Chapter 117: Awakening of the Divine Soul

The young woman in green robes looked at Yun Xiao with a cold expression. "I have already told you, my son and I have no intention of returning to Yun City."

"If that is the case, then do not blame me for what follows," Yun Xiao replied indifferently. He waved his hand toward the cold, dark-robed old man standing beside him. "Elder Hei, do it. Take them back by force."

Hardly had Yun Xiao finished speaking when the young woman’s expression shifted. With a decisive, phantom-like motion, she lunged toward him.

"Elder Hei..." Yun Xiao, never expecting the woman to act so abruptly—especially with such terrifying speed—panicked. Realizing he was no match for her, he shouted for the old man.

Almost simultaneously, the dark-robed elder moved. He shifted slightly to block Yun Xiao’s path and struck out with a palm.

The young woman, who had originally intended only to seize Yun Xiao, felt a chill. She turned her blade with lethal precision, thrusting it toward the elder’s palm.

*Clang!* A crisp sound of metal striking metal rang out. As the elder blocked the sword with a black gauntlet, his other hand struck like lightning, landing squarely on the woman’s lower abdomen, at her *dantian*.

*Thud!* Struck in her *dantian* by the elder’s palm, the woman shuddered and flew backward. She vomited a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground in disarray. Her eyes widened in terror and despair as she looked up at the man. "A... a Zifu-stage cultivator?"

"Mother!" Yun Tian’s expression changed drastically. He rushed to her side and reached out to support her. "Mother, are you alright?"

The dark-robed elder spoke coldly, his voice low and chilling. "It is nothing. I have merely crippled her *dantian* to make her behave."

"Crippled her *dantian*? You bastard!" Hearing this, Yun Tian was overcome with rage and grief. Once a *dantian* is destroyed, all cultivation is lost; it meant the end of the path of cultivation, rendering one unable to practice *Qi* ever again.

"Mother!" Ling’er, who had also rushed to the woman’s side, glared at the elder with gritted teeth. With a flick of her wrist, a transparent whip appeared in her hand. She lashed out, the whip lengthening and thickening as it struck toward the elder.

The elder’s brow twitched, and he looked at Ling’er with surprise. "A Xiantian? Such a young Xiantian lifeform?"

"Elder Hei, do not harm her! Capture her alive!" Yun Xiao’s eyes widened as he hurriedly shouted.

***

The elder easily caught the whip with one hand. With a casual wave of his other hand, a black, rope-like magical treasure shot out, coiling around Ling’er like a venomous snake and binding her tight.

"I’ll fight you to the death!" Nearby, the burly youth Xia Yunhu, already wounded, felt his eyes burst with rage. He snatched up his spiked club and charged madly.

This time, before the elder could act, Yun Xiao let out a cold laugh. His figure flickered as he met the charge, first knocking the club from Yunhu’s hand with a sword strike, then severing his remaining arm. He kicked the youth to the ground, placed a foot on his chest, and looked down with a cruel, mocking sneer, preparing to drive his sword into Yunhu’s head.

Although Xia Yunhu practiced the divine demon body-refining technique, he had not yet reached the Xiantian realm; his head remained a fatal weakness. One thrust would surely kill him.

"Brother Yunhu!" The woman and Ling’er cried out in desperate agony, their voices filled with helplessness and indignant grief.

"Big Brother!" Watching this, Yun Tian felt his own eyes burning with fury. He had never hated anyone as much as he hated Yun Xiao and that cold-robed elder at this moment. He hated himself even more—hated his own weakness, his inability to save his mother, his brother, or Ling’er.

Why? Why was he unable to cultivate? Why must he live like a waste? Since childhood, the congenital damage to his meridians—thin and fragile—had prevented him from practicing *Qi*, leaving his body frail. As for body-refining, every time he tried to absorb external energy, his head would erupt in piercing agony, a pain so terrible it made further cultivation impossible.

Watching his mother crippled, Ling’er captured, and now his brother about to be murdered, the surge of grief, pain, and resentment overwhelmed him. He let out a primal, maddened roar: "Brother! Ah—!"

*Hum—* In the next moment, an invisible ripple emanated from Yun Tian’s body, causing the surrounding space to distort. The power followed his will, sweeping directly toward Yun Xiao.

"Ugh..." Yun Xiao, his sword inches from Yunhu’s head, suddenly stiffened. His eyes bulged, bloodshot, a flicker of terror still lingering in his gaze. Then, blood began to pour from his seven orifices, and his body went limp, collapsing lifelessly beside Xia Yunhu.

"Young Master Yun Xiao!" The dark-robed elder gasped in shock. He stared at Yun Tian in disbelief. "This is... the power of the soul? A piece of trash who cannot cultivate, actually unleashing soul power? Could he be a reincarnated immortal?"

At the same time, Yun Tian’s expression shifted rapidly as his eyes widened. He stood there, stunned. "Xia Yuntian? Ancestor Qiankun? Am I... Xia Yuntian? Or am I Ancestor Qiankun?"

"Tian'er..." The woman, lying helplessly on the ground, stared at her son, who had suddenly risen to his feet, eyes wide and muttering to himself in confusion. She was dumbfounded.

"Boy, no matter what you are, go to hell!" The elder reacted quickly. With killing intent flaring in his eyes, a black light shot from his body, transforming into a black flying sword that streaked toward Yun Tian.

***

"Tian'er, look out!" The woman cried out in alarm.

Almost at the same time, Yun Tian turned his head as if sensing the incoming blade. His pupils contracted.

*Hum—* His soul power erupted instinctively once more, the sheer strength of it freezing the black sword in mid-air. Then, with a cold gaze, Yun Tian’s intent shifted, and he forcibly seized control of the black sword with his soul, sending it hurtling back toward the elder.

*Puchi!* The elder, eyes wide with terror and unable to react in time, was pierced through the head by his own sword. His body then transformed into a black python over ten meters long.

"Run!" The dozens of armored guards brought by Yun Xiao, all of whom possessed the strength of the peak Houtian realm, were utterly terrified. Someone let out a shriek, and they all turned their horses, scrambling to flee.

"Running?" A cold, cruel arc formed on Yun Tian’s lips. He merely looked up at them, and an invisible wave of soul energy rippled outward. Immediately, the guards stiffened, their eyes bulging as blood poured from their orifices. They fell from their horses, dead.

As the reincarnated vessel of Ancestor Qiankun’s soul fragment, Yun Tian’s soul was so powerful that killing guards who were merely of Houtian strength was effortless.

The onlookers from the Xia tribe were stunned. They couldn't understand what had happened—how had their young chieftain, long considered a cultivation failure, suddenly become so formidable? He had killed the powerful enemies that even their own chief couldn't handle with such ease. It was inconceivable.

"Tian'er, Tian'er, you..." Seeing Yun Tian standing motionless after the slaughter, the woman struggled to her feet, worried. She approached him, but upon seeing the profound look in his eyes as he turned to her, she found herself at a loss for words.

After a brief silence, Yun Tian looked at her and said, "Mother, I believe you have guessed it. You are right. I am a reincarnated immortal. The reason I could not practice body-refining since childhood was that whenever I absorbed external energy, it would stimulate my soul. The stimulation was too slight to awaken my soul, yet strong enough to cause me agonizing headaches."