783 Saint Soul Territory

Half-Saint Xuanlong entered the square with a staid stride. Each step released streams of Holy Qi to the surroundings.

His momentum and confidence increased as he strode down to the center of the square.

Suddenly, the sword at his back flew out of its sheath. The 169 inscriptions floated around the blade making it illuminate in green.

Lightning strikes flashed from the sword as if dragons were rambling around the divine sword.

The combat hadn't started but Half-Saint Xuanlong had already proven his prowess, inspiring fear in the other young sword warriors around him.

The cultivation level of a half saint was incredibly high, and even more so for a reputable half-saint. An ordinary monk of the Ninth Change would never dare to challenge him.

"Xuanlong is a veteran swordsman, yet he respects his opponent to the extent of summoning Thunder Sword even though the opponent is only a monk of Eighth Change."

Every half-saint of their respective sects was confused at his action and thought he was being excessive.

He was already a second level half-saint and also a sword warrior.

The attacking power of a sword warrior was the most powerful among peers of the same level. Furthermore, he was one of the few finest level two half-saints. He could defeat any monks of Fish-Dragon Realm easily, including the nine Kunlun's heirs that weren't half-saints yet.

No matter how skillful Lin Yue was, he had only mastered the Eighth Change. Without his Void Sword, could he be Half-Saint Xuanlong's rival?

When Zhang Ruochen gave Shao Lin a deadly attack, everyone thought that it was the power given to him by wielding the Void Sword. He would never be able to defeat a level two half-saint on his own.

Half-Saint Xuanlong looked at Zhang Ruochen who was opposite him and asked with a laugh, "Junior, are you not going to unsheathe your sword?"

"I have no other sword than Void Sword," Zhang Ruochen replied in a laid back and carefree tone.

Beneath Spatial Ring, there were two other swords, namely Golden Snake Divine Rapier and Abyss Ancient Sword. But there were too many veterans around for him to activate the Spatial Ring.

At the camp of Central Region Saint Academy, Beigong Lan stood up from his seat, holding his green sword with both hands. "My Blue Cutthroat Sword is ranked seventh in the Hundred-Pattern Saint Weapon Guide. If you need it, I can lend it to you for this fight," he offered to Lin Yue.

The truth was that Zhang Ruochen had saved Beigong Lan once. Lending his weapon to him would mean paying his kindness back, but more importantly, Beigong Lan was taking this opportunity to make friends with Lin Yue, the talented swordsman.

Zhang Ruochen thanked Beigong Lan with a grateful look, then turned to Half-Saint Xuanlong. "As a sword warrior, having a fine sword is important, but a true sword warrior relies on his understanding of sword techniques. As long as I have mastered the technique, anything could be my sword."

Zhang Ruochen tugged out a strand of his hair and pinched it between his index finger and thumb.

Beep!

Clouds of Holy Qi came floating out of his fingertips and formed an energy bubble around the strand.

In the next instance, the thin strand of hair turned into a fine metal sword pointing at Half-Saint Xuanlong.

Zhang Ruochen emanated a powerful brooding aura. His sword intent was ever increasing and filled the air with sword energy.

No doubt all the sword warriors could comprehend what Lin Yue had just said.

Yes, anything could be used as a sword. A powerful divine sword would nonetheless increase the strength of a sword warrior in folds.

Had their positions been exchanged, a level two half-saint fighting against a monk of Eighth Change with a strand of hair, the crowd would not have been surprised. In fact, Half-Saint Xuanlong would earn his reputation as skillful and respectable.

Everyone found Lin Yue laughable when things were the other way around.

"Kid, you are digging your own grave."

Half-Saint Xuanlong's pupils dilated, his Green Divine Sword and his Holy Qi were in perfect synchronization. Then, a massive lightning bolt struck at where Zhang Ruochen was at.

A full force strike from a half-saint was incredibly powerful and terrifying.

With rolling and cascading slopes, his sword energy was pouring at Zhang Ruochen, drowning him like a forceful waterfall.

Without any fear, he responded with a move.

"Sword Two!"

Twiddling his fingers in fast circular motion, his hair-sword motioned along with his fingers releasing waves of sword energy. Each wave released weakened Half-Saint Xuanlong's attacking power bit by bit.

In the end, the cascade of sword energy disappeared as all had been resolved by Lin Yue's counterattack.

This had left those who thought Lin Yue laughable in the first place in shock. No one had ever thought that the move could be performed in such a brilliant way.

Ning Xuandao stroked his beard and grinned while his eyes disappeared into squints. "His Sword Two technique must have achieved mastery level. Indeed, this young man never fails to bring us surprise."

Moon-Burier Sword Saint was better than Ning Xuandao in terms of understanding sword technique mastery. Thus he commented, "Softness triumphs over hardness, feebleness over strength. A sword could be as hard as a fine metal, but wielded differently with a touch of gentleness, it could overcome its hardness. I am surprised and amazed that Lin Yue's sword technique has achieved such an advanced level. Bet he is close to achieving Human Sword already."

On top of Moon-Burier Sword Saint's comment, other sword saints gave similar compliments.

It was obvious that Lin Yue's sword mastery impressed them and they admitted that someday the youngsters would surpass them.

"No wonder Lin Yue is called the 'Junior Sword Saint.' He might have a small chance of defeating Half-Saint Xuanlong." Half-Saint Lingshu commented.

At the center of the square, Half-Saint Xuanlong channeled more of his Holy Qi to increase his attacking speed and strength.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Ruochen could keep up with Half-Saint Xuanlong. The hair-sword kept changing its shape between a sword and a whip, avoiding direct attack from Half-Saint Xuanglong while defending himself.

"Wind Chaser."

Half-Saint Xuanlong switched his move to superior-class Ghost Level technique, his Green Divine Sword was separated from his hand and flew towards Zhang Ruochen's chest at lightning speed.

Zhang Ruochen quickly reacted by using Sword Two of Mastery Level.

"Yin-Yang Infinition."

In just a moment, with his body as the pivot point, his Taichi sword energy grew and formed a big round circle, covering the whole square.

Half of the square became dark and the other part was brightly lit.

Even monks that were standing below the Ancient Gods Mountain could see a black and white Taichi symbol rotating at the peak of the mountain.

"Break it."

Half-Saint Xuanlong roared, pushed his palm against his chest and broke a large piece of the Taichi symbol.

When he was about to propel his second blast of attack, he was already above Zhang Ruochen. His fingers turned blood red, thrusting all the way down towards Zhang Ruochen who was on the ground.

Zhang Ruochen reacted by extending his left palm to reach Half-Saint Xuanlong's, and the two clashed in mid-air.

BOOM!

A massive blast of energy was fired off from the palm of Half-Saint Xuanlong, pushing Zhang Ruochen miles away. His left arm went numb, while his Holy Qi vibrated inconsistently.

His Yangwei Saintly Meridian, which connected to his left limb, was burning in pain, as if it was torn into pieces.

Indeed, the attacking power of a Level Two Half-Saint was terrifying.

In terms of attacking power, Zhang Ruochen was far behind Half-Saint Xuanlong.

Half-Saint Xuanlong gave a loud victory cry, and channeled his Holy Qi yet again. His arms grew stronger, bigger and much longer, as if he had transformed into a gibbon.

Two large handprints were scorched on the ground as both his palms fired off.

Zhang Ruochen responded quickly by positioning his hair-sword, targeting the center of Half-Saint Xuanlong's brows. The moment the hair-sword was released, it escaped through the gap between the two palms and went all the way towards its targeted bullseye – the center of Half-Saint Xuanlong's brows.

The center of the brows was where the lower abdomen acupuncture spot was located. One might suffer severe injuries if it was disrupted, or even lose all of his cultivation.

"Damn you!"

Half-Saint Xuanlong had to withdraw his attack and retracted his arms, shrinking himself to a size ten times smaller, which was about the size of a watermelon, to dodge the attack of the hair-sword. He retreated backwards.

"Saint Soul Territory."

Half-Saint Xuanlong opened his palms and released the power of saint soul, then shaped the flow of energy into a territory.

An unseen wave of energy expanded rapidly and covered a large area.

Once one attains the half-saint level, the monk's martial soul will transform into the stronger saint soul, allowing control of energy from the heaven and earth.

A Level One Half-Saint controlled the energy around himself and absorbed it.

Due to the absorption of the energy, any sect would want a half-saint to be their leader, in order to transform their location into a sacred place via the sacred energy absorbed.

With the sheer amount of energy absorbed, the half-saint would be able to create Saint Soul Territory.

The stronger the cultivation, the stronger the territory.

In the territory, not only can the half-saint control all physical matter and forms of energy, but the enemy's power would also be weakened.

The simplest example would be gravity pull on the enemy.

A Fish-Dragon Realm monk who stood in the territory of a Level 1 half-saint will feel the gravity pull of a hundredfold, amplified to a thousandfold in the Level 2 territory.

This will continue to amplify with each higher level. If a monk stepped into a Level 4 territory, the monk would feel the gravity pull a hundred thousand times higher than normal.

As long as a Level 4 half-saint releases his Saint Soul Territory, you will be incapacitated, with your face pressed to the ground. No matter how strong your cultivation is, you will be helpless.

If a half-saint's saint soul has a Deity Print, then the Saint Soul Territory will be even stronger.