Back hill, Shiping.
Yu Yuanzhen walked to the center of the arena, turned to look at Li Qingshan, and solemnly cupped his hands, saying, "Your Majesty, please enlighten me."
Li Qingshan nodded slightly, and the Passionate Sword appeared in his hand. "Sect Master Yu, just use your usual method of fighting. There's no need to hold back."
Chen Jianjun led Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong to retreat outside the stone platform, and raised his hand to set up a sword energy barrier.
The next instant, a deep dragon roar suddenly rang out!
Nine Soul Ring— two yellow, two purple, and five black—rose one after another from beneath Yu Yuanzhen's feet.
Immediately afterwards, blue-purple Dragon Scales covered his arms, his ten fingers transformed into sharp dragon claws, and dragon horns on his forehead and wings on his back unfolded one after another.
Lightning continued to travel along the dragon armor, even causing the small pebbles underfoot to bounce.
Seeing this, Li Qingshan's eyes flickered slightly, and he thought to himself:
"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon in the comic book world has different parts that have unique uses after Dragon Transformation. This is a good opportunity to see them and make it easier to teach Xiao Gang in the future."
"First Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!"
Yu Yuanzhen's First Soul Ring lit up, and then he stomped his foot, his figure suddenly rushing forward!
Before his right claw could fully land, the gathered lightning struck Li Qingshan first, blocking his way to the side.
Li Qingshan did not block directly; instead, he used the tip of his sword to slice the lightning in half.
Ke Yu Yuanzhen had already closed in, his left claw gripping the spine of the sword, his right claw aimed straight for the shoulder, and his dragon wings flapped simultaneously, as Thunder pressed down from behind!
"Good timing!"
With a low shout, Li Qingshan twisted his wrist and drew his sword, dodging the dragon claw that was grabbing at him. The sword then slashed horizontally and collided heavily with the other dragon claw!
"Clang!"
Lightning flashed.
Yu Yuanzhen the momentum to leap up, his wings unfurled, and his Eighth Soul Ring suddenly lit up!
"Eighth Soul Skill, Soaring Dragon Heavenly Thunder Explosion!"
Dark blue thunderclouds rapidly gathered above the stone platform, from which bolts of Thunder descended, instantly transforming into small thunder dragons that crisscrossed and plunged downwards!
Yu Xiaogang held his breath as he watched; only today had he seen so clearly his father wielding Thunder.
Li Qingshan raised his head, and his Fifth Soul Ring lit up.
Fifth Soul Skill: Traceback!
The moment the thunder dragon crashed down, his body suddenly became illusory, and the violent lightning passed through his form without leaving a single scratch.
Immediately afterwards, the silver-white figure leaped up against the Thunder and appeared directly in front of Yu Yuanzhen!
"It can actually be immune to my lightning attacks? And then get close in an instant?" Yu Yuanzhen's pupils shrank slightly, his wings immediately folded forward, and his dragon claws rose up.
The Passionate Sword struck the edge of the wing, producing a crisp sound.
Li Qingshan stopped his sword strike and took a half-step back.
Yu Yuanzhen spread his wings again, his expression now completely serious, and laughed, "Your Majesty, I didn't expect that this Thunder not only failed to harm you, but also allowed you to get close?"
Li Qingshan didn't hide anything and said calmly:
"This Soul Skill grants immunity to energy attacks and allows the user to travel along the attack's trajectory to the caster."
"Sect Master Yu handled the situation very well by retracting your wings to protect yourself. However, you'd better be careful with my next sword strike."
As soon as he finished speaking, several strands of silver Threads of Emotion threads spread out along the sword in his hand.
"Third Soul Skill, Regret!" Li Qingshan deliberately controlled the intensity of the Soul Skill and did not unleash its domain. Even so, Yu Yuanzhen still felt a sudden surge of regret.
The memories of those clansmen he couldn't protect, and the helplessness he felt when facing his son's predicament, all surfaced in his mind.
His breathing faltered slightly, but he quickly composed himself and suppressed his emotions.
But in that brief moment of distraction, the two lightning dragons above, which had not yet fallen, suddenly veered off course, and the lightning that had been connected between their wings was also severed!
Yu Yuanzhen immediately activated his Soul Power, preparing to stabilize his offensive again.
Li Qingshan's sword pierced his chest at that moment.
"So fast?"
"No, I was just lost in thought..."
The sword tip stopped, and the Threads of Emotion dissipated along with it.
Yu Yuanzhen slowly exhaled, dispersing the remaining Thunder one by one, and landed back on the stone platform. He cupped his hands and said, "It was my instability that caused me to reveal a flaw."
"When mentally disturbed, anyone will reveal a weakness." Li Qingshan shook his head and said, "As long as you know how to deal with this situation in the future, that's fine."
He pointed to Yu Yuanzhen's right arm, which had not yet shed its Dragon Transformation.
"Just now, the Thunder went out of control, and you immediately increased your Soul Power output to forcibly continue the attack. But your mind hadn't stabilized yet, and with the sudden increase in power, how much of it could you control?"
Yu Yuanzhen did not answer immediately. Just now, the meridians in his right arm had indeed felt a momentary throbbing pain, but in the midst of combat, this discomfort was easily overlooked.
After a moment, he whispered:
"When I encounter this situation on a normal day, I continue my attack in the same way, and I rarely miss."
"There's nothing wrong with doing this to resist external impacts," Li Qingshan said earnestly. "But what I just disturbed was your mind. Replenishing your Soul Power now will only make it harder for you to control yourself."
Yu Yuanzhen was slightly taken aback, then looked down at the lightning in his palm.
In recent years, he has placed increasing emphasis on the power and explosive force after his Martial Soul Dragon Transformation, while using his Spiritual Power more to sense enemies and lock onto targets.
In ordinary encounters, this hadn't caused him much trouble.
However, when faced with Soul Skill like Li Qingshan's that could directly interfere with his mind, his usual methods of dealing with it seemed to only make his weaknesses bigger.
No wonder...
Yu Yuanzhen slowly clenched his fist and whispered:
"I've been in seclusion recently, forcibly pushing my Soul Power to break through the bottleneck, and my meridians occasionally feel a dull ache. I initially thought it was because my body wasn't strong enough, but I've always considered that it might be due to a deficiency in my Spiritual Power."
Li Qingshan didn't rush to conclusions. He reached out and took his wrist, letting him circulate his Soul Power.
After a moment, he withdrew his finger.
"Your accumulated Soul Power is indeed considerable. However, the higher you go, the stronger the power becomes, and the more difficult it is to control."
"You can try cultivating your Spiritual Power first, and then try to break through. It's better than just focusing on cultivating your Soul Power."
As he spoke, he drew out a silver light with the tip of his sword, which slowly dispersed into several strands in front of Yu Yuanzhen before gathering back together.
Each strand was of varying strength, yet they did not collide when they converged.
A moment later, Yu Yuanzhen also raised his right hand and tried to separate the lightning in his palm.
The first few bolts of lightning had just dispersed when they collided again. He didn't rush to increase his Soul Power, but instead slowed down and carefully sensed the changes.
Li Qingshan stood to the side, occasionally offering a few words of advice.
The two then clashed several more times. Whenever their Soul Power failed to connect smoothly, they would stop and try again, until the sun gradually began to set in the west, at which point they each withdrew their Martial Soul.
Although Yu Yuanzhen did not break through on the spot, his expression was much more relaxed than when he arrived.
"Thanks to Your Majesty's guidance today, I now know where to begin my cultivation. Besides Soul Power, my Spiritual Power will also improve."
Li Qingshan smiled and returned the greeting, saying:
"Sect Master Yu, there's no need to be so polite. Cultivation matters cannot be rushed. First, write down your feelings today, and then ponder them slowly later."