Invincible Soul Emperor

Qin Yue nodded solemnly. From Ye Qingchen’s mother’s words, she could also discern her acceptance of her as a daughter-in-law.

Although I’m already outstanding enough—not to mention my background from my previous life, just being the successor to the Rising Sun Pavilion in this one is enough to make countless people flock to me—I can’t help but feel insecure in front of my beloved, especially his mother. I was so afraid she would be dissatisfied with me.

Now, having heard Ye Qingchen’s mother’s words, Qin Yue could finally put her heart at ease.

Ye Qingchen’s mother pointed to the box in Qin Yue’s hands and spoke, ”The item in this box is of great use to Qingchen, but it has no effect on anyone else. Give it to him; it should be of considerable help to him right now.”

Qin Yue nodded, put the small box away, and said to Ye Qingchen’s mother, ”Auntie, rest assured, I will definitely give the box to Qingchen. Besides, he would be overjoyed if he knew you were still alive.”

To Qin Yue’s surprise, Ye Qingchen’s mother shook her head and said, ”Let’s not let Qingchen know for now. I can’t meet him yet. When the time is right, I will tell him myself.”

Qin Yue nodded thoughtfully. She’s right. With Ye Qingchen’s temperament, if he knew his mother wasn’t dead, he would stop at nothing to find her. The rescue of Ye Changqing was a clear example. Back then, with only the strength of a senior martial master, he dared to charge into the Heavenly Profound Sect. He’s far stronger now.

Ye Qingchen’s mother spoke again, ”Young lady, take good care of Qingchen. His father and I owe him too much.”

Qin Yue nodded and replied, ”Auntie, don’t worry. In time, Qingchen will understand the difficult decisions you’ve made.”

Ye Qingchen’s mother sighed again, and her figure slowly faded until it disappeared completely.

After bowing deeply to the grave of Ye Qingchen’s mother, Qin Yue left. Since his mother said the item in the box is of great use to him, I must give it to him immediately. This will increase his chances of victory in the life-and-death duel three months from now.

「...」

Li Rui dragged his battered body back to the bamboo house, hesitating over how to explain himself to the Saint Heir.

From inside came the Saint Heir’s refined voice, ”Come in.”

Li Rui bit his lip. I have to face it sooner or later. He braced himself and entered the bamboo house.

The Saint Heir was still lounging lazily on the bamboo bed. He looked at the injured Li Rui with a faint smile on his face, as calm as if he had expected this all along.

Li Rui knelt on one knee, his head bowed. ”This subordinate has failed to live up to the Saint Heir’s nurturing and did not kill Chen Qingye. Please punish me, Saint Heir.”

The Saint Heir waved his hand. ”To be able to defeat you with only Martial Spirit Realm strength and injure you so severely, that Chen Qingye must have some exceptional qualities. Was the battle recorded?”

Li Rui scrambled to take out the Memory Crystal from his robes, holding it above his head with both hands as he shuffled forward on his knees to present it.

The Saint Heir extended a hand so fair that even women would be envious and gently tapped the Memory Crystal. The scene of the battle between Li Rui and Ye Qingchen appeared before him.

The Saint Heir maintained his faint smile as he watched the entire recording. Afterward, he waved his hand at Li Rui and said, ”Rise. Your defeat was not unwarranted.”

Ashamed, Li Rui stood up and remained beside the Saint Heir with his head lowered.

The Saint Heir sat up straight and spoke. ”From the very beginning, that Chen Qingye wasn’t using his full strength. Rather than looking down on you, I feel he was deliberately observing your combat techniques. From this, it seems this Chen Qingye likely doesn’t have a formidable background, otherwise he wouldn’t have been interested in your crude skills.”

Li Rui nodded, not daring to harbor any grievances. Before the Saint Heir, my fighting style truly is crude.

The Saint Heir tossed a Spirit Pill to Li Rui and continued, ”This Spirit Pill is enough to heal your injuries. If you’re lucky, you might even use this opportunity to break through to the second layer of the Martial King Realm.”

Li Rui quickly knelt to express his thanks. An Elixir bestowed by the Saint Heir was bound to be of the finest quality, safe to consume without fear of any side effects.

The Saint Heir waved his hand again and went on, ”Chen Qingye... a nobody with no background, yet he possesses such skill. He has sparked This Holy Son’s curiosity. Go and find out what day his duel with Huan Yuehua is set for. When the time comes, I would like to see for myself just who this Chen Qingye truly is.”

Li Rui respectfully accepted the order and departed, carefully closing the door for the Saint Heir as he left.

Looking at the Spirit Pill in his hand, Li Rui heaved a sigh of relief. I thought I would face severe punishment from the Saint Heir, but this has turned into a blessing in disguise. I even received this top-grade Spirit Pill!

「...」

The battle between Ye Qingchen and Li Rui had destroyed a large section of Illusory Moon City’s streets. The next day, the incident caused quite a stir in the city, with everyone speculating about what had happened. Some said it was a duel between peerless experts, while others claimed a Monster Beast had descended to wreak havoc. But the instigator of it all, Ye Qingchen, was at this moment sitting peacefully in a secret chamber, cycling the Divine Wood Art and absorbing Spiritual Energy from low-grade Spirit Stones.

To Ye Qingchen’s disappointment, however, while his cultivation had progressed slightly over the past few days, the improvement was slow. Even after absorbing a large number of low-grade Spirit Stones, his strength remained at the eighth layer of the Martial Spirit Realm, only slightly more consolidated.

Ye Qingchen was also aware of the reason. Most of the Spiritual Energy he absorbed was refined by the two Exotic Flames within him: the Fen Tian Earth Fire and the Ancient Jade Spiritual Fire. The rest was absorbed by his Willow Wood Martial Soul and Dual Pupil Martial Soul. In the end, the Spiritual Energy that actually entered his sea of qi was less than a tenth of what he absorbed. His current progress was entirely thanks to the miraculous effects of the Divine Wood Art and the sheer volume of low-grade Spirit Stones he had consumed. Fortunately, business at the Chen Yue Pavilion was booming. To say it was raking in a fortune daily would be an understatement, and this was the only reason he could afford such an extravagant rate of consumption.

But at this rate, even if he went into closed-door cultivation for three months, his strength would at best reach the peak of the eighth layer of the Martial Spirit Realm. With such strength, he could barely contend with Huan Yuehua, but victory would be impossible. This was unacceptable, as his goal was to kill Huan Yuehua with his own hands.

It seems I’ll have to find another way!

Ye Qingchen sighed and stepped out of the secret chamber. He wanted to ask Ma Chunsheng how the acquisition of the herbs he had requested was going.

The life-or-death battle is drawing near. If all else fails, I’ll have to rely on Elixirs to break through to the next realm!