Chapter Fifty-Five: Battle Spirit Soaring to the Sky

A heavy sense of oppression weighed upon his heart and mind, and Qingxu felt a wave of discomfort; yet it was only his true form affected. The impact was negligible before his avatar.

"This Heavenly Shaman secret art is quite impressive; it holds considerable advantage when the cultivation levels are equal!"

The battle intent, dense enough to be seen with the naked eye, gradually descended from the celestial canopy above Youshi, enveloping him completely. In that moment, thick, dark smoke swirled and spread, and the celestial phenomena followed, as clouds rolled across the sky for tens of thousands of miles.

"Fight!" His roar echoed across heaven and earth. Youshi's face twisted into a hideous snarl, mingled with intense agony. Clearly, unleashing this Heavenly Shaman Battle Soul secret art was far from simple for him.

"Alas! After all, I do not possess the bloodline of the shamans. Using their secret arts is rather forced. Fortunately, I've only cultivated to the introductory stage of the Battle Soul; otherwise, the backlash might have shattered my three souls and seven spirits." Youshi endured increasing pain throughout his body, sighing inwardly. The mysterious wonders of the Heavenly Shaman secret arts left him itching with curiosity, but he knew he could not continue to cultivate them; to do so would mean certain death.

When the battle intent in the field reached a terrifying level, Youshi's heavenly and earthly souls immediately split off a strand, emerging from his body. Once free, the two souls rapidly absorbed the battle intent. In the blink of an eye, a human-shaped figure of black smoke, about ten feet tall, appeared above Youshi's head.

"So that's how it works—remarkable! By splitting off a strand from the heavenly and earthly souls, then channeling immense battle intent to form a Battle Soul, it can directly damage the enemy's three souls. Most terrifying of all, the Battle Soul is forged from battle intent and fragments of both souls, rendering it undying and eternally fighting."

After all, the battle intent persists as long as its master lives, never dissipating, and the strands of heavenly and earthly souls can merge and disperse at will under the influence of their source.

"My Battle Soul is only in its infancy, but even at this initial stage, its power equals my own—early Earth Immortal. Yet it consumes no magical power and cannot be destroyed, able to fight endlessly. Its most formidable trait is that no martial arts or secret techniques are effective against it, for the Battle Soul attacks the very origin of your divine consciousness." Youshi suppressed the agony that wracked his body, unable to stop himself from sneering with pride.

"This so-called Heavenly Shaman Battle Soul is indeed unique, but it has no effect on me. My lineage traces to the Sage of Jade Purity, and I possess secret arts of the mind and spirit. I advise you to cease and make peace; I will not pursue this further. Otherwise, you may regret it too late." Qingxu spoke truthfully, for the mind and spirit are vital—one misstep and one becomes little more than a living corpse. As a disciple of the Sages, he naturally possessed protective secret arts. Yet his words fell upon Youshi's ears, and how could he possibly believe them?

"Won't rest until entering the coffin, eh!" Youshi had no desire for further talk; after all, he could not hold out much longer and needed to end this quickly.

Kill!

The Heavenly Shaman Battle Soul let out a silent roar, swept its arms, and lunged at Qingxu, scattering torrents of battle energy that lashed in chaos. Strange howls echoed through the void.

The three souls in Qingxu's mind tensed, but he had prepared long ago. He immediately activated the secret art of Jade Void, and in an instant, his three souls sank deep into his primordial spirit, vanishing from perception. The Battle Soul could not sense them at all.

"Impossible! The Battle Soul cannot sense the power of your three souls?" Shock seized Youshi's heart; for the first time, his Battle Soul failed to detect its target. In hundreds of battles, such a thing had never occurred.

For the first time, he realized he might lose.

"Even if I can't damage your three souls, the battle energy can still harm your Dao body. Let's see how long you can withstand it."

Battle energy is the fusion of battle intent and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, a tangible force. Compared to the calm power of immortals, battle energy emphasizes ferocity and destructive might, born only to destroy.

Youshi's Heavenly Shaman Battle Soul unleashed thousands of streams of battle energy, lashing fiercely at Qingxu, obscuring the sun and sky, shooting into the celestial palace like a net cast across heaven and earth. Even the most skilled would be unable to escape.

"This power is no small thing! And Youshi claims this is only the early stage of the Heavenly Shaman Battle Soul—what of the middle, late, or even peak stages?" Qingxu mused inwardly, growing interested in shaman secret arts. He pondered seeking them out for study; even if he could not cultivate them, he might use them for reference.

With the battle energy net covering the sky, Qingxu could not escape, forced to meet it head-on. Yet he showed no fear. First, his true form possessed the defensive power of a low-grade innate spiritual treasure—these battle energies were barely enough to tickle him. Second, his cultivation and magical abilities were superior, with the avatar of a True Immortal of Taiyi backing him. This battle energy was no threat at all.

Though he feared no harm through defense, Qingxu would not allow the battle energy to strike him directly; that would be an affront to his dignity. As the chief disciple of the Sages, Jade Void's senior student, being struck by a mere mortal was unthinkable. If the Primordial Sage, who valued appearances, learned of it, his future prospects would suffer.

Bang!

A strand of battle energy that reached him first vanished with a wave of Qingxu's hand, but thousands more followed.

Bang! Bang! Bang! ...

Waving his arms, he scattered strand after strand, yet the battle energy could not be destroyed—once dispersed, it regrouped, always numbering in the thousands, never depleted. Even after several cosmic cycles, the battle energy would not be exhausted.

Seeing Qingxu completely suppressed by Youshi, the tribal chiefs of the Youqiong clan erupted in cheers, while the followers of Taiyi grew pale, worrying for both Qingxu and their own fate, and that of the Wanqiu people.

Having gained the upper hand, Youshi's battle spirit soared, causing battle energy to surge even higher. The myriad clouds above were shredded by its force, truly a spectacle of battle energy piercing the heavens.

Relying solely on his mid-Earth Immortal cultivation to resist by hand, Qingxu gradually felt increasing pressure, and could not help but marvel at the strength of the shaman secret arts. An early Earth Immortal Battle Soul could easily overpower a mid-Earth Immortal, and with time, could even kill one. Remarkable indeed.

"Now you see how formidable it is! If you obediently hand over that dragon technique from earlier, perhaps I can spare your life. Don't expect the dragon clan to avenge you; times have changed. Your dragon clan is but a pitiful remnant now, haha! A mere reptile pretending to be a Sage's disciple—you don't even know what death means!" Youshi's voice rang out with scorn, his eyes filled with contempt.

Previously, Qingxu's hastily invented Eighteen Palms to Subdue the Dragon was mediocre, but in Youshi's eyes, it was already an impressive dragon clan martial art. His own fist techniques, forged from shaman boxing intent and honed through hundreds of battles, could not match it. He believed learning it would greatly increase his power. After all, the Heavenly Shaman Battle Soul was powerful, but without shaman blood, every use inflicted great harm upon him.

"Dragon clan technique?" Qingxu had never imagined that his Eighteen Palms to Subdue the Dragon would be mistaken for a dragon clan martial art. Thinking back to the three azure dragons of immortal power, it was no wonder Youshi believed so. This only reinforced Youshi's conviction that Qingxu’s claim to be a Sage’s disciple was false. After all, anyone wielding “dragon clan techniques” must be closely tied to the dragons, and it was well known that the Primordial Sage despised the three clans—shaman and demon alike. How could he take such a person as a disciple, let alone as his chief student?