Chapter 274: Chapter 274: Slaying the Celestial Martial Artist

Ye Xuan knew this couldn’t go on. He immediately activated the Devouring Martial Soul in his body. The black martial soul instantly became a dark vortex, creating a massive suction force that started to absorb the power of Wu Xu’s Fire Leopard Martial Soul.

"You actually have dual martial souls."

Wu Xu was finally shaken. Waves of shock crashed through his mind; he had never imagined Ye Xuan would actually have two martial souls—that he was a dual martial soul wielder.

On the Celestial Profound Continent, those with dual martial souls were exceedingly rare. As long as neither of the two was a useless or "trash" martial soul, their probability of becoming an expert was incredibly high. Wielders of dual martial souls were considered geniuses of the highest order, not just in the Thirteen Nations Alliance, but across the entire Celestial Profound Continent.

What shocked Wu Xu even more was that Ye Xuan’s original earth-yellow martial soul was already impressive enough. He never expected the second, black one to be even more terrifying. Under its suppression, the Soul Power of his Fire Leopard Martial Soul was rapidly draining away, causing it to grow weaker and weaker.

Wu Xu could no longer spare a thought for attacking Ye Xuan. With a mental command, he tried to retract his Fire Leopard Martial Soul, but it was too late. In that critical moment, the Devouring Martial Soul above Ye Xuan’s head swelled, turning into an intangible black hole that swallowed Wu Xu’s Fire Leopard Martial Soul whole.

Wu Xu felt a sharp pain tear through his mind, and then the connection to his martial soul vanished. He was scared witless, and the urge to flee filled his heart.

Ye Xuan detected the shift in Wu Xu’s resolve. With a flick of his will, a tiny black dot shot out from his Storage Ring and landed on Wu Xu’s protective layer of Profound Power.

The moment the tiny black dot landed on his protective Profound Power, Wu Xu immediately felt a chunk of it disappear. He was stunned. ’What the hell is that thing?’

He hurriedly tried to channel his Profound Power to stop the black dot’s advance, but it was useless. The dot passed through his Profound Power shield as if it were empty space and quickly reached his skin. A sharp pain lanced through him as the tiny black dot actually drilled into his body.

Wu Xu was horrified. He desperately tried to force the black dot out, but it only burrowed deeper. It quickly traveled along his Profound Veins until it reached the Profound Sea in his Dantian, sending waves of excruciating, tearing pain through him.

The tiny black dot was actually chewing on his Profound Sea. Each bite sent a spasm of agony through him, causing the Profound Power in his body to circulate erratically.

’Where the hell did this brat get so many tricks?’

By now, Wu Xu had lost all will to fight. Terrified, he stammered, "Stop! Stop! We can talk about this..."

Ye Xuan sneered. He had no intention of listening to Wu Xu’s pleas and secretly commanded the Heart-Eating Worm to intensify its assault.

This tiny black dot was the very same Heart-Eating Worm that Ye Xuan had extracted from Zhao Jing’s body. After being refined by Ye Xuan and devouring a large number of Corpse-eating Insects, it had evolved, becoming one of his trump cards.

The Heart-Eating Worm gnawed relentlessly on Wu Xu’s Profound Sea. Overwhelmed by pain, Wu Xu vomited a mouthful of black blood, his forehead drenched in cold sweat. Even the black millstone under his Soul Power’s control began to wobble.

Ye Xuan had been waiting for this exact moment. Three Profound-Slaying Daggers shot out like lightning, viciously piercing into Wu Xu’s protective layer of Profound Power.

"Don’t—" Wu Xu’s eyes widened. He had just managed to cry out a plea for mercy when the Profound-Slaying Daggers instantly pierced his skull. His head exploded like a watermelon, splattering brains and blood everywhere.

His eyes were wide with disbelief in the moment before his death, his heart filled with regret.

The black millstone, now uncontrolled, fell from the sky and shrank back to the size of a palm.

A cold sneer touched Ye Xuan’s lips. ’He wanted to fight when he pleased and stop when he pleased? The world doesn’t work like that.’

In terms of raw strength, Wu Xu was far weaker than Lv Hao from back in Tianxu Province. Though both were Triple Peak Celestial Martial Artists, Lv Hao was also a disciple of the Profound Mystery Sect and a Fourth-Grade Soul Refiner. Even Lv Hao hadn’t been his match. For this Wu Xu to think he could steal his Blue Star Grass martial soul was simply suicidal.

Furthermore, Ye Xuan’s current strength was considerably greater than when he had fought Lv Hao. He hadn’t even needed to use the Zhenyuan Stone to kill Wu Xu.

"Come back." At Ye Xuan’s low command, the Heart-Eating Worm, now plump and round, wobbled out of Wu Xu’s body and flew back into Ye Xuan’s Storage Ring.

Ye Xuan collected the items from Wu Xu’s body and swiftly departed.

After reaching a safe area, Ye Xuan finally took out Wu Xu’s Storage Ring and began to inspect its contents.

As the president of the Earth Stone Kingdom’s Soul Master Tower, Wu Xu had quite a few treasures in his Storage Ring. There was no shortage of Tier Four and Tier Five items, and even several kinds of Tier Six Spirit Medicines, much to Ye Xuan’s delight.

In addition, Ye Xuan also found several Profound Talismans.

A Profound Talisman was a type of treasure created by powerful experts who condensed Profound Power, special formation patterns, and even Soul Power. Once activated, they could instantly release enormous energy, making them incredibly powerful.

Profound Talismans were also graded, just like other treasures, from Tier One to Tier Nine. The higher the tier, the greater the power.

Most of the Profound Talismans on Wu Xu were only Tier Two to Three or Tier Three to Four. For Ye Xuan, they weren’t particularly useful.

But as he sorted through the rest, Ye Xuan found a surprise.

’Oh? This is a Void-Piercing Profound Talisman. It lets a Martial Artist instantly traverse several hundred meters through the void. It’s an incredible tool for escaping or taking risks.’

’And this Flame Profound Talisman... if I’m not mistaken, it’s a Tier Five attack talisman. Even a Tier Five Martial Sect expert would likely be severely injured if hit by this.’

Ye Xuan was secretly amazed. He couldn’t understand why Wu Xu hadn’t used them. If he had activated the Void-Piercing Profound Talisman, Ye Xuan would have had no way to stop him from escaping in that chaotic moment.

Taking a closer look, Ye Xuan finally spotted the issue. These two Profound Talismans were different from the others—they had two faint, ancient Restrictions placed on them.

The Restrictions on the two Profound Talismans were extremely old. Though they appeared simple on the surface, their structure was bizarre. Even with a quick glance, Ye Xuan felt as if he were looking at them through a thick fog.

’What a strange Restriction.’

Ye Xuan was taken aback. Given his level of skill and understanding, if even he found it strange, then this Restriction was definitely not something an ordinary person could have placed.

Frowning, he studied them for a long time before finally figuring out a way to undo the Restrictions on both Profound Talismans.

A faint, ancient, and profound ripple of energy immediately emanated from the two Profound Talismans.

Ye Xuan couldn’t help but chuckle.

No wonder Wu Xu hadn’t used these Profound Talismans. It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of it or lacked the time, but that he was simply unable to.

With his level of cultivation, Wu Xu couldn’t possibly undo the Restrictions on these two Profound Talismans, which meant he couldn’t activate them. In the end, it was all to Ye Xuan’s benefit.

’Just where did Wu Xu get these two Profound Talismans?’

Ye Xuan was a little curious.

Soon enough, however, Ye Xuan turned his attention to Wu Xu’s black millstone.

The palm-sized millstone was covered in dense, intricate patterns. A faint but powerful ripple of Soul Power, ancient and majestic, emanated from within it.

Ye Xuan was astonished when he saw it.

’Based on the earlier fight with Wu Xu, the power of this millstone Profound Treasure seemed rather ordinary.’

That was why Ye Xuan had assumed Wu Xu’s Profound Treasure was just a common, entry-level one.

But now, looking at it up close, this millstone Profound Treasure was anything but ordinary.

Its main material appeared to be meteorite iron, and it was forged with at least several other high-grade materials. Furthermore, the profound soul of a high-level Profound Beast had been integrated into it, which explained the faint yet powerful ripples of Soul Power.

In terms of grade, this Profound Treasure was probably around the Fifth Grade.

Although a Fifth-Grade Profound Treasure was nothing special in Ye Xuan’s eyes, in a place like the Thirteen Nations Alliance, or even in other remote corners of the Celestial Profound Continent, it was by no means common.

It was just that the power Wu Xu had displayed with it was far too low.

If Wu Xu had been able to fully master the power of this millstone Profound Treasure, Ye Xuan reckoned that while he still might not have been defeated, killing Wu Xu would certainly not have been so quick and easy.

Thinking of this, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but smile.

’This Wu Xu was just too unlucky,’ Ye Xuan thought. ’He had plenty of treasures, but he couldn’t unleash the true power of any of them. To be killed so easily by me... his luck must have been truly abysmal.’

With that, Ye Xuan began refining Wu Xu’s millstone Profound Treasure.

Compared to the Zhenyuan Stone, the millstone Profound Treasure’s structure was at least ten times simpler. After just four hours, Ye Xuan had refined most of the major Restrictions within it.

The only reason he hadn’t refined the remaining Restrictions was that his Soul Power level wasn’t high enough yet.

WHOOSH!

With a flick of Ye Xuan’s will, the palm-sized black millstone shot into the air, expanding rapidly. Then, with a resounding BOOM, it crashed into a nearby tree, instantly smashing the massive trunk—one that would take several people to encircle—into splinters.

The power of this single strike was worlds beyond what Wu Xu had been able to produce.

If Wu Xu had been able to unleash this level of power, there was no way his Profound-Slaying Daggers could have blocked it.

After all, his Profound-Slaying Daggers had only undergone simple refinement and couldn’t even be considered a Profound Treasure. Their power came solely from the special Soul Skill he used to control them.

"Not bad, not bad at all!"

Ye Xuan nodded in satisfaction and placed the black millstone into his Storage Ring.

Then, he took out a map.

The hand-drawn map depicted several towering mountains surrounded by a winding valley.

’The Floating Light Secret Realm is vast and boundless. I wonder which region Dongfang Yanyu was in when they discovered the Earth Fire.’

Special flames were incredibly valuable to Alchemists. A powerful flame could not only greatly enhance an Alchemist’s refining abilities but also bring about a heaven-and-earth-shattering transformation in a Martial Artist’s own strength.

Earth Fire was considered an upper-mid-tier special flame, which was why Ye Xuan had never been able to forget about it.

But the Floating Light Secret Realm was simply too vast. Forget finding the Earth Fire; just locating the area drawn on the map would be no easy feat.