The Diamond Mammoth True Body's mountain-like giant foot slammed down. Before it even made contact, the terrifying wind pressure caused the ground to crack inch by inch, and the air emitted a groan of unbearable strain. A Soul Sage's enraged strike possessed enough power to cleave mountains and sever rivers!
Facing this unavoidable blow, there was not a hint of panic in Yu Yuanchen's eyes. He knew well that clashing head-on with a power-type Soul Sage was never a wise move, especially when the opponent had activated their Martial Soul True Body.
At the very instant the giant foot was about to descend, subtle purple gold lightning flickered to life on his legs like a living creature. It was not a violent stimulation, but rather a rapid circulation through specific, minute meridians in his legs at a strange frequency, constructing a circuit! This was the burst technique passed down by that Elder, simulating the swimming motion of an Electric Eel. At the same time, the movement technique he had created over the past two years—Dragon Swimming Steps—which he had developed by observing the movements of snake-type soul beasts and combining them with his own incredibly tough meridians after body tempering, was instantly activated!
"Whoosh!"
His figure seemed to transform into a distorted streak of purple lightning. Instead of retreating in a straight line, he moved in an unnatural, eerie arc like a dragon flicking its tail, sliding out from the edge of that giant foot by a hair's breadth! His speed was so fast that it left behind a solidified, lingering afterimage.
"BOOM!!!"
The giant foot slammed into the spot where Yu Yuanchen had previously stood. The earth shook violently, and a deep pit over five meters in diameter suddenly appeared, with mud and gravel shooting into the sky like a fountain.
The Soul Sage's strike missed. The Diamond Mammoth's massive head turned, its cold eyes locking onto Yu Yuanchen, whose form had just solidified dozens of meters away, and it let out an angry roar. He had not expected this kid, who appeared to be only a Soul Emperor, to have such eerie and swift speed!
"Let's see how long you can dodge!" the Soul Sage roared, his third Soul Ring suddenly flashing—Third Soul Skill, Crush!
An invisible, powerful binding force field instantly expanded from him as the center, covering a radius of twenty meters. Yu Yuanchen immediately felt his body sink as if he had fallen into a thick quagmire, his movements becoming sluggish. At the same time, the Diamond Mammoth's massive True Body leaped up. Although the height was not great, the crushing momentum, combined with the field suppression and its own terrifying weight, was even more fearsome than the previous simple stomp, and its coverage was wider!
Although the Dragon Swimming Steps were ingenious, their effectiveness was greatly reduced under this kind of area suppression. Yu Yuanchen barely twisted his body, once again avoiding the frontal crush by a hair's breadth, but he was still clipped by the edge of the terrifying blast wave from the descent. The Dragon Scale Armor all over his body flashed with chaotic light, and his Qi and Blood surged violently.
Before he could even catch his breath, the Soul Sage's fifth Soul Ring lit up—Fifth Soul Skill, Position Tracking!
An invisible spiritual mark instantly landed on Yu Yuanchen. The next moment, the Diamond Mammoth True Body that had just landed moved with a speed completely inconsistent with its size, sticking close to the ground and charging toward the direction Yu Yuanchen had dodged with ferocious force! No matter how Yu Yuanchen changed the trajectory of his Dragon Swimming Steps, the giant mammoth clung to his movement path like a maggot on a rotting bone, its long nose thrusting forward like a massive battering ram with a piercing whistle!
"This is troublesome!" Yu Yuanchen's heart sank. These two locking-type soul skills, combined with the Martial Soul True Body, severely restricted his speed advantage, forcing him to resist head-on.
"I can't drag this out! I must end this quickly!" His eyes turned sharp; he knew he could no longer hold back. No one knew if this Soul Sage had companions nearby or if he had special means of calling for help.
"Purple Lightning Domain, open!"
Accompanied by a low shout, a purple lightning domain with a diameter of twenty meters suddenly opened with Yu Yuanchen as the center! Within the domain, electric snakes danced wildly and thunder roared! Under the interference of the domain, the "Crush" field was immediately weakened by more than half, and the feeling of restraint on Yu Yuanchen's body greatly diminished. At the same time, the lightning domain also caused a certain degree of impact on the Soul Sage's speed and perception, causing the charge under the "Position Tracking" to show a slight, imperceptible lag.
"A domain?!" the Soul Sage exclaimed, his eyes filled with disbelief. How could a Soul Emperor possess a domain?!
The moment he was shocked, Yu Yuanchen moved! With the Thunder God Mode pushed to the limit, the Dragon Swimming Steps became even more elusive under the blessing of the lightning domain. He no longer dodged blindly but took the initiative to meet the attack!
"Third Soul Skill, Wrath of Thunder! First Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!"
He activated his amplification skill and attack skill simultaneously, but he did not release the dragon claws. Instead, he completely compressed the Furious Lightning Power, condensing it onto his fully dragonified claws. The right claw contained inner lightning, faintly emitting an artistic conception of shattering and destroying everything; the left claw spat out electric sparks, carrying extreme sharpness and a tearing sensation!
"Bang!"
The left claw, covered in heavy dragon scales and lightning, collided head-on with the mammoth's long nose as it swept over! A piercing sound of friction rang out, and sparks flew in all directions! Yu Yuanchen's figure shook violently, sliding back several meters. His left arm felt numb, and a few white marks were left on his dragon claws. Meanwhile, a few tiny cracks were torn into the mammoth's long nose!
"Such strong defense!" Yu Yuanchen was secretly startled. But he did not stop his offensive. He lowered his body, executed the Dragon Swimming Steps, and stuck close to the side of the mammoth like a loach, his right claw carrying the shattering effect as he fiercely dug toward its relatively vulnerable abdominal joint!
"Clang!"
It sounded like striking high-grade tempered steel, producing a dull, loud noise. The diamond armor at the joint was exceptionally hard; the shattering effect failed to break the defense directly, but it dimmed the light and caused tiny cracks to appear.
"Roar!" The Soul Sage felt the pain. The mammoth's giant foot lifted and stomped down like a massive pillar.
Yu Yuanchen once again relied on the Dragon Swimming Steps to narrowly avoid it, both claws striking out, either tearing or shattering, constantly clashing head-on with the mammoth True Body. He deliberately made his aura appear somewhat chaotic, and the light on his Dragon Scale Armor was also intentionally controlled to flicker, as if he had suffered some hidden injuries in the previous collisions, appearing to retreat in a flustered manner with every clash.
He fought while retreating, seemingly looking for an opportunity to escape, but he was still tightly locked onto by the "Position Tracking."
Seeing that he couldn't win after a long battle, the Soul Sage felt anxious. Seeing Yu Yuanchen's "unstable aura," a fierce light flared in his eyes: "Kid, even a domain can't save you! Die for me!"
He abandoned part of his defense and poured more Soul Power into his attacks. The mammoth's long nose whipped and stabbed like a violent storm, and its giant feet stomped repeatedly, forcing Yu Yuanchen into "perilous situations." He was swept in the shoulder by the long nose once more, and his whole body "stumbled" as he flew backward. A few dragon scales shattered, and a trace of blood was even forced out from the corner of his mouth (in reality, he had deliberately injured the inside of his mouth).
"Now is the time!" Cold light exploded in Yu Yuanchen's eyes! He had been waiting for the moment when the opponent became impatient from the prolonged battle and slightly relaxed because he was "injured"!
In the process of flying backward, he forcibly twisted his body. The Soul Power, Qi and Blood, and that wisp of "Thunder God Power" within his body surged toward his right dragon claw at an unprecedented speed! All his power and all his mental will were highly compressed and condensed onto the very tip of the ferocious dragon claw! The purple gold lightning no longer radiated outward but instead collapsed inward, making the tip of the dragon claw turn dark and deep, as if it could swallow even light, and the surrounding space even distorted slightly!
Seeing Yu Yuanchen being knocked away, the Soul Sage was about to press his advantage when he suddenly sensed a fatal crisis that made his soul tremble coming from the opponent's seemingly injured right claw!
"Not good!" His pupils shrank. He wanted to defend with all his might, but the previous fierce attacks meant his old strength had just been spent and his new strength had not yet arisen, and the turning of his Martial Soul True Body was a beat too slow!
"Thunder Dragon Shatters Void!"
Yu Yuanchen let out a low roar like a dragon's chant. His body released like a taut bowstring, and his right claw, which had condensed all his power, seemed to traverse the distance of space. Carrying a terrifying artistic conception that ignored defense and pierced straight to the source, it pointed with absolute precision at the very center of the Diamond Mammoth True Body's head, right on its hardest frontal bone!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a slight "squelch" that penetrated deep into the marrow.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
The ferocity and horror on the Soul Sage's face froze. He felt a terrifying power, incomparably condensed and carrying high-frequency vibration and destruction characteristics, like a red-hot thin needle, easily piercing through his proud diamond defense, penetrating his skull, and sinking directly into the depths of his brain!
All his consciousness and all his Soul Power collapsed instantly under this strike, like a pricked balloon!
The Diamond Mammoth's massive Martial Soul True Body dissipated suddenly like smoke, revealing the Soul Sage's burly body, which had already lost its life force. There was only a tiny, charred hole on his forehead; no blood flowed out because the brain tissue inside had been instantly annihilated. In his wide-open eyes, the fear and confusion of disbelief still remained. He fell to the ground with a thud, splashing up a cloud of dust.
Yu Yuanchen panted heavily, his face pale. This "Thunder Dragon Shatters Void," which had exhausted all his strength, had drained nearly half of his Soul Power and spirit, and his right dragon claw also sent waves of tearing pain. But he dared not linger for even a second. He forced himself to quickly clean up the battlefield, putting everything, including the bodies of the Soul Sage and all the Elephant Armored Sect disciples, as well as anything that might be of value, into his Storage Soul Tool. He then used his lightning power to burn and disrupt the traces of the battle as much as possible.
After doing all this, he immediately took a pill and circulated his Soul Power to regulate his breath. When night completely shrouded the earth, cold light rose in his eyes again.
"The Elephant Armored Sect disciples in the border city cannot be left alive either!"
Like a ghost in the dark night, he returned silently to the small border city where the checkpoint was located. Relying on his powerful spiritual perception and eerie movement technique, he easily found the place where the Elephant Armored Sect disciples were staying—a courtyard they had temporarily occupied.
Without a shred of mercy, for these enemies who wanted him dead, Yu Yuanchen would not show any softness. He snuck into the courtyard, and like the Grim Reaper wielding a scythe, amidst the flashing purple lightning, those Elephant Armored Sect disciples, who were at most Soul Kings, were instantly killed without any ability to resist, whether they were in their sleep or on guard.
Afterward, he ignited lightning and fire, setting the entire courtyard ablaze. The raging flames illuminated half the sky, swallowing all traces clean.
Standing on a hill far outside the city, watching the soaring flames, Yu Yuanchen's gaze was cold. After this battle, the Elephant Armored Sect would likely be unable to organize an effective pursuit for a short time, but he had also completely forged a blood feud.
He did not stay any longer, turning and merging into the thick night, accelerating his stealthy journey toward the direction of the Heaven Dou Empire and his family. The road back was destined not to be peaceful, but the lightning in his hands had already become even sharper.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan