Chapter 732: Soul-Sealing Palm

Chapter 732: Chapter 733: Soul-Sealing Palm

“Block it.”

Zhan Shang roared in fury. A torrent of thick black smoke spewed from his Skull Staff, solidifying into a dark shield to block the Endless Molten Flame.

“Useless.”

Ye Xuan frantically burned his Profound Yuan, amplifying the power of the Endless Molten Flame. With a BOOM, the Celestial Fire’s all-consuming nature was unleashed, and the entire black shield burst into flames.

The shield burned, rapidly melting away. At the same time, a wisp of pure, incorporeal flame silently wrapped itself around Zhan Shang’s body.

BOOM!

Zhan Shang’s entire body ignited. He burned fiercely under the searing heat of the Endless Molten Flame, turning to ash bit by bit.

‘Something’s not right.’

Ye Xuan’s brow twitched. An intense sense of danger surged through his mind.

‘Dodge!’

He instantly activated his movement technique, a powerful force shoving him backward.

“Heh heh, quick reflexes. But can you really escape?”

A sinister laugh echoed from the void. A black palm, having appeared behind Ye Xuan at some unknown moment, struck like lightning.

Ye Xuan had reacted quickly, but not quickly enough. The black palm grazed his left shoulder.

THUMP!

A dull thud sounded. Ye Xuan felt his left shoulder go numb, and then a terrifying power seeped in from the point of contact. The sheer force of the impact sent him flying.

Having landed the blow, Zhan Shang didn’t give chase. He stood proudly, a wicked smile playing on his lips. “You’ve been struck by my Soul-Restricting Palm. Now, you can just obediently wait for death.”

RUMBLE!

The terrifying power was incredibly sinister and cold. Like a flood dragon charging into the ocean, it rampaged through Ye Xuan’s Profound Veins. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Fissures immediately spiderwebbed across his formidable Profound Veins.

‘What terrifying power!’ Ye Xuan was inwardly horrified. ‘My body is incredibly strong, almost at the level of a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor, yet it can’t withstand the corrosion of this dark energy?’

He could feel it clearly: if he let this energy continue to rampage through his body, his Profound Veins would shatter within a dozen breaths, leaving him crippled.

What shocked Ye Xuan even more was a component within this dark energy that could directly attack his soul, and it was now hurtling toward his mind.

‘This is bad!’

Alarmed, Ye Xuan instantly unleashed his full power.

Devouring Martial Soul—devour!

Life Martial Soul—heal!

Nine Revolutions Sacred Body—defend!

Nine Profound World-Defying Art—resist!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ye Xuan did everything at once. He activated his Devouring Martial Soul to consume the soul attack, his Life Martial Soul to heal his shattered Profound Veins and body, his Nine Revolutions Sacred Body to mount a frantic defense, and his Profound Yuan to corner and suppress the dark energy.

A few breaths later.

HUFF!

Ye Xuan let out a long breath, color returning to his pale face. The dark energy had been mostly depleted and thoroughly expelled from his body in that short time.

‘What terrifying power. This dark energy is too strange. What attribute is it? I feel like it’s similar to the dark energy from that black Crystal Stone I saw earlier.’

Ye Xuan was secretly amazed. If not for his immense power and formidable Cultivation Technique, any ordinary Martial Artist would have been defenseless against that strike, their soul annihilated and their life extinguished in an instant.

At this moment, Ye Xuan’s wariness of Zhan Shang rose to the highest level.

He wasn’t wary of Zhan Shang’s cultivation level or his raw strength, but of his ghostly, unpredictable attack style—so utterly different from that of Human Race Martial Artists.

What Ye Xuan didn’t know was that while he was merely surprised, Zhan Shang was utterly shocked, a tempest raging in his heart.

‘What? This kid actually blocked my Soul-Restricting Palm?’

A look of horror and disbelief appeared on Zhan Shang’s face.

The Soul-Restricting Palm was one of his ultimate techniques. Its core was not ordinary Profound Yuan but the Power of Origin of the Soul-devouring Race, which had a soul-annihilating effect on any species.

If his opponent had been a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor of the Human Race, Zhan Shang might not have been so surprised. After all, their souls were incredibly formidable, and his own cultivation was far from recovered; a failed attack would be understandable. But Ye Xuan was a mere Tier Seven Martial King, and he had blocked the Soul-Restricting Palm?

How could Zhan Shang possibly remain calm?

‘As expected of the body I’ve chosen. It’s powerful… just too powerful.’

After the initial shock, the greed on Zhan Shang’s face intensified, his eyes practically blazing.

SWISH!

He raised his Skull Staff, stirring up a plume of black smoke. In the blink of an eye, a thick, dark shadow once again lunged toward Ye Xuan.

Not only was the dark shadow incredibly swift, but it also produced a sonic boom as it tore through the air. Like a black torrent crashing down, it reached Ye Xuan in an instant.

“Go!”

After their last exchange, Ye Xuan was no longer underestimating Zhan Shang. He summoned the Zhenyuan Stone. It spun wildly, creating a powerful vortex of Profound Yuan as it shot toward the black smoke like a meteorite.

The black smoke expanded rapidly, forming a dark celestial canopy. Its aura was immense and majestic, laced with a chilling presence. In front of it, Ye Xuan’s Zhenyuan Stone seemed to waver, its trajectory becoming unsteady.

Ye Xuan’s heart tightened. He hadn’t expected his Zhenyuan Stone to be like a sailboat before a great wave when facing Zhan Shang’s black mist.

Without hesitation, he frantically poured his Peak of Seventh Grade Soul Sense into the Zhenyuan Stone. The stone couldn’t grow larger within the confines of the passage, but it began to radiate faint, hazy black light.

BOOM!

The Zhenyuan Stone collided with the dark canopy. The surrounding Profound Yuan erupted with a deafening blast. The entire passage filled with a thunderous, echoing roar.

The Zhenyuan Stone was blocked by the black canopy. The two clashed continuously in the void, seemingly locked in a stalemate.

Behind the black mist, however, Zhan Shang’s figure had once again disappeared.

‘This guy,’ Ye Xuan thought, his heart tightening. He quickly activated his Divine Spirit Gaze and saw a hazy black shadow flitting through the void at a speed he could barely follow.

SWISH!

The black shadow arrived before Ye Xuan in the blink of an eye, revealing Zhan Shang’s figure. His face was twisted into a savage expression, with black tendrils crawling across it, making him look evil and terrifying. A hazy black aura emanated from his right hand as it suddenly slapped down toward Ye Xuan.

“Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Soul-Destroying Art!”

With a savage laugh, Zhan Shang’s palm released a terrifying power. Before it even reached Ye Xuan, the aura alone made his mind spin and his soul tremble.

“Eye of Illusory Restraint!”

At the critical moment, a mesmerizing light flashed in Ye Xuan’s eyes. An invisible wave of Soul Power shot out, rushing directly into Zhan Shang’s mind.

He intended to use a Soul Power attack to impede Zhan Shang’s movements.

“Heh heh, the Soul Power attacks of you humans are useless against me.”

Zhan Shang sneered, completely unaffected by the Eye of Illusory Restraint. His palm landed on Ye Xuan, and a terrifying Soul-Destroying power erupted instantly.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Ye Xuan’s eyes. BOOM! He released his Earth Martial Soul, and a layer of hard Rock Armor materialized over his body.

WHOOSH!

At the same time, a scorching flame erupted from Ye Xuan’s body. It not only enveloped him but also crawled up the arm Zhan Shang had used to strike him. The terrifying Endless Molten Flame blazed, spreading rapidly to Zhan Shang’s own body.

Ye Xuan knew that the Endless Molten Flame was the perfect counter to Zhan Shang. The problem was that Zhan Shang’s speed and Body Technique were too refined for him to catch. So, he had devised this plan: unleash the Endless Molten Flame at the exact moment Zhan Shang’s attack landed.

KABOOM!

Amidst the violent explosion, flames scattered everywhere. Ye Xuan and Zhan Shang both coughed up blood as they were sent flying back in a sorry state.

The instant he was injured, Ye Xuan activated the Life Martial Soul in his mind. A dense life force filled his body, and the muscle tissue damaged by Zhan Shang’s palm began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye.

But that wasn’t the true danger. The real threat was the soul attack embedded in Zhan Shang’s strike.

HUM!

A seven-colored light pulsed within Ye Xuan’s mind, where his soul resided. Streams of black Soul-Destroying power were steadily eroding the Restriction above his Soul Sea. If his Soul Sea were breached, he would perish, no matter how intact his physical body was.

But Ye Xuan had already anticipated this. The black War God, formed from his Devouring Martial Soul, swiftly descended above his Soul Sea. Its astonishing devouring power instantly absorbed and nullified the Soul-Destroying energy from Zhan Shang’s attack.

All of this took time to describe but happened in a flash. Zhan Shang’s attack had been instantly nullified.

As for Zhan Shang…

“This damned Celestial Fire!”

He was completely enveloped in the scorching Endless Molten Flame. He let out a piercing shriek as black mist poured from his body in a futile attempt to extinguish the blaze.

Ye Xuan immediately seized the opportunity, unleashing his Sword of Judgment and the Endless Molten Flame once more. They transformed into red and blue streaks of light that shot down the passage toward Zhan Shang.

“Die!”

Ye Xuan’s gaze was frigid. He wouldn’t waste the opportunity he had fought so hard to create. As he launched the two attacks, he also mobilized his Devouring Martial Soul for a thunderous strike.

BOOM!

The three attacks descended upon Zhan Shang in an instant, like a world-ending deluge.

“Damn it! Detonate! Soul Yuan Transformation!”

At the moment of crisis, Zhan Shang roared. As Ye Xuan’s three attacks landed and unleashed their terrifying power, Zhan Shang’s entire body exploded into a cloud of black mist, seemingly obliterated into nothingness.

However, on the other side, the black mist began to coalesce, and Zhan Shang’s figure slowly reappeared. His face was pale and his body was a wreck. With blood at the corner of his mouth and a depleted aura, it was clear that while Ye Xuan’s attack hadn’t killed him, it had left him severely wounded.