Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 573: Cannot Withstand a Single Blow

And so, the massacre targeting Central Celestial Academy officially began.

Mu Changfeng, who had been beside the Teleportation Array the entire time, saw his students being continuously teleported out. His brow was furrowed tightly, not knowing what on earth had happened inside the Secret Realm. Only after hearing from his disciples did he learn that Central Celestial Academy was being targeted, which only deepened his confusion. Although the four major academies had always competed, it had never escalated to the point where three would join forces against Central Celestial Academy. No matter how hard he racked his brain, Mu Changfeng could not guess that all of this was due to an order from the Saint Heir.

Seeing Ye Qingchen’s strength grow so rapidly, the Saint Heir feared his plot against him might fail, and so he issued the kill order against Central Celestial Academy. This was to prevent Ye Qingchen from having his fellow disciples around to help him at a critical moment. By doing this, the Saint Heir demonstrated his absolute determination to kill Ye Qingchen.

As the one who delivered the order, Li Rui naturally understood the Saint Heir’s intentions. He increased the reward for the disciples from the other major academies who were willing to obey. In an instant, aside from the disciples of Central Celestial Academy, Ye Qingchen was now an enemy to everyone else in the Secret Realm.

However, Ye Qingchen could not consider all of that at the moment. After he had continuously killed several people, Li Kai finally reacted. If he allowed Ye Qingchen to continue this slaughter, his own side would surely be annihilated. Therefore, Li Kai ordered his subordinates to take the initiative and attack Ye Qingchen.

Ye Qingchen had originally been using the tranquility of nature’s spiritual energy to launch surprise attacks. Now that his opponents were on the offensive, using it for surprise attacks was no longer possible, even though he still maintained absolute control over nature’s spiritual energy. As a result, facing a siege from several opponents, Ye Qingchen unexpectedly fought them to a standstill.

Li Kai noticed this and was feeling smug about his decision. But then, an unbelievable scene unfolded once more. A powerful surge of Wood Attribute Energy began to emanate from Ye Qingchen. Although Li Kai had not yet mastered Attribute Energy himself, as a cultivator at the peak of the third level of the Martial Emperor Realm, he was incredibly familiar with this type of power.

This kid really does have an extraordinary magical treasure on him, Li Kai thought, still refusing to believe that Ye Qingchen could master Attribute Energy while only at the Martial King Realm.

However, this disbelief would soon cost Li Kai dearly.

"Leaf Blade Storm!" Ye Qingchen chanted softly as the surrounding Wood Attribute Energy rapidly converged.

This was the first time Ye Qingchen had used Leaf Blade Storm since mastering Attribute Energy. Ordinarily, Leaf Blade Storm was merely a mid-level Earth Rank Martial Technique, but amplified by the Wood Attribute, its power now grew exponentially. Even Ye Qingchen himself was startled; the current Leaf Blade Storm was even more formidable than his Wind Blade Sword Technique at full power.

Within Ye Qingchen’s sea of qi, Elder Yang had long ago cultivated a vortex. As the Wood Attribute Energy was consumed, the spiritual energy in Ye Qingchen’s body was continuously transformed into pure Wood Attribute Energy through this vortex. This meant that as long as Ye Qingchen’s spiritual energy was not depleted, his supply of Wood Attribute Energy was inexhaustible.

Furthermore, he had mastered Wood Attribute Energy and inscribed a Spirit Gathering Array within his body. As a result, his consumption rate was only slightly higher than his recovery rate.

Once Leaf Blade Storm was unleashed, an overwhelming torrent of Wood Attribute Energy surged toward the disciples of Pingtian Academy. Ye Qingchen certainly did not miss this opportunity. He instantly summoned his Fen Tian Earth Fire, igniting all the Leaf Blades that filled the space. In a flash, a sea of fire spread wide, its power continuously amplified by the surrounding nature’s spiritual energy under Ye Qingchen’s command. Some disciples at the second level of the Martial Emperor Realm couldn’t even last for a few breaths before being eliminated from the Secret Realm in a flash of white light.

A quarter of an hour later, the force of the Leaf Blade Storm gradually dissipated. Of those who had been present, only Li Kai remained. The team of ten had been almost entirely wiped out just by Ye Qingchen’s attack.

Although Li Kai had been lucky enough to survive, he was now covered in wounds. In contrast, Ye Qingchen showed no signs of exhaustion from the battle. Any minor energy he had consumed was quickly restored thanks to the Wood Attribute’s powerful regenerative ability.

"You... you... what kind of monster are you?" Li Kai stammered, slumping to the ground as intense fear made his voice tremble.

Ye Qingchen smiled contemptuously. "I’ll return those words to you. Tell me who’s behind this, and I’ll let you live."

A hesitant look crossed Li Kai’s face. Within Pingtian Academy, strength was everything. Being expelled from the Secret Realm so early, for any reason, would cause his status within the academy to plummet. And with such a disastrous result, he had no face left to seek allegiance with the Saint Heir. If he were eliminated now, he would be utterly abandoned by everyone.

Ye Qingchen noticed Li Kai’s hesitation and did not rush him. Although Ye Qingchen had long suspected that someone was manipulating things from behind the scenes, he was reluctant to make a final judgment without proof. That was why he wanted to pry some useful information from Li Kai.

After a long internal struggle, Li Kai finally began to speak slowly, "Actually, I... I didn’t..."

But just as he was halfway through his sentence, a brilliant white light flashed, and Li Kai was instantly teleported away.

Ye Qingchen’s brow furrowed. He instantly understood. The person pulling the strings must have been afraid that Li Kai would leak information and had forcefully stripped him of his qualification for the assessment.

Only someone from the Ten Great Ancient Clans could do such a thing. After all, even Headmaster Mu Changfeng had said he couldn’t control the Secret Realm. The only ones who could would be its providers. And the only person from the Ten Great Ancient Clans with whom Ye Qingchen had any entanglement was the Saint Heir who had abducted Qin Yue.

It was all but obvious who was targeting him.

「Meanwhile」

In another location, Li Rui was trembling as he knelt before the Saint Heir, not daring to raise his head. His cousin had just been on the verge of betraying the Saint Heir. As a member of the same clan, how could Li Rui possibly escape being implicated? If the Saint Heir hadn’t acted in time to teleport Li Kai out of the Secret Realm, the Saint Heir’s reputation would have been tarnished.

The Saint Heir waved his hand. "This matter isn’t your fault," he said to Li Rui. "But there’s no longer any need for you to return to your clan."

Li Rui kowtowed in gratitude, but his heart mourned silently. He understood that his clan was doomed.