Li Kainian

On the Cloud Soaring Continent, the strength of one's Blood Soul greatly influenced a martial cultivator's talent and potential.

However, without suitable Combat Techniques to complement it, one could never unleash ten percent—or even greater—explosive power.

Li Tianwu threw a punch, and it was unexpectedly accompanied by rolls of thunder. Though faint, they instantly made Li Ye feel a bone-piercing danger descend upon him.

Boom!

This time, Li Ye was blasted several meters back before barely steadying himself. Li Tianwu, on the other hand, sneered again and again, showing no mercy as he followed up with another punch.

"Trash! Don't think you can turn your life around just because you condensed a Blood Soul! Today, I'll cripple your Blood Soul and make you a piece of useless scum incapable of cultivation for the rest of your life!"

Li Tianwu was actually this vicious. The Blood Soul was a cultivator's foundation; once it was crippled, it meant being forever cut off from cultivation! This was even crueler than being unable to condense a Blood Soul from the start. Failing to condense one did not mean there was no hope for life, but once one's Blood Soul was crippled, one would truly become useless for the rest of one's life!

It seems I can't hold back any longer!

In terms of pure strength, Li Ye was not much weaker than Li Tianwu. Though he was currently only at the late stage of Spirit Martial Tier One, the gap between him and Li Tianwu, who was at the initial stage of Spirit Martial Tier Three, was almost negligible.

Unfortunately, Li Tianwu knew how to use Combat Techniques, instantly more than doubling his strength. This nearly made Li Ye unable to withstand him.

"Die!" Li Tianwu grinned viciously, completely disregarding the ancestral rule that members of the same clan were not to slaughter one another without cause. He had no intention of stopping.

At that moment, a voice that seemed to come from the void caused Li Tianwu's mind to pause slightly.

"Li Tianwu!"

Li Ye's eyes took on a dreamlike color. Within them seemed to lie a vast crimson ocean, eerie beyond compare. This was one of a Vampire's innate gifts: the Blood-Eye Art.

It was a soul-type attack—or rather, a spiritual Combat Technique—that could influence an opponent's mind. In severe cases, it could even drag them into a nightmare and directly destroy their soul!

Li Ye had only just mastered it, yet it unexpectedly produced such a miraculous effect.

The Thunderclap Fist Intent around Li Tianwu immediately scattered. He became dazed and lost, the killing intent all over his body vanishing as though he had turned into an idiot.

At that moment, he seemed to have fallen into some nightmare. Cold sweat covered his head, and his expression was filled with terror.

"Li Tianwu, you brought this upon yourself!"

Li Ye chopped heavily at Li Tianwu's neck. Without any surprise, Li Tianwu became Li Ye's next target for feeding on essence blood.

This was a martial cultivator at Spirit Martial Tier Three. His essence blood was countless times more vigorous than that of those mercenaries. After feeding on it, Li Ye, who had already been on the verge of a breakthrough, immediately shone with crimson light all over his body—the sign of a breakthrough.

At his heart, the mysterious Blood Soul crazily absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth from the outside before improving his entire body. The power of the Blood Soul within him increased more than threefold, rapidly opening up the eight extraordinary meridians.

Initial stage of Spirit Martial Tier Two.

Late stage of Spirit Martial Tier Two! It still had not stopped!

Peak Spirit Martial Tier Two! Finally, at peak Spirit Martial Tier Two, the power of the breakthrough was exhausted and came to a halt.

Thud!

With one punch, it seemed as if he could blast the air apart. This power was more than ten times stronger than before!

"It increased by that much?"

Ordinarily, advancing from the late stage of Spirit Martial Tier One to peak Spirit Martial Tier Two would at most triple one's strength. Why had his strength risen so drastically?

Furthermore, Li Ye felt that the Blood Soul power within him was far more abundant than that of ordinary people. It was no less formidable than that of someone at Spirit Martial Tier Four. This meant that he now possessed strength comparable to someone at peak Spirit Martial Tier Four.

"There's less than a month left. If I can break through once more, it should be about enough!"

With his current strength, fighting someone at Spirit Martial Tier Four would not be much of a problem. Even if the opponent possessed Combat Techniques, Li Ye still had a good chance of winning. But he knew that during the annual Li Family tournament, disciples below Spirit Martial Tier Four were merely going through the motions. The ones who truly drew attention were disciples at Spirit Martial Tier Five or higher. Only disciples at that level would enter the sight of those old fellows in the Lineage.

"Right now, I'm still a little lacking."

On the path of cultivation in the Cloud Soaring Continent, without a good bloodline, one was innately weaker than others. After beginning cultivation, without a good cultivation art, one's cultivation speed would be far slower than those who possessed one. In the entire Li Family, many cultivated Yellow Tier Mid-Grade arts, while a small number of elite disciples cultivated the Li Family's Yellow Tier High-Grade art, the Black-Yellow Art. Their cultivation speed was several times that of ordinary people.

Li Ye did not need to worry about that. He discovered that the growth of his Blood Soul power barely required any concern from him. Especially at night, his body automatically and frantically absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth like a black hole. Though the effect was much weaker during the day, he was cultivating every moment without pause.

One had to know that no cultivator could possibly achieve this. After all, people had seven emotions and six desires; they needed to eat, drink, relieve themselves, and sleep. Aside from certain cultivation maniacs, who would cultivate without stopping?

Yet he could, and he did not even need to cultivate himself. His body could cultivate directly.

That day, the bloody light all over Li Ye's body seemed about to solidify, and his aura surged once more.

After a while, his aura gradually stabilized. When he opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashed through them before vanishing.

After checking himself, a faint smile appeared on Li Ye's face.

"Spirit Martial Tier Three! Though it isn't as fast as feeding on someone else's essence blood, at this rate, it should still be much faster than cultivating the Li Family's Black-Yellow Art."

In merely one day, he had broken through from peak Spirit Martial Tier Two to the initial stage of Spirit Martial Tier Three. If this speed were spoken of, it would absolutely frighten people to death! Forget Yellow Tier High-Grade arts—even the rumored higher Black Tier arts could not produce such an effect!

Once again, he marveled at how a Vampire's constitution truly differed from that of ordinary people!

Just as Li Ye was preparing to go out, stretch a little, and find someone to test exactly what level his strength had reached, he suddenly felt the bedframe beneath him let out a crack.

Looking down, he realized that his recent breakthrough had caused the none-too-sturdy bedframe to snap and collapse.

"Damn it, Aunt Yun will definitely scold me if she finds out!"

Just as Li Ye was feeling troubled, he suddenly discovered that there was another space beneath the bedboard. A bundle seemed to be hidden inside.

"What is this?"

He reached in and pulled out the bundle. Opening it, he found a green-edged longsword over a foot long and a letter inside.

Drawing the longsword, he could tell that it was a rare divine weapon. Though its appearance was ancient and unremarkable, the blade gave off a thread of icy chill. It was certainly far sharper than those weapons supposedly forged from refined iron outside.

Setting the sword aside, Li Ye opened the letter.

The instant he opened it, the letter began to burn. Then, a terrifying will rushed straight into Li Ye's mind.

That will carried no malice. Otherwise, Li Ye's mind would have suffered a devastating injury.

"You still opened it."

A faintly weathered voice came from that will. For some reason, upon hearing it, Li Ye felt an incomparable sense of closeness.

Li Kainian?! His father?

It had to be! His intuition told him that this was definitely Li Kainian—the most outstanding genius the Li Family had produced in a thousand years!

"I don't know whether letting you come into contact with these things is right or wrong. But since you have condensed a Blood Soul and reached Spirit Martial Tier Three, perhaps this is also the will of heaven!"

This was a will left behind by a powerful expert using great divine abilities, leaving Li Ye immensely shocked. One had to know that even King Tier experts could not accomplish such a thing!

Could Li Kainian actually be an expert at a realm above the King Tier?

"I know you have many questions, but this is only a wisp of will I left behind, and it cannot last for long. To make a long story short, since you have ultimately embarked upon this road, this is what you must bear."

Next, that will directly shattered, transforming into countless points of light that merged into Li Ye's mind.

"When you reach the Heaven-Reaching Realm, come to the Central Province Sacred Domain to find me."

Those were the final words of that will before it completely merged into Li Ye's mind.

"The Heaven-Reaching Realm?! The Central Province Sacred Domain?!"

Li Ye's mouth fell open, unable to close for a long while.

What kind of concept was the Heaven-Reaching Realm?

The Spirit Martial Rank was the foundation and starting point of cultivation, with a total of nine tiers. Once one broke through the Spirit Martial Rank, one could step into the Innate Realm, and martial cultivators at that realm were known as King Tier experts! In all of Wuzhou City, there were only a scant few of them, each able to dominate a region!

Above the Innate Realm and the King Tier, there were rumored to be even higher realms—more transcendent and terrifying still. That realm was called the Earth Profound Realm. Even throughout the entire Jiangnan Circuit, such experts were considered peerless masters!

Above the Earth Profound Realm, martial cultivators underwent a transformation akin to shedding the mortal body and exchanging the bones. Their flesh became sanctified; they could fly through the air and roam the four seas! In the eyes of mortals, they were already gods! That was the Heaven-Reaching Realm!

That wisp of Li Kainian's will had actually said that Li Ye needed to reach the Heaven-Reaching Realm before seeking him out? The Central Province Sacred Domain? Was that not the very center of the Cloud Soaring Continent? The legendary paradise of countless martial cultivators, where powerful experts gathered like clouds?

"Could it be that my cheap old man is actually in that place? What realm is he at now?" Whatever realm it was, he was certainly not as simple as the Innate King Tier experts those people in Wuzhou City imagined! This manifestation of will alone proved one thing: before Li Kainian left this place, he had at least been an Earth Profound Realm expert!

Setting aside the doubts in his heart, Li Ye discovered that those fragments of will had actually left him with a mysterious cultivation art and Combat Technique.

"Moon Dream Heart Sutra?"

A cultivation art of unknown rank, the Moon Dream Heart Sutra, had appeared in his mind. After reading it, Li Ye sucked in a cold breath, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

"This was practically tailor-made for me!" It was actually a cultivation art and Combat Technique related to illusion arts!