Chapter 903: The Soul Skill is Gone!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, Guo Chong, the Sect Leader of the Five Element Sect made his move. He lifted a hand as four Origin Stones that were glistening brightly shot out and landed on the four corners of the spacious high platform.
Almost instantly after the four Origin Stones landed, the entire high platform burst out in a gush of white fog and started to shroud the ten young talented people on the platform.
It was obvious that was an Inscription Formation.
Or more accurately, the Profound Assimilation Formation
Swish!
Almost instantly after the four Origin Stones had landed on the four corners of the spacious high platform, the Spiritual Energy that had accumulated in the mind of Duan Ling Tian, who was sitting cross-legged on that high platform, suddenly burst out.
In just a second, the Spiritual Energy extended out along the various materials that formed the Profound Assimilation Formation and merged with the Formation seamlessly, like a fish in water.
'Okay, done! Now, let's wait for the several hundreds of Concept Fragments… As long as these Fragments touch the Profound Assimilation Formation, it'll immediately be refined and transformed into Concept Energy. Generally, people who're in this formation will not absorb more than 1% of the Concept Energy. However, with the current opportunity that I have, along with the Rebirth Martial Emperor's understanding of the Profound Assimilation Formation, I can get around 10% of the Concept Energy to elevate my Concept comprehension!" This was exactly what Duan Ling Tian was aiming for.
It was not that he did not want to extract all the Concept Energy that was refined by the Profound Assimilation Formation, but he could not do it at all. 10% was the limit that he had estimated with his current Spiritual Energy. After all, his Spiritual Energy was only at the Eighth Level Void Interpretation. It was still quite weak in the face of the Profound Assimilation Formation.
The requirement to arrange a Profound Assimilation Formation was to have at least Spiritual Energy at the Martial Monarch Stage or above.
Just with his meager Spiritual Energy, it was already amazing that he was able to snatch 10% of the benefits under the nose of the Profound Assimilation Formation. All of this was thanks to the Rebirth Martial Emperor's thorough understanding of the Formation. Otherwise, let alone snatching the benefits under the nose of the Profound Assimilation Formation, just the act of merging his Spiritual Energy with the Formation was already almost impossible.
"Huh?" Duan Ling Tian who was waiting patiently suddenly seemed to have sensed something as his eyes narrowed immediately.
At the same time, he could clearly sense that a wave of unknown Spiritual Energy was rushing towards him without any warning from the inside of the Profound Assimilation Formation. It ascended along his outstretched Spiritual Energy as it charged back towards him, all the way to his soul!
"SHIT!" Duan Ling Tian's expression changed instantly. "There's a Rebound Formation hidden in the Profound Assimilation Formation! Damn it!"
The Rebound Formation was a passive defense-type nonrecurring Inscription Formation. It was usually hidden inside a formation. It was a formation inside a formation.
Normally, this Rebound Formation would not have any movement. However, once an Inscription Master's Spiritual Energy had merged with an Inscription Formation that contained a Rebound Formation, this Rebound Formation would immediately be triggered and become something like a mirror. The Inscription Master's Spiritual Energy would be replicated and reverted back to him all the way to his soul and hurt his soul.
Naturally, the condition was the Spiritual Energy of the Inscription Master who left behind the Rebound Formation must be stronger than the intruder's Spiritual Energy. Otherwise, the Rebound Formation would not be triggered at all.
At this moment, Duan Ling Tian was faced with an attack by the Spiritual Energy that was equally as strong as his own Spiritual Energy.
That wave of Spiritual Energy charged all the way towards the soul that was in the depth of his mind.
Although this level of Spiritual Energy was not enough to destroy Duan Ling Tian's soul completely, it could still inflict a heavy damage on his soul.
Wham!
The Spiritual Energy was very fast. Just as Duan Ling Tian figured out what was going on, it had already crashed on his soul viciously. It was as if it wanted to smash and break his soul completely.
Without any warning, Duan Ling Tian's soul quivered for a moment. It made Duan Ling Tian lightheaded immediately and he was barely conscious. It was to the point that he almost unconsciously retrieved the Spiritual Energy that had already merged with the Profound Assimilation Formation. Fortunately, Duan Ling Tian was able to respond in a timely manner and took back control of his Spiritual Energy. He managed to stop it from leaving the Profound Assimilation Formation.
Everything that he had prepared and done today would become useless if the Spiritual Energy left the already-activated Profound Assimilation Formation.
That was not something he wanted to see.
"Eh?" Just as Duan Ling Tian thought his soul would suffer a certain amount of injury, he discovered that his soul was completely safe and sound. The Spiritual Energy that had come crashing towards him earlier had also disappeared without a trace.
"What's going on?" Perplexed, Duan Ling Tian instinctively used another wave of Spiritual Energy to perform a check on his soul.
After Duan Ling Tian checked his soul, he was so shaken that his heart almost stopped beating from fear.
"T-The Soul… Soul Brand is g-gone?!" Duan Ling Tian was stunned. He was completely bewildered!
The Soul Brand that was in the depth of his soul — which was also the foundation for his Soul Skill Thousand Illusions — had completely disappeared from his soul.
Without the Soul Brand, he could no longer use the Soul Skill Thousand Illusions anymore!
'T-That Spiritual Energy! It must have destroyed m-my Soul Brand! I-It's also because the Soul Brand blocked that Spiritual Energy that my soul's still safe and sound,' Duan Ling Tian easily figured this out.
However, it meant that he no longer possessed the Soul Skill Thousand Illusions without the Soul Brand.
In the future, he could no longer use his Soul Skill Thousand Illusions to confront his enemy, and he could no longer create that mysterious Illusory Space and wrap his opponents around his little fingers.
At this moment, Duan Ling Tian was extremely upset and very heartbroken.
The Soul Skill Thousand Illusions had accompanied him for a very long time.
All this while, it had saved him from many crises and had given him the ability to defeat the strong. It allowed him to defeat many martial artists who were way stronger than he was.
However, at this moment, the Soul Skill Thousand Illusion was no longer there. It had left him for good.
"Huh?" Suddenly, Duan Ling Tian's Spiritual Energy quivered for a second and startled him. In an instance, the fact that his Soul Brand was destroyed, and the Soul Skill Thousand Illusions had disappeared along with it was temporarily placed at the back of his mind.
At the same time, he could clearly feel the originally serene Profound Assimilation Formation had become agitated.
Needless to say, he could guess the reason why the Profound Assimilation Formation started to become agitated.
Guo Chong, the Sect Leader of the Five Element Sect, was finally going to throw several hundreds of Concept Fragments into the Profound Assimilation Formation.
'I can't change the fact that my Soul Brand and Soul Skill Thousand Illusion are already gone… What I need to do now is to seize this opportunity and make my four Concepts soar up to the top!' Duan Ling Tian quickly adjusted his feelings as he looked forward to the arrival of the several hundreds of Concept Fragments.
He knew very well that without the Soul Brand and the Soul Skill Thousand Illusions, he was nothing in front of the group of Five Element Sect young talented people, let alone the Nangong Twins from Gold Peak.
Even Hu Fei from Fire Peak could crush him easily.
Hu Fei was at the Seventh Level Void Interpretation, with a comprehension of the Seventh Level Intermediate Fire Concept.
As for himself?
Seventh Level Void Interpretation with a comprehension of Third Level Intermediate Wind Concept. The rest of the three Elementary Concepts added up together did not even exceed the strength of ten ancient horned dragons.
How could he compare with Hu Fei then?
Even if he used the Quasi Royal Grade Spirit Sword, he was still not a match for Hu Fei.
Although he was unwilling to admit this, there was no other option for him other than to admit it.
Without the Soul Skill Thousand Illusions, to a certain extent, he was merely a useless waste who had a cultivation base yet weak in strength. For this reason, he had to seize this opportunity this time!
If he did not seize the opportunity this time, he would definitely be stepped on by Hu Fei!
Was he willing to be stepped on by Hu Fei?
Of course not!
'This time, I must utilize the Profound Assimilation Formation to gain strength that would allow me to defeat Hu Fei and that Nangong Twins without the help of Soul Skill Thousand Illusions!' Duan Ling Tian's heart was full of longing and endless desire.
Duan Ling Tian's movements were completely shrouded by the Profound Assimilation Formation that had transformed into a blanket of fog. All of the Peak Masters in the Five Element Sect did not notice anything at all.
At this moment, Guo Chong, the Sect Leader of the Five Element Sect, who was also the Peak Master of Gold Peak, was standing before the high platform.
In the space in front of him, several hundreds of Concept Fragments were hovering in the air like it was being held up by an invisible force for a long time without moving at all.
Among these Concept Fragments, there were green, red, blue, purple and khaki colors.
The five colors of the Fragments represented the five Concepts of Nature: Wind, Fire, Water, Thunder, and Earth respectively. They were the Fragments that corresponded to Five different Concepts.
Of course, other than these five colored Concept Fragments, there were another two Concept Fragments that were emanating a powerful aura.
Subtle light could be seen gleaming on the surface of these two different Concept Fragments.
A part of the light solidified into a sword while the other solidified into a saber. They were the Sword and Saber Concept Fragments.
However, the Sword and Saber Concept Fragments were much fewer in number when compared to the Fragments of the five Nature Concepts, Wind, Fire, Water, Thunder, and Earth.
"Do any of you have the Concept Fragments of Sword and Saber? I remember that the Fifth Level Void Interpretation disciple from Fire Peak comprehends the Sword Concept, and the Fifth Level Void Interpretation disciple from Earth Peak comprehends the Saber Concept," Guo Chong asked slowly as he looked at the other four Peak Masters.
From his words, it was obvious that he found the amount of Sword and Saber Concept Fragments to be too little.
"I have 23 Sword Concept Fragments. The lowest grade I have is at Level 1, and the highest is at Level 4," Cha Bai, the Peak Master of Fire Peak, lifted his hand up and took out 23 pieces of Sword Concept Fragments.
"I also have 21 Saber Concept Fragments with me," Tian Gu, the Peak Master of Earth Peak, also took out 21 pieces of Saber Concept Fragments.
As for Qi Yu and Tan Huan, the Peak Masters of Wood and Water respectively, they did not show any sign of actions at all.
The Peaks in the Five Element Sect were originally in a competitive relationship. Naturally, they would not prepare any 'dowry' for the other sect disciples.
Moreover, whether it was Cha Bai or Tian Gu, the Concept Fragments that they took out were actually both beneficial to their own disciples. If they were asked to produce other Concept Fragments, they would certainly be unwilling as well.
"It's about time now." After Guo Chong took the Sword and Saber Concept Fragments from Cha Bai and Tian Gu, he put them together with the several hundreds of Concept Fragments that were in front of him. Without any warning, his eyes brightened up instantly.