Chu Yuan felt his Soul Power being violently torn apart, split in two, with one half permanently remaining inside Nie Li's Soul Sea. His face went pale, his steps wavered, and he nearly collapsed. The tearing of his Soul Power had dealt him serious injuries; his entire body felt as if the strength had been drained from it, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this scene, the surrounding crowd exchanged bewildered glances.
Soul Power clashes were difficult for outsiders to observe clearly. They didn't know that half of Chu Yuan's Soul Power was now permanently lodged in Nie Li's Soul Sea — they only saw Chu Yuan's expression of pain and panic. By contrast, Nie Li looked bright and spirited, which meant that in this exchange, Chu Yuan had clearly come out on the losing end.
What they couldn't understand was that Nie Li's Soul Power wasn't even at Bronze One Star, while Chu Yuan was already a Bronze Three Star Demon Spirit Master!
Why was it Chu Yuan who ended up at a disadvantage?
Nie Li felt the surging Soul Power within his Soul Sea, and a gleam flickered in his eyes. This Soul Power hadn't yet fully fused with his own, but he had already begun to assimilate a portion of it. His Soul Sea blazed with brilliant blue-green light, growing ever more intense.
Nie Li sensed that he was drawing closer and closer to Bronze One Star. If his Soul Power were tested at this moment, it would likely have already reached at least 95.
Inside his Soul Sea, the barrier to advancing to Bronze One Star was beginning to crack, fine fissures spidering across its surface — it was about to shatter.
His Soul Power continued to climb and merge.
Boom!
Nie Li felt a thunderous rumble in his mind. A ripple of energy unfurled across his Soul Sea, and faint, barely audible dragon roars echoed through it. Whatever was hidden deep within his Soul Sea seemed to have grown even more powerful.
Bronze One Star!
A flash of radiance passed through Nie Li's eyes. He had no idea what was hidden inside his Soul Sea. In his previous life, when he had cultivated, he had never noticed anything concealed within it. His Soul Sea in this life seemed somehow different — could it be connected to the Book of Time-Space Demon Spirit?
With his breakthrough achieved, Nie Li felt a surge of excitement despite his past-life experience. This meant he had taken an important step on the path of cultivation and had set foot on a destiny far different from his previous life!
Only a portion of Chu Yuan's Soul Power had been refined by Nie Li so far. Given a bit more time, he could assimilate all of it. And once that was complete, who knew — he might be able to push straight for Bronze Two Star!
If
"Chu Yuan actually lost?"
"Who could have expected this outcome!"
"If Nie Li didn't have some means of countering him, he wouldn't have dared to challenge Chu Yuan across rank! I thought Nie Li was just arrogant beyond reason — turns out he actually has the strength to back it up!"
The crowd murmured in astonishment.
This outcome left
"Looks like I underestimated him after all," Chen Linjian murmured. Challenging someone three full ranks above — that was something only a handful of true geniuses could pull off. Was Nie Li really only at Red Soul Sea? He was beginning to doubt it. If someone told him right now that Nie Li possessed a rare Blue Soul Sea, that would honestly be more believable than Red.
A gleam of surprised delight flickered in Ye Ziyun's eyes. She wasn't in love with Nie Li or anything — his constant flirtatious nonsense still irritated her to no end — but that didn't mean she wasn't concerned about him. When Nie Li challenged Chu Yuan, she had felt a jolt of anxiety, and now that he had actually won, it was beyond anything she had anticipated.
Shen Yue stared fixedly at Nie Li's retreating figure, teeth clenched. He had always believed that Nie Li's earlier victories over him were nothing more than luck. Now he realized Nie Li had been playing him the entire time! No wonder that time when his three Bronze Two Star subordinates had ganged up on Nie Li, they hadn't managed to land a scratch — it wasn't just the Bronze armor Nie Li was wearing; his strength had far surpassed Bronze Two Star back then. That beating had all been an act! The thought of how many people had wronged him over it filled Shen Yue's chest with such fury it was about to burst.
That cunning, despicable snake!
Huyan Lanruo's ample chest rose and fell rapidly. Not even at Bronze One Star and yet capable of challenging a Bronze Three Star powerhouse — Nie Li had given her quite the surprise. How many more secrets was he hiding?
"I'll have to find a time to peel back those layers and see just what else you've got stashed away," Huyan Lanruo murmured, a faint blush coloring her cheeks and a touch of flirtatious warmth glinting in her eyes.