"Undead!" Enrak’s ever-still face contorted for the first time, a twitch at the corner of his eye like the roar of a thousand battle-blades, ready to enter genuine combat at any moment.
Enrak’s expression shifted, quickly returning to its initial calm: “Wait, kid! What did you just say? Someone implanted their broken Battle Soul into your body? And said they were giving you a gift? Then how are you still alive?”
Qian Jin pursed his lips bitterly.
“Do you possess the Iron Mantis Bloodline? Impossible! You are a warrior who hasn’t awakened any power; that much is absolutely certain.” Enrak suddenly slapped his forehead: “Right! Your Battle Qi! Yes! It’s your Battle Qi; I once said the person who created this Battle Qi was a genius!”
Battle Qi? Wind and Cloud Battle Qi? Qian Jin’s mind also lit up. Since the Wind and Cloud Battle Qi could simulate bloodline power techniques, then… could it be…
“If it were only your Battle Qi, it wouldn’t be enough. You seem to have also inherited their Soul Battle Method, right?”
Qian Jin nodded. Advance, advance, advance! The combat conviction of never retreating, the emotion resonating from the depths of his soul—that truly came from the long-vanished Iron Mantis Bloodline family.
Although the journey through the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea and the events beyond the frontier had made his combat conviction even more profound, making him always want to drag the stars in the sky into battle with every move, the combat conviction of the Iron Mantis Bloodline still persisted, and it would never change.
“Exactly! It must be so! The combined effect of your Soul Battle Method and your Battle Qi allowed you to accept his damaged Battle Soul, even though you are not of the same bloodline and his body was already starting to decline.”
Enrak grew more excited the more he thought about it: “Precisely because your combat conviction and will are the same, precisely because your Battle Qi possesses exceptional tolerance, precisely because you know their bloodline Battle Techniques, and precisely because he himself recognized you completely—all these factors combined allowed his broken Battle Soul to be passed on to you.”
“You could say his spirit has been resurrected within you.” Enrak repeatedly patted his head: “And because of this interconnection between the Battle Hearts inside you, you have been unable to condense a Battle Soul for a long time. Instead, because the accumulation became too thick, it was forced to transform into a Drill Battle, thus giving rise to the nascent form of a Soul Domain.”
“Battle Hearts connected? What does that mean?” Qian Jin looked at Enrak curiously: “Uncle, I’ve always felt that my First Golden Battle Heart should have successfully nurtured a Battle Soul, but for some reason, it just can’t break through the stage of being a Golden Battle Heart.”
“Naturally so.” Enrak looked at Qian Jin with an expression of 'it goes without saying': “From the day you learned the Iron-Forging Breathing Method, it was destined that you would encounter something like this. Kid, do you think these three Battle Hearts are still separate entities? Haven’t you felt that they actually have a significant connection? Think about it—when you encounter danger, do they not automatically join forces to protect you?”
Images flashed through Qian Jin’s mind: the despicable sneak attack by Qian Zhanxuan that locked down his Battle Qi, which was helped by the Iron-Forging Breathing Method; and many other times afterward, he saw the shadow of the other two Battle Hearts.
“That’s right! They have too many links between them, so…” Enrak sighed: “Originally, for your First Golden Battle Heart to condense its Battle Soul, you only needed to meet the conditions of the First Golden Battle Heart. But now it’s different; they have too many connections with each other. You need to satisfy the conditions for all three Battle Hearts before you can condense a Battle Soul.”
“The full conditions of the three Battle Hearts?” Qian Jin stared blankly at Enrak: “Uncle, Master Black once said the Heart of Earth Fire requires the unity of four fires, but Master Black never told me what the final fire is. Where am I supposed to find it?”
“That, I cannot help you with.” Enrak shook his head like a drumbeat: “I truly cannot tell you about that one fire. Kid, you must remember, a complete life encounters many things; that is what constitutes a complete life.”
Qian Jin looked at Enrak in confusion, yet he knew this uncle absolutely would not reveal what Master Black’s so-called Fourth Fire was, even though this uncle clearly knew what the Fourth Fire was.
“Kid, I can only tell you that the Fourth Fire is a very tragic fire.” Enrak sighed: “Frankly, from the standpoint of a warrior, I hope you can obtain this fire. But from the perspective of a Master, an elder, kid, I truly hope you never obtain this fire.”
Similar words had once come from the mouth of Uncle Black, and now they appeared again from Uncle Enrak’s mouth. Qian Jin grew even more eager to know where that tragic spark of fire was so he could acquire it.
“Alright, kid! Congratulations on obtaining the nascent form of the Soul Domain ahead of schedule.” Enrak clapped Qian Jin on the shoulder: “You can scram now and go find Uncle Black. You still need to practice your Eighteen Peak-Ascending Hammers…”
“Before I go, I still want a match with you, Uncle.” Qian Jin scratched the back of his head: “Since I’m already here, I still want to try.”
“Very well!” Enrak’s body swayed slightly, and the Thousand Army Battle Technique reappeared, with warriors resembling Enrak rapidly multiplying and surrounding Qian Jin.
Super Void Soul enters the body! Super Void Soul enters the body again! Splitting Gold Continuous Slash! Violent Soul Domain grant me enhancement!
Qian Jin’s body flickered, appearing before one of the Enraks. He raised a palm and brought it down from the air. The massive Splitting Gold Continuous Slash Battle Seal light emanating from his Battle Heart exploded, the law power of the Violent Soul Domain pouring into the Splitting Gold Continuous Slash Battle Seal.
The Thousand Army clones of Enrak raised their arms to meet Qian Jin’s Splitting Gold Continuous Slash. In an instant, the skin on the arms of the Enrak clone rapidly tore, as if thousands of battle-blades were slicing his flesh.
The next moment, the clone’s bones were completely shattered, its two arms exploding into powder in the air!
The ferocious countenance of the Splitting Gold Continuous Slash finally revealed its savage fangs under the enhancement of the Violent Soul Domain.
“Holy hell!” The main body of Enrak, sitting on the ground, jumped up in shock: “Such a powerful Violent Soul Domain combined with Splitting Gold Continuous Slash? Your Splitting Gold Continuous Slash is excessively strong, isn't it?”
“Water Severing, Drying Out.” Qian Jin met the punch from an Enrak clone behind his back while hardening his Silver Body stage of the Wind and Cloud Golden Body. He spun around and thrust forward like a spear entering the sea, parting all the air. The attacker crossed his arms to form a defense, trying to block.
“Violent Soul Domain!”
With another loud roar, the power of Water Severing, Drying Out erupted instantly, piercing through the defense. His arm passed through the opponent’s arm, abdomen, and lower back, throwing the enemy into the air.
“Holy hell!” Enrak waved his hands: “Soul Domain Realm! Attack!”
“Sea Severing! Violent Soul Domain!”
Qian Jin spun back and unleashed a mid-air slash. His Battle Qi transformed into blade edges that sliced through the air, instantly shattering the bodies of the three foremost Soul Domain level Enraks.
The power of the Sea Severing strike far exceeded the realm Qian Jin could imagine! Although these three Soul Domain Realm figures were not top-tier Battle Souls, destroying Enrak’s Soul Domain Realm clones with a strike from a distance was an indescribably satisfying feeling.
“Are you having fun, kid?” Enrak smiled again and sat back down on the ground. A wave of dizziness washed over Qian Jin’s mind, a feeling akin to exhaustion after intense exertion.
“If you had the complete Violent Soul Domain, you could have lasted longer. Did you think your nascent Violent Soul Domain came without side effects? Are you fatigued?”
Fatigue? Yes! Qian Jin even felt an urge to sleep; his weariness was beyond ordinary exhaustion.
“You’ve just acquired the nascent Soul Domain and haven’t adapted yet, right?” Enrak’s Thousand Army clones swarmed in from all directions, densely surrounding every pocket of space.
“Ten Thousand Shadows! Ground Breaking Slash! Violent Soul Domain!”
A burst of Battle Qi forcefully tore open a gap. Qian Jin’s body shot out of the encirclement like lightning, slamming heavily onto the ground outside the room, rolling several times before stopping.
“Interesting.” Enrak sat cross-legged on the floor and laughed: “I thought you could only use the Violent Soul Domain three times initially, but you managed four.”
Qian Jin curled up on the ground, waves of dizziness washing over him, his body convulsing with uncontrollable pain. Although the Violent Soul Domain allowed for explosive power and the frantic exertion of the Battle Vessels and Apertures, the resulting pain and suffering could not be avoided.
“Without the body of an Entry Saint expert, using a Soul Domain—you think you look impressive, right? You can’t skip out on the suffering.” Enrak waved his hand and the door slowly closed, his lips twitching repeatedly: “This little monster, after acquiring the Drill Battle, has actually become this formidable.”
The body of an Entry Saint? Qian Jin braced himself with his hands on his knees, staggering to his feet. He looked at the closing door, deep in thought about what it felt like to reach the Entry Saint realm. Although he had helped two warriors achieve sainthood, he had completely forgotten to ask them what the sensation of entering sainthood was like—what he should pay attention to.
Qian Jin walked into Master Black’s smithy. The old blacksmith’s composure was far superior to Uncle Enrak’s. Upon seeing Qian Jin deliberately release the Drill Battle, he showed no excessive surprise, merely causing the tobacco in his pipe bowl to burn intensely for a moment—a sign that he had acknowledged it—before continuing to demand forging progress.
The learning speed for the Fifth Hammer of the Eighteen Peak-Ascending Hammers, thought to be influenced by the appearance of the Drill Battle, was significantly faster than before.
“Enough, go take a bath and recover.” Black’s simple instruction interrupted Qian Jin’s continued study of forging.
“Oh.” Qian Jin agreed and entered the hot spring in the backyard. His entire body and spirit immediately received immense relaxation. The dizziness and brain fog brought on by the Drill Battle vanished instantly, and his body reached its peak state.
“Player Qian Jin, game time has arrived…”
Qian Jin’s vision went black. Stretching lazily, he climbed out of bed, feeling the faint, flowing, incomplete nascent Soul Domain power within his Third Battle Heart. Even just a trace of Soul Domain power was terrifyingly potent; what would a complete Soul Domain be like?