Chapter 613: Soul Battle, Subduing Tai Sui

The peculiar power emanating from the Tai Sui had just entered Zhaang Ye’s body when it was locked onto by the Fire Spirit.

The Tai Sui was startled. The power it had released was a form of Earth Vein power. This Earth Vein power was something the Tai Sui had spent over ten thousand years gathering deep underground, making it exceptionally wondrous.

All living things are born, grow old, fall ill, and die upon the earth, and the power of the Earth Vein is the very power of the earth itself. Therefore, not only was this Earth Vein power incredibly vast and potent, but it could also perceive Celestial Secrets and calculate the future.

But as soon as this miraculous power entered Zhaang Ye’s soul, it was immediately locked down by the Fire Spirit, making it completely unable to deduce Zhaang Ye’s destiny.

“ROOOOAR—”

Inside Zhaang Ye’s soul, the Earth Vein power sent by the Tai Sui materialized into a round, rolling ball of flesh. It let out a tremendous roar, trying to break free from the Fire Spirit’s lock.

“SCREECH!”

The instant the Tai Sui formed into a ball, the Fire Spirit gave a low cry and transformed into a fiery red Phoenix within Zhaang Ye’s soul, seizing the Tai Sui in its grasp.

“RAWR—”

The Tai Sui had never imagined that such a terrifying opponent as the Fire Spirit existed within Zhaang Ye’s soul. Horrified, it began to struggle frantically, trying to escape the Fire Spirit’s control.

“BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

The Fire Spirit’s power was incredibly pure, while the Tai Sui’s Earth Vein power was incredibly vast and wondrous. The powers of these two strange entities—one pure, one vast—began a frenzied battle within Zhaang Ye’s soul.

‘Heavens! Why is that Fire Spirit fighting instead of just communicating? And if it has to fight, why is it fighting inside my soul? If they damage my soul, I’ll become an idiot!’ Zhaang Ye felt a rumbling in his head and a piercing pain deep in his soul, and he couldn’t help but feel inwardly horrified.

“SCREEE! SCREEE! SCREEE!”

The battle between the two strange beings was decided in an instant. To Zhaang Ye’s surprise, the Fire Phoenix that the Fire Spirit had transformed into completely overpowered the Tai Sui. Its burning talons dug viciously into the Tai Sui’s body, tearing off chunk after chunk of its flesh.

The Tai Sui’s flesh was, in reality, threads of Earth Vein power. Now freed from the Tai Sui’s control, this Earth Vein power immediately merged into Zhaang Ye’s soul.

As the Earth Vein power integrated with him, Zhaang Ye felt a cooling sensation wash over his soul. His soul actually grew slightly stronger, and his Spiritual Sense also strengthened considerably!

‘Hiss! What is this power? It can actually nourish my soul and make it stronger in an instant!’ Zhaang Ye was both shocked and overjoyed, and he began to frantically absorb the Earth Vein power.

The Fire Spirit’s voice rang out in Zhaang Ye’s soul. “Hee hee, this is Earth Vein power. The earth can nourish all things, and its power is full of boundless life. It can nourish not only the soul but also the physical body. Master, absorb as much of this Earth Vein power as you can, and your soul will become stronger and stronger!”

“SCREEE—”

The Fire Spirit let out a clear cry, its talons tearing relentlessly, causing chunks of flesh to fall away. As soon as this flesh left the Tai Sui’s body, it immediately transformed into threads of Earth Vein power and merged into Zhaang Ye’s soul.

“ROOOOAR—”

The Tai Sui was enraged. It let out a series of tremendous roars, the massive sound waves causing sharp pains to lance through Zhaang Ye’s soul. Along with the roars, the Tai Sui’s power suddenly surged as it fought back against the Fire Spirit with all its might.

The Tai Sui had split its Earth Vein power into three parts. One part was for deducing the Flower King’s destiny, another was for deducing Shui Daimai’s destiny, and the final part was for deducing Zhaang Ye’s destiny.

Now that it was at a great disadvantage, the Tai Sui immediately withdrew the other two portions of its Earth Vein power, combining all three into one in an attempt to defeat the Fire Spirit.

The Fire Spirit sneered. With a low cry, the figures of the Gold Spirit and the Wood Spirit appeared within Zhaang Ye’s soul.

The Tai Sui cried out in horror, “Fire Origin, Gold Origin, Wood Origin, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’ve signed a Soul Contract with this junior?”

The Fire Spirit giggled. “You know too much. Gold Spirit, Wood Spirit, get it!”

At the Fire Spirit’s command, the Gold Spirit and Wood Spirit attacked simultaneously. The Gold Spirit transformed into a White Tiger, wielding a massive, gleaming white blade that it brought down crazily upon the Tai Sui. Meanwhile, the Wood Spirit became a green Little Dragon, sending a dense thicket of vines stretching toward the Tai Sui.

The Tai Sui’s power had greatly increased, but with the help of the Gold Spirit and Wood Spirit, it was immediately forced onto the defensive. The Gold Spirit’s Attack Power was extreme; its fierce and brutal attacks made the Tai Sui howl in agony as large chunks of its flesh were sliced off and absorbed into Zhaang Ye’s soul.

Moreover, the Wood Spirit was the Tai Sui’s nemesis. Within the Five Elements, wood overcomes earth. The moment the Wood Spirit attacked, the sky filled with vines that frantically absorbed the earth-vein energy, growing stronger and stronger. In contrast, as its earth-vein energy was drained, the Tai Sui grew weaker and weaker, its massive body slowly becoming thin and withered.

Zhaang Ye was undoubtedly the biggest winner in this soul battle. His soul frantically absorbed the Earth Vein power, becoming more and more solid and powerful. In just the blink of an eye, Zhaang Ye’s soul had become three times stronger!

“ROOOOAR— Stop!”

The Tai Sui finally couldn’t take it anymore. The Wood Spirit was frantically absorbing its Earth Vein power, and Zhaang Ye was frantically absorbing its Earth Vein power. If this continued, the last bit of Earth Vein power it had worked so hard to accumulate would be gone!

Hearing the Tai Sui surrender, Zhaang Ye could hardly believe it. He had witnessed the Tai Sui’s combat strength firsthand and never expected it to be defeated so easily.

Sensing Zhaang Ye’s thoughts, the Fire Spirit gloated with a laugh, “My true form is a volcano that has existed for hundreds of millions of years; my foundation is far deeper than the Tai Sui’s. And my own Phoenix Bloodline has become even purer after ten thousand years of refinement. I lost most of my power in order to leave the volcano, but I retained the purest, most refined sliver of my Soul Power.”

“My fight with the Tai Sui was a battle between souls—a contest of Spiritual Power. The Tai Sui’s Spiritual Power is greater than mine, and its Earth Vein power is also greater than mine. But my Spiritual Power is much purer than the Tai Sui’s, my understanding of the soul is superior, and besides that, I had the help of the Gold Spirit and Wood Spirit. So it’s not strange at all that I defeated this guy.”

‘So this is what a battle between souls is like,’ Zhaang Ye mused. ‘No wonder the Fire Spirit wasn’t too worried about the purple-bearded middle-aged man’s possession attempt.’

After its explanation, the Fire Spirit turned to the Tai Sui and said, “Little guy, your real body may be outside, but all of your Earth Vein power is still in here. You now have two choices. The first is to abandon your Earth Vein power and exit my master’s soul. The second is to sign a Soul Contract with my master.”

The Fire Spirit had been conscious for much longer than the Tai Sui, meaning it was older. Thus, there was nothing wrong with it calling the Tai Sui “little guy.”

The Tai Sui remained silent. Its Earth Vein power was something it had painstakingly accumulated over ten thousand years. Forcing it to abandon that power was like asking for its life. But signing a Soul Contract with Zhaang Ye was also unbearable, as its own strength was far greater than Zhaang Ye’s.

Zhaang Ye knew he had to say something and offer the Tai Sui some incentive. Otherwise, with its stubborn personality, it was very likely to just abandon its Earth Vein power.

Zhaang Ye said in a deep voice, “Tai Sui, I already understand the workings of this Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array. I am now calculating a way to break it. If you sign a Soul Contract with me, not only can I help you leave this Spirit Array, but I can also take you out of the Sword Monarch Hall and into the Barbaric World outside.”

The Tai Sui was deeply moved. It had been trapped in this Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array for ten thousand years and had always dreamed of seeing the outside world. Unfortunately, the Spirit Array was simply too powerful for it to break, so it could only stay put obediently.

However, Zhaang Ye was just too weak, his strength too low. It felt reluctant to sign a Soul Contract with him, feeling like it would be a great loss of face.

At this point, the Fire Spirit said impatiently, “Little guy, what are you still thinking about! My strength was ten thousand times greater than yours, and I still signed a contract with Master. Besides me, the Gold Origin, Wood Origin, and Water Origin have also signed contracts with Master. There’s absolutely no shame in it for you! Decide quickly, or I’ll blast all your Earth Vein power to bits!”

Zhaang Ye smiled faintly and continued to entice it. “Tai Sui, our Soul Contract won’t last forever. Once I become powerful enough, I will release you from the contract and let you roam free. You should think it over. If you miss this chance with me, you might never get another opportunity to leave.”

Between Zhaang Ye’s temptation and the Fire Spirit’s threat, the Tai Sui could no longer hold out.

The Tai Sui said loudly, “Alright, I agree to the Soul Contract. However, I have one condition. You have to prove your ability by finding the core of this Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array. Only then will I sign.”

The Tai Sui was willing to sign the contract with Zhaang Ye, but with the condition that Zhaang Ye had to be able to calculate the Spirit Array’s core and break the array. If Zhaang Ye couldn’t do this, it wouldn’t be able to leave the Spirit Array anyway and wouldn’t sign the Soul Contract.

Zhaang Ye chuckled and said, “No problem. But this Spirit Array is enormous and full of Profound Mysteries, so the calculations will take some time. Tai Sui, you need to find a way to stall for me.”

The Tai Sui replied without hesitation, “No problem. It takes me a while to calculate your destinies anyway. Extending it by three or four Hours won’t be an issue.”

From defeating the Tai Sui to agreeing on the conditions and subduing it, the whole process sounded long, but in reality, it took only a dozen breaths. Everything happened within Zhaang Ye’s soul; even the purple-bearded middle-aged man didn’t sense anything unusual.

Zhaang Ye continued to analyze the Spirit Array, while the purple-bearded middle-aged man, the Flower King, and Shui Daimai waited silently for the result. The Tai Sui’s massive body trembled slightly. No one knew that it had already come to an agreement with Zhaang Ye and was just waiting for him to find the Spirit Array’s core before it would make its move to break the formation.