Profound Heaven Soul Sovereign

"I’ll just search as I go. Something like this comes down to luck, anyway."

Ye Xuan muttered to himself. Just as he was about to put away the map, he felt a weight on his shoulder—the Little Purple Mink had appeared.

SQUEAK SQUEAK!

The Little Purple Mink waved its paws and gestured wildly, its eyes sparkling.

Having signed a master-servant contract, Ye Xuan naturally understood its meaning. His eyes lit up. "You’re saying you know the area drawn on this map?"

SQUEAK SQUEAK!

The Little Purple Mink nodded repeatedly. It was utterly and irresistibly adorable.

A look of doubt crossed Ye Xuan’s face.

The Little Purple Mink’s origins were a mystery. Even if it came from the Floating Light Secret Realm, it had been just a stone before this. How could it possibly know the terrain?

But Ye Xuan kept this thought to himself.

In any case, he was clueless about where to go in the Floating Light Secret Realm. He might as well listen to the Little Purple Mink; he might even get an unexpected reward out of it.

Following the Little Purple Mink’s directions, Ye Xuan moved forward quickly.

Along the way, Ye Xuan’s eyes and hands were never idle as he plundered Spirit Medicines from all around.

Tier Three and Tier Four Spirit Medicines fell into his Storage Ring one after another, as if they were free for the taking.

He even found nearly ten stalks of Tier Five Spirit Medicine, an almost impossible feat in the outside world.

’No wonder all the Soul Refiners of the Thirteen Nations Alliance rack their brains and do everything in their power to get a spot in the Floating Light Secret Realm.’

He also occasionally encountered Demon Beasts from the Floating Light Secret Realm and some of the other Soul Refiners who had entered, but he avoided them all from a distance, never interacting.

He spent three full days plundering countless Spirit Medicines before finally leaving the swamp.

Before him lay a vast, rolling mountain range.

’The Floating Light Secret Realm is truly vast.’

Ye Xuan marveled internally. Every secret realm was a small world formed by some powerhouse of ancient times. The larger the small world, the stronger its creator must have been.

Legend told of some secret realms so boundless they were comparable to the Celestial Profound Continent itself. However, these were just legends; even in his past life as an Eighth Grade Soul Emperor, Ye Xuan had never seen such a place.

There was, however, a theory that the supreme Profound Domain of the Celestial Profound Continent was, in fact, a small world. Ye Xuan felt this was highly probable.

But all that was too far off for him now. His most pressing task was to recover his strength and become the Nine Heavens Martial Emperor.

Only by becoming the Nine Heavens Martial Emperor would he be qualified to explore these ancient secrets, seek the mysteries of shattering the void through martial arts, and investigate whether the legendary Saint Realm of antiquity truly existed.

Otherwise, he would just be looking for trouble.

Picking up the map, Ye Xuan glanced at the terrain depicted on it.

The mountains before him were a rolling, layered range. Although he couldn’t see the specific majestic peaks from the map, the general feeling was exactly the same.

’Could this really be the area Master Dongfang Yanyu drew? Are those peaks somewhere within this mountain range?’

Surprised, Ye Xuan glanced at the Little Purple Mink.

The Little Purple Mink stood with its paws on its hips, looking smug and full of itself.

Then, it waved its right paw, pointing in another direction.

Ye Xuan nodded and darted inside.

CAW!

A sharp cry echoed as a goshawk as tall as a man suddenly descended from the sky. Its eyes were cold, its talons menacing, as it lunged viciously at Ye Xuan.

PSCCHT!

A flash of sword light, and the previously majestic goshawk was instantly sliced in two. Blood and viscera rained down, splattering all over the ground.

’The Demon Beasts here are much more numerous and ferocious than in the swamp.’

Sheathing the Dragon Pattern Sword, Ye Xuan continued forward without breaking stride.

SWOOSH!

From the mountain forest to the side, a giant wolf covered in rock armor suddenly charged out.

CLANG!

Ye Xuan’s sword strike produced the sound of metal on metal, leaving a gash several feet long on the giant wolf. Chunks of rock fell away, but surprisingly, no blood flowed.

With a roar, the rock wolf erupted in fury and pounced, its massive claws bearing down on him.

"Get lost!" Ye Xuan roared. The Dragon Pattern Sword flared with power, sending the rock wolf flying. At that exact moment—SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!—three Blade Mantis Beasts charged out from the dense woods. They swung their chillingly sharp forelimbs, attacking from three different and extremely cunning angles.

Each of the three Blade Mantis Beasts attacked from a different angle. Their six blade-like forelimbs targeted Ye Xuan’s head, back, and lower abdomen with the precision of trained Martial Artists.

Their timing was also perfect, coming just as Ye Xuan had repelled the rock wolf, his old force spent and new force yet to be generated.

Ye Xuan retreated rapidly, quickly activating his Extinguishing Profound Flying Daggers to block the Blade Mantis Beasts’ attack, which allowed him to leap out of the combat zone.

The four Demon Beasts surrounded Ye Xuan completely, one from each direction.

Ye Xuan frowned. The four Demon Beasts moved in unison, their chosen angles of attack were exquisite, and they coordinated with each other as if they had been trained.

SQUEAK SQUEAK!

The Little Purple Mink, perched on Ye Xuan’s shoulder, chittered angrily.

The four Demon Beasts glanced at the Little Purple Mink with a hint of fear, but they didn’t retreat. They continued to close in, their gazes still ferocious.

Ye Xuan’s brow twitched. He glanced at the Little Purple Mink, then his figure suddenly flashed toward a nearby thicket. He swung his sword, unleashing a sharp, crisscrossing beam of sword light.

BOOM! The thicket was obliterated, revealing a Three-Eyed Demon Wolf. Its three pupils were a ghostly green, utterly terrifying. It shot a ray of ghostly green light toward Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan felt a wave of dizziness wash over his mind, but he recovered almost instantly.

’So there’s a Profound Beast here after all.’ A cold smile touched Ye Xuan’s lips. ’No wonder the four Demon Beasts were so perfectly coordinated. A Profound Beast has been controlling them from behind the scenes.’

’First, take out the leader.’

Ye Xuan smiled coldly and madly hacked at the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf with his Dragon Pattern Sword. The Three-Eyed Demon Wolf roared, and the four Demon Beasts under its control suddenly lunged at Ye Xuan in unison.

"Human, die." A wave of Soul Power, thick with killing intent, emanated from the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf.

Its third eye suddenly transformed into an invisible abyss, spinning madly like a kaleidoscope. Wisps of Soul Power, like ripples spreading across the sky, instantly enveloped Ye Xuan, making his mind spin and feel drowsy.

’What a powerful Soul Power assault!’ Ye Xuan was shocked. The Formless Soul Skill he cultivated was heaven-defying. After his Soul Power broke through to the Fourth Grade, an ordinary Tier Four Profound Beast’s Soul Power couldn’t affect him at all. But this Three-Eyed Demon Wolf could actually make him feel dizzy—something a normal Profound Beast was incapable of.

As he felt the dizzy spell, the giant rock wolf and the three Blade Mantis Beasts lunged at him like lightning.

Ye Xuan hurriedly summoned the black millstone. The massive millstone expanded rapidly, blocking his path and swatting all four Demon Beasts away.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Flesh on the four Demon Beasts’ bodies tore open, revealing large, bloody wounds. With a roar, they fearlessly pounced again, their movements completely unaffected.

Ye Xuan was secretly amazed. The Demon Beasts in the Floating Light Secret Realm contained a unique aura in their bloodlines that made their bodies far tougher than those of Demon Beasts in the outside world.

Ordinary Tier Four Demon Beasts would have been smashed into meat paste by his attack, but these four had only suffered minor injuries.

However, what made Ye Xuan even warier was the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf. The Soul Power fluctuations from its third eye seemed to be growing stronger and stronger. Ye Xuan had to focus all his energy just to resist it.

"Die." The Three-Eyed Demon Wolf seemed to know how strong Ye Xuan was. Amidst its low roars, the Soul Power within its body burned wildly. Its third eye became like a blazing sun, releasing an increasingly intense Soul Power aura.

’I can’t let this continue.’ Ye Xuan’s expression grew solemn. He gritted his teeth, about to release the Zhenyuan Stone. But just then, the Little Purple Mink squeaked, its expression furious, and shot toward the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf like a streak of purple light.

A trace of fear flashed in the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf’s eyes as it swiped its claws in a counterattack. The Little Purple Mink flickered like an afterimage, dodging the attack and landing a heavy slap from its small paw right on the wolf’s head.

Ye Xuan immediately felt the dizziness in his mind clear. He quickly activated his Devouring Martial Soul. The black Devouring Martial Soul instantly appeared above his head, its released aura fiercely suppressing the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf.

A look of terror flashed in the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf’s eyes. Under the pressure of the Devouring Martial Soul’s aura, it could barely stay on its feet.

Seizing the opportunity, Ye Xuan fiercely activated the Extinguishing Profound Flying Daggers. Three streaks of black light instantly pierced the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf’s forehead.

With the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf dead, the pressure on Ye Xuan greatly diminished. The Devouring Martial Soul exuded an aura of desire and instantly absorbed every last bit of the Soul Thought that dissipated from the dead wolf.

Seeing the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf fall, the four Demon Beasts attacking Ye Xuan paused. The madness in their eyes cleared, replaced by a look of fear toward the Little Purple Mink and Ye Xuan. They began to slowly retreat.

SQUEAK SQUEAK!

The Little Purple Mink returned to Ye Xuan’s shoulder and chittered scoldingly. The four Demon Beasts were so frightened they didn’t dare to move.

Ye Xuan didn’t have time to think about that. After absorbing the Three-Eyed Demon Wolf’s Soul Thought, the Devouring Martial Soul above his head immediately began to swell. An invisible light started to form around its perimeter.

A joyful expression appeared on Ye Xuan’s face. This was clearly a sign that the Devouring Martial Soul was about to advance to Three-Stars.

Since breaking through to Two-Stars, the Devouring Martial Soul had already absorbed an enormous amount of martial soul power.

First, it had absorbed the Dark Snake Martial Soul of the Fourth Grade Soul Refiner Lv Hao. Then, it had just devoured Wu Xu’s Fire Leopard Martial Soul. Now, with the addition of this Fourth Grade Three-Eyed Demon Wolf’s Soul Thought, it had finally reached the critical point for a breakthrough.

A powerful energy surged as a faint red edge formed around the Devouring Martial Soul.

Gradually, this red edge grew clearer, finally solidifying into a dark red ring. It joined the two original dark red rings, circling the Devouring Martial Soul and pulsing up and down as it emitted a potent martial soul power.