Chapter 473: Nourished by the Witch Soul, Cultivation Soars

Unexpectedly, this fellow was driven away by Master Zhang but still refused to give up, wanting to possess someone else. Luo Zhu's face turned pale.

"Possession?"

Everyone was stunned.

A soul is formless and intangible; once it left the body, no one noticed where it went.

"That's right. When I was possessed, it started with a sneeze. This fellow must have entered his body..."

Luo Zhu quickly pointed at the fat man.

"Me?"

The fat man was naturally Sun Qiang. He was watching his young master display his might and expel the soul when the old man pointed at him. He stood frozen, blinking innocently. "I'm possessed?"

Shouldn't possession involve a struggle for the body? How was he perfectly fine, without any sensation?

"This fellow is extremely cunning. He must have known that if he forcefully seized the body, Master Zhang would expel him, so... he entered your body and hid!"

Luo Zhu said.

Having been possessed himself, he knew quite a bit about the methods of witch soul masters.

"Hiding?" Sun Qiang scratched his head.

"That's right. The human body is large; once hidden, it's impossible to find..." Luo Zhu was anxious.

If a soul truly wanted to hide, it could conceal itself anywhere in the flesh, and even the most powerful person would be unaware. This meant the fat man was carrying a time bomb, ready to be possessed at any moment!

He had helped expel the evil spirit, but ended up harming someone else. Luo Zhu was filled with guilt.

"If that's the case, it's troublesome..."

Sai Gezhu clenched his fists as well.

According to what he had read, if a possessing soul acted and forcibly seized control of the body, it could be detected. But if it kept hiding, using the body's energy to nourish itself like a parasite, that was a real problem.

Because if it didn't seize control and just stayed quietly, it was like a disease that hadn't manifested yet. Without symptoms, even the most skilled physician couldn't treat it!

"Hiding? Quite bold!"

Zhang Xuan snorted.

He hadn't expected that after being driven away, this fellow would still dare to possess Sun Qiang. If he had known, he would have surged his true energy and annihilated its soul.

But it wasn't a problem for him. For others, even a七星 master skilled in souls would find it difficult to locate a hidden soul within a human body, but he was different.

With the Heaven's Path Library, any flaw could be found. A mere soul, no matter how well hidden, was useless.

"Sun Qiang, perform a set of fist techniques!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Yes!"

Sun Qiang nodded, flipped his wrist, and his fists whistled through the air.

Seeing his fist techniques, Jin Conghai, Sai Gezhu, and the others all twitched their mouths.

A dignified Grandmaster realm expert was actually using a mortal-grade low-level martial technique, with crude and unbearable moves.

Such a technique, in the Ten Nations Alliance, even a five-year-old child could casually perform several sets. This guy actually used it... the thought was intoxicating.

"I've been focusing on cultivation techniques lately and haven't studied martial techniques..."

Seeing everyone's expressions, Sun Qiang felt a bit awkward, knowing what they were thinking.

During this time, his strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, but he hadn't practiced any martial techniques. The ones he knew were still from his time in the Tianxuan Kingdom.

Such techniques from a backwater kingdom naturally amounted to nothing in the eyes of the great experts of the Ten Nations Alliance.

Using techniques of this level, coupled with his somewhat unstable cultivation, he could be knocked over with a single finger countless times. Jin Conghai and Gu Mu felt a bit embarrassed that they had been fooled by this guy at the Poison Hall of the Xuan Yuan Kingdom.

"Enough!"

Ignoring their expressions, Zhang Xuan had already located where the soul was hiding by observing the techniques. He took out another silver needle and shot it straight.

Pfft!

The silver needle entered Sun Qiang's body, and immediately a piercing screech came from within.

"You... how do you know I'm here..."

Then a frantic soul fluctuation followed, like a voice sounding in everyone's ears.

Clearly, the fellow who had possessed Luo Zhu hadn't expected to be discovered despite hiding so covertly.

"Come out, and I won't kill you!"

True energy rolled on the silver needle as Zhang Xuan snorted.

"Come out? Hmph! Since you want me dead, let's die together! This guy is only at the Grandmaster realm. I couldn't devour Luo Zhu, but devouring him is easy. I can crush his soul instantly. Even if you kill me, all you'll get is a corpse!"

The soul's frantic will transmitted.

"Don't harm the innocent..." Luo Zhu rushed forward.

When he had been locked in a stalemate with the soul, he had barely held on. This guy was only at the Grandmaster realm; if the soul wanted to possess him, it could do so effortlessly, devouring his soul cleanly in an instant, leaving nothing.

"Begging me now is too late..."

The soul roared madly, and a powerful aura suddenly enveloped Sun Qiang, charging straight toward his sea of consciousness, seemingly intent on devouring him completely.

"Death is death anyway. Kill one and I profit, kill two and I break even. After killing him, I'll devour others. I'm formless, you can't catch me, what can you do... Haha, ah? What the hell? Ah... help..."

The will roared wildly, full of triumph, ready to devour Sun Qiang in one go, when suddenly a terrified cry rang out.

Then everyone felt the previously arrogant, powerful soul aura burst like a balloon thrown into a frying pan.

"What... happened?"

Luo Zhu stood frozen.

Sai Gezhu and the others also widened their eyes.

Just now, the soul's killing intent was resolute, with no reservation, yet in an instant it was screaming in agony, as if seeing a ghost?

Had Master Zhang used some method?

They quickly turned to look, and saw Master Zhang also looking puzzled, as if he didn't understand what had happened.

They looked again at Sun Qiang not far away, who had his eyes wide open, hands spread, looking innocent: "I really didn't want to kill him..."

Boom!

Before he finished speaking, they felt the fat man, as if fed a great tonic, his aura rapidly rising, his cultivation surging upward from the early Grandmaster realm.

"This is... nourished by the witch soul, cultivation soars?"

Luo Zhu and Sai Gezhu both felt their vision go dark.

"What do you mean?" Zhang Xuan looked over.

"Witch soul masters are different from normal martial artists. The latter cultivate true energy and the physical body, while they cultivate the soul. Therefore, they integrate their lifelong cultivation into their soul. Even if they possess someone, they can quickly recover without being too weak..."

Luo Zhu's lips turned white. "Now that his soul has been obliterated, all his cultivation has turned into nourishment, infused entirely into the other's body..."

"Is that so?" Zhang Xuan was startled.

"Yes, the power of a witch soul master is pure soul force, without any attributes. Any cultivator can accept it without conflict... If I'm not mistaken, his cultivation will definitely skyrocket!"

Luo Zhu looked at Sun Qiang, who stood there still dumbfounded, knowing nothing, and his voice trembled.

What kind of freak had he encountered?

This youth, not yet twenty, had driven away the possessing soul of a witch soul master with a silver needle. And his servant was even more incredible—the witch soul master tried to devour him, but ended up being devoured by him...

"He... he can even devour a witch soul master?"

Jin Conghai and Gu Mu, who had just felt contempt for Sun Qiang because of his low-level martial technique, were now terrified, their faces turning pale.

This was one of the most terrifying professions of ancient times, more fearsome than even poison masters. Any expert who encountered it would speak of it with dread... yet this guy had devoured it with an innocent look...

How could he be so freakish?

No wonder he had been so arrogant at the Poison Hall—he truly had the skills!

"His attainments in the soul are unfathomable. Never offend him..."

Clenching his fists, Jin Conghai quickly instructed his disciple.

Just now, Luo Zhu, a mighty peak Mortal Ascension Second Layer expert, had been helpless against the witch soul master's possession, tormented day and night.

But this guy, only at the Grandmaster realm, had easily killed it. His soul power was definitely extremely strong.

"If a servant is this formidable, how strong must the young master be?"

He sighed inwardly, looking at the young man not far away, filled with awe.

A mere servant easily devoured a Mortal Ascension realm witch soul master. This young master must be even more powerful. No wonder he was proficient in so many professions and had such keen insight. Perhaps what they saw as half-step Mortal Ascension was not his true strength.

While they were stunned, Sun Qiang's rising aura finally stopped.

He had broken through from the Grandmaster realm all the way, directly crossing half-step Mortal Ascension to reach the Mortal Ascension First Layer!

If a witch soul master succeeded in possession, his cultivation would drop. But now... before he could possess, he was devoured by this guy. That meant the energy within him was a complete Mortal Ascension First Layer.

Having devoured all the power of a Mortal Ascension First Layer, his cultivation smoothly reached the mid First Layer, even higher than Zhang Xuan's.

However, this was cultivation gained through infusion, not yet refined in application. In a fight, he would be far from a match for Zhang Xuan.

"My... my strength..."

Feeling the change in power, Sun Qiang blinked, completely bewildered.

He still didn't understand what had happened.

Wasn't that fellow trying to devour him?

Why was he so noble, dying willingly to be devoured?

"It's... the true energy the young master left in my body!"

He quickly looked inside his body and soon understood.

Back when they went to the Poison Hall of the Xuan Yuan Kingdom, the young master, fearing something might happen to him, had left a strand of true energy in his body.

At the Poison Hall, they encountered Zhao Feiwu and others, so it wasn't used, and he later forgot about it.

Just now, when the soul tried to devour him, the true energy protected its master, automatically appearing and shredding the soul into powder.

In fact, his guess was correct; that was the reason.

Earlier, when Zhang Xuan treated Luo Zhu, to prevent the special nature of the Heaven's Path true energy from being discovered, each silver needle contained a bit. But in Sun Qiang's body, he had left a whole strand, hundreds or thousands of times more. The witch soul master's soul was already fragmented; how could it withstand that!

"Thank you, young master..."

Realizing this, he was about to run over to thank his young master for saving his life when he saw the ever-calm young master had somehow already come to Luo Zhu.

"Senior Luo Zhu, may I ask where you caught that witch soul master? Can you get a few more? I'd like to help my students level up and break through..."

"..." Luo Zhu.

"..." Sai Gezhu.