Chapter 845
Burning Soul
"Since you are determined to die, then I will grant your wish!"
Above the heavens, the colossal face, thousands of feet tall, writhed and twisted violently. From its boundless maw, a massive soul storm suddenly erupted, sweeping across the heavens and earth. The storm spun and compressed wildly, transforming into an incomparably sharp soul cone, carrying a terrifying power capable of crushing everything, and shot toward Xiao Xuan.
Faced with the fierce attack from the Heavenly Tomb Soul, Xiao Xuan remained calm and steadily stepped towards the giant face in the void.
The seemingly ferocious and overwhelming soul storm passed right through him the moment it touched his body, as if it were just a wisp of illusory smoke, failing to harm him in the slightest.
Unimpeded, Xiao Xuan reached the bottom of the giant face. Suddenly, clusters of strange and dazzling soul fire rose from his body, slowly spreading from his pores. It was as he burned the remaining essence of his soul!
"Give me the essence of your soul!"
The soul fire burned fiercely, but Xiao Xuan's smile became even more flamboyant and unrestrained, and his voice resounded throughout the entire Heavenly Tomb space.
"Soul spontaneous combustion? Xiao Xuan, you're insane!"
Gazing at the strange soul fire raging around Xiao Xuan, the colossal face atop the sky suddenly erupted in shock, its voice sharp and piercing, almost a roar: "You actually chose to self-ignite your soul! This will cause you to be completely annihilated, disappearing from this world forever!"
"This is... soul spontaneous combustion? Or even soul spontaneous combustion at the Emperor level? Its power is truly terrifying to the extreme."
Upon seeing this, Xiao Ling's expression also suddenly became serious.
As an alchemist, he naturally understood the meaning of spontaneous soul combustion. It was a forbidden method that was almost a mutual destruction, similar to the explosion of the physical body. It was a terrifying power that far exceeded one's own limits in a very short time, at the cost of burning one's own soul. The price was that the soul would be completely annihilated, leaving not even a trace of the soul behind.
Xiao Ling had already guessed most of Xiao Xuan's plan. Xiao Xuan probably intended to first burn his own energy body and soul to gain enough power to contend with the Heavenly Tomb Soul. After completely suppressing the opponent and seizing its origin, he would then take the Soul-Returning Pill on his deathbed to achieve a true and perfect resurrection.
"Hehe, with such an outstanding descendant, I, as an ancestor, naturally have to show my appreciation. I think you are just the right person to be a great gift for that young man."
Facing the terrified soul of the Heavenly Tomb, Xiao Xuan smiled faintly and said no more.
He raised his hand, which was burning with soul fire, and grabbed at the giant face in the sky. Instantly, a terrifying suction force that seemed to devour the heavens and earth surged out from his palm.
A violent fluctuation suddenly erupted from the giant mouth of the Heavenly Tomb Soul, as if the most core primordial power was being forcibly torn and dragged outward!
"Damn it! If you're going to die, don't drag me down with you!"
The soul of the Heavenly Tomb was enraged to the extreme, filled with boundless regret. As the soul of the Heavenly Tomb, it had naturally long been aware of Xiao Ling's existence and had even sensed his extraordinary talent and soul potential. It had previously even considered possessing him and using this to escape the Heavenly Tomb.
But it failed to act in time, which is why it ended up in this situation, allowing Xiao Xuan to launch a fierce attack with his soul!
An angry roar resounded throughout the heavens and earth, causing the entire Heavenly Tomb space to tremble violently.
The giant maw of the Heavenly Tomb Soul suddenly opened, and a massive, invisible soul spear, hundreds of feet long, condensed with a roar, tearing through the void and shooting fiercely towards Xiao Xuan with a ruthless intent to perish together!
"I have already burned away my own Emperor-level soul as a price, and now you cannot stop me at all."
Despite the desperate resistance of the Heavenly Tomb Soul, Xiao Xuan remained calm and composed. He chuckled softly, then extended his hand, burning with soul fire, and gently grasped it.
The soul spear that shot towards them with a sharp, piercing sound suddenly froze in mid-air, unable to move.
Immediately afterwards, Xiao Xuan flicked his sleeve, and the spear instantly changed direction, reflecting towards the soul of the Heavenly Tomb with an even more ferocious and violent posture than before. The spear was also covered with clusters of strange flames that burned the soul and devoured the spirit, which were the soul fire that had been formed from the spontaneous combustion of his soul.
"call out!"
The Soul Spear moved at incredible speed, instantly transforming into a blazing flame that pierced straight through the colossal face ten thousand feet high in the sky.
The Soul-Burning Flame that clung to the spear surged forth like dry tinder, spreading wildly with lightning speed.
"what--!"
As the flames engulfed the area, the soul of the Heavenly Tomb let out an extremely shrill scream. In a normal confrontation, although it was wary of Xiao Xuan, it wouldn't have ended up in such a disadvantageous position.
But at this moment, Xiao Xuan attacked with all his might, his power surging to its limit. Coupled with the flames of his self-igniting soul, it had a fatal restraint and killing effect on a pure soul body like this, making it impossible to resist.
Above the sky, the colossal soul face, ten thousand feet tall, was completely engulfed and enveloped by the Soul-Burning Flames, and the face shrank and withered rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
At the same time, waves of violent and unparalleled soul impact erupted continuously from his body, turning the entire Heavenly Tomb space upside down. The remaining energy spirits of various races around him were terrified and fled in panic, fearing that they would be swept into this terrifying aftershock and end up with their souls scattered.
Xiao Ling's body surged with vast spiritual power, condensing into a thick and solid spatial barrier that blocked all the rampant soul shockwaves from entering his body.
Even with the overwhelming force of the attack, his powerful spiritual strength was still enough to barely withstand it, so he did not retreat and kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield in the sky.
At this moment, Xiao Xuan's soul power had already climbed to a terrifying level. No matter how hard Xiao Ling tried to probe, he couldn't fathom its limits. Clearly, in the state of soul self-ignition, Xiao Xuan had entered a state of near invincibility.
"Xiao Xuan! I will never let you go!"
The giant face shrank continuously amidst the soul-burning flames, and after a moment, it transformed into a blurry human figure. Its scarlet, furious eyes were fixed on Xiao Xuan, and its overwhelming killing intent was almost tangible.
Xiao Xuan ignored the mournful roar of the Heavenly Tomb Soul. He clasped his hands together, his fingertips rapidly forming a series of complex and profound hand seals.
As he activated the hand seals, strands of light patterns burning with soul fire shot out from his fingertips, rapidly intertwining and entwining in the sky, instantly condensing into a vast magic array that firmly trapped the soul of the Heavenly Tomb at its core.
"Sizzle—!"
The moment the formation was completed, before the soul of the Heavenly Tomb could react, thousands of soul-burning fire lines within the formation crashed down, accompanied by a piercing sound of air being torn apart, instantly piercing its soul body and tightly binding and imprisoning it in the center of the formation.
"Boom boom boom—!"
Bound by this, the soul of the Heavenly Tomb struggled and raged wildly, and terrifying soul fluctuations that even made Xiao Ling's expression change drastically struck the entangled fire lines one after another like thunderclaps.
However, those seemingly thin and weak fire lines have an extreme restraint on the power of the soul. No matter how violent the soul's impact is, it will quickly dissolve and dissipate upon touching the fire lines, making it difficult to cause even the slightest ripple.
"If I can't even handle you in this state, then I truly am ashamed of my past reputation."
Xiao Xuan glanced at the frantically struggling Heavenly Tomb Soul, smiled faintly, and though his voice wasn't loud, it exuded an aura of dominance over the world. This once supreme expert who shook the Dou Qi Continent, even now with only a wisp of remnant soul remaining, still possessed an undiminished domineering presence.
"Xiao Xuan, let me go! We can discuss anything you want!" After struggling for a long time to no avail, the Soul of the Heavenly Tomb finally softened its tone. It knew in its heart that Xiao Xuan, who was currently fighting with his soul burning, was far stronger than it. But it still held onto a sliver of hope that as long as it could endure this period, Xiao Xuan would dissipate on his own without it having to lift a finger.
"No need for further words, hand over your soul essence!"
Xiao Xuan merely chuckled at the Heavenly Tomb Soul's pleas for mercy, his hand seals suddenly changing. The countless Soul-Burning Fire Lines wrapped around the opponent's soul suddenly pierced its core, then slowly pulled back.
As the fuse was pulled, a crystal-clear ball of light, about ten feet in size, was slowly and forcibly detached from the soul of the Heavenly Tomb Soul.
As soon as the origin of that soul was revealed, a vast and gentle divine light poured down, enveloping the entire world.
Xiao Ling subconsciously raised his palm and probed into the divine light. A warm and comfortable sensation instantly swept through his limbs and reached the depths of his soul. He could even clearly hear his own soul emitting an almost greedy cheer and shout.
"Roar--!!"
As its source was forcibly extracted, the soul of the Heavenly Tomb let out a shrill, beast-like roar. At this moment, it was finally consumed by bone-chilling fear.
"Xiao Xuan, let me go! I'll give you the entire Heavenly Tomb, and I'll grant you anything you want!"
In its terror, the Soul of the Heavenly Tomb screamed and begged for mercy, but all its efforts were in vain. Xiao Xuan didn't even glance at it. His hand seals changed rapidly once more, and the force pulling the fire lines grew stronger and stronger. In just a moment, most of the crystalline soul essence had been forcibly torn from the Soul of the Heavenly Tomb's body.
"Xiao Xuan, I'll fight you to the death!"
Feeling the power within his body rapidly draining away, the soul of the Heavenly Tomb finally realized that if he did not fight to the death, he would have no chance of survival.
At that moment, its body shone brightly, and a fierce flame flickered within its soul. It had been forced into a desperate situation and had recklessly chosen to self-ignite its soul!
"Snapped!"
But just as the soul fire flared up, a vast palm print crashed down from the sky, slamming into its face.
Under the crushing force, the soul of the Heavenly Tomb was instantly blown away, and the perfectly round and crystal-clear halo of the soul's origin was also forcibly ripped out of its body with a "poof".
"No! Give it back to me!"
The soul's essence was forcibly extracted, and extreme weakness instantly swept over its entire body. The soul of the Heavenly Tomb let out a desperate roar and charged wildly toward the primordial light cluster like a madman.
Facing the oncoming soul of the Heavenly Tomb, Xiao Xuan waved his sleeve lightly, and a terrifying gust of wind swept it away, causing it to crash heavily to the ground.
As the soul of the Heavenly Tomb fell to the ground, weakened to the extreme, the energy beings in the distance who had been oppressed by it suddenly blazed with a scarlet gleam of hatred in their eyes.
With a low roar, they surged out in an overwhelming frenzy, launching a frenzied attack on the Heavenly Tomb Souls, who had lost all power to resist.
"what--!"
Having lost all its power, the Heavenly Tomb Soul was utterly unable to withstand the overwhelming attack, and its shrill screams instantly echoed throughout the heavens and earth.
Its soul was shattered, and a remnant soul filled with anger and resentment rose up and eventually dissipated slowly in the wind.
The soul of the Heavenly Tomb, which had dominated the Heavenly Tomb for countless years, was thus completely destroyed.
As the soul of the Heavenly Tomb was annihilated, the various energy entities on the earth gradually regained their clarity from their blood-red eyes, and their bloodthirsty desire to devour and kill also dissipated.
They stood there for a moment, then almost all of them knelt down respectfully towards Xiao Xuan in the sky to show their respect.
Xiao Xuan ignored the actions of these energy entities. His gaze fell on the ten-foot-long crystalline primordial light cluster floating in front of him, then he turned to look at Xiao Ling below, a gentle and relieved smile appearing on his lips.
"Young man, this is all I can do. As for whether you can use this to break through and reach the Emperor Realm Soul stage, that depends entirely on your own destiny..."
"Refine and absorb it."
After saying that, Xiao Xuan smiled slightly, flicked his finger, and the crystal-clear soul origin halo in front of him slowly floated down along a gentle force.
As the halo shifted, brilliant divine light continuously emanated, like a warm, blazing sun hanging in front of him, cleansing the entire space.
Xiao Ling stared at the primordial light cluster floating in front of him, deeply shocked.
The vast and unfathomable power of the soul surging within was like an endless ocean. Even with his current soul cultivation at the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, he appeared as insignificant as dust in the face of this immense power.
The Soul of the Heavenly Tomb was formed by the fusion of the remnant souls of countless ancient powerful beings. The soul essence it contains can only be described as "terrifying".
However, Xiao Ling's gaze lingered on the vast and boundless ball of soul origin light for only a moment before immediately turning to Xiao Xuan.
He could clearly see that his ancestor's figure had become much more illusory and thin, and was fading at a visible rate, with the fluctuations of his soul also weakening.
Xiao Ling's heart tightened, and she quickly spoke, her tone full of worry and urgency.
"Ancestor, how are you...? You should take the Resurrection Pill as soon as possible to complete your resurrection!"
Upon seeing this, Xiao Xuan couldn't help but smile gently. Though his voice was soft, it remained calm and resolute.
"You can rest assured, I am fully aware of my own condition. Even though burning my soul consumes a great deal of energy, I can still maintain this current soul form for quite some time, enough to wait until I take that Emperor-grade Soul-Returning Pill. As long as the medicine is effective, there will be no problem with my resurrection."
Seeing that Xiao Xuan had said this, the heavy weight in Xiao Ling's heart finally lifted. He solemnly cupped his hands towards Xiao Xuan, his tone firm:
“Since our ancestors have made their arrangements, then I will say no more. I will never fail to live up to the opportunity our ancestors have secured for me!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Ling took a deep breath, and without further hesitation, stepped directly into the dazzling halo of the soul's origin.
In an instant, a burst of divine light erupted, completely engulfing and covering his entire figure. (End of Chapter)