Chapter 75 The Fluttering of the Soul
"Right!" As soon as Mo Renxing finished speaking, Wu Tianli immediately chimed in. The two sang in harmony, their eyes filled with certainty!
Ren Tianxing possessed profound attainments in the art of Five Elements medicinal planting and had many hidden trump cards; even Inner Sect Disciples might not be able to compare to him.
"Let's compete in the Five Elements Unification Technique!" Ren Tianxing, as if grabbing a straw to save his life, suddenly lifted his head, a flash of madness crossing his eyes. "Lin Yue, do you dare to accept?"
The Five Elements Unification Technique required fusing Five Elements spells into one furnace. This was also the most unique technique of the Ren family, one that others could not even begin to grasp.
Even within the Ren family, only direct descendants like Ren Tianxing could receive its instruction. He did not believe that Lin Yue, an Outer Sect Disciple who relied on "luck," could surpass him.
Liu Qingyan raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Lin Yue. "Whether or not to accept the challenge is up to you." Although she believed in Lin Yue's strength, she did not want him to be forcibly coerced.
Lin Yue merely nodded faintly, his tone calm and unruffled. "Why would I not dare?"
"What? He actually accepted it!?"
"But this is the Ren family's unique secret art!! How could he possibly compete with it??"
"This old man Lin is way too arrogant!!"
...
The observing Disciples instantly erupted, gathering back around the spiritual field, ready to watch this good show.
Mo Renxing and Wu Tianli exchanged a glance, their eyes full of joy.
Ren Tianxing was even more confident, stepping forward first. The Five Elements Spiritual Qi around his body surged violently. Within the light brown spiritual light, there was actually a hint of the heaviness only high-stage Cultivators possessed—he had activated a wisp of spiritual power from his ancestral Five Elements Dharma Disk, all to ensure there would be no mistakes.
"Wait a moment!" Just at this time, Lin Yue suddenly called a halt to the competition.
"You actually dare to go back on your word?" Whether it was Mo Renxing and Wu Tianli, or Ren Tianxing, all were so angry they nearly exploded.
"Go back on my word?" Lin Yue spread his hands. "When did I ever agree to compete?"
"You... you beast, I'll kill you..." How could Wu Tianli endure such mockery? He couldn't help but fly into a rage! He leaped up, the blade wind tearing through the mist above the spiritual field, carrying the heavy pressure unique to a Golden Core Middle-Late Stage Cultivator as he slashed directly at Lin Yue's face.
"Resorting to violence!?" Liu Qingyan had been prepared. She raised her slender hand, and the pure spirit immortal flute flew out from her sleeve. The lustrous white spiritual light was even brighter than usual, and the spiritual rhyme patterns on the flute actually revealed a faint golden glow, as if fine stardust were embedded in the flute body.
She condensed a wisp of spiritual light at her fingertip and injected it into the flute hole. The flute sound suddenly rose; it was no longer the long, gentle sound of the past, but instead carried an extremely condensed sharpness, as if it could pierce metal and stone. "Pure Spirit Illusion-Breaking Slash!"
The lustrous white light blade burst forth from the flute body, nearly half again as wide as it had been half a month ago. Its edges were wreathed in fine starlight as it met the heaven-burning pill-pattern blade head-on.
"Bang!"
The spiritual power of both sides collided with a roar. There was no earth-shattering boom as expected; instead, there was only a crisp "clang."
The moment Wu Tianli's heaven-burning pill-pattern blade touched the light blade, the Xuantian Spirit-Eroding Rune on the blade dimmed as if its power had been drained. The cyan-gold Pill Fire was also cut off at the waist by the light blade, leaving only scattered sparks falling into the spiritual field, which were gently extinguished by the spiritual rhyme that Liu Qingyan swept over afterward.
What shocked Wu Tianli even more was that the lustrous white light blade carried a dense rebounding force that drilled along the blade into his Meridians—he felt the Golden Core within his Dantian tremble violently, and his previously surging spiritual power instantly stagnated. A mouthful of blood sprayed out uncontrollably, and his whole body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily against the stone railing outside the spiritual field.
With a "boom," the half-person-high bluestone railing crumbled into rubble. Wu Tianli sat slumped in the pile of rubble, his chest stained red with blood, his hand holding the heaven-burning pill-pattern blade trembling.
He stared at the pure spirit immortal flute glowing with golden light in Liu Qingyan's hand, his eyes filled with unbelievable shock—having not seen her for only half a month, this woman's cultivation had actually jumped from the Peak of the Early Golden Core Stage to the Middle-Late Stage. Her spiritual rhyme was more condensed and thicker than his, an old-timer who had been immersed in the Golden Core Realm for many years. This simply defied logic!
Mo Renxing stood to the side, his fingertips quietly clenching the spell in his sleeve; the thought he had originally had of stepping forward to help argue was completely suppressed.
Liu Qingyan's "Pure Spirit Illusion-Breaking Slash" just now had not only broken Wu Tianli's Pill Fire but also faintly carried the dense aftermath of a star array. If he were to act rashly, he might not necessarily get any advantage.
The observing Disciples had long lost their earlier clamor, one by one holding their breath and watching the scene intently.
No one had expected that this seemingly "Ren Tianxing is guaranteed to win" competition would first evolve into a duel between Golden Core Cultivators, and even less did they expect Liu Qingyan to crush Wu Tianli with overwhelming force.
And the instigator, Lin Yue, had stood by the spiritual field from beginning to end, his expression so calm that it was as if the thrilling collision of spiritual power just now had nothing to do with him.
Liu Qingyan withdrew the pure spirit immortal flute, the lustrous white spiritual light flowing slowly over the flute body. She subconsciously raised her eyes to look at Lin Yue, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Just now, when she activated the spell, that wisp of Soul thread connected to Lin Yue deep in her Sea of Consciousness palpitated once again. The spiritual power in her Dantian surged wildly like ignited spiritual oil, and even the spiritual rhyme of the pure spirit immortal flute became more vivid.
This inexplicable improvement in cultivation had appeared frequently since establishing the Soul connection with Lin Yue half a month ago, making her increasingly curious about the secret of this "Named Disciple."
Just at this moment, Lin Yue met her gaze, a faint smile curling the corner of his mouth.
He could clearly perceive the fluctuation of spiritual rhyme in Liu Qingyan's Sea of Consciousness—within that spiritual power belonging to a Golden Core Middle-Late Stage Cultivator, there was a faint palpitation of the same origin as his, like two drops of ink blended into the same bowl of water, already indistinguishable from each other.
Just at the moment their eyes met, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly sounded in Lin Yue's mind, without any warning:
[Detected that the depth of the Soul bond between the host and the potential partner, Liu Qingyan, has reached the standard!]
[Current Favorability: 25 (Trigger condition: Liu Qingyan has developed dual emotions of "curiosity + reliance" toward the host due to the cultivation improvement brought by the Soul connection, breaking through the binding threshold for favorability)]
[Confirm binding of Dual Cultivation partner: Liu Qingyan (Golden Core Middle-Late Stage Cultivator, Qingyun Sect East Peak Elder)?]
[Binding Tips: 1. After binding, the "Golden Core Grade Feedback" permission will be unlocked. The host can obtain Liu Qingyan's spiritual power and spiritual rhyme feedback through Dual Cultivation, increasing the probability of breaking through the Foundation Establishment Bottleneck by 80%; 2. Liu Qingyan is currently unaware of the System's existence. The binding process will be carried out in the form of "Soul Resonance Deepening," with no risk of forced rejection; 3. Mission progress updated: "Conquer Liu Qingyan" mission first stage (Binding) completed, second stage (Favorability ≥ 50) initiated.]
Lin Yue's heart suddenly hammered wildly!
Previously, he had been worried that his status as a "Named Disciple" would hinder their relationship, but at this moment, the System prompt was clearly laid out before his eyes—Liu Qingyan's favorability had reached 25, and the binding process would not trigger rejection.
This was not only a crucial step in completing the mission but also an excellent opportunity for him to break through to Foundation Establishment and truly establish a foothold in the Qingyun Sect!
He did not hesitate in the slightest, responding sternly in his heart: "Bind!"
[Ding! Detected that the host has confirmed the binding, Soul Resonance Deepening program initiated!]
[System Prompt: Through the cross-Realm Soul anchor point, the host's consciousness fragments have been injected into Liu Qingyan's Sea of Consciousness, establishing a permanent binding link...]
Lin Yue felt a warm stream of Qi gush out from between his eyebrows, flowing along that invisible Soul thread toward Liu Qingyan.
This time it was no longer the weak pull of before, but like a stream flowing into a vast sea, completely merging with the spiritual rhyme of Liu Qingyan's Sea of Consciousness.
He could clearly "see" the scene in Liu Qingyan's Sea of Consciousness—it was an ocean of spiritual rhyme glowing with a lustrous white luster, with a pale golden Golden Core floating in the center, and his consciousness fragments were like starlight cast into the ocean, rapidly intertwining with the spiritual rhyme to form a tiny yet tough golden chain.