Soul Emperor Zhang Lexuan! (Seeking investments! Monthly votes! Recommendation votes!)

Zhang Lexuan had broken through.

With a month or two still remaining before her sixteenth birthday, she had become a Quasi-Soul Emperor.

Qin Xu learned the news when he got up that morning. Zhang Lexuan was helping him get dressed when she mentioned it, her expression composed and her tone so casual that she might have been discussing some trivial matter.

Qin Xu was delighted. He had no other thoughts; he was simply happy and excited for Zhang Lexuan.

He threw his arms around Zhang Lexuan and cried excitedly, "Sister Xuan, you're incredible! Absolutely incredible!"

Perhaps only at times like this, in front of Zhang Lexuan, could Qin Xu truly shout without restraint like a child, free of any burdens, because Zhang Lexuan was always endlessly accepting and gentle.

"Hehehe~" Zhang Lexuan laughed as well, her smile relaxed and utterly content.

In the end, Vielvi's arrival had unsettled her. That inexplicable pressure had pushed her cultivation to a breakthrough, but it had also stirred ripples in her heart, leaving her unable to find inner clarity.

Fortunately, the person she cared about most also cared about her most.

When Qin Tianji learned that Zhang Lexuan had reached level 60, he was equally delighted. He immediately ordered Bai Jian and Qin Feng to take her to obtain her sixth Soul Ring, and they departed that very morning.

Qin Xu wanted to go with them, but unfortunately, Qin Tianji refused outright.

Zhang Lexuan needed a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, which meant they would have to venture deep into a Soul Beast habitat. Two Titled Douluos accompanying a Quasi-Soul Emperor could come and go freely, but bringing along a One-Ring Soul Master would make things far too troublesome.

Thus, Qin Xu could only wait at home.

On previous occasions, Zhang Lexuan had taken only three or four days to obtain her Soul Rings. This time, however, she was gone for seven full days, and Qin Xu began to miss her. Ever since Zhang Lexuan had come into his life, they had never been apart for so long.

Finally, on the eighth day, Zhang Lexuan returned.

"Little Brother Xu, I'm back!" The first thing Zhang Lexuan did upon returning to the palace was seek out Qin Xu, her eyes filled with longing.

"Sister Xuan!" Qin Xu rushed straight toward her and hugged her, ignoring the dust of her journey. "You're finally back!"

They held each other for a long time before Zhang Lexuan finally said with a smile, "All right, let your big sister wash up and change first. I haven't bathed in seven days. I stink!"

In truth, a high-level Soul Master had no need to worry about bodily cleanliness. Zhang Lexuan's claim that she stank was purely a girl's psychological reaction; most girls shared a love of beauty and cleanliness.

"I want to come with you!" Qin Xu said.

"All right, all right, we'll bathe together." Zhang Lexuan's lovely eyes curved as she smiled brightly. "Once we're finished, we can head to the training grounds together. Great-Grandfather and the others may already be waiting for us there."

Half an hour later, at the palace training grounds.

By the time Qin Xu and Zhang Lexuan arrived, Qin Tianji, Bai Jian, and Qin Feng were already standing there.

"Great-Grandfather, Your Excellencies, I'm terribly sorry to have kept you waiting!" Zhang Lexuan said, a little embarrassed.

"It's fine." Qin Tianji waved a hand. "All right, let us see your sixth Soul Skill. Your Third Great-Granduncle will be your sparring partner."

"Hahaha, little Lexuan, come on. I'd like to see what sort of Soul Skill a sixty-seven-thousand-year-old Hanging Moon Fox King could produce, too," Bai Jian said, laughing as he stepped onto the training grounds.

Seeing this, Zhang Lexuan followed him onto the training grounds without hesitation.

Qin Xu walked over to Qin Tianji and Qin Feng, watching Zhang Lexuan's movements with eyes full of curiosity.

During their bath, Qin Xu had already learned where Zhang Lexuan's Soul Ring had come from. Their seven-day journey had been anything but simple. They had first gone to the nearby Heaven Dou Mountains, then to Hell Valley, and finally to the Star Dou Great Forest, where they had at last found a suitable Soul Beast for Zhang Lexuan—a sixty-thousand-year-old Hanging Moon Fox King.

On the training grounds, Zhang Lexuan immediately released her martial soul. A silver moon rose from her palm, its radiance soft yet cold. Six Soul Rings—two yellow, two purple, and two black—rose with it, shimmering with light.

The moon was Zhang Lexuan's martial soul, a powerful and unusual beast martial soul that fought in the style of a tool martial soul. Judging by its name and appearance alone, Zhang Lexuan's moon martial soul seemed to be the same as the hereditary martial soul of the Sun Moon Empire's imperial family. Only a deeper understanding revealed that the two had no connection whatsoever.

Zhang Lexuan's moon martial soul was actually a mutated martial soul, derived from the Moon Blade, the hereditary martial soul of the Radiant Moon Earl's Zhang Family. This gave her moon martial soul a highly distinctive way of fighting.

"Your Excellency Army-Breaker, be careful!" Zhang Lexuan shed her usual water-soft gentleness, her gaze sharpening and her voice growing weighty.

"Hahaha, good!" Bai Jian laughed heartily and raised a hand to grasp a blue-and-white heavy sword of ancient design. This was his martial soul, the Army-Breaking Sword!

He casually rested the greatsword on his shoulder and beckoned to Zhang Lexuan. "Come on. I'll only defend, not attack."

A sharp gleam flashed through Zhang Lexuan's beautiful eyes. The moon martial soul in her hand abruptly soared upward, and the Soul Rings behind her flickered rapidly. A Black Soul Ring also rose into the air, forming a resonance with the moon martial soul and its silvery glow.

Then the moon, originally small enough to cradle in one hand, swelled explosively. In the blink of an eye, it became a gigantic moon suspended overhead, exuding immense pressure. A shaft of moonlight shone down from it onto Bai Jian. He paid it no mind; instead, he watched with keen interest and allowed the moonlight to fall upon him.

The next second, Bai Jian vanished into thin air, Army-Breaking Sword in hand. Immediately afterward, his figure appeared within the gigantic moon overhead. He looked somewhat bewildered, but excitement soon took over.

"This is... spatial banishment?!" Qin Tianji recognized the essence of the move at a glance.

"Exactly!" Zhang Lexuan explained, "My sixth Soul Skill is called Moon-Reflecting Time and Space. It can banish a single designated target into the Moon's Reflection, regardless of their cultivation realm. However, there is a time limit, and the difference in our realms determines the duration. A Titled Douluo like His Excellency Army-Breaker can only be banished for one second at most."

Just as she had said, before even a second had passed, the suspended moon shattered, and Bai Jian stepped leisurely out of it.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Bai Jian clicked his tongue and asked curiously, "Little Lexuan, does your Moon-Reflecting Time and Space have other effects you haven't shown us yet?"

"You have a keen eye, Your Excellency Army-Breaker!" Zhang Lexuan nodded. "Moon-Reflecting Time and Space isn't merely a banishment space. It has two true effects. First, the banished target's senses are dulled. Second, any Soul Skills I use outside are replicated inside at twice their power."

"So that's how it works." Understanding dawned on Qin Feng, and he chuckled. "I was just thinking that a Soul Skill we went to so much trouble to obtain couldn't possibly be an ordinary banishment space!"

"Lexuan, can you still use your sixth Soul Skill?" Qin Tianji asked thoughtfully. "If so, let's find a Soul Master in the same realm as you and test it again."

"Yes," Zhang Lexuan said. "Moon-Reflecting Time and Space's reflection space can remain active for sixty seconds each day. That duration is tied to the number of Soul Rings I have. His Excellency Army-Breaker only spent one second inside just now, so I can still use it."

"Good!"

Qin Tianji immediately summoned a commander of the palace guards, a level-65 defense-type Soul Emperor with the Thick-Armored Dragon martial soul, to serve as Zhang Lexuan's new sparring partner.

Thus, Zhang Lexuan used her sixth Soul Skill again, drawing the Thick-Armored Dragon Soul Emperor into the Moon's Reflection. The Soul Emperor knew what was expected of him. After releasing his martial soul, he immediately used every defensive Soul Skill he possessed, wrapping himself in layers of defensive enhancements and energy shields until he was thoroughly protected.

Then it was time for Zhang Lexuan to put on her display.

Her first Soul Ring lit up as she unleashed her first Soul Skill. The moon in her hand rippled like a calm stretch of water brushed by a gentle breeze, shifting freely into a new moon, then a crescent moon, then a perfectly full moon.

This was Zhang Lexuan's first Soul Skill, and her core Soul Skill: Moon Phase!

Moon Phase referred to the moon's three states: new moon, crescent moon, and full moon. In its new-moon state, Zhang Lexuan's moon martial soul became a pair of Moon Blades; in its crescent-moon state, it became a moon bow; in its full-moon state, it became an artillery platform. Attacks made in all three forms marked their targets.

Three states, three fighting styles. It could fight at close range or from afar, against one enemy or many. It was extraordinarily versatile.

Zhang Lexuan attacked in the crescent-moon state, a moon bow in hand. Her third Soul Ring lit up ahead of her second, and an arrow glowing with moonlight instantly took shape. Then it flew out, striking a precise point on the training grounds.

At the same instant, Qin Tianji, Qin Xu, and the others clearly saw two identical moonlight arrows appear out of nowhere within the Moon's Reflection. One after the other, they struck the Thick-Armored Dragon Soul Emperor with unerring accuracy!

The Thick-Armored Dragon Soul Emperor's eyes went wide. Before he could react, the two arrows had already pierced his body. They struck with little force, yet they had still broken through his defenses and hit his flesh.

His face instantly paled. These arrows were far too uncanny. They had actually ignored his shields and struck his body directly. If I encountered this on the battlefield... how terrifying!

Third Soul Skill: Crescent Moon Heavenly Execution!

In the crescent-moon state, it fired an arrow that ignored obstacles and shields, was guaranteed to hit, and detonated the Moon Phase marks on its target. Outside the crescent-moon state, it greatly increased Zhang Lexuan's speed.

"Good, that's enough!" Qin Tianji immediately called a halt. He had already understood the effects of Zhang Lexuan's sixth Soul Skill; there was no need to continue.

At his words, Zhang Lexuan ended Moon-Reflecting Time and Space, and the Thick-Armored Dragon Soul Emperor emerged. Qin Feng waved him away, signaling for him to get his injuries treated and collect his reward. He left in high spirits.

Zhang Lexuan also stepped off the training grounds.

"Sister Lexuan, you're amazing!" Qin Xu immediately went up to greet her, showering her with praise.