Chapter 1536: Disciple Lu Chong Returns!
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
“That is… a soul oracle?”
“Wasn’t the entire lineage of the soul oracles destroyed many millenniums ago? How could there still be one around?”
“The soul oracle said something about dealing with his teacher and junior earlier… Could it be that he’s Zhang Xuan’s student as well?”
“Not only did Zhang Xuan teach a poison master, he even groomed a soul oracle?”
Everyone’s face distorted in shock. Even the 9-star master teachers who could remain calm before the worst of turmoil looked as if they had seen a ghost.
It was one thing for him to have taught a hall master who possessed the Innate Poison Body, but for such a ma.s.sive soul oracle to claim to be his student too… was this for real?
Even though the heritage of the soul oracles had already vanished many millenniums ago, the person was still able to steal the Pavilion Master Seal from Ren Qingyuan in a single move, rendering him helpless. Without a doubt, it was apparent that he was an expert too.
For the students that he had taught to actually be stronger than him… and more importantly, there were actually two of them!
“Let go of the Pavilion Master Seal!” Ren Qingyuan roared furiously as he rushed upward to s.n.a.t.c.h the Pavilion Master Seal back.
He had been so focused on Wei Ruyan that he let his guard down for a moment and allowed a soul oracle to approach him and s.n.a.t.c.h the Pavilion Master Seal.
The Pavilion Master Seal represented the very dignity and standing of the Master Teacher Pavilion. He could not allow anything to happen to it!
Si la!
Ren Qingyuan moved so quickly that the surrounding s.p.a.ce actually distorted under his movement.
As the deputy pavilion master, Ren Qingyuan’s strength was significantly above that of Zhang Wuheng and You Ruoxin. With him exerting his full strength, the crowd felt as if someone had robbed the surrounding sound and light, leaving them with nothing but despairing darkness. It was almost as if the world had been torn into two, and they had fallen into a crevice of nothingness.
Of course, it was all just a misperception of the senses. Nevertheless, this move was already powerful enough to send one’s Primordial Spirit into a disorientated state, making it nigh impossible for one to set reality apart from illusion anymore.
“Powerful, I’ll admit. However, you are too naive if you think that you can catch me like that!” The soul oracle in the sky chuckled as his silhouette swiftly turned ethereal before phasing out altogether, as if he had never been there in the first place.
“It’s the long-lost art of Soul Traverse!” Luo Qingchen narrowed his eyes in shock.
“Soul Traverse?” the confused Zhang Wuheng asked.
“In the first place, souls are formless and intangible. As long as one’s will is strong enough, it’s possible for a soul to break the restrictions of s.p.a.ce and traverse freely through s.p.a.ce, bypa.s.sing all restrictions that stand in its path. Of course, due to the limitations of one’s strength, it’s impossible for a soul to conduct long-distance teleportation similar to that of Teleportation Formations, but still, the ability to pull off short-distance teleportation can bring one a ma.s.sive advantage in battles!” Luo Qingchen explained.
Due to the Luo Clan bloodline flowing through his veins, he had a higher grasp over the spatial laws compared to the other cultivators gathered in the area, so he was able to see through Lu Chong’s maneuver swiftly.
Teleportation was extremely taxing on one’s body as one had to bear the brunt of the spatial storm while moving from one place to another, but due to the intangible and formless nature of souls, the effects of the spatial storm were significantly reduced for soul oracles, thus making it more feasible for them to traverse through s.p.a.ce. Ren Qingyuan was indeed very powerful, but against an opponent capable of Spatial Traverse, it would not be easy for him to catch the other party.
Hu!
Right after those words were spoken, the disappeared soul oracle suddenly phased back into existence right in front of a 9-star master teacher.
Boom!
As soon as he appeared, he immediately channeled a powerful burst of energy right toward the chest of the 9-star master teacher.
Peng!
Before the 9-star master teacher could even react, he was struck squarely in the chest and knocked flying, destroying countless buildings in his path.
It was fortunate that Ren Qingyuan had been concerned that a huge commotion would break out while apprehending Zhang Xuan, so he had ordered the local Master Teacher Pavilion to evacuate ordinary citizens away from this area. Otherwise, who knew how many innocent lives would have been lost from that single attack?
“You… redirected my attack?” Ren Qingyuan hurriedly withdrew his attack as he glared at the soul oracle in front of him with fiery eyes.
With his eye of discernment, he could tell that the other party had swept away a portion of the might of his attack using his Spatial Traverse, which was how the other party had managed to severely wound his companion in a single strike.
“Not too bad! Come, let’s continue. I see that there are still many 9-star master teachers around, so I’ll be counting on your help to knock all of them out!” the soul oracle said with a chuckle.
“You…” Ren Qingyuan clenched his fists tightly together as he tried to suppress his rage.
The fact that the soul oracle was able to traverse through s.p.a.ce swiftly meant that his attack would not be of much use. Not only so, if the other party redirected it toward his companions, would he not actually be harming his own comrades instead?
“In order to achieve Soul Traverse, one has to be a 9-star soul oracle at the very least, but wasn’t the heritage of the soul oracles completely destroyed by the Master Teacher Pavilion? Who in the world are you? Where did you come from?” Ren Qingyuan roared furiously.
Strength of the other party’s level could not be molded in just a day or two. If there was still a settlement of soul oracles existent in the world, there was no way that the Master Teacher Pavilion could have remained oblivious to it for so long!
“The Master Teacher Pavilion did utterly destroy the Soul Oracle Guild back then, but they didn’t manage to wipe away all traces of their heritage. Alright, hurry up and make up your mind whether you want to continue attacking me or not. Otherwise, I don’t really want to be wasting time on an old fart like you!” the soul oracle mocked in a contemptuous tone.
“Hand the Pavilion Master Seal over, or else the Master Teacher Pavilion won’t mind destroying the Soul Oracle Guild a second time!” Ren Qingyuan bellowed as he dashed toward the soul oracle furiously once more.
Si la!
The s.p.a.ce around the soul oracle suddenly solidified as if someone had encased it in ice, preventing him from making any movement.
Battle technique, Frozen s.p.a.ce!
This was a technique that could seal all disturbances in s.p.a.ce, thus rendering even Teleportation Formations completely ineffective.
The reason he had wasted so many words on the soul oracle earlier was to gather sufficient energy in order to cast this technique.
“Let’s see where else you can escape to this time around!” After sealing the soul oracle in place, Ren Qingyuan flicked his wrist and whipped out a sword.
Without any hesitation, he brandished the sword right toward the soul oracle ahead of him.
This sword carried an intense killing intent, such that even before the blade had arrived before its target, the killing intent was already stifling its target. Such an attack could easily inflict grievous wounds even to a soul oracle.
In face of the powerful sword strike, the soul oracle knew that he would not be able to escape, but he did not panic. Instead, with a mysterious smile, he swiftly compressed his ma.s.sive body into the size of the Pavilion Master Seal before hiding right beneath it.
Weng!
Ren Qingyuan did not expect the soul oracle to compress himself at this point in time. At this rate, his sword strike would definitely land on the Pavilion Master Seal. Thus, he hurriedly redirected his attack and pulled back his sword.
As the redirection of his might happened too quickly, it resulted in a reflux in his zhenqi, causing an aching pain to strike his chest. Following which, fresh blood spewed out of his lips.
The soul oracle knew that Ren Qingyuan would try to grab the Pavilion Master Seal right after, so as soon as the latter’s sword flew past the Pavilion Master Seal, he immediately reverted to his original size, grabbed the Pavilion Master Seal, and retreated before Ren Qingyuan could do anything else.
“Hahaha!” The soul oracle chuckled triumphantly. “Feel free to make your move, but as long as the Pavilion Master Seal remains with me, you won’t be able to kill me!”
“You…”
Ren Qingyuan narrowed his eyes in fury as his chest puffed up and down from rage. His face was so red that it reminded one of a volcano on the verge of eruption.
First, the poison masters who had not dared to leave their headquarters for at least ten millenniums, and now, an occupation that should have already vanished in the annals of history. Nothing was really going his way that day, and words could not begin to describe how frustrated he was feeling.
Had someone told him that this would happen in the past, he never would have believed it!
Taking a deep breath, Ren Qingyuan suppressed his rage and said with forced composure, “The Pavilion Master Seal contains the will of generations of deputy pavilion masters. You might have used your soul energy to s.n.a.t.c.h it away and sever my connection with it, but you will never be able to truly control it. In fact, you have to constantly guard against it, fearing a rebound from it!
“I know that despite your leisurely appearance, the Pavilion Master Seal is searing your soul as if you are grasping onto lava itself!”
The Pavilion Master Seal was the symbol of authority for the Master Teacher Pavilion. If anyone could s.n.a.t.c.h it away that easily, what would that say about the Master Teacher Pavilion?
While the soul oracle might seem as if he was holding it with ease, in truth, he was under constant attack from the wills of preceding deputy pavilion masters, placing great strain on his soul.
“Well, I’ll admit that your thing is indeed hard for me to handle…” The soul oracle chuckled. “However, it isn’t time for me to return it to you yet!”
After saying those words, he turned his sights away from Ren Qingyuan and headed down toward the young man and the young lady standing in the midst of the rubble below.
He kneeled onto the ground and said, “Teacher, Lu Chong has returned!”