to visit the Li Family and see whether I can get one or two books back."

Though Li Ye thought so, he knew the difficulty would be immense. As someone abandoned by the Lineage, he had no right to step into the family estate, much less ask for one or two Combat Techniques or cultivation arts.

"Cultivation arts aren't urgent. Given my current circumstances, as long as I drink the essence blood of martial cultivators, I can rapidly increase my Blood Soul Power. But without one or two Combat Techniques to keep at my side, this really is troublesome."

For three days, Li Ye spent every night slipping out cautiously, then finding those rogue cultivator mercenaries who did not look like good people and making his move.

He struck seven times. Li Ye had long investigated these people; they were infamous throughout Wuzhou City and were no good men. All seven were below Spirit Martial Tier Three. At night, Li Ye barely needed any effort to deal with them directly.

After drinking their essence blood, he successfully rose from the early stage of Spirit Martial Rank One to the late stage of Spirit Martial Rank One, only a single step away from a breakthrough.

Li Ye did not kill those people. However, having lost so much essence blood, they would be extremely weak for a long time. Their lives would not be in danger.

It was not that Li Ye did not want to eliminate them completely and cut off future troubles at the root. But when it came to truly killing someone, he still could not bring himself to do it.

That day, Li Ye sensed a trace of boiling turbulence in the blood within his body. This meant another breakthrough was about to arrive.

"Looks like it won't be long before I enter the early stage of Spirit Martial Tier Two."

The increase in strength from the early stage of Spirit Martial Rank One to its late stage was not great, only twenty or thirty percent. But once he entered Spirit Martial Tier Two, there would be a relatively large leap, raising his strength by at least more than double.

For Li Ye, who would soon face the annual family assessment, this was undoubtedly good news.

"At Spirit Martial Tier Two, I should barely be able to contend against someone at the early stage of Spirit Martial Tier Four. But if the other side has Combat Techniques to support them, I won't be their match."

Whenever he thought of this, Li Ye felt somewhat troubled.

Just as he was vexed by this, he had not expected someone to come knocking at his door.

"Li Ye! Get out here!"

A thunderous shout directly jolted Li Ye out of his thoughts.

His brows furrowed slightly. Someone had clearly come looking for trouble, but that was nothing unusual. From the memories in his mind, he knew that over the years, some people would come by every so often, taking pleasure in bullying him.

It could be said that if not for certain people fearing his nominal father, who had been missing without news for many years, he would have been slaughtered long ago.

When he pushed open the door and went outside, the first person he saw was Li Haoran, whose essence blood he had previously drunk. Yet upon seeing him now, Li Haoran no longer carried his usual arrogance. Instead, a trace of fear flashed through his eyes, and he avoided Li Ye's gaze.

Li Ye understood his reaction at once.

Some knowledge about Vampires in his mind told him that anyone whose essence blood had been drunk by a Vampire would instinctively develop a certain fear toward that Vampire. Li Haoran's behavior fully proved this.

Li Haoran no longer posed any threat in his eyes. Even now, Li Haoran was no longer worth Li Ye's attention.

However, beside him stood a burly young man who looked fifty or sixty percent similar to Li Haoran. Unlike Li Haoran's thin frame, this man was broad and muscular, his knotted muscles bulging in strips. His expression was fierce, and Killing Intent glinted in his eyes.

"Oh, so it's you, Li Tianwu. Didn't your mother teach you to knock before visiting someone else's home? Shouting and yelling like this, I thought some wild dog in heat had come running out to disturb people's sweet dreams!"

He was no longer the weak and cowardly youth he had once been. Now that he had successfully condensed a Blood Soul, Li Ye was brimming with confidence.

As for the burly young man who had appeared here, Li Ye only needed one glance for everything about him to surface in his mind.

Li Tianwu, Li Haoran's half-brother from the same father, was also the Third Elder's grandson. Yet unlike Li Haoran, a worthless playboy who only knew how to fool around with women, Li Tianwu had shown much more promise. Although born to a concubine, he had worked hard since childhood and possessed decent talent. At only twenty-one, he was already at the late stage of Spirit Martial Tier Three. Among the Li Family's younger generation, his strength was considered fairly good.

However, like Li Haoran, he bullied the weak and feared the strong. He had secretly harmed many fellow clansmen and women without deep backgrounds, and resentment had long boiled over. Unfortunately, his backing was powerful. With the Third Elder supporting him, coupled with his decent talent, no one had dared touch him so far.

"Li Ye! You're courting death!"

Within the Lineage, aside from those few freaks, who did not treat Li Tianwu politely and yield him three points? Earlier, when he saw his younger brother return looking like a beaten bear, he had grown suspicious after questioning him. Only then did he learn that it was because of that useless trash who had been thrown out of the family years ago.

This left him half-believing, half-doubting. Could a piece of trash really turn the sky upside down and rise again?

Now, seeing Li Ye's attitude, rage immediately surged from his heart!

Without another word, he threw a punch. The powerful force of the fist blasted the air apart, showing just how terrifying its strength was.

At the late stage of Spirit Martial Tier Three, a casual punch was enough to shatter even hard granite! If it struck a human body, the lighter outcome would be shattered bones, while the heavier outcome would be ruptured organs and death!

Li Tianwu had clearly grown used to acting without restraint. His younger brother being bullied had already made his anger flare to the heavens. Now, seeing even this piece of trash whom he had once bullied at will shouting at him and mocking him as a wild dog, thick killing intent rose within him. Ignoring all consequences, he moved to kill!

"Trash! Don't think I don't dare kill you! That dead father of yours has been missing for so many years—maybe he already died somewhere outside! Without him, no one will care whether you live or die!"

Li Tianwu was not stupid. Li Ye was nominally the family head's son, but the family head had been missing for years, and no other elders had ever stood up for him. This was precisely the greatest reliance that allowed Li Tianwu, Li Haoran, and the others to dare bully Li Ye.

Seeing the other man's wild arrogance, Li Ye's eyes revealed a faint trace of killing intent as dense fighting spirit surged forth.

"I was just worrying that I didn't know exactly how far my current strength has reached. You came at just the right time!"

Li Ye felt that he was already at the edge of a breakthrough. Li Tianwu's arrival did not frighten him in the slightest. Instead, it excited him.

Facing Li Tianwu's punch, Li Ye likewise gave no ground and threw out a punch of his own!

"Courting death!"

Seeing that Li Ye, the publicly acknowledged useless young master, not only failed to show fear or despair but actually dared to fight back, Li Tianwu flashed a savage grin. He could already see someone's arm being broken by a punch and him howling on the ground.

Bang!

To everyone's surprise, when their fists collided, Li Tianwu, at the late stage of Spirit Martial Tier Three, felt a powerful force no weaker than his own travel up his arm. His expression changed, and he staggered back three or four steps uncontrollably.

Li Ye, meanwhile, merely swayed slightly and did not retreat.

The difference was clear at a glance! In terms of strength, Li Ye was actually stronger than Li Tianwu, who was at the late stage of Spirit Martial Tier Three! One had to know that Li Ye was only at the late stage of Spirit Martial Rank One! He was at least two major realms and four minor realms below Li Tianwu! The gap between them should have been at least four or five times!

"You condensed a Blood Soul?!"

Li Tianwu's expression changed drastically. In that punch just now, he had clearly felt the eruption of the most familiar Blood Soul Power. Moreover, an ordinary person could not possibly possess such great strength! Everything pointed to one conclusion: the useless trash whom he believed could never rise in his lifetime had actually lived to see the day when a salted fish turned over?

Li Ye gave a cold smile and did not answer. While Li Tianwu paused briefly from excessive shock, Li Ye instead closed in, brilliance bursting from his eyes as he threw another merciless punch.

Though Li Tianwu was shocked, his reaction was swift. Seeing the former trash erupt with strength not the slightest bit weaker than his own, a trace of alarm flashed in his eyes, but even more than that was savagery!

"So what if you condensed a Blood Soul! Could it be that I can't even deal with trash like you?!"

"Thunderclap Fist!" Clearly, shocked by Li Ye's drastic increase in strength, Li Tianwu put away his contempt and directly used a Combat Technique!