Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Shen Haoran’s Scheme

When their weapons clashed, Shen Haoran felt his arm go numb. It was an immense weight, as if a mountain were pressing down on his head.

Xiong the Second was a Tier Four Spirit User, after all, and his strength was not to be underestimated. Even after using a Spirit Pill to boost his power, Shen Haoran still found it difficult to fend him off.

Seeing Shen Haoran take his heavy blow and emerge seemingly unscathed, Xiong the Second’s eyes went bloodshot. He raised his leg and kicked out at him!

Shen Haoran raised a hand and deftly deflected the kick, neutralizing its force and using the momentum to retreat. Seeing his attack fail, Xiong the Second immediately surged forward, his Ghost Head Saber a blur of impenetrable strikes!

Faced with Xiong the Second’s ferocious advance, Shen Haoran released his Spiritual Thought and raised his Soul-devouring Sword to meet the charge! Shen Haoran had never cultivated any specific Swordsmanship; he only knew the basic moves—thrusting, cleaving, hacking, slicing, and stabbing! Yet, these fundamental techniques were enough to hold back Xiong the Second’s offensive.

The longer Xiong the Second fought, the more alarmed he grew. His Spiritual Power was of the Gold Attribute, giving him exceptionally high Attack Power. Even a Tier Seven Spirit User would have had to temporarily retreat from the flurry of attacks he had just unleashed, yet Shen Haoran had blocked every single one with merely the strength of a Spirit Tempering Tier Eight cultivator!

’This boy must not be allowed to live!’ Xiong the Second thought grimly. ’He can already fight above his level at such a young age, and his mind is terrifyingly sharp. He’s destined for greatness! Since I’ve already made an enemy of him, I have to see this through and eliminate him completely!’

With that thought, Xiong the Second halted his assault and retreated.

"Hah... what’s wrong?" Shen Haoran taunted, panting heavily as he watched Xiong the Second halt his attack. "Weren’t you trying to kill me? Are you out of energy already? Hah..."

In truth, Shen Haoran had struggled greatly to defend against Xiong the Second’s offensive. Every one of the man’s slashes was infused with highly destructive Gold Attribute Spiritual Power, and blocking each one consumed a massive amount of his own. By the time the assault ended, Shen Haoran had depleted most of his Spiritual Power.

’I was too naive,’ Shen Haoran thought with a wry, internal smile. ’Xiong the Second has far more combat experience than I do. If not for my Chaos Divine Body and the Soul-devouring Sword, I would have died countless times over by now.’ This served as a stark warning: he had to make combat experience a daily part of his Cultivation!

Xiong the Second stared at the panting Shen Haoran and spoke in a low, grim voice. "I have to admit, I’m impressed. To think you could withstand my assault with only the strength of Spirit Tempering Tier Eight!"

"But today, I must kill you. Forcing me to use this technique... you can die with pride!" With that, Xiong the Second raised his Ghost Head Saber, and a violent Spiritual Power began to slowly gather around it!

Seeing Xiong the Second’s stance, Shen Haoran knew this had to be his ultimate attack. He immediately regulated his breathing and drew upon the Spirit Pill within his Dantian. Gray Chaotic Spiritual Power surged through his meridians, and in an instant, his strength was fully restored.

Even after his strength was restored, the Spirit Pill continued to pour out Spiritual Power. Shen Haoran channeled all of this excess energy into the Soul-devouring Sword. Imbued with Chaotic Spiritual Power, the blade began to hum, its body slowly turning a dull gray as a terrifying Energy radiated from it!

Meanwhile, Xiong the Second’s aura peaked. The Ghost Head Saber in his hand had turned completely golden, and the sharp energy radiating from it shredded any leaves that drifted near him!

"Guiyuan Slash!" As soon as the Martial Skill was fully formed, Xiong the Second roared and brought the golden Ghost Head Saber crashing down. The arc of its blade light carved a deep trench into the ground wherever it passed!

"Bring it on!" Shen Haoran laughed, thrusting his Soul-devouring Sword to meet the Guiyuan Slash!

In mid-air, one gray and one gold beam of light collided in an instant. The blinding flash illuminated the area as brightly as day!

BOOM... A deafening explosion followed, startling all the birds in the forest into flight. In the nearby town, people stopped their work and looked toward the mountains.

Back in the forest, the violent Spiritual Power from the clash between Shen Haoran and Xiong the Second had torn up a layer of the surrounding earth, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and smoke!

A gust of wind blew away the dust and smoke, revealing Shen Haoran and Xiong the Second locked in a stalemate. Both were drenched in sweat, desperately holding their weapons in place!

"N-No... Impossible!" Staring at Shen Haoran, Xiong the Second felt a sliver of fear. ’My strongest attack... was actually blocked just like that!’

"ARGH...!" Shen Haoran didn’t care about his opponent’s shock. With a furious roar, he squeezed another surge of gray Spiritual Power from the Spirit Pill and injected it into the Soul-devouring Sword!

CRACK... CRACK... As the gray Spiritual Power surged into the Soul-devouring Sword, Xiong the Second’s Ghost Head Saber finally gave way. Cracks spiderwebbed across the Profound Iron blade before it shattered completely, much to Xiong the Second’s horror!

"No!" With the Ghost Head Saber shattered, Shen Haoran’s Soul-devouring Sword met no resistance and plunged easily into Xiong the Second’s chest. The next instant, the Devouring Power of the Taotie erupted, and in the blink of an eye, Xiong the Second was sucked dry into a withered husk!

*Huff... Huff...* Seeing Xiong the Second dead, Shen Haoran collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. ’That was a tough fight.’ It was, after all, his first real life-and-death battle. ’Good thing I won!’

What surprised him, however, was that the Soul-devouring Sword had actually devoured Xiong the Second’s Essence Blood! After it did so, Shen Haoran felt a warmth spread through him, and his strength unexpectedly began to recover.

’So this is the Devouring Power of the Taotie? It’s incredible!’

"This is no time to stand around in awe! Get out of here, people are coming!" Elder Yan’s voice suddenly echoed in Shen Haoran’s mind. At his words, Shen Haoran dragged his exhausted body, disappearing into the dense forest with a few quick leaps.

He ran for what felt like an eternity, only stopping once he was sure he was safe. He then sat cross-legged on the ground and began to recover his strength.

"Not bad," Elder Yan praised, flying out from the Sealing Spirit Pearl as Shen Haoran recovered his strength. "Your first battle had many flaws, but you still exceeded my expectations!"

Seeing Elder Yan, Shen Haoran shot him a glare. "Spare me the lofty praise. Do you have any idea how close that last attack from Xiong the Second came to killing me? If the Soul-devouring Sword hadn’t devoured the power of his Guiyuan Slash, I would’ve been sliced in two!"

"Hmph, and you have the nerve to complain," Elder Yan lectured. "If it had been me, I never would have given him the chance to even form that Guiyuan Slash! Giving your opponent an opening is like sealing your own tomb!"

"Well..." Shen Haoran lowered his head, rendered speechless. ’Sigh, in the end, it all comes down to my lack of combat experience!’

"Alright, don’t get discouraged," Elder Yan continued. "From now on, I’m going to properly train your combat instincts."

"But now I’m curious. What was that useless-looking bead you gave to that Xue Qinghe fellow? How did it convince him to let you go so easily?"

"It wasn’t a useless bead, it was a Top Grade Spirit Stone!" Shen Haoran retorted.

"Oh, come on. You might be able to fool that kid, but you think you can fool me?" Elder Yan shot back, rolling his eyes. "Believe it or not, I’ve used more Top Grade Spirit Stones in my day than you’ve had hot dinners! Now spit it out. What was that thing? Even I couldn’t see through it!"

"Hehe, I guess I can’t hide anything from you, Elder Yan," Shen Haoran said. "In truth, it was just a Spirit Pearl that I’d filled with a month’s worth of my Spiritual Power!"

"A Spirit Pearl?" Elder Yan asked, puzzled.

"That’s right. Because Chaotic Spiritual Power is so incredibly pure, and because I’d stored a month’s worth in there, the amount of energy was massive. It was only natural for him to mistake it for a Top Grade Spirit Stone!"

"But it wasn’t just an ordinary Spirit Pearl. I did a little something to it," Shen Haoran added with a sly grin.

"What did you do to it?"

In response to Elder Yan’s question, Shen Haoran summoned the Chaotic Spiritual Power he had just restored. With a gentle pull of his hands, the gray energy split into two wisps—one red and one blue—which then floated above his palms.

"This... You can separate Chaotic Spiritual Power?!" Elder Yan exclaimed in amazement.

"Yes, I only discovered this recently. I found that Water and Fire Attribute Spiritual Power are naturally incompatible, but I can easily fuse them by circulating the Chaos Heaven-Dominating Technique." As he spoke, Shen Haoran clapped his hands together, and the two different energies instantly merged into a swirling, red-and-blue Spiritual Power Group.

"Elder Yan, could you try enveloping it with your Spiritual Thought?" Shen Haoran asked.

"I can." Elder Yan reached out and enveloped the Spiritual Light Ball in Shen Haoran’s hand with his own energy.

"Alright. Now I’m withdrawing the Chaos Heaven-Dominating Technique!" Shen Haoran announced. He gave a small wave toward the Spiritual Light Ball, and the once-calm orb began to roil violently. Then, before Elder Yan’s shocked gaze, it detonated!

"This..." The power was enough to astonish Elder Yan. That was just a minuscule amount of Spiritual Power, yet it had shattered his Spiritual Thought and blasted a deep pit in the ground. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the destructive force of a full month’s worth of that energy exploding!

BOOM! Just as Elder Yan was reeling from the shock, a massive explosion thundered from deep within the forest. Hearing it, a grin spread across Shen Haoran’s face. "Xue Qinghe took the bait!"