Chapter 149: Soul Assault (Third Update!!)

Shi Yan leaned sideways against a large crate, lowering his head and closing his eyes to rest and recover.

Within his body, wisps of vital essence were quietly condensing and circulating. Cycle after cycle, they accumulated more vital essence in secret, attempting to accelerate his recovery.

The moonlight was like water, spilling across the deck in the dead of night.

On the deck, Linda and her group of ten others wore cautious expressions, carefully observing their surroundings without a moment of relaxation.

Behind the vessel, a number of blue-scaled beasts were moving across the sea surface, their numbers easily reaching several dozen.

The dozens of blue-scaled beasts had not given up, trailing far behind them the entire time. Both Linda and Kamon vaguely sensed that something was amiss and dared not let their guard down in the slightest.

The eleven martial warriors on the boat were scattered across the deck facing various directions, maintaining constant vigilance and frequently peering into the distance and beneath the ship, fearing that a Tier 4 blue-scaled beast might launch an attack from under the hull.

The small boat had already left the Tiansuo Archipelago, and there were no islands nearby where they could land. If the boat were bitten to pieces by the blue-scaled beasts at this moment, the entire group would inevitably drown.

Therefore, they absolutely could not allow the vessel to be destroyed and remained on guard at all times.

Linda had tested him repeatedly. After failing to get a satisfactory reply from Shi Yan, she seemed to have given up on him. Her attitude had cooled considerably, and she no longer came over to bother Shi Yan, choosing instead to focus entirely on watching the surroundings.

Kamon and his companions, though extremely displeased with Shi Yan, were in no mood to trouble him at this critical juncture.

Shi Yan was glad for the peace and quiet, seizing every single second to spare no effort in recovering his lost vital essence.

Another complete cycle of circulation passed.

The vital essence within Shi Yan's body had recovered by another half-tenth, roughly comparable in density to the vital essence of a First-Sky Human-level warrior. If Kamon were to pick a fight now, relying on his Second-Sky Hundred Tribulations state of mind and the mystery of his various martial skills, he could certainly teach Kamon a lesson.

However, if he were to face Linda, who was at the First-Sky Hundred Tribulations realm, he would still fall somewhat short.

Shi Yan felt a trace of anxiety in his heart.

Judging by the tracking patterns of the blue-scaled beast pack, their next attack might arrive soon. The next assault would undoubtedly feature Tier 4 blue-scaled beasts, which Linda's group would truly find difficult to handle. If the boat were indeed destroyed, Shi Yan would hardly escape unscathed.

Although he had made no promises to Linda, Shi Yan remained quite cautious and was searching for a way to help her tide over the crisis.

After turning it over in his mind, Shi Yan could only think of a rather vicious method.

Only if the warriors on the boat were ambushed and killed by the blue-scaled beasts, releasing negative energy that surged into all his acupuncture points, could he unleash the power of Rampage, constructing a Magnetic Pole Domain using forces of differing attributes.

Only then could he play some role, relying on the domain to restrain the Tier 4 blue-scaled beasts.

He was well aware of the power of the Magnetic Pole Domain. Once forces of two different attributes condensed into a domain, even if it could not slaughter the Tier 4 blue-scaled beasts, trapping them for a period of time should not be a problem.

As long as there were no Tier 4 blue-scaled beasts making trouble, with the cultivation realms of Linda and the others, they could entirely beat those Tier 3 blue-scaled beasts back into the sea one by one and keep the boat safe from damage.

Shi Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, a somewhat evil glint in his gaze as he secretly glanced at Kamon's group, silently cursing them to sacrifice themselves early. He thought to himself: Only if you die sooner can I gather my strength in a short time and thereby secure a chance of survival for the others.

With these thoughts, Shi Yan's mind began to stir restlessly.

Taking a deep breath and completing yet another cycle, Shi Yan quietly released his spiritual awareness to scout the pack of blue-scaled beasts trailing behind.

Wisps of icy chill continued to seep out from the Blood Vein Ring, circulating through Shi Yan's body and pouring into his internal organs, bones, blood, and flesh.

As he released his spiritual awareness, various chills suddenly flew out from different regions of his body, slowly intertwining with his spiritual awareness.

With his spiritual awareness extended, Shi Yan's mind grew exceptionally clear, as if he possessed an extra eye suspended in the sky, granting him a crystal-clear understanding of the blue-scaled beast pack behind them.

Fifty-three blue-scaled beasts: thirty at Tier 2, twenty at Tier 3, and three at Tier 4!

As his spiritual awareness extended, the life forms of each blue-scaled beast clearly transmitted various signals back to his mind, giving him a precise grasp of their numbers and strength.

Shi Yan's heart grew solemn.

Three Tier 4 blue-scaled beasts were equivalent to three warriors of the Hundred Tribulations realm. If they broke open the small boat, these Tier 4 blue-scaled beasts would become even more terrifying in the water. A single Tier 4 blue-scaled beast was enough to kill Linda, who was at the Hundred Tribulations realm, while several more could wipe out everyone who fell into the water.

Shi Yan vaguely realized that things were taking a bad turn.

He intended to quietly pull back his extended spiritual awareness, but at that exact moment, Shi Yan noticed a strange phenomenon.

Wherever his spiritual awareness passed, those blue-scaled beasts in the water became quite restless. Among them, the three Tier 4 blue-scaled beasts alertly surfaced, looking around anxiously on the water as if they had discovered something.

Shi Yan was slightly startled. After pondering for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Under his intense focus, the spiritual awareness he was about to retract suddenly condensed into a single thin line, abruptly charging toward a Tier 2 blue-scaled beast.

All of his spiritual awareness gathered together, locked onto that Tier 2 blue-scaled beast, and lunged forward fiercely.

The frigid spiritual awareness felt like it was piercing into a ball of cotton—a cotton ball containing pure, instinctive hatred. Under the impact of the chilling spiritual awareness, the cotton ball seemed to freeze and shatter, and all the hatred vanished without a trace.

A Tier 2 blue-scaled beast slowly sank beneath the sea, no longer continuing to pursue the small boat along with the pack.

Brilliant light suddenly burst from Shi Yan's pupils, his gaze filled with wild joy and excitement. He tried condensing his spiritual awareness into a straight line once more, shooting it toward another Tier 2 blue-scaled beast.

Similarly, this chilling spiritual awareness acted like an ice arrow, freezing the cotton ball and shattering it, crushing the pure hatred contained within.

Another Tier 2 blue-scaled beast sank into the sea once again, the aura of life on its body gradually fading away.

A smile of extreme pleasant surprise bloomed at the corners of Shi Yan's mouth. Lying among a pile of debris, he once again condensed his spiritual awareness into a beam, charging wildly toward a Tier 3 blue-scaled beast.

Under this chilling spiritual impact wave, the body of that Tier 3 fierce beast rocked unsteadily. Freshness blood flowed from its fish-like mouth, and its dual pupils flashed with confusion and terror. It struggled violently in the water, seemingly sensing mortal danger and thrashing about at high speed to find out who was dealing with it.

This time, Shi Yan's spiritual awareness collided with a slightly larger cotton ball, but it failed to freeze and shatter the cotton ball immediately.

Consequently, that Tier 3 blue-scaled beast naturally did not sink to the sea floor; its soul merely suffered heavy trauma as it struggled in helpless confusion.

Three waves of spiritual impact left Shi Yan slightly fatigued, forcing him to retract his extended spiritual awareness with a heart full of pleasant surprise.

Below the Nirvana realm, spiritual awareness was merely spiritual awareness, serving only for sensing and probing, and could not form substantive attacks or assault the soul.

Both Xiao Hanyi and Xia Xinyan had explained this point to him in detail.

Only when a warrior broke through to the Nirvana realm would spiritual awareness undergo a substantial mutation, transforming into divine sense.

Divine sense was formed from the transformation of spiritual awareness. Not only could it be used to detect and sense surrounding movements, but by condensing divine sense, it could also generate various soul attacks. As more and more divine sense gathered, it could form a sea of consciousness, and a soul sinking into the sea of consciousness would unlock even greater wondrous uses.

Although divine sense evolved from spiritual awareness, its power was far beyond what spiritual awareness could compare to.

Powerful warriors could condense their divine sense into visible beams of light, instantly piercing an opponent's soul and possessing the evil power to execute others' souls.

The sea of consciousness, which was most crucial to the Nirvana realm, was also formed piece by piece through the condensation of divine sense.

Once the sea of consciousness was formed, its wondrous uses were boundless; it could even enhance the power of a martial spirit, allowing its might to be unleashed to the utmost degree.

However, the function of ordinary spiritual awareness was limited solely to sensing surrounding life fluctuations and could not form any soul attacks whatsoever.

Yet just moments ago, Shi Yan had used spiritual awareness condensed into a single beam to launch a soul attack, directly freezing and shattering the souls of two Tier 2 blue-scaled beasts, and heavily injuring the soul of a Tier 3 blue-scaled beast!

This was clearly different from ordinary people.

The corners of Shi Yan's mouth curved into a smile, his eyes bright as he hid among the miscellaneous debris.

The abnormality of his spiritual awareness was definitely related to the Ice Cold Flame within the Blood Vein Ring!

Shi Yan was certain of this.

He was certain that the reason his spiritual awareness could launch soul attacks before mutating into divine sense was inevitably due to the cold energy attached to his spiritual awareness!

That cold energy had permeated his entire body, and when his spiritual awareness spread outward, it had naturally merged and bound itself with that coldness.

His spiritual awareness attacks might not possess physical substance and might not exert any direct influence on ordinary souls. However, the chill attached to the spiritual awareness possessed precisely this wondrous property, capable of heavily damaging the souls of others!

No wonder powerhouse of the divine realm experienced mutations in their sea of consciousness after fusing heavenly fire into it, rendering them invincible at the same tier.

Shi Yan took a deep breath, finally grasping the crux of the issue.

He had not yet fused with the Ice Cold Flame; his spiritual awareness merely carried a bit of its chill. Yet his ordinary spiritual awareness had acquired peerless cold power, actually capable of directly freezing the souls of blue-scaled beasts!

If he truly fused the soul of the Ice Cold Flame into his sea of consciousness, reached the Nirvana realm, and had his spiritual awareness mutate into divine sense—launching attacks empowered by the divine sense within his sea of consciousness—wouldn't he be able to imbue that divine sense with the chilling power of the Ice Cold Flame as well?

At that time, just how terrifying would his divine sense be?

Among warriors of the same tier, who could withstand the impact of such divine sense? Wouldn't their souls be blasted to pieces on first contact, leaving them utterly destroyed in both body and soul?

The more Shi Yan thought about it, the more pleasantly surprised he became. His eyes grew brighter and brighter, and the smile at the corners of his mouth gradually widened.

The Ice Cold Flame had always been sealed within the Blood Vein Ring, and its cold energy was constantly dissipating in secret, seeping into his body.

Judging from this situation, the cold force belonging to the Ice Cold Flame within his body would steadily increase, and the chill he could attach to his spiritual awareness when deploying it in the future would also progressively grow heavier.

He had found a brand-new means of attack, one that could directly annihilate an opponent's soul!

*(Translator's Note: Suffering from hand cramps, I am still pushing hard on the fourth chapter today... Please grant me monthly votes!!)*