Chapter 624 - Soul Power (Patreon)

What had struck Vikir just now was Leyvi’s powerful spiritual pressure, directed upward with precise control. Over the years, he had mastered the ability to release his spiritual pressure freely in any direction. In the past, it had mostly been directed downward simply because that felt more natural.

Leyvi was not surprised in the slightest that he could now defeat a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator using only his spiritual pressure. His mental power had truly grown to an incredible degree during the past decade.

This was also the reason he felt there was a real chance he could go against General Level Demonic Beasts.

“Daddy is the strongest! Daddy is the best!” one excited voice suddenly broke the silence.

Leyana and Leyina quickly followed Leywini’s lead and began cheering for their father as well.

In truth, the children had not seen much of the actual fight. The constant flashes of light and the sudden end of the match had made it difficult to follow. That did not matter to them at all. The only thing they cared about was that their father had won.

Leylin, on the other hand, remained quiet as he admired his father. What impressed him the most was the fact that his father had defeated such a powerful opponent without ever moving from his original spot. How cool was that?

Leyvi immediately waved toward his excited daughters. Their faces were flushed red from the excitement, even Leywini with her darker skin. He could tell they were getting a little too worked up.

The crowd also began to stir, voices rising as people discussed what they had just witnessed and tried to figure out Leyvi’s identity. How was it that no one seemed to know who this person was?

“See? I told you he would win easily,” Anda said to Jade with a proud smile.

“Your husband is really something. I haven’t seen a spiritual pressure that strong in a long time, especially considering how large an area it covered,” Jade praised.

Comparing the Leyvi she had just witnessed with the reports from a decade ago felt almost unreal. The scale of his power-up was simply massive.

A decade might feel long to a mortal, but for cultivators, especially those at higher levels, it was not truly that much time. For someone’s fighting power to make such a massive leap within only ten years was simply unbelievable.

“How is it, Sister Jade? My husband has great potential, right? Why don’t you join our family? He can give you cute children,” Anda said, switching into her usual agenda mode without the slightest delay.

“Hehe. I’m not opposed to the idea, but that’s not going to work, Anda. I already told you the proper way to get me,” Jade chuckled. It was impossible to tell whether she was speaking seriously or not.

Anda pouted. That was easier said than done. There was no way she could make Leyvi court Jade of his own free will. If only she could disguise herself as Leyvi perfectly and do the courting in his place.

A short while later, the announcer informed Leyvi that he could now go collect his winning money.

Before leaving the arena, Leyvi noticed a Soul Formation Realm cultivator attending to Vikir and treating his injuries with healing techniques.

Healing elixirs worked reasonably well up to the Core Formation Realm, though the results still varied from person to person depending on their physical constitution.

Once a cultivator reached the Nascent Soul Realm, however, even the highest-grade major healing elixirs lost most of their effectiveness. The reason was simple.

Forming a Nascent Soul fundamentally elevated the nature of a person’s Qi. That superior Qi then reshaped the body itself, changing its very makeup so that ordinary healing elixirs were no longer compatible with it.

The key difference was that Qi at the Nascent Soul stage naturally carried soul power, the direct result of having formed a soul.

Because the Qi now contained the user’s own will, it became far easier to control and shape. This allowed techniques to be performed on a much larger scale and at greater distances, and it also made more complex or unusual techniques possible.

In some ways, mental power and soul power were similar. Soul power was essentially the transformed form of mental power that resulted from the merging of the Sea of Consciousness and the Qi Core.

For the most part, however, it had become something completely different in nature and capability.

Soul power possessed the unique ability to invade, permeate, influence, and cause permanent changes to both living beings and non-living objects, whether the process happened in an instant or slowly over a long period of time. Mental power simply could not achieve this kind of lasting integration.

This was the reason certain treasures sometimes chose their own owners. The soul power of a previous user had gradually permeated the item over many years, leaving behind traces of that person’s will, preferences, and even combat habits. Eventually, the treasure itself began to recognize a compatible new master who matched those lingering imprints.

Soul power could also leave lasting marks on the environment. A cultivator who trained in the same place for centuries might subtly alter the nature of that area, making it more suitable for their own techniques.

In the same way, a weapon used for a lifetime could develop faint instincts of its own, reacting faster in the hands of someone whose fighting style resembled the previous owner’s.

The same principle allowed a powerful soul to invade and possess another person, forcibly taking over a different body and making it their own. 

The closest mental power could do something similar was implanting a spiritual imprint to forcefully control an individual. Even that, however, was still not the same as possession.

Leyvi recalled Anda mentioning that healing products specifically made for Nascent Soul Realm cultivators and above did exist, but the ingredients required to refine them were extremely difficult to obtain.

Because of that rarity, anyone who possessed such a product would only use it when their physical body was truly on the verge of being lost, and no skilled healer was available.

No one wanted to lose their physical body if they could avoid it, even if their Nascent Soul could survive on its own. Rebuilding a body from scratch was many times more difficult and complex than most people imagined.

Take Fantylia back home as an example. Even with the Leyan Family’s current wealth, Leyvi still would not be able to help her reform her body if he wanted to.

In Vikir’s case, he probably only suffered some minor broken bones and internal bleeding that a skilled healer could easily treat. Any further damage from Leyvi’s attack had been completely prevented by the arena’s fast-acting formation.

Without waiting for Vikir to recover, Leyvi leaned the spear against the wall and left the arena floor.

He quickly collected his reward from the counter and returned to his family. He had no intention of fighting again. Showing his strength once for the children was enough.

Several people tried to approach and speak with him for obvious reasons, but he simply ignored them all.

As expected, the reverence in his children’s eyes could not be hidden. Leywini, Leyana, and Leyina kept staring up at him with sparkling, almost worshipful gazes, their earlier excitement still written clearly across their faces. Even Leylin, who was usually more reserved, looked at his father with quiet, deep admiration. Leyvi had clearly scored an enormous amount of respect points from all four of them, and that was the only attention he truly cared about.

“Then Daddy, can you beat a Soul Formation Realm expert next? I heard that realm is stronger, but Daddy should be able to do it, right?” Leywini asked with a mischievous smile.

Leyvi chuckled and gently pinched her cheek. “I told you I’m only doing this once. And remember this for the future, Wini. You should never show off all of your cards for others to see. If your opponent knows exactly what you can do, they will start thinking of ways to counter it. That kind of disadvantage is something you never want to give them. Always keep a few hidden strengths for when you really need them.”

He already knew that after this fight, many people would begin searching for special glasses and goggles that allowed the wearer to see spiritual sense. 

At the very least, Vikir would definitely buy one. Leyvi had no doubt about that. If Vikir had been able to see his spiritual sense during the match, the fight would not have ended so quickly or so one-sidedly.

After all, Leyvi had to admit that Vikir’s pure speed was something he currently could not match.

“Then does that mean Daddy is still hiding a lot of secret power? Show Wini! Show Wini! Wini wants to see!” Her excitement gushed out without any restraint.

Leyvi was left speechless. Did she listen to a single word I just said?

Anda and Jade could not help laughing at the exchange.

After watching a few more matches, they left the fighting arena in good spirits. The children, however, commented that none of the other fights had been as exciting as their father’s.

That was only to be expected. The remaining matches were all between Core Formation Realm cultivators.

Just as they were heading toward the next destination on their list, Jade suddenly informed Leyvi that there had been a new finding regarding the extinction event case. All the Protectors, including him, were being asked to return to the headquarters.

Only a few moments after Jade spoke, Leyvi also received a direct notification from Gandolf.

Leyvi let out a quiet sigh. It seemed this was where his pleasant time with the children had to end for now.

He hoped that whatever the Protectors had discovered would be enough to prevent the Red Eye Craze phenomenon from escalating into a true catastrophe.

Yet something in his heart told him it would not be as simple as he wished.