Soul Emperor Martial God

Chapter 6: Chapter 5: Poison Dagger Martial Soul

At nightfall, Xiao Yi stopped cultivating.

Through the window, he gazed at the sky full of stars and the moon.

The stars and the moon were no different from those on Earth.

The only difference was his own soul.

Perhaps, there was one more thing. Xiao Yi looked at Yiyi as she pushed the door open, holding a tray of food, and smiled.

”Young Master, it’s time to eat,” Yiyi said sweetly.

”Hmm,” Xiao Yi nodded.

After a day of cultivation, his True Qi had grown denser, but he had not yet broken through to the Mortal Realm Third Layer.

Martial Arts cultivation was extremely difficult.

For Martial Artists with poor aptitude, breaking through to the Postnatal Realm was a lifetime struggle.

Even within the Xiao Family, many adults remained within the Mortal Realm.

Once they broke through to the Postnatal Realm, they would automatically be promoted to Deacon, gaining a certain degree of say within the family, second only to the elders.

And within the vast Xiao Family, there were only a few dozen Deacons.

If it wasn’t for the three Body Tempering Pills today, Xiao Yi’s promotion to Mortal Realm Second Layer would have taken much more time.

Although he possessed a Purple Martial Soul, the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth was scarce, far inferior to directly absorbing the power of elixirs.

”If only I had more Body Tempering Pills,” Xiao Yi quietly thought.

Of course, that was just a thought. Although the Body Tempering Pill was only a First-grade Elixir, it wasn’t cheap – ten taels of silver each.

A typical family of three wouldn’t spend five taels on living expenses in a month.

Even for a disciple from a major family like the Xiao Family, the monthly allowance was only twenty taels.

In other words, with his own money, he couldn’t afford even two Body Tempering Pills a month.

”At this rate, breaking through to the Mortal Realm Third Layer will take at least four or five days,” Xiao Yi felt somewhat troubled.

If other Xiao Family Disciples heard his thoughts, they would curse him as a freak.

Even for Xiao Family Disciples, advancing a single layer in the Mortal Realm would usually take several months or even longer.

Even the well-known genius of the Xiao Family, Xiao Ruohan, with his powerful Yellow Rank Martial Soul, took a full month to break through from Mortal Realm Second Layer to the Third Layer.

The biggest reason Martial Souls determined a Martial Artist’s future was the speed of absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, thus affecting the speed of cultivation.

The higher the grade of the Martial Soul, the faster the cultivation speed.

”Yiyi, where are you going?” Xiao Yi suddenly saw Yiyi turn to leave and called out to her.

”Young Master, I’m going to the kitchen to eat,” Yiyi replied timidly.

The old Xiao Yi had never allowed Yiyi to dine at the same table. Moreover, only the worst leftovers in the kitchen would be reserved for Yiyi.

Yiyi was always left hungry.

”Sit down, eat together,” Xiao Yi said.

”But, Young Master, you once said that since Yiyi is ugly, dining with you would spoil your mood, so...”

”Sit down when I tell you to, stop talking nonsense,” Xiao Yi scolded.

Yiyi timidly took a seat, her face filled with unease.

”Help yourself to some dishes,” Xiao Yi said, noticing that Yiyi was only eating plain rice.

”Oh,” Yiyi took a fearful glance at Xiao Yi and, seeing that he wasn’t looking at her, timidly picked up some vegetables.

”Take some meat as well,” Xiao Yi nearly exploded with frustration; Yiyi really was just picking vegetables.

Yiyi might be a bit of an airhead, but she was not slow-witted.

In fact, as a child, Yiyi was extremely bright and clever.

It’s just that in front of Xiao Yi, she was always very cautious.

Suddenly, Xiao Yi set down his chopsticks and looked at Yiyi indifferently. ”You have ten seconds, finish the rest of the food,” he said.

”Ah?” Yiyi was startled and, without giving it much thought, began wolfing down the food.

As ten seconds passed, the bowl of rice was empty, but there was still plenty of food left on the table.

”Leave the rest, clean up and go back to the kitchen,” Xiao Yi’s tone became commanding.

”Mhm,” with a mouthful of rice she hadn’t managed to swallow, Yiyi could only respond indistinctly and quickly began to clear away the bowls and chopsticks.

As she left, she felt a hint of sadness.

”Young Master drove me out, did I affect his mood? He barely ate anything, he’ll be hungry tonight.” Although Yiyi felt somewhat sad, she still thought first of Xiao Yi’s well-being.

...

Inside the room, Xiao Yi suddenly stood up and stretched lazily.

”This is the first time I’m encountering a fellow ’professional’ in this world. It’s just that his methods seem quite awful,” Xiao Yi said with a cold smirk at the corner of his mouth.

”Come on out. You’ve been watching from the rooftop for quite some time, aren’t you tired?” Xiao Yi seemed to be talking to himself.

With a swoosh, a figure leapt down from the rooftop. It was a middle-aged man wearing a suit for night operations, with a fierce scar on his face and eyes full of murderous intent.

”You discovered me?” the middle-aged man asked in surprise, with a hint of disbelief.

Xiao Yi didn’t answer, instead he directly asked, ”Who are you?”

The middle-aged man let out a cold laugh and said, ”Just a Mortal Realm Second Layer waste. I’ll tell you generously so you won’t die without knowing who killed you. My name is Yang Fu.”

”Yang Fu?” Xiao Yi had this name in his memory.

Yang Fu, nicknamed ”Poison Dagger,” a Mortal Realm Ninth Layer Warrior, a well-known assassin in Purple Cloud City.

He moved mysteriously, acted ruthlessly, and for the right price, he would assassinate anyone for his employers—his hands stained with countless lives.

”So, it’s Poison Dagger. With your hiding skills, you can still be considered a famous assassin, tsk tsk,” Xiao Yi said disdainfully.

Indeed, in the eyes of Xiao Yi, once a king among assassins, Yang Fu’s concealment techniques were extremely crude and inferior.

At dinner time, Xiao Yi had already noticed Yang Fu the moment he first arrived on the rooftop, which is why he had made an excuse for Yiyi to leave.

In the past, Xiao Yi could have killed such a third-rate assassin with a slap. But now, it was a hassle.

”Who hired you?” Xiao Yi asked.

”Why ask such questions when you’re about to die?” Yang Fu sneered.

”You don’t need to tell me. Those who’d want me dead are limited to a few. And the only one who could afford to hire a famous assassin like you is Xiao Ruohan,” Xiao Yi said.

Yang Fu frowned slightly, visibly surprised, and said, ”It seems the infamous waste of the Xiao Family isn’t as simple as he appears on the surface.”

He didn’t outright confirm, but his response was as good as an admission.

”But, that’s all there is to it. Taking the money to eliminate others’ disasters. Since I’ve taken the money, I can’t let you live to see tomorrow’s sunrise,” Yang Fu said as he stepped toward Xiao Yi.

He didn’t want any complications, especially since this was the home of one of the Three Great Families, the Xiao Family, full of Innate Realm and Postnatal Realm Martial Artists.

Xiao Yi narrowed his eyes, watching Yang Fu approach with no panic in his heart.

The gap between Mortal Realm Second Layer and Ninth Layer was immense.

Mortal Realm Second Layer, that minuscule amount of True Qi inside one’s body could at most enable a martial artist to exert a force of a hundred kilograms.

But a Mortal Realm Ninth Layer? That was someone only a step away from entering the Postnatal Realm, easily capable of exerting thousands of kilograms in force, even more.

Anyone else might have been paralyzed with fear by now.

But Xiao Yi, accustomed to dealing with serious threats, was naturally unruffled.

Unable to overpower, he had to outsmart. With his Xingyi Five Extremes and combat experience, a little cunning should be enough to keep himself alive and buy time.

Once the commotion here escalated, the Innate Elders of the family would sense it and come immediately.

”Ha!” Xiao Yi let out a low shout, adopting a combat stance.

”Tsch,” Yet Yang Fu let out a disdainful hiss as a pitch-black dagger suddenly appeared in his hands.

This was his Martial Soul, ”Poison Dagger,” of the Yellow Rank.

A martial artist with an Artifact Martial Soul could use their True Qi to temporarily condense a projection of their Martial Soul for various purposes, wielding tremendous combat power.

”Yang Fu, this place is the Xiao Family, and I am the Young Master here. If you kill me, aren’t you afraid of the Xiao Family’s retaliation?” Xiao Yi asked coldly, searching for any weakness in Yang Fu’s posture.

”Retaliation? Haha, you children of the great families are born with protection, rich in cultivation resources, and hence train quickly.”

”And I, an ordinary warrior, risk my life every day, even betting it, just to get cultivation resources.”

”If not for my Yellow Rank Martial Soul, I would have broken through to the Postnatal and even the Innate Realm by now, instead of still being in the Mortal Realm Ninth Layer.”

”Hmph, your life is quite valuable. With the reward for this job, I can buy more Elixir Pills, and soon make a breakthrough into Postnatal. Then I can vanish without a trace, and your Xiao Family won’t be able to do a thing to me.”

Yang Fu had already twisted his heart; he was full of hate and resentment towards family disciples like Xiao Yi.

”Don’t worry, my Poison Dagger is extremely toxic. Just a little touch and you’ll die quickly, you won’t suffer for long,” Yang Fu said with a sinister smile.

He was now one meter away from Xiao Yi, supremely confident in his ability to kill a Mortal Realm Second Layer with ease.

”Die,” Yang Fu thrust his dagger ruthlessly at Xiao Yi.

Xiao Yi’s eyes hardened, and his body twisted strangely, barely dodging the stabbing blow.

One of the Xingyi Five Extremes, Snake Formation.