Chapter 37: The Nascent Soul 2

The space around Ao Kuiba’s fingers twisted inward.

The Ironwood Clan Head witnessed it and for the first time his expression changed.

Ao stepped forward.

There was no flash of light or power, his body simply crossed a distance that should take several breaths to traverse.

Voidstep.

The moment his foot touched the ground the clan head’s palm came down.

"Ironwood Heavenly Palm!"

The spiritual energy exploded from his hand sending the nearby trees bending backwards and the stone courtyard cracking as an impossibly large palm of dark-green markings and roots loomed over Ao.

Ao’s pupils narrowed.

He did not move back.

The space under his feet folded and he slipped aside as the palm came down.

BOOM!

The courtyard shook as the stones flew and Ao appeared several meters to the side.

The moment his feet touched the ground the clan head was already there.

His fist came right at Ao’s chest.

Ao raised his arm.

Bang!

The impact threw Ao back several meters, his shoes carving two deep lines into the stone before he stopped.

The clan head was right there again, throwing another punch.

Ao twisted his body.

The fist passed his face and he stepped forward, driving his elbow into the clan head’s ribs.

The man twisted sideways.

Ao’s elbow struck his side but the impact still sent a heavy feeling running through the clan head.

He took a step back three times and Ao did not pursue.

He stood several meters from the man, watching him closely.

The clan head slowly straightened.

There was no blood but the confident air he previously had was gone.

"You use spatial movement."

His voice was calm.

Ao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his tongue.

"Something like that."

"That wasn’t teleporting."

"No."

The clan head’s eyes flickered over the courtyard.

Ao noticed this immediately.

He understands quickly.

A good trait for a cultivator.

Those who relied strictly on their own realm would have continued as they were, attacking blindly.

Ao studied the courtyard.

The man had reached Nascent Soul for a reason.

The clan head raised one hand, gathering spiritual energy around his fingers.

Five dark-green threads of energy appeared, vanishing in the air but Ao could sense their spiritual fluctuations.

The clan head looked at Ao.

"Try it again."

Ao’s lips curved slightly.

He stepped forward and the moment his body moved the five threads shot at him.

Ao disappeared and the threads changed direction, following him.

Ao appeared to the left, the threads changing path again.

Ao took another step through a small fold of space and the threads followed.

A third Voidstep took Ao above the courtyard and the threads climbed with him.

Ao’s expression became a little more serious.

They aren’t tracking my body.

He understood.

The clan head had attached his spiritual energy to Ao’s presence and as long as he was in range changing position would not be enough.

The threads suddenly tightened and Ao twisted his body sideways.

One of the threads had passed his shoulder, drawing blood.

Ao landed on the roof of a nearby building.

The clan head looked up.

"You’re fast."

Ao looked at the small cut on his shoulder.

"So are you."

The clan head clenched his hand and the spiritual threads vanished.

Then the earth exploded under Ao’s feet.

"Ironwood Prison!"

Massive roots shot up from the earth.

Ao jumped but more roots appeared, coming from all around him and weaving together forming a cage around him.

Ao took a Voidstep and the space around him folded.

Moments later he appeared with a blurry body, the space distorting around him before it all stopped.

The roots had already encased the space around Ao.

Ao’s eyes narrowed.

The prison wasn’t just keeping him in, it was suppressing his spatial abilities.

The clan head appeared below Ao.

"Heaven-Sealing Wood Formation!"

Dark-green patterns of spiritual energy appeared across the ground, forming a formation around Ao.

The air grew heavier and Ao landed.

The roots had closed around him from all sides.

Ao didn’t move for a moment, studying the formation.

One breath.

Two.

Three.

Then he smiled.

The clan head looked at him.

"What are you smiling about?"

Ao raised one hand and touched one of the lines of the formation.

"This formation is supposed to suppress movement."

The clan head’s eyes narrowed.

"Yes."

"But it doesn’t really suppress space."

The clan head’s face darkened.

Ao’s fingertip moved slightly, finding the place where several lines of spiritual energy intersected.

The formation was excellently made and would have been impossible for a Core Formation cultivator to escape.

Ao had spent thousands of years studying formation magic and formations far more complex than this.

He pressed a bit of pressure into the intersection and a small disturbance appeared in the spiritual energy flowing through the lines.

The clan head’s eyes widened and Ao stepped into it.

The formation shattered behind him and the roots lost their spiritual energy, crashing down to the earth.

Ao stood outside the formation.

The clan head looked at him.

"You found the weak point."

Ao looked up at him.

"The formation wasn’t weak."

His voice was calm.

"Your understanding of spatial techniques is."

The clan head’s face became cold.

For the first time since the battle had started the spiritual energy around Ao surged violently.

The pressure of the Nascent Soul realm flooded the battlefield and several Lin family cultivators reeled.

Lin Qingshan immediately raised his hand.

"Everyone, fall back!"

The Lin family members fell back towards the main residence.

Qingshan looked at the distant battlefield where the clan head was.

His spiritual pressure was so high now that even Qingshan could feel it clearly.

Lin Yue’s hands tightened.

"Can he handle him?"

Qingshan didn’t immediately respond.

His eyes remained on Ao.

"I don’t know."

Lin Yue turned to face him but Qingshan continued, voice quiet.

"But Ao Kuiba hasn’t shown everything he has."

That was all he said.

The clan head moved and the earth exploded under his feet.

His body shot towards Ao.

Ao didn’t use Voidstep this time.

He simply met the man head on and their fists collided.

BOOM!

The shockwave rippled out across the courtyard.

Ao’s arm shook and the clan head’s sleeve tore from the impact.

The man immediately followed up with a palm strike but Ao blocked it.

Another palm came and Ao twisted his shoulder, deflecting the strike but it still sent him flying.

Ao landed on one knee, blood tricking from his mouth.

He slowly pushed himself to his feet.

The clan head floated several meters away.

"You are skilled."

Ao looked up at him.

"You rely too much on your realm."

The clan head’s eyes darkened.

"Realm is power."

"Of course."

Ao rolled his shoulders.

"But power isn’t the same thing as victory."

The clan head’s spiritual energy erupted.

The sky above them darkened under the sheer amount of spiritual energy.

Behind the clan head, countless wooden branches formed from spiritual energy, creating a massive ancient tree.

The branches stretched up towards the heavens and the surrounding cultivators looked on in shock.

The clan head raised his hand.

"Then let me show you the difference."

The branches of the tree trembled and one became a sword.

Then another.

Then hundreds.

Ao looked up.

The clan head brought his hand down.

"Ironwood Heavenly Severing Sword."

Hundreds of giant wooden swords fell from the tree.

The first one slammed into the ground and Ao vanished.

The second one flew after him and Ao appeared next to the broken wall.

The third cut through the building and Ao stepped through a small fold of space, appearing between two trees.

The fourth sword passed behind him and the space between them was getting smaller.

Ao’s breathing had changed.

The clan head’s eyes narrowed.

So that’s the limit.

Voidstep was powerful but it came at a price.

Every fold of space consumed spiritual energy and at Core Formation Stage One Ao couldn’t keep tearing through the battlefield like it was his personal domain.

The clan head smiled.

"Your movement technique has a limit."

Ao didn’t reply.

Another sword fell and Ao dodged.

Another followed and Ao moved.

The sword struck his shoulder, blood flying across his robe.

He landed heavily on the ground.

Before he could rise another sword came and Ao’s eyes flashed.

He pushed off the ground and rolled to the side.

The sword exploded behind him.

The clan head appeared above him and his palm came down.

Ao raised his arm.

BOOM!

The earth collapsed beneath Ao and the clan head’s palm pressed against his forearm.

Ao’s feet sank into the ground.

Neither moved for a moment.

The clan head looked down at Ao.

"You are strong for a Core Formation cultivator."

Ao slowly raised his head.

"And you’re stronger than most Nascent Soul cultivators I’ve met."

The clan head paused.

Ao’s golden pupils narrowed.

"But you’re still not strong enough."

The clan head’s expression changed.

Ao’s spiritual energy began to rise.

It was different from the energy he’d been using before.

The pressure wasn’t great.

It was extremely concentrated.

The space around his body began to distort and the clan head immediately pulled his hand back.

Ao stood.

His bloodied robe fluttered with the wind.

The faint golden scales along his neck became slightly more visible.

His pupils shrank into vertical slits.

The clan head stared at him.

"What technique is that?"

Ao looked at his own hand.

For thousands of years he had possessed techniques that could shake entire realms.

His current body couldn’t support most of them.

But that didn’t mean his arsenal had vanished.

He slowly closed his fingers.

Space compressed around his fist.

"I haven’t used this one in a very long time."

The clan head’s spiritual energy surged again.

Ao lowered his stance.

Neither men spoke.

Then the space between them trembled.