My Love Life With The Sect Masters in Xianxia (Patreon)

Chapter 137: Devouring the Black Mist

The world darkened as ominous clouds loomed overhead.

A deep, swirling vortex spun rapidly in the sky, connecting heaven and earth. Streaks of lightning crashed down, splitting the ground apart.

The air trembled with Gan Ye’s agonized, soul-wrenching screams.

Bai Jiangye and Lin Langyue stood frozen, their minds blank.

For a long while, neither of them could utter a single word.

"What kind of technique is this…?" Bai Jiangye murmured.

If Li Ran’s mastery of Buddhism, Daoism, and Martial Arts could be explained by extraordinary talent, then how could one possibly explain him summoning a Dharma Form at the Nascent Soul Realm and using it to crush a Soul Division cultivator’s Dharma Form?

And now, this scene before them—

He was communicating with the heavens to summon divine thunder?

Was this something a Nascent Soul cultivator should be capable of?!

Bai Jiangye had known Li Ran was strong.

But he had never imagined this level of strength!

Lin Langyue muttered, "I’ve seen this lightning curse before. Back then, I was defeated by this very divine thunder."

Bai Jiangye turned to her in shock.

"You survived this attack?"

He gave her a thumbs-up in genuine admiration.

"Lin Langyue, you’re far stronger than I thought!"

Lin Langyue, however, felt nothing but bitterness in her heart.

Now that she was witnessing the true power of this divine thunder, she finally realized—

Back then, Li Ran hadn’t even been fighting at full strength.

The power he had used against her wasn’t even thirty percent of what she was seeing now.

Had he gone all out, she would never have merely escaped with serious injuries— She would have been utterly annihilated!

Bai Jiangye shook his head.

"I knew he could fight beyond his cultivation level, but this is an entire major realm we’re talking about. I thought he’d at least have to pay a heavy price for this battle…"

"But instead, he just crushed Gan Ye completely."

Crossing from Golden Core to Nascent Soul was already an enormous leap.

But stepping from Nascent Soul to Soul Division was on an entirely different level—the gap was immeasurable!

Yet Li Ran had obliterated that difference with ease.

There was only one way to describe his power—

Terrifying.

Bai Jiangye turned to Lin Langyue and gave her some "friendly advice."

"I’ll tell you this now—forget about revenge. Completely.”

“The only reason you’re still alive is because he chose not to kill you. You should be grateful for that mercy."

Lin Langyue averted her gaze.

Ever since the battle against the Beast Tide, she had already given up on the idea of revenge.

Li Ran was like a towering, insurmountable mountain—so high that it crushed any desire to challenge him.

Besides… her view of him had started to change.

Perhaps… he wasn’t as terrifying as she had once imagined.

Meanwhile, Gan Ye’s struggle was growing weaker.

Seeing this, Bai Jiangye silently took a few steps backward.

Lin Langyue blinked.

"What are you doing…?"

"I’m going to run."

Bai Jiangye’s face was completely serious.

"Look, I didn’t fight against you earlier, right? So when you see Li Ran, please put in a good word for me! I’m begging you!"

With that, he even bowed deeply in gratitude.

Lin Langyue: "…"

Was this really the infamous White Butcher of Slaughter, known for slaughtering countless foes?

Why was he so eager to run away?!

But…

She hated Gan Ye.

If not for worrying about interfering with Li Ran’s battle, she would never have agreed to work alongside Bai Jiangye in the first place.

After a moment of thought, she said,

"I might help you… but only if you tell me why Gan Ye is here in the first place.”

Bai Jiangye shook his head.

"Gan Ye is extremely cautious. I don’t know exactly what he’s up to."

"But I do know that he’s trying to refine a corpse puppet to help himself break through."

"Corpse Puppet?"

Lin Langyue frowned slightly.

Meanwhile—

Gan Ye was barely holding on within the raging divine thunder.

The Golden Light Thunderous Wrath was simply too powerful!

Even when Li Ran was just at the Golden Core, he had already been able to leap ranks and slay a powerful demon.

But now—

Now, he was wielding the full Nascent Soul Realm’s vast spiritual energy to summon heaven’s wrath!

The heavenly calamity was even more terrifying than before.

And divine thunder naturally countered all forms of evil and corruption.

The Soul-Devouring Black Mist was instantly scattered into nothingness.

Gan Ye’s body was rapidly disintegrating under the relentless heavenly punishment!

He could hardly believe it.

He, a mighty Soul Division cultivator, was going to fall at the hands of a mere Nascent Soul?

And worse—he was losing so completely?!

His voice was filled with endless rage and unwillingness.

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!!"

Gan Ye clenched his teeth, his eyes burning with hatred as he stared through the raging lightning at Li Ran.

“You want to kill me? A Soul Division cultivator’s soul is incredibly resilient! I won’t die that easily!”

“You ruined my plans, destroyed my body—”

“Li Ran, I swear—I will kill you!”

His body was already on the verge of collapse.

There was no time left to hesitate.

With ruthless determination, he activated the Great Disintegration Technique, wrapping his remaining soul in the last traces of his spiritual energy and fleeing from the lightning.

Silently, like a shadow, he shot towards the nearby waterfall—disappearing into the cascading water.

No one saw him escape.

A moment later, the divine thunder finally dissipated.

The battlefield was left with only a charred crater where Gan Ye had once stood. His physical body had been completely annihilated, leaving only a faint, burnt smell lingering in the air.

Li Ran landed on the ground, his face slightly pale.

Even with his vast reserves of spiritual energy, after such an intense battle, he was nearly drained.

Lin Langyue approached, handing him all the recovery pills she had.

“Is Gan Ye… really dead?”

She still found it hard to believe.

That was a Soul Division expert!

Li Ran frowned. Something felt off.

“Logically, he should be dead, but…”

At that moment, he noticed a cluster of black mist writhing on the ground.

It was the Soul-Devouring Black Mist Gan Ye had used earlier.

Though the divine thunder had purged it from Gan Ye, it hadn’t been completely destroyed.

Li Ran activated Heaven-Seizing Art, wrapping his fingers in spiritual energy as he cautiously reached toward the mist.

The moment he touched it—

The mist suddenly expanded like a net, lunging at him like a predator!

It had sentience—and it was trying to devour him!

But the golden radiance of his Heaven-Seizing Art flared.

With an ear-piercing wail, the mist was instantly obliterated!

Thin streams of black energy were absorbed into Li Ran’s body.

In that instant, a wave of clarity surged through his mind.

His spiritual sense sharpened dramatically—his perception increasing by several folds!

‘What is this…?’

He quickly inspected his own body.

The black energy had been completely absorbed by the miniature figure in his dantian.

And now, that tiny figure had become even more crystalline and radiant.

Most shocking of all—

His soul had grown more than twice its original strength!

‘The Soul-Devouring Black Mist can erode souls… but after being refined by the Heaven-Seizing Art, it actually nourished mine instead?’

Even Li Ran was surprised.

Under the relentless tempering of his Heaven-Seizing Art, his soul was already exceptionally resilient.

Now, with the added nourishment from the black energy…

He had no idea how strong his soul had become.

But one thing was certain—

This was far beyond the level a Nascent Soul cultivator should possess!

He focused his spiritual sense into the tiny figure within him.

Immediately, his expanded awareness swept across the surroundings.

Not a single movement escaped his perception.

Then—

His eyes snapped open, locking onto the waterfall.

A cold smile curled on his lips.

“So that’s where you’re hiding.”