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**
With a tremendous boom, the axe radiant clashed head-on with the energy torrent charging along the ground. Instantly, a massive crater was blasted into the terrain, and the two attacks neutralized each other completely.
A fierce wave of energy fluctuations erupted, forming a ripple of mixed shockwaves and dust that expanded rapidly in all directions.
First anchoring his posture with the sinking internal energy, then using the force of the Explosive Steps to counteract the approaching trampling tremors, and finally unleashing the Profound Sky Slash to split the two waves of the Mammoth Trample head-on—
Forcing it to lose all efficacy—this was Ling Xiao's method of response. Though the steps seemed intricate and time-consuming, it had all taken place within the blink of an eye. His speed and reflexes were simply too fast for the eye to follow.
"Good! Beautifully done!"
"Facing that kind of attack and breaking it straight from the front is truly clean and decisive. It's a satisfying sight that gets the blood pumping!"
Among the onlookers surrounding the plaza, some could not help but shout their praise.
Judging by their positions and attire, they should be members of Spirit Hall. However, aside from them, quite a few Elephant Armored Sect disciples also began to look at Ling Xiao with gazes that held a touch of admiration and respect.
After all, due to their Martial Soul, the disciples of the Elephant Armored Sect were mostly straightforward and blunt individuals who favored direct actions. The type of opponent they hated most was the flashy and deceptive kind.
Even if such opponents won, it would be hard to truly earn their respect.
Ling Xiao's combat style, however, resonated perfectly with them.
Although he was an opponent and a challenger to their Elephant Armored Sect, seeing him fight with such overbearing dominance—using raw force to shatter Huyan Li's powerful attack—they could not help but admire him in their hearts.
Losing to an opponent like this would leave them completely satisfied.
At this moment on the plaza, seeing his second Mammoth Trample shattered so cleanly, Huyan Li's expression filled with shock as he knitted his brows.
In the next instant, before he could even make another move, a fierce surge of soul power fluctuations suddenly erupted from within the dust-shrouded residual shockwaves.
A figure burst out violently, holding a giant axe with one arm while cloaked in intense flames of soul power, looking overbearing and unbridled. The razor-sharp edge of his axe blade tore through the air wildly. It was Ling Xiao.
It seemed Ling Xiao had run out of patience, or perhaps he felt that Huyan Li had no greater strength left to show. He no longer let Huyan Li take the initiative to display his full power as he had done before.
After unleashing that previous axe strike, Ling Xiao did not pause for a second before attacking again. The soul power beneath his feet exploded violently as he charged straight at Huyan Li.
As he drew near, Ling Xiao stomped the ground, causing his soul power to erupt instantly. Under the execution of an Explosive Step, his speed surged by another thirty percent, and he arrived in front of Huyan Li in a flash.
Ling Xiao gripped the Profound Sky Axe tightly.
Driven by his soul power, he brought the axe down toward Huyan Li's head.
Unleashing the Profound Sky Slash at will, a massive crescent axe radiant several meters long erupted from the blade. Enhanced by this technique, its sharpness intensified, and its momentum grew exceptionally overbearing, as if intending to end Huyan Li in a single blow.
The unique soul power aura of the Profound Sky Axe raged wildly with overwhelming suppressive force, like a looming catastrophe. It instinctively struck fear into people's hearts, making them lose their will to fight before even clashing, unable to exert their full strength.
However, Huyan Li was no ordinary person.
The Elephant Armored Sect was ranked among the Seven Great Sects, and the Huyan Clan was a powerful family renowned throughout the soul master world.
They possessed unique capabilities, and their most outstanding young disciple possessed mental fortitude and perseverance far exceeding ordinary men.
Sensing that cataclysmic majesty, Huyan Li knitted his brows tightly and widened his eyes.
He focused his mind to the absolute limit, straining to withstand the immense pressure. At that exact split second, the Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul resonated with his intent, seeming to fuse completely with his consciousness.
Without Huyan Li actively controlling it, the Martial Soul let out a resonant elephant trumpet like an enraged mammoth roar, which blended perfectly with Huyan Li's own roaring shout.
As the two forces cried out together, Huyan Li's degree of fusion with his Martial Soul possession advanced a step further. Although it was far from the flawless integration of a Soul Saint's Martial Soul Avatar, he had managed to achieve a preliminary state where man and soul merged into one.
This kind of realm was by no means something every Soul Elder could achieve.
In the Douluo Continent's soul master world, even ordinary soul masters who lacked a clan or sect heritage would generally learn some foundational knowledge about higher cultivation realms after traveling the continent for a long time.
For instance, before reaching the Soul Saint realm, a Beast Martial Soul Master could only combat through the fusion format of Martial Soul possession.
Only upon reaching the Soul Saint realm and unleashing their Martial Soul Avatar could they achieve a flawless fusion with their Martial Soul, unleashing its true power and transforming the Martial Soul into a true body form comparable to the corresponding soul beast.
However, the Martial Soul possession of a Beast Martial Soul was not simple and unchangeable.
Before the Soul Saint realm, the Martial Soul possession a Beast Martial Soul Master could initially display was actually just the most basic, shallowest form of fusion with their Martial Soul—it could not even be considered a true fusion in the proper sense.
At this initial level, right after awakening a Martial Soul, one could not even flexibly control all movements after possessing the Martial Soul.
Only as the soul master cultivated, gradually understood their own Martial Soul, and repeatedly used Martial Soul possession to familiarize themselves with it, could they truly control the possessed Martial Soul body to fight.
Yet even so, this could only be considered the most fundamental level of Martial Soul possession. Any Beast Martial Soul Master could master it; it was nothing worth mentioning.
However, if a soul master could gradually enhance their compatibility with their Martial Soul during their cultivation, deepening the connection between them during Martial Soul possession, they could elevate this degree of fusion.
Although it could not compare to the flawless fusion of a Martial Soul Avatar, it could be considered a preliminary state where man and soul merged into one.
Upon reaching this realm, although one could not manifest the Martial Soul Avatar form, they could further unleash the Martial Soul's power and master more of the Martial Soul's origin.
Their control over the possessed Martial Soul body would become more flexible and versatile, reaching a state of absolute free will, as if the Martial Soul and the original body had thoroughly integrated.
They could control the possessed Martial Soul body just as easily as controlling their own physical flesh, and their voice would naturally fuse together, sounding like the Martial Soul itself.
Huyan Li's current state, where his own voice fused with the elephant trumpet of the Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul, was the most basic manifestation of this.
Of course, reaching this realm did not mean one lost the human body's original ability to speak after Martial Soul possession; once proficient, one could flexibly control this aspect of transformation.
Regrettably, this realm of deepened Martial Soul fusion generally could not be directly taught or learned.
It relied heavily on the soul master's own comprehension. Some soul masters might suddenly grasp it mid-battle, while others might naturally slip into this realm through continuous cultivation, making it quite profound and esoteric.
Yet, an even greater number of soul masters never managed to reach this realm, remaining at the most basic level of fusion throughout their entire process of Martial Soul possession.
Among them, those with higher Martial Soul aptitudes would only be able to elevate their fusion degree outside of the Martial Soul Avatar form after reaching the Soul Saint realm, relying on the insights gained while entering the flawless fusion state via the Martial Soul Avatar.
**
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