Chapter 783: Saint Soul Domain
Xuan Long Half-Saint walked toward the center of the square, his steps exceptionally steady. With each stride, rings of Saint Qi could be seen dispersing outward from beneath his feet.
At the same time, the aura emanating from his body continuously rose.
With a *whoosh*, a cyan sacred sword on Xuan Long Half-Saint's back flew out of its sheath. One hundred and sixty-nine inscriptions emerged from within the sword body, causing the light on the blade to surge dramatically.
"Crackle."
More than twenty streaks of white lightning, like dancing dragons and serpents, wove around the cyan sacred sword.
Even before the clash began, the momentum erupting from Xuan Long Half-Saint had already intimidated all the young sword cultivators present.
A Half-Saint, and one like Xuan Long Half-Saint who had been renowned for decades, possessed a cultivation realm that was terrifyingly high. For an ordinary Fish-Dragon Ninth Change cultivator, they probably wouldn't even dare to strike in his presence.
"Xuan Long is an old-timer Half-Saint after all. To be so serious when facing a junior of Fish-Dragon Eighth Change, even summoning the Thunder Halberd Sword..."
The Half-Saints from various factions all wore puzzled expressions, feeling that Xuan Long Half-Saint was making a mountain out of a molehill.
After all, Xuan Long Half-Saint had already reached the Second Order Half-Saint realm and was also a sword cultivator.
It was well known that sword cultivators were ranked first in attack power within the same realm, meaning Xuan Long was already a strong figure among Second Order Half-Saints. Against any Fish-Dragon realm cultivator, he could be considered a sure winner, including the Nine Realm Sons who hadn't yet broken through to Half-Saint.
No matter how strong Lin Yue's strength was, he was only at the Fish-Dragon Eighth Change realm. Without using the Void Sword, how strong could he really be?
Even though Zhang Ruochen had used a powerful strike to kill Shao Lin, in everyone's eyes, it was only due to the power of the Void Sword. His own strength might not necessarily surpass a Second Order Half-Saint.
Xuan Long Half-Saint stared at Zhang Ruochen across from him and sneered, "Junior, why haven't you drawn your sword yet?"
Zhang Ruochen said calmly, "Aside from the Void Sword, I have no sword."
Inside his Space Ring, there were still a Golden Serpent Sacred Sword and an Abyssal Ancient Sword, but with so many Saint Realm experts present, how could Zhang Ruochen dare to activate the Space Ring?
From the Central Domain Sacred Academy camp, Beigong Lan stepped forward, holding a cyan ancient sword in both hands, and said, "My Qingwen Sword ranks seventh on the *Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifact List*. If Young Master Lin needs it, I can lend it to you to face the enemy."
Zhang Ruochen had once saved Beigong Lan's life. By lending him the Qingwen Sword, she was not only repaying a favor but also seizing the opportunity to befriend Lin Yue, this powerful sword dao genius.
Zhang Ruochen shot Beigong Lan a grateful glance, then withdrew his gaze and fixed it on Xuan Long Half-Saint. "As a sword cultivator, an excellent sword is certainly crucial. But what's even more important is one's own understanding of the sword dao. As long as the sword exists in the heart, a flower or a blade of grass can all serve as a sword."
Zhang Ruochen plucked a strand of hair from his head and pinched it between two fingers.
"Whoosh!"
A surge of Saint Qi flowed from his fingertips, enveloping the strand of hair.
Instantly, the fine hair became like a straight, slender needle, pointing directly at Xuan Long Half-Saint across from him.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen's demeanor became extraordinarily transcendent, exuding an imposing aura that commanded respect without anger. At the same time, a powerful sword intent spread outward, forming countless sword qi.
The words Lin Yue spoke were understood by all the sword cultivators present.
Indeed, a flower or a blade of grass could serve as a sword, but a powerful sacred sword would undoubtedly greatly amplify a cultivator's combat power.
If Lin Yue and Xuan Long Half-Saint swapped positions, and a Second Order Half-Saint used a strand of hair to fight a Fish-Dragon Eighth Change cultivator, no one would find it strange. Instead, they would think Xuan Long Half-Saint's sword dao realm was unfathomably profound and worthy of admiration.
But the reality was that a Fish-Dragon Eighth Change cultivator using a strand of hair to challenge a Second Order Half-Saint naturally struck the sword cultivators present as quite ridiculous.
"Boy, you're asking for death."
Xuan Long Half-Saint's eyes widened. Using Saint Qi to control the cyan sacred sword, he dragged a massive arc of lightning and slashed it down toward Zhang Ruochen's head.
The power of a Half-Saint's full-force strike was terrifying to imagine.
The sword qi, like a waterfall over ten zhang wide, poured down, completely engulfing Zhang Ruochen.
Yet Zhang Ruochen showed no fear. He lightly shouted, "Sword Two."
As his two fingers swiftly rotated, the black strand of hair, like an extremely fine sword, traced circles in the air. With each ring of sword qi emitted, the power of the cyan sacred sword Xuan Long Half-Saint swung diminished by one degree.
In the end, the force unleashed by the cyan sacred sword was completely neutralized.
Seeing this, those who had earlier thought Lin Yue was arrogant were all stunned. They never imagined sword techniques could reach such a profound level.
Ning Xuan Dao stroked the beard on his chin and squinted with a smile, "He should have already cultivated Sword Two to Great Perfection. This kid truly keeps surprising us."
In sword dao, Burial Moon Sword Saint clearly had more insight than Ning Xuan Dao, so he saw it more clearly. "Using softness to overcome hardness, using weakness to defeat strength. Sword techniques can be both indestructible and agile and ingenious, turning a hundredfold steel into a wrap-around finger. Truly unexpected that Lin Yue's sword dao realm has reached such a height. He's probably not far from the 'Human-Sword Unity' realm."
Besides Burial Moon Sword Saint, several other Sword Saints present gave similar evaluations.
Clearly, Lin Yue's talent in sword dao had truly astonished them, making them feel that the younger generation was formidable.
"This Lin Yue could be called a 'Young Sword Saint.' In his battle with Xuan Long Half-Saint, there might actually be a chance he could win," Ling Shu Half-Saint said with considerable admiration.
At the center of the square, Xuan Long Half-Saint mobilized even stronger Saint Qi. His attack speed grew faster and faster, and the sword techniques he executed became increasingly powerful.
Zhang Ruochen's burst speed matched Xuan Long Half-Saint's. The strand of hair at his fingertip was sometimes like a sword, sometimes like a whip. It didn't clash head-on with Xuan Long Half-Saint's sacred sword, yet each time it neutralized his attacks effortlessly.
"Thousand-Mile Wind Chase."
Xuan Long Half-Saint unleashed a Ghost-grade upper-class sword technique. The cyan ancient sword immediately flew out of his hand, its speed doubling as it transformed into a bolt of lightning, shooting toward Zhang Ruochen's chest.
Zhang Ruochen naturally dared not underestimate it. He immediately executed the Great Perfection realm Sword Two.
"Yin-Yang Wuji."
In an instant, centered on his body, a Taiji sword qi circle dozens of zhang in diameter appeared and rapidly spread outward. Soon, the entire white stone square was enveloped.
The whole space transformed into half daylight and half night.
Even cultivators standing at the foot of Ancient God Mountain could see, at the peak of the Third Heavy Mountain, a black-and-white Taiji pattern slowly rotating.
"Break for me."
Xuan Long Half-Saint roared, striking out a palm imprint that shattered a large portion of the Taiji sword qi circle.
When he struck his second palm, he had already appeared above Zhang Ruochen's head. His five fingers turned completely blood-red, like a patch of blood cloud pressing down toward his head.
Zhang Ruochen also condensed a palm imprint, using his left hand to strike upward, clashing head-on with Xuan Long Half-Saint.
"Boom!"
A mountain-toppling, sea-overturning force transmitted from Xuan Long Half-Saint's palm, sending Zhang Ruochen sliding backward over ten zhang. His entire left arm went numb, and his Saint Qi churned unceasingly.
Especially the Yang Wei Saint Meridian connecting his left arm—it burned with a fiery pain, as if it had shattered.
The power of a Second Order Half-Saint was truly terrifying.
In a pure contest of strength, Zhang Ruochen was far inferior to Xuan Long Half-Saint.
Xuan Long Half-Saint laughed loudly, once again condensing Saint Qi. The bones of his arms thickened several times, and the length of his arms doubled, as if he had transformed into a long-armed ape.
Both palms struck down simultaneously, unleashing two powerful palm imprints.
Zhang Ruochen's reaction speed was extremely fast. He immediately flicked the strand of hair between his fingers, piercing through the gap between Xuan Long Half-Saint's two palms, aiming for his brow.
The brow was the location of the Qi Sea. If it were broken, even if the cultivator could preserve their cultivation, they would suffer severe damage.
"Damn it."
Forced to, Xuan Long Half-Saint withdrew his arms, rapidly shrinking his body tenfold until it was only the size of a watermelon. Dodging the strand of hair, he swiftly retreated backward.
"Saint Soul Domain."
Xuan Long Half-Saint spread his palms, unleashing the power of his Saint Soul to mobilize the world's spiritual energy, forming a Saint Soul Domain.
An invisible force rapidly spread outward, covering a space a hundred zhang in radius.
Upon reaching the Half-Saint realm, a cultivator's Martial Soul transforms into a Saint Soul, naturally becoming much stronger, allowing them to mobilize an even greater amount of world's spiritual energy.
A First Order Half-Saint could control the world's spiritual energy within a radius of five hundred li, drawing it all toward themselves.
Therefore, a sect or clan with a Half-Saint in residence would immediately become a sacred mountain of spiritual treasures, with world's spiritual energy several times denser than elsewhere.
It was precisely because Half-Saints could mobilize such vast amounts of world's spiritual energy that they could cultivate a Saint Soul Domain.
The stronger the Half-Saint's cultivation, the stronger the Saint Soul Domain.
Within the Saint Soul Domain, the Half-Saint could not only control all matter and energy but also suppress their opponent to a certain extent.
The simplest aspect was gravity suppression.
A Fish-Dragon realm cultivator standing within a First Order Half-Saint's Saint Soul Domain would endure a hundredfold gravity. Within a Second Order Half-Saint's domain, they would endure a thousandfold gravity.
By extension, if a Fish-Dragon realm cultivator entered a Fourth Order Half-Saint's Saint Soul Domain, they would endure a hundred-thousandfold gravity.
Without even needing to fight, a Fourth Order Half-Saint could suppress a Fish-Dragon realm cultivator to the ground just by releasing their Saint Soul Domain. No matter how strong the cultivator's cultivation, they couldn't stir up any waves.
If a Half-Saint's Saint Soul was fused with a Divine Mark, the Saint Soul Domain they unleashed would be even more powerful.