Refining Falsehood into Truth, Twin Martial Souls Awaken!

"Here?"

Li Qingshan's heart leaped. He could clearly sense an aura beyond his level twenty-three Soul Power slowly emerging within him.

It was exceedingly faint, yet unmistakable.

[Can currently be sustained for one breath; requires rest to recover after release.]

One breath?

More than enough!

Li Qingshan looked up, his expression still calm, and said solemnly to Yu Xiaogang, "Once you become my disciple, I'll tell you how Luo Sanpao can evolve."

"You kept asking how I could prove my identity. Now, feel this carefully."

The next instant, an invisible pressure burst outward from him.

The wind in the surrounding woods stopped. Branches and leaves that had been swaying gently went still, and several falling dead leaves hung in midair, refusing to drop.

The insects and birds fell silent too. The mountain forest, warm and lively just moments before, plunged into deathly stillness.

Yu Xiaogang's expression froze. He could see a dead leaf suspended before his eyes, its tip barely an inch from his clothes, yet it did not move.

But he had no attention to spare for it.

Not far away, Li Qingshan still stood with his hands behind his back. Nothing about his figure had changed, but as that aura rose...

Yu Xiaogang felt as small as a man standing beneath a sheer cliff ten thousand feet high. Li Qingshan seemed beyond his reach!

Even raising his head to look directly at him took immense courage.

Yu Xiaogang instinctively tried to circulate his Soul Power, but it had grown so sluggish it could barely move. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his legs trembled beyond his control.

He had seen his father, Yu Yuanzhen, release his pressure.

That might, belonging to a Titled Douluo, had once made him think no Soul Master could rise higher. Only now did Yu Xiaogang realize how terribly wrong he had been.

His father's pressure fell far short of this man's. Li Qingshan merely stood there, and the entire forest fell silent with his aura.

Luo Sanpao had already crouched low, all four paws pressed tight to the ground and his tail tucked behind him. He even swallowed the whimper rising in his throat.

Li Qingshan looked at Yu Xiaogang without saying another word.

He had no need to.

One breath passed.

The terrifying aura enveloping the forest abruptly withdrew.

The suspended leaves fell at once. Mountain wind rustled through the branches again. In the distance, several birds burst shrieking from the treetops and fled beyond the mountain.

Yu Xiaogang drew a sharp breath, his chest heaving. His fingers had clenched so tightly around the booklet that they had turned white. Only then did he realize cold sweat had soaked his back.

"This..."

Such powerful pressure. Even more terrifying than Father's!

Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth, fine sweat glistening on his forehead.

Li Qingshan did not ask what he thought of it. A Limit Douluo had no need to seek a level-ten Soul Scholar's approval.

But from the corner of his eye, he kept watching the system screen.

[Yu Xiaogang has begun to believe the host's identity.]

[Realization increased by 10%.]

[Current realization progress: 12%.]

[Stage ability manifested: Martial Soul Reshaping!]

[Original Martial Soul, the Iron Sword, has completed its transformation. Twin Martial Souls, the Passionate Sword and Heartless Sword, have officially awakened!]

[Innate aptitude improved: Innate Soul Power has risen from level three to level ten, reaching Innate Full Soul Power. This manifestation is now permanent!]

Li Qingshan's breath caught. Before he could examine the change, warmth surged from within him and quickly flowed through every limb and bone.

His Soul Power, once slightly sluggish, suddenly flowed freely. At the same time, the familiar connection he shared with his Sword Martial Soul changed.

One connection became two. One was warm and lingering; the other, cold and sharp. Utterly different though they were, both were bound closely to his mind.

Li Qingshan could clearly feel that a single thought would summon them.

The Passionate Sword and the Heartless Sword.

The two Martial Souls he had just invented to deceive Yu Xiaogang had truly appeared within him. He even had the aptitude of Innate Full Soul Power!

Li Qingshan's fingers tightened unconsciously at his sides. His Soul Power remained at level twenty-three, but his body's potential for future cultivation was now utterly different.

He knew exactly how vast that difference was. What stirred him even more were the system's final words—now permanent.

Even if Yu Xiaogang turned and left at once, that fact would not change.

"Senior?"

Yu Xiaogang's voice broke in.

Li Qingshan suppressed his excitement and raised his eyes again. The young man had caught his breath, but stood far more respectfully than before. Even his form of address had changed.

"That aura just now..."

He hesitated, seemingly unsure how to describe it.

Li Qingshan did not rush to explain. With a faint smile, he said, "Do you still think I'm just an ordinary Soul Grandmaster?"

Yu Xiaogang shook his head at once.

Li Qingshan glanced at the system screen and felt his confidence grow. Earlier, he had needed to hide the Iron Sword, afraid Yu Xiaogang might spot something amiss.

Now he could let his future disciple take a good look.

"Weren't you asking about my Martial Souls, the Passionate Sword and Heartless Sword?"

Li Qingshan slowly raised his right hand.

"Watch closely."

With a thought, a wisp of silver light appeared in his palm.

A long silver sword gradually took shape. Its blade was crystalline and translucent, its glow flickering faintly. Sunlight played across it in a clear sheen.

Li Qingshan gripped the hilt, and a familiar sensation, as though the sword were bound to him by blood, welled up within him.

This was the Passionate Sword! Only when he held it did he become certain that the unremarkable Iron Sword was a thing of the past.

His face betrayed none of this. He held the sword across his body and said evenly:

"This sword is called—the Passionate Sword."

Yu Xiaogang's gaze fixed on it. Its translucent substance and faintly flickering light made him hold his breath.

Luo Sanpao, crouched by his feet, raised his head too. He looked at the sword in Li Qingshan's hand, his ears twitching slightly.

Li Qingshan was in no hurry to withdraw his Martial Soul. Earlier, when he had held up the Iron Sword from afar, he had feared Yu Xiaogang would look too closely. Now he wanted the young man to stare as long as he pleased.

Look closely.

This is a genuine top-tier Martial Soul!

After a moment, Li Qingshan opened his hand. The Passionate Sword dissolved into silver light and vanished from his palm.

Yu Xiaogang was about to speak when Li Qingshan raised his hand again.

"Now look at this one."

As he spoke, another long sword appeared in his hand. Its design was ancient and simple, its length roughly four feet three inches. The blade was like water, faint, icy ripples glimmering across it.

Li Qingshan slowly lifted the sword, bringing those ripples into Yu Xiaogang's view.

Yu Xiaogang's heart tightened.

It was also a sword, yet it felt nothing like the first. He could not help looking twice, though his eyes instinctively slid away when they met its edge.

"This sword is called—the Heartless Sword."

Li Qingshan spoke calmly, his hand around the hilt.

The two swords had appeared in succession, different in both form and aura. Yu Xiaogang had seen it clearly: nothing had concealed the Passionate Sword's disappearance or the Heartless Sword's arrival.

"These two swords..."

The young man looked up, disbelief still in his voice.

"They're both your Martial Souls?"

"That's right."

Li Qingshan nodded.

His answer came without the slightest hesitation.

Because now it was the truth.

Yu Xiaogang stared at the Heartless Sword in his hand, at a loss for words.

That terrifying pressure, far surpassing his father's, had already shown him that this man's cultivation was nothing like it appeared.

Now the Twin Martial Souls Li Qingshan had spoken of had appeared before his eyes.

A title could perhaps be fabricated.

But how could he explain that pressure—or these two top-tier Sword Martial Souls?