Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 286: Chapter 286: Further Development of the Martial Soul

Li Qingfeng had clearly put a great deal of effort into preparing for this Sect Advancement Competition, as he was well-informed about the various sects, including their strongest combatants and overall strength. Pavilion Master Zhang listened attentively because he understood that among the five of them, his strength was the weakest, and he was the most vulnerable to being targeted. Moreover, when Li Qingfeng was laying out his strategy, he would, intentionally or not, remind Ye Qingchen to protect Pavilion Master Zhang. As for confronting the opponent’s main force, that task was given to the trio of Li Qingfeng, Hei Ze, and Elder Wuji.

Although Ye Qingchen’s combat power already surpassed theirs, the competition had just started, so Li Qingfeng decided to conserve their strength. With Ye Qingchen as an unpredictable factor, other sects would inevitably make serious miscalculations when devising tactics against the Qingyun Sect, which would cost them dearly.

After the planning session, Li Qingfeng led the sect’s experts back to the accommodations arranged for the Qingyun Sect, instructing everyone to rest well for the next day’s battle. Meanwhile, Pavilion Master Zhang and Ye Qingchen hurriedly began refining Spirit Pills. Although the use of Spirit Pills was prohibited during the matches, the competition was split into morning and afternoon sessions. During the rest period in between, they had to rely on Spirit Pills for a swift recovery from injuries and fatigue to ensure they were in peak condition for the afternoon fights.

Early the next morning, the venue was so packed with a sea of people that it was impassable. The battles of a thousand sects, combined with the crowds that came to spectate, made the venue seem somewhat crowded, even though Wuji Immortal Palace had anticipated this and increased its size. For this competition, Wuji Immortal Palace had specially constructed one hundred large platforms. Qingyun Sect was assigned to platform number fifteen.

As the hour of Chen approached, Xiao Xiao once again led the disciples of Wuji Immortal Palace to the judges’ seats. Ling Xiaoyu resumed his role as host and began to introduce the rules for the team battles.

”Ladies and gentlemen, although everyone is quite familiar with the competition rules, I must still reiterate them here. In the team battles, each contestant will wear a Token on their chest. The objective is to snatch as many Tokens from your opponents as possible. Any contestant who loses their Token will be immediately eliminated. Each match lasts for one hour. After the hour is up, the side holding the most Tokens wins and scores one point!”

Ling Xiaoyu’s announcement was met with a round of applause. He nodded in satisfaction and then declared the start of the competition. Qingyun Sect’s draw placed them in the fifth match, which meant Ye Qingchen had time to observe the other battles first. For Ye Qingchen, who was participating in the Sect Advancement Competition for the first time, this was undoubtedly good news. Not only could he watch the contests between other experts, but he could also quickly learn the competition rules—killing two birds with one stone.

As soon as the competition started, Ye Qingchen began moving between the platforms, watching the exchanges between the experts. The more he watched, the more he realized how shallow his previous experience had been. In a place like the Northern Desolate Country, the Martial King Realm was considered the pinnacle of combat power, and everyone’s development of their Martial Soul was still at a primitive stage. Take Ye Qingchen himself: with his current development, his Willow Wood Martial Soul could only use the Binding skill, while the Dual Pupil Martial Soul had been relegated to a purely auxiliary role. One had to understand that of Ye Qingchen’s two Martial Souls, the Willow Wood Martial Soul was a Seven-Star Martial Soul, and the Dual Pupil Martial Soul was even more special and mysterious, its power no less than the Willow Wood’s! Yet, their contribution to his combat power seemed negligible. Ye Qingchen witnessed with his own eyes how a seventh-layer Martial Spirit Realm expert, with only a Five-Star Fierce Tiger Martial Soul, could materialize the tiger to fight for him, ultimately defeating an eighth-layer Martial Spirit Realm expert. This deeply shook Ye Qingchen.

If my own Martial Souls could be developed to this extent, then my combat strength would surely rise to another layer.

Ye Qingchen watched the other battles with an insatiable hunger, constantly contemplating how he could utilize his Martial Souls to unleash their greatest combat power. He only snapped out of his trance when Sect Master Li Qingfeng came over and called him back. Unbeknownst to him, he had been watching for over two hours, which meant the Qingyun Sect’s match was about to begin.

Since neither the Qingyun Sect nor the Changhong Sect were considered top contenders, there were not many spectators in front of platform number fifteen. The experts from both sides took the stage. Qingyun Sect’s five members, in descending order of their cultivation realms, were: Venerable Heize, at the ninth layer of the Martial Spirit Realm; Li Qingfeng, at the eighth layer of the Martial Spirit Realm; Elder Wuji, at the seventh layer of the Martial Spirit Realm; and finally, Ye Qingchen and Pavilion Master Zhang, who were both at the third layer of the Martial Spirit Realm. In contrast, the Changhong Sect’s lineup consisted of two eighth-layer Martial Spirit Realm experts, two seventh-layer, and one sixth-layer.

After the start of the match was announced, the Changhong Sect experts exchanged glances. An eighth-layer Martial Spirit Realm expert directly lunged at Ye Qingchen and Pavilion Master Zhang, while the other four blocked the path of Hei Ze and the other two. The opponent’s strategy was simple: they intended to eliminate the two lower-layer contestants, Ye Qingchen and Pavilion Master Zhang, with a lightning-fast strike, and then use their numerical advantage to hold off Venerable Heize, the ninth-layer Martial Spirit Realm expert.

However, when Li Qingfeng and the others saw the eighth-layer expert charging at Ye Qingchen, a cold smile involuntarily appeared on their lips. When Ye Qingchen was still at the second layer of the Martial Spirit Realm, he had been able to kill the eighth-layer Fei Hu. Now that Ye Qingchen had reached the third layer, dealing with an eighth-layer opponent would be even easier.

For a moment, no one moved except for the eighth-layer expert and Ye Qingchen. Both sides were filled with confidence, each envisioning the scales of victory tilting in their favor.

The eighth-layer expert launched an attack at Ye Qingchen while simultaneously unleashing his Cang Water Martial Soul toward Pavilion Master Zhang. In this expert’s eyes, dealing with two low-layer Martial Spirit Realm opponents was a simple task; even facing two at once, he could achieve a one-hit kill. His only concern was that the other Qingyun Sect experts might rush to provide support. But when he noticed that Li Qingfeng and the others made no move, a cruel smile spread across his face. Although killing was forbidden in the Sect Advancement Competition, the expert was confident that his one strike would leave both Ye Qingchen and Pavilion Master Zhang severely injured, unable to recover for at least ten to fifteen days.

However, to the expert’s surprise, Ye Qingchen’s eyes showed no sign of the fear he expected; instead, they revealed a hint of disdain. This gave the expert an uneasy premonition.