Chapter 28: Soul Technique

The mysterious elder gripped Su Yi’s chest, his expression twisting into a sinister grin as he looked at the youth, helpless in his grasp. “Little one, don’t blame me for being ruthless. If you must blame someone, blame yourself for being far too weak!”

With that, the elder’s eyes narrowed in concentration, preparing for the final blow that would completely seize control of Su Yi’s consciousness. The thought of successfully turning Su Yi into his experiment—considering the youth’s potential—excited him to no end. Who knew, under his own hand, he might just create an incomparably powerful cultivator!

Obsessed with such endeavors, the old man felt his very blood begin to boil at the prospect.

Suddenly, Su Yi, who had been motionless, lashed out with his right hand. His palm struck the overexcited elder squarely in the chest, catching him completely off guard!

With a thunderous sound, a surge of formidable force slammed into the old man, sending him stumbling backward. He managed to steady himself after several steps, coughing slightly as a line of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

He lifted his head, revealing a ghastly face, his eyes fixed on Su Yi, filled with disbelief.

Having repelled his opponent with a single blow, Su Yi slowly rose to his feet. The youthful innocence had vanished from his features, replaced by a chilling, venomous gleam in his eyes—a sight both strange and unsettling. He clenched his fists, stretching as if savoring his newfound power.

Feeling the immense surge of energy within, a hoarse, guttural laugh escaped his lips. “Kekeke! The sensation of having a body is truly marvelous… truly marvelous…”

The mysterious elder’s brow furrowed. He sensed something was amiss. That blow just now carried the power of a true Dragon Fighter! Although Su Yi had struck while he was distracted, it had nonetheless injured him. The sharp, blade-like pain had taken considerable effort and much battle energy to subdue. Clearly, Su Yi’s strength had soared dramatically!

Yet, Su Yi had only just been a mere ordinary youth, not even a novice cultivator. How could his power grow so suddenly?

His thoughts turned to the jade pendant. Perhaps it contained some secret art for rapidly increasing strength? The idea filled him with greedy anticipation. Such a thing would be an invaluable treasure. Blinded by desire, he barely questioned Su Yi’s strange transformation.

Even if it could enhance one’s power, so what? Could it make someone a Battle King in an instant?

The elder regarded Su Yi with a cold, disdainful tone. “It seems you have plenty of tricks up your sleeve. But let me tell you, in the face of absolute power, all such underhanded methods are nothing but illusions!”

At these words, Su Yi glanced up at the old man, his gaze savage and twisted, a cold smile on his lips. “Old fool, it seems the Five Venoms Sealing Mark from two years ago still wasn’t enough for you. Let me give you another taste!”

The elder’s mind reeled, his body shuddering involuntarily, terror plain on his face. “How—how do you know about that?!”

In that instant, the world around them changed. Su Yi’s humble cottage disintegrated like dust caught in a breeze, dissolving into countless wisps of smoke that drifted away. When the smoke cleared, the pair found themselves standing atop massive logs floating on the surface of a surging river.

The elder’s pupils contracted—an illusion!

Indeed, Su Yi had conjured this illusory realm with a soul-based battle art. Yet the old man was no stranger to such techniques; after an initial moment of panic, his years of experience calmed him. He looked across at Su Yi, a hint of wariness rising in his heart.

Such an ability was rare and difficult to master. Illusory soul arts were divided into two types. The first disrupted the six senses, blending reality and fantasy, making it impossible to distinguish truth from illusion—injuring the mind or the body depending on what was real or false. In such illusions, day could become night, seasons could shift at will, but everything felt utterly real.

The second type was a purely mental illusion. Once invoked, the bodies of those involved remained motionless in the real world while their souls battled fiercely within the illusion. In the first type, however, one could move and fight as usual.

The elder discreetly tested his storage ring, finding it unresponsive. His brow furrowed—it was indeed a purely spiritual illusion. His physical body was now immobile to the outside world, unable to access his possessions.

In such illusions, victory depended not only on the strength of battle energy but even more so on the power of one’s soul. In terms of soul force alone, he was among the strongest of Earth-ranked cultivators!

To use such a trick against him was sheer folly.

Reassured, the elder fixed his gaze on Su Yi, his voice regaining its former chill. “I’ll ask you again—how do you know about the Five Venoms Sealing Mark?!”

Su Yi responded with a series of harsh, guttural laughs, his face twisted with bloodthirsty malice. “Old man, you’re still so arrogant even at death’s door!”

He raised his hands, and several massive logs floating on the river abruptly shot into the air, propelled by a fierce wind, crashing toward the elder.

The old man snorted derisively, extending his right hand. Thick, intertwining strands of black battle energy coiled around his arm, and a blade of black energy, a yard long, materialized—hurtling toward the oncoming logs.

A deafening boom echoed out as the energy blade collided with the logs, shattering them into a cloud of splinters that drifted and lingered in the air like mist.

Su Yi cackled, stomping down on a nearby log, shattering it beneath his foot. Using the recoil, he shot forward, appearing before the elder in a flash, his right fist swinging fiercely, whistling through the air with a terrifying force.

Sensing the formidable power behind the punch, the elder’s eyes narrowed. He wasted no time, channeling his battle energy, the black aura around his right arm swelling and thickening until it resembled a limb submerged in black water.

He met Su Yi’s attack head-on, his right palm cloaked in black energy slamming forward.

A thunderous impact resounded as fist met palm, a violent burst of energy rippling out and shaking the surroundings. Water exploded upward, soaring dozens of meters high.

Waves roared, engulfing everything around them, the massive logs near the combatants pulverized into countless fragments, swept away by the raging current.

With a single exchange, both Su Yi and the elder were hurled apart by each other’s power, pausing in midair before simultaneously taking flight and rising into the sky.

The old man shook his numbed arm, his expression dark. “It’s a pity I’m not skilled in close combat, or I’d have had the upper hand. But your greatest mistake was using a purely spiritual illusion. With my soul’s strength, I can unleash my battle arts as easily as before my injury! You’re finished!”

He flipped his palm, and suddenly, an immense mass of black battle energy appeared overhead, its surging force making the very air tremble. The titanic black energy roiled and compressed, finally taking shape as a colossal black mountain suspended in the sky.