The mind is a strange place.
Every person’s mind is their most vital place. It is also known as their innate mental energy. The strength of one’s innate mental energy is fixed from birth, without any possibility of improving it. When innate mental energy comes into contact with aether, it will slowly absorb the aether and assimilate it to form the peripheral mental energy. You could think of regular mental energy as a sort of protective layer. When aether is mixed with regular mental energy once more, it forms the fundamental power of all martial artists— soul energy.
This was an incredibly complicated and mysterious process.
No one could explain it, no one could solve it; something that is too easily explained is necessarily unremarkable.
However, due to Wun Fan’s bizarre circumstances, his original innate mental energy was already several times greater than that of the average person. Furthermore, it had now merged with the innate mental energy of his current body in this life. There was absolutely no comparison between his innate mental energy and the average person’s. Moreover, at the very core of Wun Fan’s innate mental energy was the mark of the Spiritstartler Ring.
This mark was proof of Wun Fan’s connection with the Spiritstartler Ring. It meant that the Ring had accepted Wun Fan as its master and bowed to its will.
As such, any object that dared to attack the innate mental energy of its master would be mercilessly destroyed by the Ring. The Lightning of Forbidden Vanquishment had just attempted the same thing and had been easily defeated and absorbed. Now, an unknown aura was trying to trespass on its territory. If that’s the case, the Ring wouldn’t hold back!
The mark in Wun Fan’s mind once again unleashed a shocking surge of energy that easily suppressed the aura, giving it no chance to resist.
However, the heavens grew angry at the sight of this. Wun Fan had dealt with the Seven Lightning Dominions with ease. If even the aura tribulation was so easily dismissed, where was the heavens’ dignity?
Death aura continued to descend from the skies, scouring Wun Fan’s body and putting him in unbearable agony. There was no room for his skin to breathe at all. His soul energy couldn’t fight off the death aura either. Wun Fan could only endure the heartwrenching pain, all while he silently guided the death aura toward his martial soul.
Suddenly, a surge of life force erupted nearby and caught Wun Fan’s attention. It was the life force being radiated by Wun Siu Lan’s aura tribulation.
Death aura? Life force?
A peculiar idea appeared in Wun Fan’s head. He forced himself to crawl toward Wun Siu Lan. Somehow, they were on the same wavelength. When she saw Wun Fan approach from the corner of her left eye, Siu Lan immediately understood what he was trying to do. She also started to move toward him slowly.
The two of them got closer and closer and so did the life force and the death aura. Like fire and water, the two forces could not tolerate the presence of the other. They intertwined and started fighting, pushing back and forth, neutralizing each other’s strength. Part of the death aura wrapped around Siu Lan, eroding the tumors and restoring her to her original condition. Meanwhile, life force surged endlessly into Wun Fan’s body. His once withered body became smooth and nourished. His eyes too were no longer blind and recovered their sight.
For a moment, the injuries that they had each sustained from their respective aura tribulations were almost healed fully. They had borrowed the other’s aura tribulation to suppress their own aura tribulation.
Not far from the Wun Mansion, numerous black-clad figures stalked the surroundings, hiding in corners, rooftops and treetops. They waited silently as they observed the Wun Clan, everyone ready to report to their own masters.
Everyone had some idea that the commotion was caused by a Wun Clan disciple going through their tribulation. However, they didn’t know why the tribulation was so powerful. This was no ordinary tribulation for your ordinary person. As such, many clans and factions had sent their forces to investigate and find out the truth.
One of the black-clad individuals stood under a tree. His aura appeared to have merged completely with that of the tree. Even someone as powerful as Wun Ching Yeung would not be able to sense his presence if he didn’t want to show himself.
The man had a solemn expression on his face. Every time something crossed his mind, he would radiate a faint aura of death, alongside a murderous intent. A withered tree had been tattooed onto his back, hidden beneath his black robes. This was the hidden force of Mayor Hung Yun Zak—Wither.
The Hung Clan was one of the most prestigious clans of the Empire. They had great contributions to the clan, with many of its members serving as government officials and were greatly favored by the royalty. However, the four major clans of the Empire were always in constant struggle for power and every one of them wanted to get ahead. The Hung Clan had been politicians and officials for generations and knew what was needed to survive in Heaven’s Martial World. Without sufficient martial power to support their influence, they would be akin to a toothless tiger. No one would fear them, much less respect them.
The Wun Clan had tremendous martial might. They might not serve within the government or the military, but their overall power was significant. As has been mentioned before, Heaven’s Martial World was a world of martial artists. Your authority and influence are directly proportional to your martial power and the forces you command. As such, the Wun Clan’s words always commanded a certain degree of weight within the Nap-Lan Empire. None dared to challenge or provoke them.
Seeing the importance of martial power, the Hung Clan began to promote a martial culture within its doors as well, even if they had been late to the party. They placed emphasis on both martial and scholarly achievements. This was all in order to compensate for their insufficient power.
The black-clad figure had come to find out if yet another prodigy had been born in the Wun Clan of Green Sea Town. This was something that could place the Hung Clan at a disadvantage. After all, just because the Wun Clan showed respect to the Hung Clan right now, didn’t mean that they were going to continue doing so forever.
If they grew strong and influential enough, the leader of Green Sea Town might no longer be the Hung Clan, but the Wun Clan instead.
Back then, the third young master of the Wun Clan showed tremendous talent, which alarmed the mayor. Then, Wun Siu Lan also showed the same promise, which made the mayor even more anxious. Fortunately, Wun Fan’s growth came to a grinding halt and gave the mayor some slight peace of mind. However, tonight, yet another person of the Wun Clan was going through heavenly tribulation. Judging from the might of the tribulation, the individual in question was no mediocre person.
Was the intelligence network of the Green Sea Town Hung Clan really so inadequate? The black-clad figure had come here to discover the truth. If it was possible…the black figure knew that the mission this time might be a one-way trip. Hell was not far away.
However, even fallen flowers still cared for their brethren; they would turn themselves into nutrients and nourish the soil.
As a member of Wither, he had used all sorts of secret techniques and forbidden medicines to condense and bring out all of his essence and potential. This allowed him to obtain tremendous power in a short time, reaching the realm of Martial Colonel. However, everything came at a price; this was an unchangeable law. He gained great power, but lost much of his lifespan in exchange. However, what did it matter if he were to sacrifice himself, as long as he could make his contribution to the clan and become the nutrients it needed to grow new sprouts?
Sacrificing oneself for the greater good; this was what it meant to be part of a clan.
The black-clad figure unleashed his soul energy. His gaze was firm as he locked his palms, made a hand sign and whispered, “Lethality: Illusion of Fallen Leaves.” He touched his storage ring with his finger. Light flashed and a clump of yellowed leaves appeared in his hands. He tossed the leaves into the sky and let them flutter to the ground.
The leaves swayed along the wind. By the time they reached the ground, the man was nowhere to be seen. A cool breeze blew across the tree, but there were no shadows to be seen.
The death aura in Wun Fan’s body had merged completely with his Wind Mansion Point. The death aura in the Wind Mansion Point and before his mind had all started falling under his control. Part of it had even been devoured by his innate mental energy to become part of him. At the same time, Wun Fan followed the instructions Old Lei had transmitted into his mind. He compressed the death aura in his Wind Mansion Point without stop and settled it at the very core of the vital point.
As the death aura squirmed, it started to take on a particular shape. Scales appeared, a pair of whiskers grew and other parts of the aura turned four limbs, each with five claws.
At this moment, Wun Fan’s mental energy also had death aura mixed in with it. He gained an unnatural control over the death aura. A strange clarity emerged from his Wind Mansion Point and reached all the way into his mind.
Wun Fan couldn’t help but laugh, “Is this my martial soul?”
Wun Fan and Siu Lan both opened their eyes at the same time. They looked at each other and giggled. They then looked at the sky. Another powerful aura had gathered there. It once again poured down on the earth. The two children opened their arms and embraced the sudden blast of aura.
Three separate auras rushed into Siu Lan’s body. Her eyes gleamed with power. Meanwhile, the death aura engulfed Wun Fan, dragging with it the death aura that had been planted into the withered grass earlier. Now that the death aura had been recalled, the grass on the ground once again started showing signs of life.
The mountain became peaceful once more. All the auras were contained inside the two children. Wun Fan lifted his leg. It still felt a little numb. He forced himself to get used to the sensation before he walked toward Siu Lan.
The two of them looked at each other, enjoying the moment of peace and quiet. Wun Fan suddenly tilted his head and asked, “You first?”
“Together?”
“Sure.”
Martial soul, descend.
ns 15.158.61.52da2