Chapter 553 - 330: Heart Sword Slays the Ape: Foundation of the Path to Godhood

PSST!

It was like a red-hot poker plunging into a block of ice.

A deep, pitch-black hole materialized between the brows of Qing Shan’s Spirit Body.

An impossibly sharp Sword Intent flooded in, frantically Tearing at his mountain-solid Divine Soul!

"ROAR—!!!"

A shriek so shrill it seemed impossible for a living creature to produce erupted from Qing Shan’s throat.

This time, it wasn’t a silent Divine Soul roar, but a physical one that echoed through the heavens, filled with agony and rage.

His massive frame shuddered violently. He clutched his head with both hands, his enormous body trembling from the excruciating pain. Even the mount beneath him let out an uneasy whinny.

Black blood trickled from the corners of his eyes, his nostrils, and his mouth.

His Divine Soul was grievously wounded!

This tiny insect, as he saw it, had actually managed to grievously wound his proud Ancient God Spirit Body with a Divine Soul Attack!

After the searing pain came boundless madness!

"I’ll kill you!"

Qing Shan snapped his head up, his eyes now a veritable Blood Sea.

He didn’t even care where Han Feng was, simply unleashing a frenzy of punches at the area where he had last appeared.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Heart of Zhenyue on his chest pulsed wildly with light. Invisible shockwaves of Gravity, accompanied by fists that could shatter the earth, relentlessly bombarded the empty space.

The ground, like a canvas savaged by a great beast, was torn, cratered, and battered into a ruinous mess.

The entire Military Array of the Black Rock Tribe, terrified by their leader’s sudden rampage, scrambled backward, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

Inside the Sword Tomb Space, Han Feng sat cross-legged, gasping for breath.

The stabbing pain in his Sea of Consciousness made him knit his brows. That last attack had drained nearly all of his Sword Aura and eighty percent of his Spiritual Power.

’At least I managed to hurt him.’

He raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, a trace of exhaustion flashing in his eyes.

Through the Perception of the Sword Tomb Space, he could clearly "see" the situation outside.

Qing Shan was still in the same spot, clutching his head and letting out waves of agonized roars.

Between the brows of the black Stone Ape, a sword gash deep enough to show bone was clearly visible. Grayish-white Power of Divine Soul was slowly mending the wound.

’A Divine Soul with Unity of Spirit and Body is a real handful, just as I thought.’

Han Feng’s expression was grave.

He had used his full strength in that last attack, even leveraging the Trait of Illusionary Sword·Formless to make the true Heart Sword completely invisible, leaving only two phantoms to mislead his opponent.

Qing Shan’s reaction had been lightning-fast; he had met the two phantoms with a punch for each.

But he never would have imagined that both "solid" forms were fakes.

The true Heart Sword had already bypassed his fists and, from an impossibly tricky angle, stabbed viciously into the Stone Ape’s brow.

This strike had indeed dealt a heavy blow to Qing Shan’s Spirit Body.

But that was all.

’I can’t kill him.’

Han Feng knew very well that although Qing Shan was injured, the wound was far from fatal.

His Divine Soul Origin was intact. Given time, he would eventually recover from such an injury.

More importantly, Han Feng no longer had the resources for a second strike.

His Sword Aura was depleted, his Spiritual Essence was bottoming out, and more than half of his Spiritual Power was gone.

If he tried to force another confrontation, he would be the one to die.

Han Feng struggled over to the edge of the Guiyuan Sword Pool and began circulating his Cultivation Technique to recover.

The remaining Spiritual Essence and Life Essence in the pool turned into a trickle that flowed into his body.

Ten minutes later, he could finally breathe a little easier.

Glancing at the Sword Pool, Han Feng’s heart ached.

The once-abundant Spiritual Essence, after several expenditures and one advancement Empowerment, was now just a thin First Layer.

At most, it was only enough for one more emergency repair after suffering another grievous Divine Soul injury.

’No, I can’t be so reckless anymore.’

Han Feng leaned against the edge of the Sword Pool, his mind racing.

He had managed to injure Qing Shan by relying on the element of surprise, on the no-holds-barred amplification from the Divine Power Module, and on the first-encounter-kill trickery of Illusionary Sword·Formless.

But even with all that, he had only managed to wound his opponent’s Divine Soul. He couldn’t deliver a killing blow.

And this was just a brute who excelled in physical strength and Gravity.

His Divine Soul Attacks were purely brute-force smashes, relying on the solid foundation of his Unity of Spirit and Body with no technique whatsoever.

A guy like this, who wasn’t even skilled in Divine Soul Attacks, had pushed him to his absolute limit.

So what about Xuan Yu, the one behind him?

An old turtle who had lived for countless years, with a noble bloodline... in terms of racial Talent, his Defense Power was surely far beyond this monkey’s.

How profound would his mastery of the Divine Soul be?

Han Feng had no doubt that if he tried the same trick on Xuan Yu, he probably wouldn’t even be able to break through his defense.

His own Heart Sword would be instantly crushed, and his Divine Soul Origin would be shattered into dust as the backlash traveled back through the connection.

’I was too arrogant.’

From the moment he entered Dragon Abyss until now, he had first insta-killed the Thousand-Eyed Demon Moth, then worked with Ye Jinghong to kill the Three-headed Illusory Yin Snake, Hiss, and now, had grievously wounded Qing Shan.

This string of victories against higher-level opponents had made him overconfident.

But thinking back on it calmly, which of those battles hadn’t been fraught with peril?

The Thousand-Eyed Demon Moth was a Wild God with no proper lineage, its mastery of the Divine Soul Dao crude and unsophisticated. That was why it was so easily handled by his Three-Inch Heart Sword.

Although Hiss was a Tier Four Late Stage expert, she had been beheaded in a single strike by Ye Jinghong’s Military Soul Battle Spirit. With her Divine Soul Origin severely damaged, Han Feng had merely been facing a target that was already on its last legs.

And Qing Shan?

This Black Fierce Ape, with its orthodox lineage, was merely a vassal under Xuan Yu, and he had already forced Han Feng to exhaust all his tricks.