Chapter 2644: Blood Cursed Soul Crystal

Xue Jiu's words seemed perfectly fine, leaving Lu Ye somewhat speechless.

"What is your connection to the Phoenix Clan?" Xue Jiu grew curious again. If there wasn't a connection, how could the Phoenix Lord have shown mercy just now? He feared that with a single flick of her finger, Lu Ye's physical body would have been utterly shattered, and his wisp of a soul fragment would not have escaped death.

Receiving no response from Lu Ye, Xue Jiu didn't bother to ask further. "Fine, we'll talk about this later," he said. "What I'm curious about is how exactly you plan to deal with me."

Now that his soul fragment had merged with Lu Ye, as long as he survived this ordeal, he could later find an opportunity to probe Lu Ye's secrets. Then he would naturally understand the doubts in his mind.

What displeased Xue Jiu was Lu Ye's tone just now. Even though he was just a wisp of a soul fragment, he was still a soul fragment of one of the Ten City Lords, not someone a mere Harmonization Realm cultivator could easily deal with.

Yet, Lu Ye's tone earlier had been very confident.

"Burn!" Lu Ye uttered a single word indifferently.

"Burn?" Xue Jiu was doubtful. But the next moment, he frowned, because a layer of fire suddenly appeared in this magnificent sea of souls. Immediately, the entire sea of souls seemed to ignite, burning fiercely.

"Soul Flame?" Xue Jiu was startled. But he soon realized that this was not a simple Soul Flame, because when the fire swept over, his soul fragment developed an extremely strong sense of crisis.

His expression changed drastically. He moved left and right, dodging in the sea of souls, but the fierce flames quickly filled the entire sea of souls; where could he hide?

The fierce flames enveloped him, and Xue Jiu cried out in alarm. The strange flames only briefly touched him, yet they threatened to incinerate him. No matter what he did, he couldn't extinguish them; instead, he himself seemed to turn into a ball of cotton, burning fiercely along with them.

The sea of souls was turbulent, with waves surging. Xue Jiu was rapidly withdrawing his soul power, hoping to escape from this dangerous place.

Lu Ye stood amidst the towering flames, watching with a cold gaze.

Xue Jiu had truly brought this upon himself.

What Lu Ye had planned before was that when Xue Jiu no longer had any use, he would seal off his sea of souls and use the power of the Talent Tree to refine Xue Jiu's soul fragment away.

But doing so was ultimately risky. He couldn't guarantee that he would definitely be able to keep this soul fragment. Xue Jiu had many profound and mysterious methods, and the gap in their cultivation realms was too vast. It was possible he had some way to break through the seal and escape.

Yet, he had secretly merged his soul fragment with Lu Ye's sea of souls. His original intention was to completely seize this physical body, but now it had become his shackles instead.

Lu Ye didn't even need to seal his own divine sea; Xue Jiu couldn't escape anyway.

As for his current attempt to withdraw his soul power from the sea of souls... how could it be so simple?

The two men's soul powers were like two cups of water; once they had merged, it would be very difficult to completely separate them again.

After only a moment, Xue Jiu knew this method was unfeasible. Under the scorching flames, the intense sense of crisis in his heart grew stronger and stronger. He knew that if he didn't find a way, he might truly die here today.

Losing a soul fragment was not a big problem for him; the key was whose hands he died by.

If he were truly annihilated by a powerful being like the Phoenix Lord, Xue Jiu would have nothing to say, but to die at Lu Ye's hands would be somewhat humiliating.

"Damn it!" He gritted his teeth and roared. He only regretted that time had been too short, and he had been somewhat careless. If he had known earlier, he should have found a way to probe Lu Ye's secrets, then he wouldn't have been caught off guard.

Currently, no part of the sea of souls was not enveloped by flames. Unable to escape for a moment, he could only turn his head to look at Lu Ye. The next instant, his figure flickered, and he lunged at Lu Ye.

To catch a thief, first catch his leader. As long as he took down Lu Ye, he could reverse the situation.

Though only a soul fragment, he still used the mysteries of space, instantly appearing before Lu Ye and reaching out to grab.

Lu Ye remained motionless. At that very moment, a fiercely burning large tree suddenly emerged from the void behind him. The tree swayed, its canopy like a magnificent parasol, and on its burning leaves, numerous complex patterns were densely packed.

"What is this?" Xue Jiu stared, momentarily stunned. He instinctively felt that this tree contained infinite mysteries, seeming like some precious treasure. However, this was not the time for distraction. He quickly composed himself, and his soul power surged wildly.

His soul body suddenly stiffened. Xue Jiu's large hand was only an inch from Lu Ye's face, but it could not advance any further.

He slowly lowered his head, his pupils contracting slightly. His vision reflected the image of a root piercing through his chest. Following that root, he saw that it was clearly extended from the base of the large tree behind Lu Ye.

More roots began to move, stabbing out like sharp swords.

Thud, thud, thud... Xue Jiu's soul body was instantly riddled with holes, and his body trembled violently.

An even more terrifying power of incineration, far greater than before, emanated from those numerous roots. Xue Jiu immediately felt that he was about to be refined.

Fierce flames enveloped his soul body, and Xue Jiu burned intensely, like a candle.

"Boy, what kind of treasure is this?" Xue Jiu knew he was beyond saving. The only thing he wanted to figure out now was what exactly this strange large tree was.

If you called it a supreme treasure, it didn't have the aura of one. On a superficial level, it seemed to be only at the level of a lesser treasure. Yet, the various profound powers contained within it were unheard of.

Yet, after his body was pierced by those numerous roots, his many profound methods could no longer be used, as if he could only wait for death.

Lu Ye did not reply. He merely fully activated the power of the Talent Tree, gathering all the fierce flames in the entire sea of souls to furiously incinerate Xue Jiu's soul body.

Such refining was undoubtedly an extremely painful experience, yet Xue Jiu no longer uttered a sound. He merely closed his eyes, an air of resignation about him. "This round, I've lost, boy. You've refined my soul fragment, but in the future, no matter where you go, I will find you and kill you!"

Lu Ye immediately urged the Talent Tree's power even more fiercely.

Visibly, Xue Jiu's soul fragment began to melt and disappear...

However, at this moment, Lu Ye suddenly frowned.

Because he felt someone shaking his sea of souls' defenses, and this shaking was difficult for him to resist.

With a slight perception, he realized the truth.

It was the Phoenix Lord's doing.

This person probably didn't believe he could deal with Xue Jiu's soul fragment, so she wanted to come in and investigate personally.

Lu Ye didn't want her to come in. Although the Phoenix Lord was Su Yan's elder, how could a place like the sea of souls be casually intruded upon by others?

Not to mention, the Talent Tree was still manifested behind him.

But at this moment, he couldn't resist. He could only try to delay slightly, carefully maintaining his sea of souls' defenses.

A few breaths later, the Phoenix Lord was clearly becoming impatient. The force of the shaking grew fiercer, as if she would forcefully intrude if Lu Ye didn't let her in soon.

As it concerned Xue Jiu's soul fragment, she had to treat it cautiously. The simplest way was to directly kill Lu Ye along with that soul fragment, ending everything once and for all. But Ba Qiu had pleaded for him, and Lu Ye had also obtained Phoenix Source Blood, so how could she bring herself to kill him?

Yet this boy stubbornly guarded his sea of souls, not letting her in.

After several attempts, she no longer cared if Lu Ye would get hurt. Without further hesitation, she exerted force.

At that very moment, Lu Ye opened his sea of souls.

When the Phoenix Lord's soul body appeared, the entire sea of souls was already calm, and the Talent Tree behind Lu Ye had also receded into nothingness.

In his hand, he was holding a fingernail-sized, hexagonal blood-red crystal.

This was undoubtedly another soul crystal. However, it was very different from the soul crystals he had obtained earlier after his battle with Jiao, where he had incinerated numerous soul bodies. This one was not only larger but also contained more abundant soul power.

Most importantly, the surface of this soul crystal actually had many densely packed tiny patterns.

"Where is Xue Jiu?" The Phoenix Lord glanced around. Not seeing any trace of Xue Jiu, she couldn't help but feel strange. But the next moment, her gaze fell upon the soul crystal in Lu Ye's hand, and her elegant eyebrows rose.

She sensed Xue Jiu's lingering aura from within this soul crystal...

She was greatly astonished.

That soul crystal was undoubtedly something left behind after Xue Jiu's soul fragment was destroyed, and it wasn't something that would always be left behind. If she had used her methods to directly annihilate it, nothing would have been left. Only by using a method related to refinement could such a prize be obtained.

Xue Jiu's soul crystal was here, which meant the soul fragment had been refined.

This boy... really dealt with Xue Jiu himself? What method did he use?

"Greetings, Phoenix Lord. Xue Jiu is dead." Lu Ye cupped his fists, secretly feeling fortunate that if the Phoenix Lord had entered just a moment earlier, the Talent Tree wouldn't have been hidden.

Huang Shiniang said nothing. She merely raised her hand and beckoned, and the soul crystal in Lu Ye's hand flew directly into hers.

She lowered her head, examining and probing, her expression extremely serious.

Xue Jiu was treacherous and cunning; it was hard to guarantee he wouldn't have done something to this soul crystal. Lu Ye might not be able to detect it, but it would certainly not escape her discerning eyes.

Lu Ye sniffed, not daring to make a sound.

A moment later, Huang Shiniang looked up at Lu Ye again. The disdain in her eyes had slightly lessened. This human boy, it seemed, still had some abilities.

But this was absolutely no reason for him to have obtained the Phoenix Source Blood!

That junior in her clan had been someone she placed great hopes upon. And... no human was any good!

With a flick of her finger, the soul crystal flew back towards Lu Ye. Huang Shiniang said coldly, "Although I don't know what method you used to refine Xue Jiu's soul fragment, this soul crystal contains many of his insights into the path of cultivation. Refine it well; it will be of considerable benefit to you."

Hearing this, Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

As expected, this soul crystal was very different from the ones he had obtained before. The previous ones were merely condensations of pure soul power; Xue Jiu's one was clearly more than that.

The Talent Tree could incinerate things harmful to him but could retain things beneficial to him. Thus, Xue Jiu's many insights were preserved.

Lu Ye felt wonderful.

Earlier, when Xue Jiu's soul fragment used his physical body to battle the Heavenly Revolving Sword, Lu Ye had greatly benefited from it. It was a pity that the duration was not long enough, and what he learned was not solid. Moreover, for many things, he knew what but not why.

But with this soul crystal, everything would no longer be a problem.

By merely refining this soul crystal, he could gain insight into many of Xue Jiu's understandings on the path of cultivation. This would certainly save him many years of accumulation and experience.

He had only intended to deal with Xue Jiu's soul fragment, but he didn't expect such an unexpected surprise. This was undoubtedly the greatest gain from this battle.