Chapter 85 - The Might Of An Astral Soul

The sudden end to the battle took everyone by surprise. They had seen that Luo Xiao had been holding the upper hand, but even so, they all felt that the Qi cultivator would turn it around. That he would be able to appear out of nowhere and blast Luo Xiao away.

Instead, it was Luo Xiao who erupted with an unknown energy and blasted this other person away, making all of them wonder precisely what kind of attack he had used.

Luo Xiao had been under cover of the brilliant shine when his hand had executed the Soul Reaping Palm. He had never expected that it would be so powerful!

The Qi cultivator who had been blasted away staggered to his feet before he vomited out blood, and without being able to control his body, he collapsed and fell into the ground once more.

Luo Xiao was stunned. Although the Soul Reaping Palm had used more than three times as much energy as the Moon Goddess Hand, the effect was more than triple the other.

The Soul Reaping Palm was, without a doubt, a top tier skill, the damage it dealt was not something an ordinary cultivator could withstand.

Being somewhat puzzled, Luo Xiao was also quite excited. He had not expected such a result, but he was immensely excited. With this attack, he would be able to get quite far in the tournament.

The people who cultivated the soul could feel the spiritual energy flow, and the spiritual energy within their own body turned restless.

This phenomenon had never happened before to these experts, and they felt rather uncomfortable. It was as if there was a suppression placed upon their spiritual energy, making it uneasy. Clearly the energy of this Luo Xiao was much purer than theirs.

Although Luo Xiao had taken one of the pearls from the Sixth Demon Prince, and it could mask his energy levels when one was observing it, the inherited purity that an Astral Soul commanded was so overwhelming that others would feel the pressure weighing on them.

Luo Xiao was unaware of this, and even the ones who felt the energy pressure were unable to explain what could be the reason behind this sudden suppression.

An Astral Soul was simply too rare. They only existed once every thousand years, and not many had the opportunity to get into contact with one.

The suppression only lasted for a mere second, and many started wondering if they had imagined it.

When the judge stopped the match and declared Luo Xiao, the winner, he quickly stepped down from the stage, the glances that were sent his way were now more filled with puzzlement and slight wariness.

No one knew exactly how strong Luo Xiao was, this battle had not tested his limits at all. All he had done was stand still, shroud himself in a spiritual energy shield, and release a few palm attacks and then defeating his opponent.

In the lower ranks of cultivation, spiritual energy cultivators were too weak compared to Qi cultivators.

It was not that they had less potential, but because their cultivation took longer to solidify, and they were much more reliant on skills than Qi cultivators.

Hence the weaker they were, the harder it was for them to withstand the sheer power of the Qi cultivators. However, as they grew stronger, they would become the headache of every Qi cultivators, their soul being their weakness.

Few Qi cultivators could protect their soul with special techniques, or by wearing soul protecting treasures, but the common Qi cultivator was easily targeted.

The tournament continued on, many went onto the stage and fought. Many were kicked out of the tournament while others advanced.

Soon it was Luo Xiao's turn once more. This time he was up against a Soul Cultivator who oddly also enough trained in the Goddess Hand, and Luo Xao was aware that it was not a good idea to have a Goddess Hand showdown.

Luo Xiao did not raise his Stalwart Shield Defense this time. He knew that what he was up against was a soul cultivator of the same rank as him, and thus, his soul was protected as he had a higher grade soul than the others.

Luo Xiao could not help but feel that he held an unfair advantage when facing the other soul cultivators, but he was not ashamed. Talent and might was also a part of one's strength.

As such, Luo Xiao glanced at the next person he was supposed to attack. This person was calmer than the previous opponent. He was a High ranked Sky cultivator, and he was much more mature.

When he looked at Luo Xiao, he was alert and dared not rush into an attack.

Seeing this, Luo Xiao did also not hesitate and threw out a palm attack.

Soul Reaping Palm!

The blinding light that erupted with the attack, alongside the fluctuation of spiritual energy, was enough to suppress all soul cultivators that were observing the platform.

The massive palm appeared in the sky, created solely from spiritual energy. This palm was much bigger than the one he had used in the previous battle; this time, it could be seen and felt.

Luo Xiao had poured a lot of energy into this attack, it was at least ten times the energy levels of the Moon Goddess Hand, and when it descended onto the opponent, he was stunned, his soul was already suppressed, and his body was trembling.

He could not escape the attack as it came crashing down upon him, and he was suddenly sent flying backward, his body collapsing and his mind spinning.

He was unable to get rid of the dazed feeling, while Luo Xiao slowly stepped closer and closer.

When he was by the side of the expert, he swept out his leg and kicked the guy off the stage.

The way he effortless won the battle made many suck in a cold breath of air.

When Luo Xiao was announced to be the winner, he casually left the arena again.

Like this, the next two days followed in the same south ring of the tournament.

Luo Xiao used the Soul Reaping Palm and the Stalwart Shield Defense to protect himself and strike back.

Every battle was an effortless win, but it was not only him who had this luck. Every corner had black horses alongside acknowledged geniuses who managed to win every single battle easily.

However, these people had not encountered each other yet, and thus it was hard to say who would emerge victoriously.

In Luo Xiao's seventh battle, Luo Xiao was up against one of the people who were known as a genius throughout the academy, and this boy was a Qi cultivator.

He was a genius, but even so, he was also aware that Luo Xiao was not an easy target. If he did not want to end up like the others before him, he had no other option than to fight with all his strength.

Luo Xiao was a mystery to everyone in the academy. No one knew exactly who his backer was or what strength he wielded, but looking at the battles so far, it was clear that the two skills he had displayed controlled immense powers. They were without a doubt top tier skills, and top tier skills were very hard to get your hands on, unless one was an Emperor ranked expert and had pledged their alliance to a master.

But who would ever give such top tier skills to a simple person like Luo Xiao? Once again, his backing became the talk of the academy.

Some of the people who had lost to him were certain that their loss was unwarranted, that Luo Xiao had only won because of his ability to execute a top tier skill. Still, when others heard these dissatisfied voices, they all snorted in disdain. It was evident that they were just jealous.

Luo Xiao was unaware that his displaying this Soul Reaping Palm would set off such a storm, but he was not regretting anything. He had to display his might and make others acknowledge him as a real opponent.

This genius was aware that Luo Xiao was not easy, but so far, no one had even managed to land an attack on his defense, so whether or not it was a top tier skill as well, no one knew.

Some hoped that the shield he was using was an ordinary skill, one that could be broken with a strike from Qi cultivator above the fifth rank, but no one knew, and although they hoped, many were also realistic. If it was easily broken, why would he spend his spiritual energy to create it?

This genius took a deep breath before he activated his movement, enhancing technique. This was one that showed grace and elegance; it was known as a middle-tier skill and was already very famous within the entire academy.

The name was Flight on a Crane's Wing, and it could almost transform the user into a crane, allowing them to soar the skies for a short while.

This genius was relying on this ability to fight stronger opponents, as he believed in the idea that as long as you could not catch him, then you could not defeat him.

Luo Xiao also realized that it was hard for him to land an attack on this guy, and he felt a headache coming his way.

He was debating whether or not to use the Devouring Starry Sky. It would take a lot of his energy reserves, and it would show one of his final trump cards, but if he did not, he was likely to waste a quite large amount of spiritual energy trying to lock onto the opponent with the Soul Reaping Palm.

After contemplating the ups and downs of the situation, he grit his teeth, and Luo Xiao started to pour a massive amount of spiritual energy out through his meridians.

Devouring Starry Sky!

The entire area seemed to become dark; thousands of small spheres appeared on the sky, growing in size and buzzing with energy. Each and every one of them seemed to emit a dangerous air; the entire sky was trembling from the pressure that Luo Xiao was displaying.

This time it was not only the members of the south corner who noticed the commotion, even the north, east, and west corners could feel the oppressive air, and they all started glancing towards the south, curious as to what could have caused this.

The guy who was facing Luo Xiao felt a shiver run through his heart, and he increased his speed to the highest degree that he could handle. Still, it was not a speed that could contend against the thousands of spheres that suddenly turned into shooting stars, and at least ten, if not twenty, landed on the body of the young genius.

The moment they came into contact with his body, he froze in place. His soul shook, and blood sprayed out of his mouth. His eyes became dull, and he collapsed right away.

It was clear that the wound he had suffered from this round was severe.

Luo Xiao was also slightly pale. The energy needed for the Devouring Starry Sky was many times larger than the Soul Reaping Palm, and his spiritual energy had almost entirely been drained.

At least he had an hour or two before the next battle, and thus he would be able to restore at least some of his energy.

However, the stage was completely silent; the crowd which should have burst into cheers was so quiet that one could hear a pin being dropped.

This was, without a doubt, a top tier skill as well! Since when had top tier skills become so numerous that a weak Sky ranked expert could have so many of them?!

More than ever before, these people understood that Luo Xiao had someone backing him, and while the majority felt envy and jealousy, some were also worried.

Luo Xiao had been bullied by many of the students earlier. If he chose to tell on them to his backer, would they be able to continue living their lives in peace?