Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 100+ advanced chapter now on Patreon.
**
The night gradually deepened.
After the Chrysanthemum Douluo left, Ling Xiao did not continue cultivating. Instead, he decided to rest and get a good night's sleep to gather his energy and prepare for tomorrow's battle.
Time trickled away slowly.
As the dark night faded, the dawn of the next day finally arrived. The sun rose high in the sky, casting down warm and gentle sunlight.
It looked like today's weather was quite pleasant.
On a training ground located on the western side of the Elephant Armored Sect, the massive plaza—completely paved with bluestone—was entirely empty.
Clearly, to facilitate today's sparring challenge, the Elephant Armored Sect had specially arranged and selected a plaza usually used by sect disciples for sparring and training.
Directly north of the plaza stood a massive viewing platform over ten meters high.
Huyan Zhen, Huyan Kuang, and other high-ranking executives of the Elephant Armored Sect, as well as the Chrysanthemum Douluo and other high-ranking experts of Spirit Hall, were all seated atop this platform overlooking the plaza.
The Cardinal from the Colossal Elephant City Spirit Hall Main-Hall was also among them, and even the City Lord of Colossal Elephant City had been invited.
Apart from them, the remaining deacons and disciples of the Elephant Armored Sect stood around the outer perimeter of the plaza below the platform, as did the accompanying personnel from Spirit Hall.
The challenge plan implemented by Spirit Hall this time was aimed at expanding Spirit Hall's power and prestige. Naturally, every single battle needed to have enough spectators so that the circumstances and results of the battle could spread as widely as possible.
They would certainly not hold the matches behind closed doors.
Of course, the main characters of this match had already arrived long ago. Ling Xiao, Yan, and the Elephant Armored Sect's most outstanding young descendant, Huyan Li, were all standing atop the high platform beside the Chrysanthemum Douluo and Huyan Zhen.
Once everything was fully prepared, Huyan Zhen nodded slightly toward several sect elders and said in a deep voice, "Elder Chrysanthemum, this sparring match can begin now. However, I wonder who will go first?"
The Chrysanthemum Douluo smiled faintly but did not speak.
He looked toward Ling Xiao and Yan. There was no need for him to arrange this sort of matter; he believed that the two of them had already reached a decision long ago.
"Sect Master Huyan, Elder Chrysanthemum, Yan and I have already discussed it beforehand. For this battle, I will be the first to spar with Brother Huyan," Ling Xiao stepped forward and said.
"Very well. However, although one should go all out to determine superiority once a battle begins, this is ultimately not a life-and-death struggle. Therefore, when you engage in battle, you must stop when the point is made. At the critical moment, Elder Chrysanthemum and I will take action."
Ling Xiao was not surprised by this.
Together with Yan and Huyan Li, he shouted in unison, "Yes!"
As his voice fell, Ling Xiao focused his mind.
A brilliant light seemed to shoot out from his eyes, overflowing with high spirits.
The soul power within his body seemed to be triggered, circulating slowly and accumulating momentum inside him. His entire being suddenly radiated a heart-seizing aura, his battle intent soaring high.
He looked over at Huyan Li, who had also stepped out from Huyan Zhen's side, and said in a loud voice, "Huyan Li, the most outstanding successor of the Elephant Armored Sect, are you ready? I will wait for you in the arena."
After speaking, Ling Xiao took a step forward.
He did not seem to use much strength, nor did any soul power erupt from beneath his feet.
With just a light tap of his toes against the ground, he swiftly leapt forward and soared into the air. As his body reached midair, before he could even begin to fall, his legs took consecutive steps through the empty air.
With every step he took, a burst of blackish-red soul power generated and dispersed beneath his feet, moving his body forward by two to three zhang each time.
The soul power erupting beneath his feet was neither ferocious nor abundant, far from enough to form a terrifyingly explosive aura of soul power. The resulting propulsion should have been insufficient to support Ling Xiao's body and maintain his altitude in midair.
Yet, as the air agitated, the space itself seemed to vibrate slightly.
Under this seemingly insufficient propulsive force, Ling Xiao actually showed no signs of falling whatsoever. At an altitude of over a dozen zhang above the ground, he walked as if on level ground, running as swiftly as a flying bird.
He quickly arrived at the center of the plaza.
He lightly spread his arms while slightly drawing back his right leg, allowing his body to drift down from the sky. He landed on the ground quickly and nimbly, making only a soft peng sound.
The entire process was smooth as flowing water, elegant and unrestrained.
His final landing was exceptionally skillful, causing not a single scratch or shred of damage to the ground. This was completely different from his past style—or rather, completely different from the style of the traditional Soul Master.
In this Douluo Continent, perhaps because the Soul Master could utilize a massive amount of soul power and powerful Martial Souls to directly unleash terrifying attack power, speed, and other abilities via soul rings—
Because their internal energy became increasingly vast in the later stages of cultivation, to the point where they could directly form wings out of soul power to gain true flight upon reaching the Soul King realm—most of the soul skills they created focused primarily on raw power rather than winning through subtlety.
When it came to dodging, shifting, and maneuvering through the air, aside from relying on the strength of their physical bodies and Martial Souls, they mostly depended on the propulsive force generated by a massive explosion of soul power.
They did not particularly care about the finer techniques of circulating soul power.
Only some agility-attack system Soul Masters would circulate their soul power to achieve lightness and agility, but even then, it was done to further strengthen the explosive force generated by their physical strength and soul power, making themselves faster.
Setting aside the aspect of attacking, and speaking solely of movement, their logic and direction were entirely different from the martial arts experts in the wuxia novels he had read in his previous life.
To his current self, the Lightness Technique in those novels focused more on circulating qi to lighten the body. By relying on internal energy and genuine qi, they could drastically increase their speed. With a gentle tap of the toes, they could traverse several zhang, running like the wind.
Not only was it free and unrestrained, but their speed could even reach astonishing levels, such as skimming over grass or drifting across water. Furthermore, they had rising techniques that allowed them to borrow qi to soar into the air and scale sheer cliffs and precipices.
When Lightness Technique was cultivated to a profound realm, one could step on duckweed to cross water and walk across snow without leaving a trace.
Paired with a profound cultivation of genuine qi, one could also gallop across the canopy of forests, tread on the wind, chase the waves, and briefly walk on empty air. Even if they could not truly fly, they could briefly display a flight-like ability.
One could not deny how exquisite such methods were.
Comparing the two, an agility-attack system Soul Master or a battle Soul Master with formidable strength might be able to unleash a faster, more ferocious, and swifter burst of speed in a short duration compared to Lightness Technique at the same energy level.
However, it could never last very long. After all, the methods employed by the Soul Master were somewhat crude, overemphasizing the instantaneous explosion of energy to produce a powerful effect, which seemed rather wasteful of energy.
In terms of utilizing internal energy, the Lightness Technique he knew of was clearly superior to the methods of the Douluo Continent's Soul Master. It was also significantly more elegant, unrestrained, and much cooler.
Of course, the Soul Master's approach was not without its advantages—namely, it was simple and direct. It did not require spending too much extra time to cultivate, allowing them to dedicate more time and energy to raising their cultivation levels.
In his opinion, this was a very understandable phenomenon. It was similar to a low-wuxia world, where cultivators increased their cultivation slowly and had a low ceiling, and they could never truly possess the ability to fly.
Therefore, in their utilization of internal energy, they would excavate as deeply as possible to improve its efficiency, resulting in more exquisite methods of application that gave rise to various techniques and abilities, while also reducing consumption to prolong their combat endurance.
Conversely, in a higher-intensity world like the Douluo Continent, Soul Masters had a higher cultivation ceiling and faster cultivation speed. They could even fly directly after reaching the Soul King realm.
Therefore, there was absolutely no need for them to exhaust their efforts digging into the delicate utilization of soul power at lower ranks. It did not matter if the consumption was high; they only needed to do everything they could to raise their soul power cultivation.
Once the volume of soul power in the body went up, all problems would be solved.
To put it simply: with enough raw power, you can fly anyway. Consequently, no Soul Master would go out of their way to create exquisite methods like Lightness Technique. After all, it held no real meaning for high-ranking Soul Masters.
**
Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 100+ advanced chapter now on Patreon.