"What just happened? Could the Soul Destroying Sword backlash against its owner?" Yuan Ming furrowed his brows, his expression fluctuating between dark and light.
Although he had found information about the Soul Destroying Sword from Sha Hao's memories, Sha Hao was not the refiner of the sword and knew only incomplete information about it.
He had actually already considered that the Sword Qi released by the Soul Destroying Sword, capable of ignoring an enemy's defense, directly attacking the Divine Soul, and devouring it, would come with a terrifying ability, and its use would surely carry a significant price.
Now it seemed that the sword could indeed easily kill enemies above one's level, but the cost was a backlash against the owner, truly making it a double-edged sword that wounded others as well as oneself.
To deal with Zuo Qinghui, whose cultivation was far above his own, Yuan Ming had nearly exhausted his Divine Soul Power. Facing the backlash of the Soul Destroying Sword, he was naturally without the strength to protect himself. Fortunately, he possessed the Stealing Heaven Tripod as his trump card.
In truth, if he hadn't had the gentle nourishment and soul-stabilizing effect of the Stealing Heaven Tripod for the Divine Soul, he might not have dared to embark on the soul cultivation path—full of thorns and bordering on a life and death struggle.
Yuan Ming took a deep breath and looked at the Soul Destroying Sword on the ground beside him, his eyes revealing a complex look.
"Eh!" He suddenly let out a light exclamation of surprise.
The warm current still flowing from within the Stealing Heaven Tripod showed no sign of stopping. It continued to pour into his Divine Soul and was even splitting in two.
Yuan Ming hurriedly performed Inner Observation and took a look inside his body. He was startled by what he saw.
Unbeknownst to him, a crack had appeared on his Divine Soul, seemingly caused by the fierce evil aura of the Soul Destroying Sword's previous assault. It might have been small and gone unnoticed before, but now, under the Stealing Heaven Tripod's influence, it had not healed but instead deepened considerably. It looked as though the two parts of the Divine Soul could completely separate at any moment.
The two-part split of the warm current was respectively pouring into the two separated parts of the Divine Soul.
"How could this happen?" Yuan Ming couldn't help but feel astonished.
Fortunately, the heart-wrenching pain of his Divine Soul had already subsided. Although the crack was deepening, it seemed to have no significant impact on his Divine Soul.
Within the Five Elements Illusion Destruction Array, Zuo Qinghui had already taken the opportunity to rest. He had placed several talismans on his body and swallowed an elixir; the paleness of his face steadily improved.
Meanwhile, his Golden Ruler Treasure was spinning around his body, rousing a golden glow that enveloped his figure.
Yuan Ming furrowed his brows and, setting aside the anomaly of his Divine Soul for the moment, decided to focus on dealing with his formidable enemy first. He urged the Array Flag in his hand, continuing to activate the Five Elements Illusion Destruction Array.
At the same time, with a pat on his waist, Vajra shot out from his Spiritual Beast Bag, turning into a white shadow and pouncing at Zuo Qinghui.
Hua Zhi and Lei Yu were also respectively rushing toward Zuo Qinghui from above and below.
Zuo Qinghui, having no time to continue tending to his Divine Soul injuries, pointed a single hand towards the void. The Golden Ruler flickered, transforming into numerous ruler shadows that furiously slashed at Vajra.
Seeing this, Yuan Ming formed a hand-seal and urged the five Array Flags before him. A green shadow flickered above Zuo Qinghui's head, and countless images of giant trees emerged, resembling a vast and unending forest.
A tremendous oppressive force descended, causing Zuo Qinghui's figure to falter and the speed of the Golden Ruler Treasure to significantly decrease.
Vajra ducked low, avoiding a strike from the Golden Ruler Treasure, then clenched a fist with one ape paw and struck Zuo Qinghui hard in the chest.
Zuo Qinghui's body barely resisted Vajra's strike with a golden light screen, but he was still sent flying backward by a mighty force.
"Crackle!"
Three streaks of silver lightning shot out from the nearby void, striking at Zuo Qinghui's back.
Dozens of purple-black vines emerged from another part of the void, their tips congealing into green wooden swords stabbing towards Zuo Qinghui's body.
Zuo Qinghui let out a low roar, and the glow from the Golden Ruler Treasure brightened, rapidly weaving around his body. A series of ruler shadows emerged densely packed, grinding the silver lightning and purple-black vines into pieces.
As a Core Formation Stage cultivator, although Zuo Qinghui had suffered great damage to his Divine Soul and had only a fraction of his strength remaining, he was not someone that Foundation Establishment stage spirit beasts like Hua Zhi and Lei Yu could handle.
Although Vajra was stronger than Hua Zhi and Lei Yu, it was already injured.
Zuo Qinghui, having sustained serious damage to his Divine Soul and after casting spells, was gasping for breath. He reached towards his Storage Bag at his waist, and the space around him fluctuated, revealing a purple spear adorned with nine blue dragon pattern engravings—the Purple Star Nine Dragon Spear purchased at the auction.
At the same time, a blood-red, half-foot-long cylinder as thick as a fist appeared above his head with a flash of blood light.
Yuan Ming's expression turned stern, and, setting aside his worry about the abnormality of his Divine Soul, he once again cast the Crow Caw Illusion Technique. Eight soul crows emitted black Sound Waves in unison, instantly enveloping Zuo Qinghui's body.
If Zuo Qinghui had been at his peak, he naturally would not have been so easily hit, but now his resistance to Soul Cultivation Illusion Techniques was greatly reduced, and he immediately fell into an illusion, standing motionless.
Yuan Ming gritted his teeth, picked up the Soul Destroying Sword from the ground, and poured Mana and Soul Power into it. The sword emitted a cheerful clear hum and shot out a black Sword Qi about a zhang long.
"Slas**h**!"
He shouted loudly and swung the sword in the air.
A black Sword Qi that was seven to eight zhang long and as wide as a door burst forth, emanating a massive Divine Soul absorbing power. Nearby, Hua Zhi, Lei Yu, and even Vajra felt their Divine Souls restless, as if they might burst out of their bodies and be sucked away by the Sword Qi.
The three of them hurriedly flew backward, feeling that the farther they were from the black Sword Qi, the better.
The black Sword Qi, fast as lightning, flashed by and buried itself into Zuo Qinghui's head, viciously slashing his Divine Soul.
Zuo Qinghui's entire body shuddered, with wisps of black light spraying out from his seven orifices. His Sea of Consciousness and Divine Soul violently collapsed, completely extinguished by the astonishing Sword Qi!
The Golden Ruler Treasure, the Purple Star Nine Dragon Spear, and the blood-colored cylinder fell to the ground with a clatter, having lost their wielder.
Yuan Ming immediately threw the Soul Destroying Sword aside. This time, however, the sword did not backlash unexpectedly; when it left his palm, it began to glow with a ghostly black light, emitting a suction force.
Clusters of scattered Soul Power gathered and were devoured by the Soul Destroying Sword.
The Soul Destroying Sword trembled slightly, giving off an excited hum. The four runes on the blade deepened in color noticeably before it settled down after a few breaths.
Indeed, it was a fierce sword! Witnessing this, Yuan Ming couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
He formed a hand seal to stop the operation of the Five Elements Illusion Destruction Array and immediately sat down to meditate, inspecting the condition of his mind. He didn't even bother to check his spoils of war.
The torrent of warmth from the Stealing Heaven Tripod had almost ceased. Only now, the cracks on his Divine Soul had deepened significantly, and the flow of Soul Power between the two parts had almost ceased, seeming as if they were about to split into two completely.
Upon seeing this, Yuan Ming couldn't help but feel deep regret.
Having a problem with the Divine Soul was definitely a major issue for a cultivator, especially for a Soul Cultivator like him.
He had thought that with the Stealing Heaven Tripod's protection, the cracks wouldn't have too much of an impact on his Divine Soul. Now, however, the tripod seemed to have accelerated the complete splitting of his Divine Soul.
Although it seemed that the split had not caused any apparent effects for the time being, who knew what could happen in the future?
At least he had never read in any classics about a cultivator whose Divine Soul was torn or split managing to be unharmed. Such a situation would usually lead to the complete collapse of the Divine Soul.
But now that it had come to this, he knew there was no use lamenting over spilt milk. He had no reason to dwell on it any longer. If he hadn't made a decisive move, he might have faced more than just the splitting of his Divine Soul; he could have been killed by Zuo Qinghui, both body and soul destroyed.
The moment Yuan Ming thought of this, he calmed his mind and spirit and began running the Moonlight Technique, trying to repair the damage to his Divine Soul as much as possible.
However, as soon as he ran the Moonlight Technique without operating it, Soul Power from both parts of his Divine Soul began circulating, and the crack started to widen at a visible rate.
Yuan Ming's heart lurched, and he hurriedly stopped running his Soul Power, but it was too late—the crack had reached its peak.
With a "snap," his Divine Soul split into two, with one portion, about one-fifth the size of the rest, completely severed.
Yuan Ming's emotions exploded, and his heartstrings reached their limit. He couldn't even care about the excruciating pain that seemed to tear his head apart, feeling like a condemned prisoner on the scaffold, waiting for his Divine Soul to suffer great damage or even collapse completely.
Yet the anticipated disaster did not occur. After his Divine Soul split into two, aside from a momentary headache, there were no other effects—everything seemed to be the same as before.
"What's going on? Could it be that the splitting of the Divine Soul isn't actually a big issue?" Yuan Ming was astonished, continuing to probe the condition of his Divine Soul with his inner sense.
The larger portion of the Divine Soul still stood firm in the center of his Sea of Consciousness, with Soul Power slowly gathering around it and merging within as before.
A stream of warmth emanated from the Incense Burner Mark once again, blending into the main Divine Soul. Remarkably, the part that had been severed began to regrow at a visible rate. It seemed it would not be long before it fully recovered.
Yuan Ming then realized that under the protection of the Stealing Heaven Tripod, his Divine Soul could still regenerate, which explained why he hadn't felt any abnormalities.
The severed piece of Divine Soul slowly drifted around the Sea of Consciousness without dissipating.
This scene piqued Yuan Ming's interest.
He focused his attention on the severed Divine Soul and, upon closer examination, found that its Soul Power was not weak, roughly equivalent to that of two soul crows.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the form of the severed piece of Divine Soul changed abruptly, transforming into a soul crow, albeit a transparent one.
Yuan Ming was taken aback by its responsiveness. Just thinking of a soul crow caused the fragment of Divine Soul to morph into one. Could it transform into something else?
No sooner had the thought occurred to him than the shape of the soul crow changed once again, this time into a soul bat, identical to Sha Hao's Blood Bat.
A notion struck Yuan Ming, and he manipulated the fragment of Divine Soul to morph into various shapes. His Divine Sense could unfold, transforming into a Soul Wave similar to Divine Sense.
The next moment, this fragment of Divine Soul flew out of the Sea of Consciousness, assuming the guise of a soul crow and zipping around his Cave Mansion.
Yuan Ming watched the transparent soul crow with a smile, but his smile suddenly froze.
This soul crow seemed very much like his other soul crows, but it was fundamentally different. It possessed a degree of independent consciousness. This was not so obvious while it was in his Sea of Consciousness, but once it was released, he immediately sensed this difference.
While his other soul crows could share his vision and even multitask while controlling corpses, they were completely under his control. This transparent soul crow, however, had a sense of self.
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