"Thump, thump... thump, thump..."
"But where is that sound coming from?" Jiang Wuyue asked, frowning.
His deputy gave a bitter smile. "We don't know. We've already scanned the entire passage with our detection devices, and the results are all the same. No signs of any abyssal creatures. Captain, maybe you're being a bit too cautious. The abyssal tide just ended not long ago. According to thousands of years of recorded history, there shouldn't be any large-scale invasions for at least twenty or thirty years. Even if the last tide wasn't devastating enough to wipe out their forces, they'd still need time to recover. A year or two of peace is very likely."
"I hope so. Still, I can't shake this uneasy feeling." Jiang Wuyue narrowed his eyes. "Either way, stay alert. It's our turn on guard duty, and nothing is allowed to go wrong on our watch. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
After giving his orders, Jiang Wuyue finally eased up a bit. Perhaps it was just the pressure building lately that had made him so overly cautious. Strange sounds weren't unheard of in the abyssal passage, after all. If the scans turned up nothing, there was no point worrying further.
Silence returned to the depths of the abyss. All thirty-six branch passages remained undisturbed, without a trace of abyssal presence. However, deep within the sealed main abyssal passage — the one locked away for countless years — a soft but rhythmic thumping continued to echo faintly… trembling, ever so gently.
…
Back in his room, Gu You returned to his dormitory and switched on the soul television screen. He rarely used it, but as Blood Nine, his quarters — though modest in appearance — were equipped with top-grade facilities. After a few quick adjustments, he found the broadcast he was looking for.
A countdown flashed across the screen — five, four, three, two, one.
The image displayed two opponents standing face-to-face on a soul arena stage. A soul master battle was about to begin.
One of the competitors had an enormous build. Even with the system's mask hiding his face, his physique was unmistakable — a towering frame over 2.5 meters tall, shoulders broad enough to rival two grown men standing side by side. His bare arms revealed grotesquely knotted muscles, with veins crawling across like writhing serpents. The sheer intensity of his presence was enough to overwhelm the screen.
As the signal to begin sounded, the giant let out a guttural roar and thrust his arms out to his sides. A blast of concussive force erupted from his body with a thunderous boom.
"Boom!"
In an instant, his frame swelled even larger. A red sheen covered his skin — not the color of flames, but a raw, blood-like red. Over this crimson layer, dense, ancient-looking runes began to surface.
Gu You narrowed his eyes. 'So this is it... the innate body refinement method.'
This brutal secret technique was infamous. It required immersing the body in soul elixirs crafted from precious heaven-and-earth treasures — and doing so not once or twice, but for ten whole years. From infancy, the subject would be submerged daily in these torturous brews.
Contrary to what outsiders might believe, being soaked in soul medicine wasn't a pleasant, nourishing experience. Quite the opposite — it inflicted unrelenting agony, especially on a newborn's fragile body. The pain was indescribable.
This technique — known as the Innate Body Refinement Method — came from the legendary Body Sect.
But few in the modern era could afford to use it. Even for the once-glorious Body Sect, gathering enough soul medicine for just one child every hundred years was nearly impossible. And if that child failed to endure the pain or lacked the willpower to continue, they would die — and the entire effort would be wasted.
It was this costly, high-risk method that led to the Body Sect's slow decline over the past four centuries.
In fact, until this generation, not a single child had successfully completed the training.
Gu You stared at the image on the screen. 'So he's the one who made it…'
Though it was a proud achievement, the rise of soul tech — mechas and battle armor — had diminished the importance of raw physical strength in modern soul master combat. Even with a success like this, the Body Sect's path to revival was far from clear.
…
On the arena stage, the match intensified.
The Body Sect's prodigy was named A Ruheng, but in this tournament, he had earned the nickname "Power King" for good reason. He was known for his astonishing strength and explosive close combat.
But his opponent was no less terrifying. His alias was "Emerald King," and he possessed a rare, mutated martial soul: the Emerald Crystal Qilin. Even among ancient beasts, the Qilin was rarer than dragons. This variant was said to possess an ancient bloodline that rivaled even Dragon Kings in power.
In terms of betting odds for the tournament, the Emerald King was ranked number one, with A Ruheng only at fourth — even below the Blade Demon.
As A Ruheng charged forward with booming steps, the Emerald King calmly lifted a foot and took a single step forward. A radiant emerald light burst from beneath him, quickly spreading across the field like a shimmering sea.
Within seconds, half the arena was bathed in green, and A Ruheng found himself caught within it.
'A domain?' Gu You sat up straighter.
This was the Emerald Dream Domain — a mental illusion field that could disorient and confuse enemies. Those caught inside often struggled to distinguish reality from fantasy.
The Emerald King's body flickered, and then he split into three identical versions of himself, each dashing toward A Ruheng from a different angle.
At that moment, A Ruheng lashed out with a powerful punch. The impact exploded in a ring of golden-red energy, radiating outward in a thirty-meter radius. The blast alone was enough to flatten trees or shatter walls.
But it hit nothing.
A Ruheng's face twitched with brief confusion. Just then, all three of the Emerald King's images appeared around him — one to his left, one to his right, and one behind. Each raised a glowing, jade-green hand and pressed it gently against his body.
Their palms looked like flawless emerald crystals — translucent and eerie. The moment their hands touched him, a green hue began to spread across A Ruheng's skin, slowly covering him like a layer of crystal.
His sixth soul ring flared behind him.
Crystalization.
Yet A Ruheng didn't panic. His gaze remained calm. His foot stomped the ground as he prepared to break through—
(End of Chapter)
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