Chapter 609 - 609: Tier Five Martial Soul

Pei Yongqing launched another fierce slash.

But this time, Chu Qingyun didn't use a Sword Technique to parry or evade. Instead, he met the attack head-on with a clean, direct strike of his own!

'It's that power again!'

'Martial Soul Power!'

Seeing this, Pei Yongqing immediately guessed that Chu Qingyun was about to unleash that strange power from before. Without a second thought, he instantly poured a surge of Martial Soul Power into his body and his battle saber.

The Martial Soul Power flooded into him.

In that instant, Pei Yongqing seemed to become as steady as Mount Tai.

And his battle saber, already crisscrossing with Blade Qi, became immensely heavy and powerful. The biting wind stirred up by his saber caused the expressions of many onlookers to change.

BOOM!

A deafening roar.

A terrifying force erupted from the point of impact between the saber and the sword. The Thunder Light Sword Qi, the Blade Qi, the phantom images of the battle saber—everything was instantly crushed to dust by that power!

The violent collision left Chu Qingyun unsteady on his feet, forcing him back three consecutive steps. The webbing between the thumb and forefinger of his sword hand went numb from the shock.

Pei Yongqing, however, was in a much worse state than last time. He was sent flying backward, tumbling across the ground. He couldn't even keep his grip; his battle saber flew from his hand and plunged into the earth nearby.

The power unleashed by this collision was even greater than the last!

"Damn it! I lost again! To lose in terms of strength again!"

"Earth-Shaking Spirit Elephant!"

"Earth-shaking Power!"

Having lost in a contest of strength, Pei Yongqing seemed incredibly resentful and furious. Gritting his teeth, he let out a muffled roar and unleashed his Martial Soul and Soul Techniques.

Pei Yongqing knelt on one knee. Behind him, an ocher light gathered, swiftly coalescing into the six-meter-tall illusion of a giant elephant.

Its trunk curled back as the giant elephant let out a silent, skyward roar. A beam of ocher light shot from its mouth and merged into Pei Yongqing's body.

As he absorbed this power, a series of muffled growls rumbled from Pei Yongqing's throat.

His entire frame seemed to slowly expand, stretching his once-loose robes taut.

"Hmph!"

Pei Yongqing grunted and slowly rose to his feet.

The ground beneath his feet fractured, sending cracks spiderwebbing outward.

"Quick, back up! Pei is getting serious!"

"To see Pei's Martial Soul again... it's just... so stunning!"

The twenty-odd disciples from the Celestial Sword Sect immediately retreated, their eyes filled with a mixture of excitement and shock.

The other onlookers didn't think the Celestial Sword Sect members were being dramatic in the slightest. In fact, some of them had started backing away even earlier!

'A Support Type Martial Soul that increases strength? Was his power that tyrannical even before this...?'

Chu Qingyun muttered to himself, his expression growing much more solemn.

His expression turned solemn not because of Pei Yongqing's aura, nor the vast, cracked earth at his feet.

A surge in power that cracks the ground beneath one's feet only proves an inability to perfectly control that burgeoning strength.

Perfectly controlled power is like Lifting Heavy as Light, wielded at will.

Otherwise, wouldn't those experts at the Martial Emperor or Martial Sect Realm cause landslides and earthquakes wherever they walked?

What truly made Chu Qingyun's expression grave was Pei Yongqing's Martial Soul Illusion. Not only was it abnormally large, but the aura it emanated was enough to make one's heart pound in their chest.

There was only one explanation.

That wasn't a Tier Four Martial Soul, but... a Tier Five Martial Soul!

"Chu Qingyun, your strength truly astounds me."

"However, there's no way you'll be able to take this next slash from me, hahaha..."

Pei Yongqing laughed heartily as he snatched up his battle saber. He stomped toward Chu Qingyun with thunderous steps, and the ground for several hundred meters around them began to shake as if from an earthquake.

At this moment, the originally gigantic battle saber looked almost normal-sized in his hands.

'A Tier Five Martial Soul and a Tier Five Soul Technique... I'll risk it all!'

"Profound Celestial Divine Pattern!"

"Martial Soul Power!"

Facing the thundering, crushing advance of Pei Yongqing, a fervent light ignited in Chu Qingyun's eyes.

He wanted to see what was superior: the Human King Realm power granted by the Ten Thousand Spirits Sacred Form's Inner Chapter, or the power of a Tier Five Soul Technique!

BOOM!

The Thunder Shock Sword and the giant battle saber collided violently once more.

The ground within a hundred-meter radius of the two instantly caved in. Massive fissures spread relentlessly outward, and in the distance, some hundred-meter-tall giant trees were forcibly ripped from the earth!

Chu Qingyun's legs sank into the soil up to his knees.

And the battle saber in Pei Yongqing's hands was knocked away yet again. His entire body swayed backward, and he had to take half a step back to stabilize himself!

He blocked it again!

Pei Yongqing's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets in disbelief.

How is this possible!?

He had just used a Tier Five Soul Technique!

"Damn it, again!"

Pei Yongqing roared and slashed at Chu Qingyun once more.

Chu Qingyun stomped his feet, sending the surrounding soil flying. "Bring it on!" He, too, met the attack head-on with another dauntless strike of his sword.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

...

With one ferocious collision after another, both of them completely abandoned all Sword Techniques and skills. One relied on his body, the other on the power of his Martial Soul, as they continuously clashed, blade against sword.

Fortunately, both of their weapons were Spirit Level Divine Weapons. Otherwise, ordinary sabers and swords would likely have been unable to withstand such a high-intensity confrontation.

By now, all the onlookers had already retreated to a thousand meters away.

Every single one of them, pale-faced and dumbstruck, watched the two combatants. Their hands and feet couldn't help but tremble.

"To go head-to-head with Pei after he's used his Martial Soul and Soul Techniques... that kid from the Saint Extreme Sect is a total freak!"

"That's a Tier Five Martial Soul... It's just... it's just insane..."

The people from the Celestial Sword Sect swallowed dryly, unable to describe the shock in their hearts.

Meanwhile, within the Saint Extreme Sect's group, the two disciples assigned to protect Chu Qingyun were utterly shaken to their core.

"I finally understand why Elder Zhu told us to just follow Junior Brother Chu and help him with minor troubles before we left. What the Elder meant was that if we ran into any *major* trouble, we wouldn't be able to help at all..."

"It's... it's just too terrifying. And he's only a level-eight Martial Spirit..."

Recalling their previous attitude toward Chu Qingyun, both of them felt a pang of shame.

With their meager strength, they had the audacity to talk about protecting Chu Qingyun? Forget them—even Xu probably wouldn't be a match for him!

The power Chu Qingyun used to heavily injure Luo Jingwu with a single punch wasn't some special technique at all—that was his own strength!

As for those who had arrived early, the ones who had been planning to make a move on Chu Qingyun, their backs were now drenched in their own cold sweat.

Their hearts were filled with lingering fear.

'Thank goodness the others arrived quickly and didn't give us a chance to act. Otherwise, against that terrifying power, we probably would have been killed with a single punch!'