The more Qin He fought, the more amazed he was.

He couldn’t even believe that the person he was fighting right now was merely just a Mid-stage Soul King.

Ten minutes had already passed since the beginning of the fight and Bai Yunfei’s aura had yet to even weaken. It was getting stronger if anything.

The more a power-boosting soul skill granted, the heavier the backlash. That was the common sense of this world. Qin He could say without a doubt that a soul skill that allowed a Mid-stage Soul King to gain the powers of a Late-stage Soul King was ’overpowered’. It was a soul skill that shouldn’t be able to be maintained for long. Bai Yunfei should’ve run out of steam a long time ago and succumbed to the backlash. So why hasn’t he yet? This was definitely a bewildering experience for Qin He.

What he didn’t know was that Bai Yunfei could maintain the ‘Coil’ Form for nearly an hour without breaking a sweat thanks to the Dual Flame Arte.

He was like an anchor in water whenever Qin He or Qin Long attacked. No matter what kind of attack it was or how much elemental energy was put into it, they could never get within fifty steps of Bai Yunfei.

It was also how calm Bai Yunfei was that surprised Qin He and Qin Long the most. With the amount of energy he was throwing out, Bai Yunfei should’ve been reduced to a soulforceless husk of a person!

Bai Yunfei was, of course, using the multiple spirit-boosting accessories on his person to aid his soulforce regeneration. His regeneration was further enhanced with the Yun’s Soul Ring given to him by Tang Xinyun. So an extended battle wasn’t something Bai Yunfei had to worry about either, and no one could compete with him on that front.

“Boom...boom!!”

A loud explosion west of the fighters brought them to a brief halt. A nearby mountain had crumbled to the ground following the massive impact from something that had fallen there. The red and black light looked unsettled; the amount of elemental energy was destabilizing to the point where even Bai Yunfei and the other fighters were starting to feel its side effects.

“Patriarch!!”

Qin He snapped his head back to look off in the direction the patriarch was in.

He wasn’t the only one to look over. Everyone just had to see what was going on. The wave of elemental energy that pulsated from the source had caught the attention of everyone.

Their eyes lingered on a part of the mountain that had all but collapsed. A large pillar of black and red light was soaring up into the skies from the remnants!

The two lights split paths away from one another to stand just shy of a thousand steps. After the two of them separated from one another, they were now standing in the middle of a large glow of elemental energy that corresponded to their affinities.

A swirl of energy was starting to gather in the skies above their heads. Amounts of elemental energy far beyond what anyone could possibly imagine was starting to gather and form tornadoes around the two people.

The two stood there to bask in the energy. Neither of them was planning on fighting like before. Instead, they simply waited as the energy poured into their bodies where it could be forced under control. But the amount of power that was being streamlined into their bodies was significant enough that people within a certain amount of kilometers could have difficulty breathing.

“What amazing power...this is beyond the limits of what a Late-stage Soul King can do. Could...could this be the power of a Soul Emperor?”

All Bai Yunfei could think about was the majestic sight that was in front of him.

“This isn’t the power of a Soul Emperor, how could such a level of strength have this little amount of power...?” Xiao Fang spoke into his mind. “The two of them are simply ‘Half-emperors’...”

“Half-emperors? What does that mean?”

“You idiot, a Half-emperor is exactly what it sounds like. A half of a Soul Emperor!”

“Half of a Soul Emperor? Does a level of strength like that even exist?”

“Naturally. You’re just too ignorant.” Xiao Fang tutted.

“If by chance a Peak Late-stage Soul King tries to become a Soul Emperor and fails, the amount of backlash they face may prove fatal. Those that survive the failure don’t come out from it empty-handed. They earn a significant amount of power that distinguishes them from other Peak Late-stage Soul Kings. Those are what people call ‘Half-emperors’.

“However,” There was a brief pause in Xiao Fang voice.

“Half-emperors are forever stuck to remain in such a state. They can never breakthrough to become Soul Emperors.”

“I get it now...” Bai Yunfei realized. “Then senior Jing must be a Half-emperor....and because patriarch Qin failed to breakthrough, he’s now a Half-emperor as well...”

Another thought struck him at the same time.

If a Half-emperor had already strength this powerful, what kind of strength did a true Soul Emperor possess then?

......

“There’s no time to delay any longer, kill them all!!”

Qin He roar snapped awake everyone that had been watching the sight of Jing Wuying and patriarch Qin. And just like that, the battle between everyone started once again!

He was well and truly flustered now. The situation of patriarch Qin was deteriorating faster than he thought. He and the others couldn’t possibly allow themselves to be delayed and further like this. It’d be all over for their family if the patriarch had need of their assistance and they weren’t ready to provide it.

Two beams of light were already flying towards him in response to his command. A Mid-stage Soul King and an Early-stage Soul King. All the Soul Kings the Qin had in their family were now gathered here!

They didn’t stop when they reached Qin He’s side. Continuing onwards, the two Soul Kings flew at Bai Yunfei to begin to strike at him blow after blow amidst the lights.

Qin He didn’t join the two on their assault. Instead, he started to go through a series of hand seals.

It was a longer chain of seals than what normal techniques would use. Qin He was going to unleash his strongest killing move!

Golden light started to shine from the space above his head. Strands of golden light were being sucked into an ephemeral ball of light with rays so intense and filled with energy that hardly anyone could bear to look at it or even be at ease with the amount of energy radiating from it.

The soulforce within Qin He’s body started to bubble violently as he prepared himself. Hoisting both hands up, he let out a loud roar!

Like a meteor descending down onto the earth, the golden ball of light began to fall through the sky to crash down onto Bai Yunfei!

“Roar!!”

He wasn’t the only person ready to cast their ultimate move. Bai Yunfei had been preparing as well. When the golden ball of light started to fall, Bai Yunfei let loose two gigantic dragons made of fire to ascend into the skies towards it!

The Dual Dragon Burst!!

“Whoosh!!!”

Before the two behemoths could clash with one another, a crescent-shaped flame flew out from behind to smash into the golden sun!

And the one to unleash this move was Qin He!

......

Fire overcomes metal according to the Five Elements.

The two elements were naturally disposition to repel one another, and a person with an affinity for both was generally hard-pressed to be efficient in both. Qin He was such a soul cultivator with a dual affinity for the two. His control over the two elements was rare even for Soul Kings.

But of course, the harder something was to train in, the better the benefits were.

Aside from the engendering nature of the two elements, fire and metal had also a secondary reason for being combined. By having the two elements pressed together...the destructive nature of an attack could be enhanced!

The truth behind Qin He’s attack was to first summon a giant golden ball of light and then use an elemental fire attack to enhance the ball’s attack by at least two or three times its normal strength!

Cracks started to appear over the surface of the ball as the flames cut deep within it. Rays of golden light poured out from the cracks with even more volatile energy spilling out from the core!

And that was when the Dual Dragon Burst engulfed the golden ball!

“Boom boom boom!!!”

A stunning explosion rocked the world as red and golden light splashed everywhere. Waves of energy flew this way and that, but the brunt of the attack was aimed down where Bai Yunfei was!

“Whoosh!!”

It was a surprised Bai Yunfei that leaped away from the dangerous place he had been in. The power behind Qin He’s move surprised even him!

Before he could retaliate, Bai Yunfei had to make another leap off towards the right!

Qin Long was coming at him from behind!

“Whoosh!”

A dark green beam of light grazed past Bai Yunfei’s shoulder, but that wasn’t the only attack. Multiple beams of light had been shot at Bai Yunfei while he was preoccupied with Qin He’s attack...there were well over a thousand of them!!

So when Bai Yunfei turned to face Qin Long, he was met with all sorts of dark-green light shooting at him from everywhere he looked!

This couldn’t be avoided!

The only thing Bai Yunfei could do was erect the Cataclysmic Seal’s barrier before the beams of light started to smash into it!