Chapter 222: Soul Domain Avatar
Chapter 222: Soul Domain Avatar
“You’ve got some skills, but I won’t hold back anymore.”
Gao Tianyu’s voice turned sharp as he flashed before Cheng Lingyu in an instant. The massive blue ox behind him solidified into near-reality, splitting into nine identical beasts arrayed in a semicircle.
Cheng Lingyu blinked in surprise. “An Immortal Soul? The strength of nine oxen?”
Gao Tianyu boasted, “Correct. This is my natural martial soul since birth—nine divine oxen strong enough to shatter mountains.”
“Aren’t you afraid of losing by attacking through Shadow Transformation?”
“Beating you while at the peak of Seven Levels of Soul Martial Arts would be meaningless!” Gao Tianyu roared with laughter.
Cheng Lingyu studied his opponent carefully. The towering man radiated blunt force rather than cunning—a storm of raw power, not hidden daggers.
“Since you’re so confident, let’s make a wager.”
“What terms?”
“If you lose while at the peak of Seven Levels of Soul Martial Arts, you’ll do three things for me. If you win, I’ll reveal what happened in that castle.”
Gao Tianyu narrowed his eyes. “No regrets?”
“A gentleman’s word cannot be unsaid.”
The larger man scowled. Though the odds favored him, the arrangement chafed against his pride. “This feels… dishonorable.”
Cheng Lingyu snorted. “You’ll never win. Worry about keeping your promise after losing.”
He stepped forward, palm thrusting out. The void itself fractured under the motion.
Gao Tianyu roared. The nine oxen behind him howled as one, their combined shockwaves funneling into his body as raw attack power.
Their palms collided midair, energy waves bursting through the gaps to form colliding arcs of light.
Cheng Lingyu bellowed. Cave heavens bloomed within him, channeling power from the Nine Heavens and Earth into roaring flames that cloaked him like a blazing God King.
Gao Tianyu’s frame shook as nine cave heavens erupted around him, voraciously devouring natural energy to counter the assault. The spectacle drew gasps—Cheng Lingyu’s cave heavens dwarfed others’ in raw power.
“BREAK!”
Cheng Lingyu’s nine cave heavens fused into a ring, unleashing annihilating force that hurled Gao Tianyu backward. As the cave heavens vanished, a flaming Five-Colored Three-Legged Crow materialized behind him—incinerator of skies, devourer of creation.
“Immortal Soul!” Gao Tianyu paled. His blue ox manifestation bucked and bellowed in primal fear as the crow’s flames spread like liquid wildfire, consuming all in a sea of flames.
With a desperate shout, Gao Tianyu unleashed his Soul Domain, dragging Cheng Lingyu into its Sixth Realm space. Endless plains stretched around them as stampeding blue oxen charged to crush the intruder.
Within the Soul Domain, the effects of spiritual attacks multiplied.
The blue oxen appeared lifelike, yet Cheng Lingyu understood these were spiritual imprints – neither real nor illusory, nearly impossible to defend against.
This marked Cheng Lingyu’s second encounter within another’s Soul Domain since beginning his journey. While he’d shattered the previous domain with a spirit artifact, he chose a different approach now.
A cultivator’s Soul Domain intertwined with their fused martial soul. Gao Tianyu’s natural martial soul was extraordinary – nine divine oxen without merged souls, representing an unconventional cultivation path.
The rampaging oxen within the domain delivered combined spiritual and physical assaults, their collective power eclipsing even Cave Heavenly Realm capabilities.
Cheng Lingyu faced dual pressures – mental strain and bodily onslaught – his situation turning critical. Prepared for this, his mental three-layered ten-Yuan Dan pyramid materialized automatically, nullifying all spiritual attacks. Simultaneously, the Five-Colored Three-Legged Crow emerged behind him, unfurling iridescent wings to unleash five-colored flames that scorched the heavens and boiled the seas, deterring the oxen advance.
Spectators couldn’t perceive the Soul Domain’s internal struggle, only reading Gao Tianyu’s expressions for clues. The higher-realm cultivator had anticipated easy suppression of Cheng Lingyu, yet the result left him stunned.
“Now behold my ultimate move!”
The oxen vanished as a hundred-meter Giant materialized – Gao Tianyu’s Soul Domain Avatar. The colossal figure radiated green light, bearing Gao Tianyu’s likeness blended with oxen features.
“The Soul Domain Avatar,” Cheng Lingyu observed, “combines one’s form with martial soul traits. More tangible than spirits yet distinct from true flesh, it wields devastating combat power – especially within its native domain.”
The Giant’s green-wreathed foot descended with mountain-shattering force. Cheng Lingyu recalled his crow and summoned the Glowing Star Seven-Colored Source, manifesting a seven-layered octagonal pagoda that pierced the skies.
The crushing stomp sparked green explosions, yet the pagoda stood pristine, its glowing surface piercing the Giant’s foot instead. Enraged, the colossus unleashed earth-rending kicks while Cheng Lingyu sat serenely within his pagoda’s protection.
When the Giant tried uprooting the structure, the pagoda suddenly expanded, hurling the attacker backward. Cheng Lingyu then stood, his sanctuary dissolving into overlapping starfields. With effortless steps covering ten miles each, he exited the Soul Domain, leaving Gao Tianyu gaping.
Spectators stared bewildered at the unfathomably mystical starry sky behind Cheng Lingyu. “Soul Martial Sixth Realm proves insufficient against me. Try harder.”
As Cheng Lingyu stored his Youchen Nine Domains Orchid, the celestial display vanished. Gao Tianyu’s fiery gaze met Cheng Lingyu’s ethereal smile – present yet intangible.
“You… exceed all expectations,” Gao Tianyu admitted through gritted teeth. “No holds barred now – our final clash!”
Leaping skyward, Gao Tianyu shone with emerald radiance as oxen phantoms formed a nascent small world behind him. Cheng Lingyu tensed under mounting pressure.
“Spirit Communication – Soul Martial Unity!”
Gao Tianyu’s Dao-resonant voice shook creation. Nine oxen merged into his body, making him grow three inches taller with thickened limbs. Beneath him, whirling spiritual patterns siphoned ambient energy into a sustaining formation. An ox horn gleamed on his forehead, radiating psychic shockwaves.
At Seven-Level Soul Martial peak, practitioners fused spiritual and physical assaults. Gao Tianyu embodied this principle, marshaling ultimate force for a decisive strike.
Cheng Lingyu’s eyes mirrored swaying bamboos and glimmering tears as he ascended. Amber light spread from him, dimming daylight to twilight. Crescent sigils bloomed around him as spectators cried: “The moon emerges!”
Soon countless full moons filled the darkened sky. Moonbeams clothed Cheng Lingyu in solar brilliance beneath the Thousand Moons phenomenon – an unknown technique aweing all witnesses.
“Spirit Communication Strike approaches!” Gao Tianyu warned, aura blazing.
Cheng Lingyu whispered solemnly: “Thousand Moons in the Sky, severing mountains and rivers – the Thousand Moon Slash.”
Simultaneously, both combatants struck.