Lu Shang was furious.
This martial arts tournament was supposed to be the first step in his plan, a stage provided by the Second Prince of Great Zhou to build his own fame and power.
From then on, he would have a meteoric rise and eventually become the master of the Jiuzhou Continent.
Of course, this wasnât just his own idea.
It was also the promise Elder Hun had made to him.
But things had gone wrong right from the start. Not only had he failed to gain any fame, but he had also been brutally beaten for no reason, nearly getting his front teeth knocked out.
This outcome was completely different from what had been described and what he had envisioned.
It was no wonder Lu Shang found it so hard to accept.
The black-robed man he called Elder Hun showed no change in expression, his pitch-black eyes betraying little emotion. He spoke in a hoarse voice, "There was indeed a small mishap. I suspect my arrangements were discovered by those people. As for that young man you just fought... what if I told you he was a Martial Saint? Would you believe me?"
Hearing the words âMartial Saintâ...
Lu Shangâs eyebrows shot up, and his eyes widened. "How is that possible? How old is he?"
He was twelve years old and had only just become a Grandmaster of Martial Arts.
And that was with a constant string of fortuitous encounters.
How could the Crown Prince of Great Zhou be so fast?
Lu Shang couldnât understand.
Elder Hun paused, falling silent for a long time before speaking again. "For now, I canât figure out his origins either. But I can tell you one thing: his soul and spirit are both incredibly profound. He is definitely not a young man. Heâs most likely an old monster who has lived for who knows how many years... Now that Iâve told you this, can you accept the outcome?"
After hearing Elder Hunâs explanation and learning that Li Changâan was likely an old monster, Lu Shangâs emotions finally stabilized. He nodded and said, "To think that even you canât see through him... It seems his background is truly significant!"
Elder Hun continued, "Donât worry about this matter. I will investigate his origins. For now, you should stick to the original plan."
A hint of reluctance flashed in Lu Shangâs eyes, but he knew he couldnât let a minor setback derail the entire plan. He immediately nodded.
Elder Hun turned and quickly vanished into a corner, his slightly chilling voice echoing faintly, "I have told you repeatedly not to casually use the power of your soul. Itâs easy to attract the attention of those people. Yet today, you used it in front of everyone... Youâd better hope I donât find out about a next time..."
Hearing Elder Hunâs faint, echoing voice, Lu Shang couldnât help but shudder.
He knew that Elder Hun didnât care about the other matters, but this... this had truly touched Elder Hunâs reverse scale.
He had wanted to offer a few words of explanation.
But Elder Hun was already gone, leaving behind only the dilapidated idol and the flickering candlelight beneath it, which could never quite dispel the darkness.
...
...0...
Li Changâan returned to the Great Zhou Capital.
The Crown Princeâs Mansion was vast, but Li Changâan rarely liked to spend much time there.
In the beginning, Li Changâan usually stayed in the rear courtyard of the Imperial Palace, discussing the Martial Dao with the patriarch, Li Lin.
But as time went on, and Li Lin found himself sweating bullets trying to answer his barrage of questions, their discussions could no longer continue.
Nowadays, whenever Li Lin saw him from a distance, he would make a detour.
Li Changâan had no other choice but to go to the Library Pavilion by himself and continue to study the Martial Dao.
After entering the Library Pavilion.
Li Changâan found a quiet spot and sat down cross-legged. With a wave of his sleeve, an ink-black sphere appeared in his hand.
This was the hidden trap that the Child of Destiny, Lu Shang, had left on Li Yuanqing.
Li Changâan had used his formidable Spiritual Power and profound soul to forcibly extract and strip it away, then compressed it into its current form.
âAn attack method that directly targets the soul.â
Even in the Main World, Li Changâan had never heard of such a Cultivation Method.
Of course, just because he hadnât heard of it didnât mean it didnât exist.
After all, the waters of the Main World ran just as deep. The powerful Reincarnators were all well-hidden, and it was hard to say whether they possessed similar techniques.
It just proved that this kind of technique was extremely rare and powerful.
Controlling the Divine Soul Power that was still burning within the sphere, Li Changâan carefully used his Spiritual Power to extract a tiny wisp of flame.
Placing the tiny wisp of flame in his palm, Li Changâan widened his eyes and examined it closely.
[With Heaven-defying Comprehension, you have detected the existence of the Divine Soul Flame and gained a more comprehensive understanding of your own soul, spirit, body, and vital energy!]
[With Heaven-defying Comprehension, you have detected the existence of the Divine Soul Flame and gained a more comprehensive understanding of your own soul, spirit, body, and vital energy!]
[With Heaven-defying Comprehension, you have detected the existence of the Divine Soul Flame and gained a more comprehensive understanding of your own soul, spirit, body, and vital energy!]
As he held the flame in his palm, his Heaven-defying Comprehension quickly took effect.
Li Changâan soon realized that this mysterious and bizarre power was not formed purely from spirit or soul, but was a force created by fusing oneâs soul, spirit, body, and vital energy together as one.
This aggregated power was collectively known as the Power of the Divine Soul.
The Power of the Divine Soul could manifest in any form. It could attack the soul, it could attack the spirit, and it could even manifest from illusion into reality to harm the physical body and vital energy.
"Holy crap, this is truly heaven-defying!"
After clearly discerning the properties of this power, Li Changâan was utterly shocked.