Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

"Lin Hao, you’ve gone too far!" A furious, panicked cry came from one of the two speeding afterimages.

The Martial Artists who heard this stared with wide, disbelieving eyes.

Judging by his tone, He Jundao was at a complete disadvantage in his duel with Lin Hao.

How could that be?!

After all, He Jundao was one of the Ten Great Young Masters. He alone could suppress every Martial Artist in the entire Cangnan Empire; his combat prowess was plain for all to see.

But now, Lin Hao had actually forced him to say something like that.

Just how powerful was Lin Hao’s combat strength?!

These Martial Artists weren’t Yang Qingtian or Young Master Moon, so for the moment, they didn’t understand what was happening and could only speculate.

The moment this thought occurred to them, their expressions naturally turned to utter shock.

"Hahaha, this is great! A moment ago, he was shamelessly boasting about wiping the Cangnan Empire’s name from the Starry Ancient Road, and now Senior Brother Lin is beating him like a stray dog."

One of the Cangnan Empire’s Martial Artists slammed his fist on the ground, laughing heartily.

He Jundao had been so arrogant just moments before. They had felt utterly stifled and suffered unimaginable humiliation. But now, Lin Hao had reclaimed their dignity. The feeling was absolutely exhilarating.

"That’s right! What a load of bullshit, these ’Ten Great Young Masters’! Can’t even beat Senior Brother Lin! Scram and go eat shit!"

"He’s not going back. I’m sure Senior Brother Lin will avenge us and kill him."

"Yes, yes, yes! Senior Brother Lin, kill him! Kill that bastard!"

"Kill him!"

The Martial Artists of the Cangnan Empire shouted back and forth, until finally, they all clenched their fists and roared out two words in unison.

Those two words, filled with endless fury and frustration, thundered through the Ancient Road.

"ARGH!"

He Jundao, locked in his duel with Lin Hao, suddenly let out a furious roar that shattered vast swathes of runes.

The next moment, the runes trembled.

A verdant plant materialized.

His Divine Soul!

He Jundao had summoned his Divine Soul.

The shouting stopped, and then nearly everyone’s eyes went wide.

In the minds of these Martial Artists, He Jundao should never have been the first one forced to summon his Divine Soul.

And yet, here he was, forced to do just that.

This sudden turn of events left everyone struggling to process what was happening.

"Sigh."

Yang Qingtian sighed.

He was once again struck by how terrifying Lin Hao was.

The young man had clearly only just entered the Seventh Layer of the Soul Gathering Realm, yet he had gained the absolute upper hand in his duel with He Jundao.

Lin Hao’s meticulous planning shocked Yang Qingtian.

But Yang Qingtian’s expression quickly turned serious.

’Things have reached this point. Lin Hao will have to use his Divine Soul now, won’t he?’

’I wonder what his Divine Soul is.’

A hint of anticipation rose in Yang Qingtian’s heart.

Anticipating the Divine Soul of a mere King Body—in the past, Yang Qingtian would never have even considered it.

But now, Lin Hao had made him do just that.

Yang Qingtian smiled bitterly.

But in the next instant, his eyes flew wide open.

"What?!"

The astonished cry of Young Master Moon reached his ears.

It was clear Young Master Moon was even more shocked than Yang Qingtian.

As for the other Martial Artists who had never seen Lin Hao’s Divine Soul before, they were utterly dumbfounded.

A Divine Soul that was a perfect replica of Lin Hao himself!

To have oneself as a Divine Soul.

This completely upended everything they knew.

"A True Self Divine Soul..." Yang Qingtian murmured, a murderous glint appearing in his eyes.

Although Lin Hao had meticulously planned every step and outmaneuvered He Jundao, in Yang Qingtian’s mind, Lin Hao was still just a stepping stone for him.

This was because of his bloodline, his constitution, and his Divine Soul.

He possessed an Emperor Body, a constitution rarely seen in millennia, which surpassed Lin Hao’s. Moreover, Yang Qingtian had absolute confidence in his own Divine Soul.

But now, seeing Lin Hao’s True Self Divine Soul, Yang Qingtian’s confidence wavered.

’If I don’t seize this opportunity to obliterate Lin Hao, I’m afraid I will become *his* stepping stone.’

A True Self Divine Soul... such a thing had never been recorded.

While Yang Qingtian’s mind raced, the duel between Lin Hao and He Jundao reached its most critical juncture.

He Jundao’s Divine Soul looked unremarkable, but it was a wondrous artifact from ancient times—arguably the only one of its kind in existence today.

At He Jundao’s command, its seven branches transformed into seven Celestial Swords.

The Celestial Swords shot forth, tearing through the void and suppressing all creation.

As the seven Celestial Swords appeared, all the runes in the void were annihilated.

The seven Celestial Swords descended from the heavens at incredible speed. In an instant, they had surrounded Lin Hao, trapping his body within their circle.

Then, runes manifested once more.

This time, however, they weren’t the runes of the Starry Ancient Road. These runes originated from within the seven Celestial Swords.

The runes were profound and unfathomable. The other Martial Artists felt dizzy just looking at them.

As both Lin Hao’s body and his True Self Divine Soul were enveloped by the runes of the Celestial Swords, a smile crept onto He Jundao’s face. He sneered, "Lin Hao, now I’ll let you watch as the Martial Artists of the Cangnan Empire die before your very eyes, one by one."

The moment the Celestial Sword runes enveloped Lin Hao, He Jundao knew victory was his.

His Divine Soul was a wondrous artifact from ancient times. Each of its branches bore natural markings, which formed runes when activated.

These runes were incomparably profound. Even though he was its master, he had yet to truly grasp the full extent of this Rune Power.

However, the one and only other time he had used them, they had successfully trapped a Saint Master from the Celestial Star Saint Institute!

That Saint Master had tried every method at his disposal, ultimately even using his bloodline power and Divine Soul, yet he had still failed to escape.

He Jundao had been given a huge fright when Lin Hao’s Divine Soul appeared; he had never even heard of a True Self Divine Soul before.

But with Lin Hao now trapped, He Jundao could finally relax.

If the Rune Power manifested by his Divine Soul could trap even a Saint Master, then dealing with Lin Hao would be no problem at all.

Lin Hao didn’t waste words, responding to He Jundao with action.

Lin Hao’s hand began to glow. His Chaos True Essence condensed into a Chaos True Essence Sword, which he slashed at the runes.

The Celestial Sword runes trembled, but ultimately remained undamaged.

Seeing this, He Jundao was completely at ease.

’Now, who should I choose?’ He Jundao’s gaze swept over the Martial Artists of the Cangnan Empire as he began to search for his prey.

Many of the Cangnan Empire’s Martial Artists were so frightened they hardly dared to breathe. All of them flinched away whenever his gaze fell upon them.

Seeing this, the smile on He Jundao’s face grew wider and more brilliant than ever.

"Lin Hao, how about you help me choose?" He Jundao turned his head and said to Lin Hao with a mocking tone.

Lin Hao’s brows were tightly furrowed, as if he hadn’t heard He Jundao at all.

The smile on He Jundao’s face grew even wider. "It’s useless, Lin Hao. Once trapped by my Divine Soul’s runes, not even a Saint Master can hope to escape. If you won’t choose... then I’ll just have to make a move on *them*."

As he spoke the last words, He Jundao’s gaze fixed on several of the women from the Cangnan Empire.

They were none other than Meng Qing and her companions.

Lin Hao had been so fast that Meng Qing and the others had arrived after him.

It could be said that each of these women, Meng Qing included, was no less beautiful than Lu Dieyi. Meng Qing in particular had inspired a possessive urge in He Jundao the moment he first saw her.

The way these women looked at Lin Hao was different, and He Jundao could naturally tell their relationship with him was anything but simple.

Now, by using them to threaten Lin Hao, He Jundao was confident that he could make him submit.

’Making Lin Hao personally send the Martial Artists of the Cangnan Empire to their deaths...’ The more He Jundao thought about it, the more he felt it was an idea only a genius could conceive.