Li Kainian

On 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.

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

Boom!

This time, Li Ye was blasted back several meters before barely steadying himself. Li Tianwu, meanwhile, sneered repeatedly and showed no mercy, immediately following with another punch.

"Trash! Don't think that forming a Blood Soul means you can turn your life around! Today, I'll cripple your Blood Soul and make you a piece of cultivation trash for the rest of your life!"

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

"Looks like I can't hold back anymore!"

In terms of raw strength, Li Ye was not much weaker than Li Tianwu. Although he was only at the late first level of the Spirit Martial Rank, the gap between him and Li Tianwu, who had just entered Spirit Martial Tier Three, was nearly negligible.

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

"Die!" With a savage grin, Li Tianwu completely disregarded the ancestral rule forbidding clansmen from harming 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 falter slightly.

"Li Tianwu!"

Li Ye's eyes took on dreamlike colors, as though a crimson ocean lay within them, eerie beyond measure. This was one of a vampire's innate gifts—the Blood-Eye Art.

This was a soul-type attack, or rather, a spiritual Combat Technique. It could influence an opponent's mind, and in severe cases, trap them in nightmares and directly destroy their soul!

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

The Thunderclap Fist Intent around Li Tianwu immediately leaked away. He became dazed and listless, all killing intent draining from his body as though he had become an idiot.

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

"Li Tianwu, you brought this upon yourself!"

With a heavy chop to Li Tianwu's neck, and without the slightest surprise, Li Tianwu became Li Ye's next target for feeding on essence blood.

This was a martial cultivator at the third level of the Spirit Martial Rank. His essence blood was countless times more abundant than that of those mercenaries. After feeding on it, Li Ye, who had already been on the verge of a breakthrough, was immediately enveloped in flashing crimson light. This was the sign of a breakthrough.

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

Early second level of the Spirit Martial Rank.

Late second level of the Spirit Martial Rank! It still had not stopped!

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

Boom!

A punch shot out as if it would shatter the air itself. This strength was more than ten times greater than before!

"It actually increased that much?"

For an ordinary person, advancing from the late first level of the Spirit Martial Rank to the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Two would increase their strength by only around three times at most. Why had his increased so much?

Moreover, Li Ye felt that the power of his Blood Soul was far more robust than that of ordinary people. It was no less than that of someone at the fourth level of the Spirit Martial Rank. This meant that he now possessed strength comparable to someone at the peak fourth level of the Spirit Martial Rank.

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

As he was now, facing someone at the fourth level of the Spirit Martial Rank would not be much of a problem. Even if the other party had combat techniques, Li Ye still had a considerable chance of winning. But he knew that at the Lineage's annual tournament, disciples below the fourth level of the Spirit Martial Rank were merely there to make up the numbers. Those who truly drew attention were the disciples at the fifth level or higher. Only disciples of that level could enter the sight of those old fellows in the Lineage.

"As I am now, I'm still a little lacking."

On the path of cultivation on Cloud Soaring Continent, if one did not have a good bloodline, one was innately weaker than others from the Innate Realm. Once cultivation began, without a good cultivation art, one's progress would be much slower than that of people with superior cultivation arts. For instance, throughout the 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 Black-Yellow Art. Their cultivation speed was several times that of ordinary people.

Li Ye, however, did not need to worry about this. He discovered that the growth of his Blood Soul's power barely required any concern from him. Especially at night, his body automatically and crazily absorbed spiritual energy from heaven and earth like a black hole. Although the effect was much weaker during the day, he was cultivating at every moment.

One had to know that no cultivator could achieve this. After all, everyone had seven emotions and six desires; everyone had to eat, drink, relieve themselves, and sleep. Other than certain cultivation maniacs, who would cultivate without pause?

Yet he could, and he did not even need to cultivate on his own. His body could cultivate directly.

That day, the bloodlight around Li Ye's body seemed as though it would solidify, and his aura surged once more.

After a while, his aura finally stabilized. When he opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance appeared, then vanished.

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

"Third level of the Spirit Martial Rank! Although it isn't as fast as feeding on another's essence blood, at this rate, I'm afraid it's still much faster than cultivating the Black-Yellow Art within the Lineage."

In a single day, he had advanced from the peak second level of the Spirit Martial Rank to the early third level. If word of such speed got out, it would absolutely frighten people to death! Not even high-grade Yellow-tier arts, or even the rumored higher Mystic-tier arts, could produce such results!

Once again, he marveled at how the physique of a Vampire truly differed from that of ordinary people!

Just as Li Ye was preparing to go out, stretch his limbs, and find someone to test exactly what level his current strength had reached, he suddenly heard a crack from the bed beneath him.

Looking down, he saw that his recent breakthrough had caused the unstable bed frame to break and collapse.

"Oh no, if Aunt Yun finds out, she'll definitely scold me!"

Just as Li Ye was feeling troubled, he suddenly discovered that there was another space beneath the bed boards, as though a bundle had been hidden there.

"What is this?"

He reached in and fished out the bundle. Upon opening it, he found a green-edged sword over a foot long and a letter inside.

Drawing the sword, he could tell that it was a rare divine weapon. Though its appearance was ancient and unremarkable, the blade emitted a trace of icy chill. It was definitely far sharper than those so-called weapons forged from refined iron outside.

Setting the sword aside, Li Ye opened the letter.

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

That will carried no malice. Otherwise, Li Ye's mind would certainly have suffered severe damage.

"You still opened it."

A slightly weathered voice emerged from that will. For some reason, upon hearing it, Li Ye felt an incomparably intimate sense of familiarity.

Li Kainian?! His father?

It had to be! His intuition told him that this was absolutely Li Kainian's will, that of the most outstanding genius the Li Family had seen in a thousand years!

"I do not know whether letting you come into contact with these things is right or wrong. But since you have already formed a Blood Soul and reached the third level of the Spirit Martial Rank, perhaps this too is the will of heaven!"

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

Could Li Kainian have been an expert above the King Tier, at an even higher realm?

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

Then, that will directly scattered apart, transforming into countless points of light that merged into Li Ye's mind.

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

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, and it took a long while before he could close it.

What kind of concept was the Heaven-Reaching Realm?

The Spirit Martial Rank was the foundation of cultivation, its starting point, and it had nine levels in total. Once one broke through the Spirit Martial Rank, one could step into the Innate Realm. Martial cultivators at that realm were known as King Tier experts! In all of Wuzhou City, there were only a handful of them! They dominated an entire region!

Above the King Tier, there were said to be even higher realms, far more transcendent and terrifying than the Innate Realm's King Tier. That realm was called the Earth Profound Realm. Even across the entire Jiangnan Circuit, such people were considered supreme experts!

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

That wisp of Li Kainian's will had actually said Li Ye needed to reach the Heaven-Reaching Realm before he could seek him out? The Central Province Sacred Domain? Wasn't that the center of all Cloud Soaring Continent? The place rumored to be the paradise of countless martial cultivators, where experts gathered like clouds?

"Could it be that my cheap old man is actually in that place? What realm has he reached now?" Whatever realm it was, it was definitely not as simple as the Innate Realm King Tier those people in Wuzhou City believed! That single feat of forming an incarnation from will alone was enough to prove one fact: before Li Kainian left this place, he had been at least an Earth Profound Realm expert!

Setting aside the doubts in his heart, Li Ye discovered that those remnants of will had actually left him 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 through it, Li Ye sucked in a breath of cold air, his heart thundering violently in his chest.

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