Chapter 253: Invincible Sword Soul

“Who’s brave enough to step up?”

Ye Guan remained calm and composed in the face of hundreds of thousands of Divine Spirits. Actually, he was even grinning at them.

A white-robed young woman stepped out from the horde of Divine Spirits. She was none other than Zhuge Haoyue’s younger sister, Zhuge Ning’er. She glared at Ye Guan, and her eyes were filled with killing intent that she didn’t bother to conceal.

She wanted to speak, but a voice echoed from behind her. “Let me do it.”

Everyone turned and saw a boy wearing a plain and simple robe. He stood straight, and his long hair was tied up into a bun that sat on the crown of his head. He also looked calm and composed.

A wooden spear was in his hand—an ordinary-looking wooden spear.

“Xuan Yong!” someone exclaimed, and a ruckus erupted amidst the Divine Spirits when they heard of the boy’s name.

Xuan Yong was within the top ten on the True Martial List, and he was a Peak Immortal Realm cultivator. He was a cultivator on the Spear Dao, and he was only half a step away from the Ephemeral Dao Phase.

In other words, he was the most talented spearman among the younger generation of Divine Spirits in the True Universe.

Those in the top ten of the True Martial List were cream of the crop talents of the True Universe; they were like heaven’s children, and their fates were bound to differ from the ordinary cultivators.

The Divine Spirits instantly realized that the very first battle in this war would be a fight between two heaven-defying monstrous talents.

Zhuge Ning’er stared quietly at Xuan Yong for quite a while before she stepped aside.

Xuan Yong slowly walked up to Ye Guan. He looked at Ye Guan and thrust his spear toward the latter without beating around the bush.

Schwing!

A powerful wave of energy swept past everyone in the vicinity. A cold ray of light pierced Ye Guan before the powerful wave of energy could even hit him. Xuan Yong’s spear was so fast that his attack reached Ye Guan first before the shockwaves.

However, Xuan Yong’s spear struck nothing but an afterimage.

Ye Guan had disappeared.

Xuan Yong whipped around and thrust with his spear behind him.

A dazzling sword light and spear light collided with each other, creating an even brighter eruption of light. However, a shrill noise echoed behind Xuan Yong at the moment of collision. A sword was making a beeline for him from behind.

However, Xuan Yong didn’t turn around to block the attack. He clenched his left fist, and powerful force surged out of him before flying toward the oncoming sword from behind him.

Spear Force!

A dazzling spear light gathered at the spearhead as Xuan Yong thrust his spear once more.

The spear collided with a flying sword.

Clang!

The flying sword shattered into innumerable light fragments. It turned out that it was made out of a thin sword energy, which meant that it was a feint. Xuan Yong turned around and saw thirty swords rushing toward him.

Xuan Yong’s eyes narrowed. He took a stance with his spear and thrust forward.

Clang!

Xuan Yong was forced a hundred meters away!

Before he could stop and recover, thirty swords rushed toward him like a deluge.

Xuan Yong deflected the swords, but the thirty swords remained undeterred.

They kept on coming again and again.

Xuan Yong’s eyes flashed in a cold light. He stomped with his right foot and thrust his wooden spear forward. This time, a cold glow had converged on the spearhead of his spear.

Clang!

The cold glow shattered, and Xuan Yong was sent flying away.

However, Ye Guan wasn’t done just yet. Thirty swords chased after Xuan Yong, and they moved even faster than ever.

Xuan Yong glared fiercely at the oncoming swords.

He roared and thrust his spear forward to meet the flying swords.

However, Xuan Yong’s expression changed drastically when Ye Guan’s thirty swords got close enough to him. Ye Guan’s attack was still composed of thirty swords, no more, no less, but each sword was emboldened with the Invincible Sword Intent!

In other words, the energy within Ye Guan’s sword had gone through a qualitative change.

Boom!

A deafening explosion rocketed across the Xuzhen Battlefield as Xuan Yong flew at least a few kilometers away.

The spacetime at where the collision had occurred was fragmented.

Meanwhile, Xuan Yong’s arm was mangled by the collision. Fresh blood trickled down the corner of his mouth, but Ye Guan clearly had no intention of letting him rest as a flying sword flew toward Xuan Yong at breakneck speeds!

Xuan Yong clenched his left fist and yelled, “Domain!”

Boom!

The oncoming sword slowed down. Xuan Yong roared once more and thrust his sword toward the spear. The surrounding spacetime quivered violently as spear light converged on the wooden spear’s spearhead.

It was time for him to counterattack!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Hundreds of moves were exchanged in the proverbial blink of an eye.

Sword light and spear light bedazzled everyone as they flashed non-stop.

Xuan Yong’s spear was fast, but it was too slow compared to Ye Guan’s sword. To make matters worse for Xuan Yong, Ye Guan could easily dodge each and every one of his attacks, and the latter could even counterattack.

A minute soon passed, and a deafening explosion boomed across the Xuzhen Battlefield.

Xuan Yang was sent flying, and Ye Guan chased after him with a hundred sword lights empowered by the Invincible Sword Intent.

Xuan Yong’s pupils constricted. He clenched his left fist and unleashed his spear domain once more. The sword lights were instantly suppressed, and they froze in mid-air. However, Ye Guan had inexplicably disappeared.

Shwik!

A sword pierced Xuan Yong’s spear domain.

Ye Guan was strong and skillful enough to display the power of thirty-one swords using just one sword.

Boom!

The spear domain burst into pieces, and Xuan Yong was sent flying once again. The moment his spear domain was shattered, the sword lights filled with the Invincible Sword Intent came rushing toward him.

Xuan Yong roared, “Pierce!”

He hurled his spear toward the oncoming sword lights, and his spear flew while engulfed in fiery-red flames. The flaming spear managed to stop the sword lights, but it couldn’t destroy them outright, as every sword light was empowered by Ye Guan’s Invincible Sword Intent.

Xuan Yong was furious. His spear flew back to him, and he roared, “Sweep!”

He swung his spear horizontally, sending the sword lights away.

However, Ye Guan abruptly appeared in front of Xuan Yong with a sword in hand.

The flaming spear was extinguished, and Xuan Yong was blasted away.

Ye Guan immediately chased after Xuan Yong, prompting the latter to hastily defend himself.

Boom!

Xuan Yong hadn’t even stopped flying when he was blasted away once more.

Unfortunately, another sword was making a beeline for him. Ye Guan was relentless, and each of his sword attacks was faster than the previous attacks.

Xuan Yong was furious. He gripped his spear tightly and yelled, “Burning Sky!”

He spun around and swung his spear horizontally. A three-hundred-meter-tall wall of flames appeared in front of him, and he thrust his spear forward, sending the wall of flames toward Ye Guan.

The wall of flames loomed over Ye Guan like a tidal wave.

Boom!

The wall of flames managed to resist Ye Guan’s sword attack. The spacetime quivered violently at the moment of collision, but it didn’t shatter. Of course, Xuan Yong was still forced backward, and it meant that he was weaker than Ye Guan!

Swoosh!

Roughly a hundred sword lights manifested around Xuan Yong.

Xuan Yong’s eyes narrowed. He glared ferociously at the sword lights. He didn’t dare to hold back anymore as he raised his spear and held it in front of his glabella before shouting, “Spear Soul!”

Boom!

A flaming Spear Soul shot out of him, setting Xuan Yong’s spear light ablaze. The flaming spear light exploded, blasting the oncoming sword lights away.

Rumble!

Spear Soul!

The Divine Spirits were in a jubilant uproar.

A Spear Soul was exactly as its name—it was the soul of a spear.

An Intent, a Domain, and a Soul...

Awakening the soul of one’s Dao was harder than awakening the intent of one’s Dao.

However, the higher difficulty didn’t necessarily mean that a spearman who had awakened his Spear Soul was stronger than a spearman who had only been focusing on his Spear Intent.

Specializations existed for a reason, and there were some people who had decided to dedicate their lives into cultivating their Intent, which could become invincible. Of course, there were also some who had decided to focus on their Domain, which could suppress just about everything, while some had decided to focus on their Soul.

Each and everyone’s specialization was bound to differ, but the outcome was often consistent. Cultivating either of the three would improve a cultivator’s strength by leaps and bounds.

However, there were heaven-defying talents who were talented in all three aspects, and Xuan Yong was a great example of those heaven-defying talents. He was in the top ten on the True Martial List, so it went without saying that he was extraordinary.

Ye Guan frowned and inwardly asked, “Spear Soul?”

Little Pagoda was silent.

“Master Pagoda, you can actually cultivate a Soul aside from your Intent and Domain?”

Little Pagoda replied, “I guess.”

Ye Guan hesitated briefly before asking, “Why did you not tell me?”

Little Pagoda said, “I was hoping that you would awaken your Sword Soul on your own.”

Ye Guan’s expression darkened. Fuck! How am I supposed to awaken something when I have no idea that it even exists? Is that even possible?!

Ye Guan took a deep breath and asked, “Senior, can you tell me a thing or two about it?”

The mysterious voice replied, “I can’t care less about such an insignificant concept.”

Ye Guan was silent. Wow, fine! I guess you guys are really amazing, huh?! One of you refuses to teach me, and the other doesn’t even care about what I want to learn in the first place! The conclusion? I have to learn everything by myself!

Ye Guan inwardly lampooned.

Meanwhile, Xuan Yong’s aura had surged to terrifying levels under the effects of his flaming Spear Soul.

Xuan Yong glared at Ye Guan and was about to say something when Ye Guan abruptly disappeared.

Ye Guan’s expression was serious as he rushed toward Xuan Yong and slashed out with his sword.

Thirty-two swords!

A dazzling sword light erupted and collided with the flaming Spear Soul, distorting the surrounding spacetime.

Ye Guan and Xuan Yong were sent flying away, but while they were in mid-air, ten sword lights streaked across the battlefield toward Xuan Yong.

Boom!

Xuan Yong managed to defend himself, but he was blasted away once more.

A brilliant sword light rushed toward Xuan Yong from afar, and it contained the power of thirty-three swords!

Xuan Yong’s eyes narrowed. He gripped his wooden sword and thrust it forward with all his might.

Boom!

Strands of Spear Soul erupted from Xuan Yong, and they flew toward Ye Guan’s sword.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Unfortunately, every strand of Spear Soul was mercilessly torn apart by Ye Guan’s sword. The spacetime in the vicinity incessantly trembled, and Xuan Yong was sent flying once again.

However, one would see that cracks had appeared all over Xuan Yong as he streaked across the battlefield in a flaming beam of light after Ye Guan had blasted him away.

Xuan Yong looked up at Ye Guan, but instead of taking advantage of Xuan Yong’s injuries, Ye Guan closed his eyes and opened his left hand to examine the remnants of Xuan Yong’s Spear Soul floating around him.

Everyone’s eyes landed on Ye Guan, and they wondered if he was about to unleash his ultimate move.

Xuan Yong glared at Ye Guan. He could tell that Ye Guan still hadn’t revealed his true power. Is he about to unleash his ultimate move?

A fierce light fleeted across Xuan Yong’s eyes as he gripped his wooden spear tightly and rushed toward Ye Guan with a roar.

Boom!

The unscathed parts of his fleshly body erupted into flames. He had decided to ignite his fleshly body in exchange for power. His aura skyrocketed, and the power of his Spear Soul reached the summit once more.

He wasted not a single second as he took a stance with his spear and thrust forward.

Shrieeek!

The air itself cried out as Xuan Yong’s spear tore through it to reach Ye Guan.

However, Ye Guan didn’t even open his eyes as he raised his sword to defend himself.

Clang!

The collision sent Ye Guan flying at least a few hundred meters away.

Xuan Yong moved swiftly and reappeared in front of Ye Guan with his spear just as Ye Guan managed to recover and stop flying. Xuan Yong quickly took on a stance with his spear and swung it toward Ye Guan.

Boom!

Xuan Yong’s flaming Spear Souls inundated Ye Guan, but his eyes remained shut.

He merely raised his sword to defend himself.

Boom!

Ye Guan flew a hundred meters away upon impact.

Xuan Yong glared maliciously at Ye Guan before arriving above the latter. He gripped his spear tightly and swung it downward as flaming Spear Souls attempted to drown Ye Guan from above like a waterfall!

However, Ye Guan was still refusing to open his eyes.

He simply raised his sword to block Xuan Yong’s attack.

Clang!

Ye Guan was blasted away, and he appeared miserable through and through.

The Divine Spirits were thrilled. Ye Guan was being suppressed!

Meanwhile, the expressions of the Guanxuan Universe’s denizens turned ugly, and they stared worriedly at Ye Guan.

Swoosh!

Xuan Yong abruptly disappeared.

Shwaaa!

A powerful conflagration made out of Xuan Yong’s Spear Soul towered over Ye Guan.

Just then, Ye Guan’s eyes shot wide open, and he thrust his sword forward.

Boom!

Xuan Yong was sent flying at least a few kilometers away with just one sword thrust, and the onlookers were stupefied to realize that Ye Guan was emitting an indescribably powerful aura!

Sword Soul?

Everyone froze and went silent.

Ye Guan closed his eyes once more and roared, “My Sword Intent shall become a Sword Soul!”

Ye Guan transformed his Sword Intent into a Sword Soul!

The Invincible Sword Soul!

Little Pagoda and the mysterious voice were rendered beyond speechless.