Chapter 343 - 342: Grand Soul Fusion

Unfortunately, Jiang Qiu’s current Realm was only the Peak of the Dao Entry Realm. He was a far cry from the masters of the Fusion Realm and couldn’t possibly match their speed.

The moment the Dragon Spirit Fish appeared, countless Fusion Realm masters flocked to it. In the blink of an eye, they had flown to an unknown height in the sky. Silhouetted against the colossal Dragon Spirit Fish, they looked like tiny black dots, their outlines completely indistinct.

And in that same instant, Jiang Qiu and [Snow] had only just taken flight, not yet having left the lower altitudes.

SWOOSH—

SWOOSH—

SWOOSH—

Suddenly, wave after wave of Spirit Charm fluctuations washed down from above. Like a tsunami, the surging spiritual energy pressed down on Jiang Qiu and [Snow]’s heads, as if an invisible hand was forcing them back down.

An incredibly terrifying aura of death spread down from above. In that instant, their blood ran cold as the Nether Dark Spirit Charm within them erupted frantically, resisting the Spirit Charm fluctuations from on high.

The sense of threat even surpassed that of Grandmaster Luo Beixing’s all-out attack during the war against the Kunlun Demon Clan’s army in Gao Yuan City.

His Dragon Eyes widened. Looking up abruptly, he saw Fusion Realm masters being crushed one after another like tiny ants. The power contained within their Soul Bodies rained down recklessly and ceaselessly!

It was impossible to tell what was killing them. In the blink of an eye, more and more Fusion Realm cultivators exploded. The brilliant mushroom clouds they created, when compared to the massive body of the Dragon Spirit Fish, gradually became distinct.

’This is the third stage of the Dragon Spirit Secret Realm?!’

By this point, a storm was raging in Jiang Qiu’s heart. Who could have predicted that thousands of Fusion Realm experts would be annihilated in the blink of an eye?

Whether they were Initial Tier, Middle Tier, High Tier, or at Perfection, they all exploded without exception. The overlapping power unleashed from their Soul Bodies came crushing down, causing a splitting headache. It felt as if the entire world was expanding... No, it was his eyes that were expanding!

’The pressure is too high!’

Back on Blue Star, not a single Fusion Realm cultivator existed. The one with the highest Realm was Luo Beixing, who had broken through to the Half-Step Fusion Realm, and he had done so under conditions where numerous Laws could not be mobilized.

This went to show that Blue Star couldn’t withstand the presence of a single Fusion Realm cultivator. To Cultivators below the Dao Entry Realm, that level of power was like the moon in the high heavens—unattainable.

Now, all those moons had exploded.

"Senior Brother, I... I don’t think I can hold on much longer..." Not far away, [Snow], in her Dragon Maiden form, was squatting on the ground. Her bare feet were pressed firmly against the earth, no longer maintaining her levitation. She clutched her head and looked up, a few tears spilling from her eyes, which held a glimmer of fear.

The number of users online on the Yin Net had plummeted to less than five thousand. Among the Dao Entry Realm, only a handful of ’kids’ were still stubbornly resisting. And in the entire Peeping Dao Realm, she was the only one left alive!

The aura from the exploding Fusion Realm Soul Bodies was truly like a flood. For the masses below the Dao Entry Realm, they were nothing but small fry. Hiding farther away only slightly increased one’s chances of survival; it was by no means foolproof.

That [Snow] had managed to hold on until now was not only because she cultivated the Hundred Ghosts Dao, but also because her Soul Strength was incredibly resilient.

Her soul was even a little... special.

But even so, her Soul Body was ultimately only at the Peeping Dao Realm. How could she possibly withstand the full force of a Fusion Realm expert’s self-detonation?

And it wasn’t just one Fusion Realm expert self-detonating; the cumulative power was simply terrifying. Jiang Qiu could already feel his own Soul Body falling into disarray and no longer dared to even dream of the Refinement of the Dragon Spirit Fish.

’Do I... have to force a grand fusion...?’

At this moment, as he gazed at the glistening Dragon Eyes set within [Snow]’s blue-based mask, this thought shot through Jiang Qiu’s mind. All his survival instincts pointed toward this one course of action.

A grand fusion for the Hundred Ghosts Dao.

Just as he had done to break through to the Dharma Realm and then the Peeping Dao Realm, he would perform another grand fusion to break through to the Dao Entry Realm.

The benefits were undoubtedly obvious. Both of their soul levels would skyrocket, creating a heaven-and-earth difference from their current state. After all, their souls would fuse into one!

However, once their souls fused, it would mean the Cultivation Dish would lose its own spirituality for growth. The Hundred Ghosts Dao would have reached its end, with no possibility of further advancement.

A short-term burst of power in exchange for an unbreakable, permanent bottleneck. To Jiang Qiu, this was a very poor trade-off. He had finally, after so much difficulty, found a match made in heaven like [Snow]—such a compatible Cultivation Dish. To have her lose her growth attribute directly would be a criminal waste of a heavenly treasure.

Although [Bell Fish] had once said that in the Yin Yang Great Realm, most Cultivators with less Talent would choose to perform one final grand Soul Fusion at the Peak of the Peeping Dao Realm. They would force their way into the Dao Entry Realm, knowing their own Talent was insufficient to reach any higher.

But Jiang Qiu considered himself different from them. He had already set foot in the Dao Entry Realm, so why would he sacrifice his incredibly high growth potential for the sake of this Realm!

A torrent of thoughts flooded Jiang Qiu’s mind. His eyes were wide, every ounce of his strength focused on resisting the pressure from the heavens. He gritted his teeth and transmitted a message: "If we fuse now, your consciousness will disappear!"

"I don’t care. From the moment I was bound to you, fusion has been my destiny..."

[Snow] smiled serenely. Though her face was still covered by a mask, in that moment, it was as if he could see a fair-skinned girl with faint, rosy dimples.

She was just like a girl born pure and simple in a land of ice and snow, with no complicated thoughts in her mind.

’That’s right, what was there to care about?’

’She had been born without any family, brought here through the [Yin Yang Rebirth]. She was essentially a prisoner, snatched from another world, so why would she care about this prison-like existence?’

’In her ten years of imprisonment, she had finally met someone who wasn’t constrained by chains and become bound to him. It was like a ray of dawn piercing the darkness. How wonderful that was.’

’All that talk in the first half of her life, about wanting to live longer, wanting to live for a very, very long time... wasn’t it all just waiting for a chance like this to break free from her cage?’

’If she were to die a normal death in the Yin Yang Great Realm, she would enter its cycle of reincarnation, assimilated into a native forever chasing the Yin Yang Celestial Pride List.’

’Rather than that, why not fuse with Senior Brother? Their minds would become one. What could be so bad about that?’

’By then, their Hundred Ghosts Dao would be at the Dao Entry Realm. Even if the Laws of the Yin Yang Great Realm tried to tear their fused soul apart, it wouldn’t be easy.’

’Besides, their soul might not even be able to leave here alive. This Secret Realm devours the souls of all who are sacrificed, turning them into nourishment for the Dragon Spirit Fish...’

"Senior Brother, I still want to live a little longer. Let’s fuse."

The final, crisp voice appeared out of thin air in Jiang Qiu’s mind. The Dragon Maiden in his vision transformed into a cyan stream of light and drifted toward him, like a fledgling bird breaking free from its bonds.

In that instant, Jiang Qiu’s soul trembled. An unprecedented power surged into his body, as if a Dragon God were awakening. Within his brilliantly shining golden eyes, the faint reflection of an ancient and distant figure could be seen...