Chen Xuan did not flee; instead, he charged back, determined to counterattack.
The bald man's face darkened as he spat out a beam of light from his mouth, colliding with the incoming fireball in a booming explosion. The flames were swallowed by the white light—clearly, his soul skill was superior.
Chen Xuan quickly formed seals with his hands and launched two more fireballs, which scorched the ground as they pursued the man.
In truth, his best option would have been to escape during this time. Even though the Soul Emperor was injured, he was still dangerous and capable of fighting with everything he had. But Chen Xuan chose not to run. He wanted to strike back—even with little hope, he wanted to take the man down.
There was a burning fire in Chen Xuan's heart, although he didn't know why. He grew restless and agitated just thinking about how the bald man had stared lewdly at Zhu Zhuqing and Yi Yi, even daring to want both women for himself. The thought made him uneasy and upset.
Chen Xuan couldn't explain the reason behind it, but he knew one thing for certain: he had to fight back. Even if he couldn't kill the man, he would at least make him pay with half his life.
The fire in the forest raged, igniting trees and bushes, creating a scorching heat that could be felt from dozens of meters away.
The bald man summoned his soul power, forcefully splitting through the sea of flames, emerging from it. He hastily bandaged his wounds, using strips of his torn shirt to wrap around his chest, but blood still seeped through, staining the bandage red.
He didn't notice, however, that among the torn pieces of cloth was a faint black inscription.
"Kid, you're good. You've succeeded in pissing me off. If I don't skin you alive today, I'm not human," the bald man growled, his face darkening with rage.
"You're not human to begin with," Chen Xuan retorted.
The bald man's eyes turned icy cold, as if he were staring at a dead man. His soul power surged to its peak, and a black soul ring appeared beneath him.
A white dragon spirit attached itself to his body, enveloping him in blinding light. Scales emerged on his arms, and energy blades whirled around him.
Chen Xuan remained still. He had kunai hidden nearby, ready to act at any moment.
"Die!"
Suddenly, the bald man moved. Another black soul ring appeared at his feet as he swung his arms. His powerful soul force surged, transforming into razor-sharp blades of white energy. The flying blades filled the air, and sword energy flashed like a rainbow, slicing toward Chen Xuan.
The cold sword light interwove, densely packed. It seemed like Chen Xuan had frozen in place, unmoving, as the storm of sword energy engulfed him.
The sword energy swept in all directions, covering a twenty-meter radius. Trees and plants nearby were torn apart by the deadly light—its destructive power was terrifying.
Wherever the sword energy passed, even the soil was ripped up. But when the energy storm subsided, there were no bloodied remains—only a piece of shattered wood.
"Damn it! What's going on?" The bald man's face grew even darker. As a mighty Soul Emperor, he had repeatedly missed his target, being toyed with by a mere Soul Sect. He couldn't even trace Chen Xuan's movements, leaving him seething with frustration. His strength, comparable to a Soul Saint, was rendered useless if his attacks couldn't land.
"What did you do? Why do my soul skills always miss by a step?" the bald man shouted in rage.
After several failed attacks, he realized that Chen Xuan was using some peculiar technique. He'd considered many possible agile soul master abilities, but none seemed to fit.
Each of his previous attacks had almost hit, but always missed. In such close quarters, even a Soul Douluo wouldn't have been able to dodge, yet this kid did.
Chen Xuan's method wasn't about moving quickly; it felt more like he was leaping from one place to another, perhaps through space.
The bald man's face grew grim as the realization struck him. If it was truly a space-based soul skill, then everything made sense. Someone capable of spatial movement could easily avoid even close-range attacks.
There were very few people on the continent who possessed spatial soul techniques, and those who did had become incredibly powerful.
These soul masters were tricky opponents, combining swift movements with significant combat power.
Whether it was or wasn't a spatial skill, he was about to find out.
The bald man took action, his arms flashing with white light as he sent a wave of energy blades toward Chen Xuan.
Chen Xuan didn't move, his right eye focused on the slowly rotating yin-yang symbol, his power building up for a final strike.
"This is the end!"
Just as the deadly sword energy was about to reach him, there was a sudden *dong*—like the clear ring of a bell. The energy blades froze in place, as if time itself had stopped. The world grew eerily quiet.
A tree branch nearby, sliced by the sword energy, started to fall. But halfway down, it paused, suspended in mid-air as though trapped in some invisible field.
The bald man frowned. How had his sword light slowed down—or worse, come to a complete stop?
Before he could comprehend what was happening, a flash of golden light appeared before him. Chen Xuan had closed the distance in an instant, bypassing the storm of energy blades as if it weren't even there.
The bald man's eyes glinted with malice. Chen Xuan's spatial skill was indeed fast and unexpected, but he was still a Level 69 Soul Saint—faster and stronger.
It didn't matter how Chen Xuan had approached him; what mattered was that he had sealed his fate by coming in close.
"Kid, challenging me head-on was the dumbest decision of your life," the bald man snarled. His arms glowed with blinding white light, transforming into sharp blades as he swung them toward Chen Xuan.
If Chen Xuan had tried a sneak attack, there might have been a sliver of hope. But facing him head-on was nothing short of suicide!
*Dong!*
Another crisp bell sound rang out, eerie and unsettling, as if echoing from a distant realm yet simultaneously right beside him.
The bald man's glowing arms, filled with destructive power, stopped halfway through their motion, unable to move. It felt as if an invisible force had frozen him in place, leaving him utterly immobile.
It wasn't just his arms that were restrained—his thoughts, even the cells in his body, seemed to pause for a brief moment. It was as if time itself had halted in this space.
The bald man blinked, disoriented, unsure of what had just happened.
By the time he snapped back to reality, Chen Xuan had already thrust his Kusanagi sword forward. Lightning surged from the blade, as swift as a tiger, with no hesitation.
The bald man's expression changed dramatically as a surge of fear swept over him—a fear of death.
In that instant, he was terrified. No one, no matter how powerful, was unafraid of death. And the more powerful one became, the more fearful they were of it.
"My fate is mine to control, not the heavens! You can't kill me!"
The bald man roared and made a desperate attempt to retaliate, his soul power boiling as he summoned all his strength. He stomped the ground, shattering it beneath him, trying to leap away from the fatal strike.
But the sword was too close—only a hair's breadth away.
With a *pfft*, blood sprayed through the air. There was no miracle. The sword pierced through the bald man's chest once again, lightning surging through the wound and into his body.
The violent lightning wreaked havoc inside him, tearing apart his organs in an instant. Blood flowed, then was scorched dry, leaving his insides blackened and charred.
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