Chapter 225: Lightning Spear
Zhang Ruochen was injured so severely that he had no choice but to sit down on the ground.
Although Zi Yinyang and the Poison Spider Young Master had been driven back by the mysterious woman who had suddenly appeared, Zhang Ruochen did not let his guard down in the slightest. Holding the Fish Intestine Sword in one hand, he said, "Such formidable cultivation—I'm afraid even Si Xingkong, the foremost of the Ten Demon Masters, might not be your match. Who exactly are you?"
"Hehe!"
The veiled woman, with a seductive figure, let out a soft laugh. Her voice was like a demonic bell, full of allure, capable of affecting a person's mind.
She wore only a layer of green gauze, through which her crystalline skin was faintly visible. Her chest and buttocks were pert, her waist traced a slender curve, and beneath her skirt, two jade-white legs were exposed, along with a pair of perfectly flawless jade feet.
Her laughter contained the "power of seductive sound."
The so-called "power of seductive sound" involved blending seduction techniques into one's voice, using sound to influence the opponent's mind and induce hallucinations.
If a martial artist lacked sufficient mental strength, merely hearing her laughter would cause them to lose their composure, fall into the illusion she created, and behave disgracefully.
Once lost, death would follow.
But against Zhang Ruochen, her seductive sound technique was utterly useless.
Zhang Ruochen's will was firm, his mental strength formidable, and his gaze clear. He said calmly, "If you dare use your seductive sound technique again, believe me, I can make you suffer the backlash of that very power."
The laughter stopped. The veiled woman stared deeply at Zhang Ruochen, her voice soft and sweet. "I've long heard that your mental strength is formidable, the best among all the students of the Martial Market Academy. If my mental strength is inferior to yours and I suffer a mental counterattack, I might indeed be backlashed by the seductive sound power. But I don't believe you're someone who repays kindness with enmity. After all, I am your lifesaver. Haven't you thought about how to repay your lifesaver?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Why did you save me?"
The woman chuckled. "Because I want to recruit you."
"Join the Moon-Worshipping Demon Sect?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"You know I'm from the Moon-Worshipping Demon Sect?" This time, it was the woman's turn to be surprised.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The seductive sound technique you just used is called 'Soul-Stealing Sound.' Aside from the demonesses of the Moon-Worshipping Demon Sect, who else would know such a martial skill?"
"Interesting! I didn't expect your knowledge to be so vast. I underestimated you earlier."
The demoness laughed and said, "Since you know I'm from the Moon-Worshipping Demon Sect, and your life is now in my hands, will you choose to submit to the sect, or will you choose death?"
Zhang Ruochen smiled and shook his head.
The demoness walked toward Zhang Ruochen, her voice turning cold and heavy. "Zhang Ruochen, I saw that your talent is decent and that you could serve the sect, so I wanted to spare your life. Don't refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit."
"Do you think you have me cornered?" Zhang Ruochen remained calm, showing no panic.
The demoness seemed amused by Zhang Ruochen's attitude. "You're so badly injured you can't even stand steadily. Do you still have the strength to fight?"
"Have you tried it?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Didn't you see that even Zi Yinyang and the Poison Spider Young Master together were no match for me? Do you really think you can fight me?"
"Why not?" Zhang Ruochen said.
The demoness stared into Zhang Ruochen's eyes and found that he didn't seem to be joking.
That was strange! Did he still have some hidden card?
"Fine, this is a good chance to test how many secrets he's hiding."
The demoness's delicate body moved, shifting sideways over ten meters with speed like a ghost. She extended an arm, opened her palm, and streams of white true qi surged from her palm, condensing into a half-foot-long true qi flying dagger.
For ordinary Earth Extreme martial artists, their true qi was impure and insufficiently refined to condense into a true qi weapon.
Only martial artists on the Earth Ranking could use thick, pure true qi to form weapons, unleashing extraordinary attack power.
Moreover, true qi weapons were easier to control. They could kill invisibly or dissipate into strands of true qi at will.
The true qi flying dagger was somewhat illusory, just a shadow of true qi, hovering above her fair and delicate palm.
"Shua!"
With a flick of her finger, the true qi flying dagger turned into a white streak, flying toward Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged on the ground, tightly closing his eyes. A pillar of light surged from his body, within which a martial soul identical to him condensed, hovering above his head.
Unless absolutely necessary, Zhang Ruochen didn't want to use the power of his martial soul.
Even when he had used the Space Domain before, he had only mobilized a small part of the martial soul's power to assist in battle. He had never fully manifested the martial soul outside his body to control the world's spiritual energy.
But now was such a time of necessity. He had to use the martial soul's power to protect himself.
"Lightning Spear!"
The martial soul floating above Zhang Ruochen's head was like a divine shadow, its hands continuously forming seals, mobilizing the spiritual energy within a radius of several hundred meters.
Under the martial soul's control, the world's spiritual energy transformed into strands of purple electric patterns.
Countless electric patterns gathered together, forming a lightning spear that thrust toward the demoness.
"Boom!"
The true qi flying dagger the demoness had launched was shattered by the lightning spear in an instant, turning into wisps of white smoke.
The lightning spear's power was immense. After shattering the flying dagger, its force undiminished, it emitted a blinding purple light like a beam of light, continuing to fly toward the demoness.
The demoness let out a sharp cry and immediately retreated, simultaneously forming five true qi shields in quick succession to block the lightning spear.
But the lightning spear's penetrating power was too strong. It pierced through all five true qi shields in an instant, slicing past the demoness's snow-white neck.
"Shua!"
The demoness's movement technique was extremely fast. She turned into a blurry afterimage, narrowly dodging the attack.
Then, like a dancing enchantress, she leaped to the top of an ancient building by the street, not daring to approach Zhang Ruochen.
Her jade finger lightly touched her veil, finding that a piece of it had been cut off by the lightning spear.
Fortunately, it had only cut off a piece of the veil. If she had reacted even a moment slower, it might have been her neck.
So powerful!
The demoness, still shaken, stared at Zhang Ruochen sitting in the middle of the street. A strange feeling arose in her heart, as if Zhang Ruochen had become the center of the entire space, with everything in the world revolving around him.
"You've actually cultivated a martial soul?" The demoness stared at the blurry martial soul above Zhang Ruochen's head, finding it hard to believe.
Other martial artists, due to weak mental strength, couldn't see Zhang Ruochen's martial soul.
But the demoness's mental strength had reached the twentieth level or above, so she could naturally see another martial artist's martial soul.
How could an Earth Extreme martial artist have cultivated a martial soul?
Generally, only Heaven Extreme martial artists could use true qi to nurture their souls, making them stronger. When the soul grew strong enough, it could transform into a martial soul.
Only with a martial soul could one control the world's spiritual energy.
The stronger the martial soul, the more spiritual energy one could mobilize.
Zhang Ruochen had once been a Heaven Extreme Great Perfection powerhouse. His martial soul was incredibly powerful. If not for his insufficient true qi, that single strike could have killed the demoness.
Zhang Ruochen lifted his eyelids, staring at the graceful demoness. "Since you already know I've cultivated a martial soul, I absolutely cannot let you leave today."
Zhang Ruochen closed his eyes, using his powerful mental strength to control the martial soul.
The world's spiritual energy once again gathered toward the martial soul, condensing into strands of electric patterns, forming another lightning spear.
"Chi chi!"
This lightning spear contained even more lightning power than the previous one. Even the ground of the entire street was covered with wriggling streaks of lightning.
The demoness's expression changed. She immediately turned and fled, her figure flickering several times before disappearing completely.
A beautiful, ethereal voice echoed back from the void: "Zhang Ruochen, we'll meet again. When I've also cultivated a martial soul, I'll come back to settle the score with you."
Seeing the demoness flee, Zhang Ruochen let out a long breath. The gathered lightning power suddenly collapsed, turning into a storm of lightning that uncontrollably surged in all directions.
"Boom!"
A large lightning crater formed on the ground, emitting wisps of black smoke.
"Ugh..."
The martial soul automatically flew back into Zhang Ruochen's body. His face was as pale as paper, and a trace of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Fortunately, I scared off that demoness. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Although the martial soul was controlled by mental strength, Zhang Ruochen's martial soul was different from that of a Heaven Extreme martial artist.
Now, to control the martial soul, he had to connect to his soul meridians and supply true qi to them to mobilize it.
During the first "Lightning Spear" strike, Zhang Ruochen had nearly exhausted all the true qi in his body.
When he gathered the second "Lightning Spear," he was completely forcing himself, deliberately creating a more powerful momentum than the first.
If the demoness hadn't fled, even if Zhang Ruochen had launched the second "Lightning Spear" and killed her, he would likely have died as well.
"Only by reaching the Heaven Extreme realm can one use the martial soul without consuming true qi, relying solely on mental strength to control it."
"That demoness managed to block one of my Lightning Spear strikes and survive. Her martial arts cultivation is truly formidable. She must be a top figure among the younger generation of the demon sect."
Zhang Ruochen swallowed a healing pill, rested for a moment, and felt he had recovered ten to twenty percent of his strength before standing up again.
He picked up a piece of light green gauze from the ground and brought it to his nose, gently sniffing it. "Cloud Butterfly Incense... Senior Sister Duanmu likes Cloud Butterfly Incense, doesn't she?"
The light green gauze in Zhang Ruochen's hand had been cut from the demoness's body by the Lightning Spear, naturally carrying her scent.
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