Invincible Soul Emperor

Xue Feng felt the ice element within his body rapidly depleting. He knew this couldn’t continue; he had to find a breakthrough. His gaze sharpened as he watched the Monster Beast’s every move, searching for a weakness. Suddenly, he spotted a fine crack on the left side of its abdomen—a wound from their earlier battle.

That’s the spot! Xue Feng’s mind raced, and he instantly made his decision. Taking a deep breath, he gathered all his remaining ice element into his Longsword, causing the icy-blue glow on its blade to surge once more. With a fierce swing, he sent a slash of Sword Qi brimming with bitter cold directly toward the Monster Beast’s left abdomen.

The Monster Beast clearly sensed the threat of this strike and tried to dodge, but its heavily wounded body had grown sluggish. The Sword Qi, carrying the power of destruction, instantly pierced its left side. The crack rapidly widened as blood gushed out like a fountain, only to be instantly frozen solid by the biting cold.

The Monster Beast let out a pained howl as its entire body began to tremble violently. Xue Feng seized the opportunity, continuously wielding his Longsword, each thrust aimed precisely at its weak points. Under the assault of the biting cold, the Monster Beast’s body swiftly stiffened, its massive form gradually losing all signs of life.

However, the Monster Beast was not willing to concede defeat. It mustered its last ounce of strength to launch a counterattack. Its enormous claws, carrying the force of wind and thunder, swiped at Xue Feng. He quickly sidestepped to avoid the blow but was still grazed, leaving several deep wounds that stained his clothes with blood.

Xue Feng clenched his teeth, enduring the pain as he continued his assault. He knew there was no retreat; he had to defeat the Monster Beast in one final, decisive burst of power. The ice element inside him became incomparably wild in a final burst, and the light from his Longsword grew almost too blinding to look at.

"It’s over!" Xue Feng roared, leaping high into the air and raising his Longsword. The icy-blue glow on the blade coalesced into a blazing column of light, as if it would pierce the very heavens. He concentrated all his strength into the tip of the sword and plunged it toward the Monster Beast’s heart.

This strike, filled with endless frost and destructive power, pierced through the Monster Beast’s chest and straight into its heart. The extreme cold burst forth instantly, freezing the organ solid. The Monster Beast emitted a final, mournful howl. Its massive body rapidly solidified under the extreme cold, its Scale Armor cracking and shattering to reveal the raw, bloody flesh beneath.

The light in the Monster Beast’s eyes gradually faded as its vast form turned cold and rigid from the invasive chill. Finally, its body crashed to the ground with an earth-shaking thud. Xue Feng stood beside the corpse, gasping for breath as the icy-blue glow slowly dissipated from his body.

Xiao Xiao watched this unfold and slowly swallowed. "That Xue Feng... he’s so strong!" she couldn’t help but exclaim.

Once she came to her senses, she hurried over. "Xue Feng, are you okay?"

Xue Feng looked at the approaching Xiao Xiao and shook his head. "I’m fine, just a bit exhausted. This creature looked terrifying, but it had little true power. It was all for show."

Xue Feng steadied his breathing and looked at Xiao Xiao.

She nodded. "Regardless, we owe you big time for this one. But look over there! It seems like we’re at the end of the desert."

Xiao Xiao pointed into the distance. She had noticed that spot before, but until the Monster Beast was killed, it had just been more of the endless desert. After Xue Feng slew the beast, the scenery in that direction changed completely.

At the far end, there were faint hints of green. It seemed they had found the way.

However, when Xue Feng saw the scene, his brow furrowed. "Little Girl Xiaoxiao," he warned, "don’t head that way. That’s not the correct direction!"

His words startled Xiao Xiao. "Not correct? How is that possible? That place looks different from here, and besides, it only appeared after we killed that Monster Beast. It has to be the right way."

Xiao Xiao scratched her head and looked around. Apart from the direction she was pointing, every other direction was still just an endless desert.

Xue Feng nodded. "Little Girl Xiaoxiao, that’s just an illusion meant to confuse you. That direction isn’t due north. I have some understanding of this Secret Realm. And while that isn’t the correct direction, it does give us a hint."

Xiao Xiao’s face filled with curiosity. "Then which way should we go?"

Xue Feng pointed in the exact opposite direction from where she was pointing. "Little Girl Xiaoxiao, we just have to go in the opposite direction. This time, I’m certain it’s correct."

Xiao Xiao turned, looked at the boundless desert behind her, and nodded, choosing to trust Xue Feng. After all, he was one of the people of the Xue Family, even if his suggestion seemed counterintuitive.

The two walked for a long time before they finally saw the faint outline of a water source in the distance.

"Haha! Xue Feng! You were right! This is the direction!" When Xiao Xiao saw that it was really water, she excitedly ran a short distance ahead.

However, she hadn’t run far before she felt something was amiss. "But... Xue Feng, this... this place... how could it be..." she stammered, her unease growing as she ran a little further.

Ahead, there was certainly water, but the farther they advanced, the more of it they found.

With grave expressions, Xiao Xiao and Xue Feng continued forward, their faces growing more solemn with every step.

The endless desert had vanished. In its place, unbelievably, was a boundless ocean.

Seeing this vast ocean, Xiao Xiao couldn’t help but swallow hard. In this ocean, she wouldn’t be able to use even a bit of her Energy. She had just encountered such a powerful Monster Beast in the desert; who knew what horrors lurked in these waters?

Xue Feng also couldn’t help but frown at the scene. They had been too hasty in their preparations. He only knew that a desert lay at the start of the Secret Realm and had but a vague idea of what lay within.

After the desert came water, but Xue Feng had never expected it to be an endless ocean. Crossing this vast ocean would be no simple task.

...

「On the other side.」

The very next day, Ye Qingchen sought out the people of the Xue Family. He found the prison warden and insisted with a grim expression, "Look, I’m telling the truth. I’m really not lying to you! One of your prisoners really did escape."

However, the prison warden simply looked at Ye Qingchen and burst out laughing. "You must be that Ye Qingchen! I know you! It’s perfectly normal for a foreigner like you to be unaware of our Xue Family’s prison. Since that’s the case, allow me to enlighten you."

The warden paid no attention to what Ye Qingchen was saying, instead eagerly pulling him to a seat. "First, why don’t you guess," the warden began, "how many layers of barriers our prison’s outer walls have?"

Ye Qingchen simply shook his head.

The warden patted his chest with pride. "Our prison’s outer layer," he declared, "has eighteen layers of barriers!"

...