Chapter 419: Absolute Defense!

Among the crowd, there were two seemingly inconspicuous women.

One of them stared intently at the figure on the arena, lost in thought.

"Hehe, seeing Master Ye take on all the heroes of the world for Xiao Ruyan, I wonder what thoughts are running through your mind, miss?" the other woman teased via voice transmission.

This woman actually knew Ye Yuan's true identity—who else could it be but Yàn'er?

The other woman was, of course, Li'er.

In truth, they had been in this royal city all along. If not for this mistress and maid, Ye Yuan would never have been able to see his fellow disciples.

It was their covert protection that allowed Ye Yuan's fellow disciples to survive unscathed.

That day when Zhao Chengqian came bearing brambles to apologize, causing a city-wide uproar, Li'er naturally learned that Ye Yuan had secretly infiltrated the royal city.

Of course, strictly speaking, it could hardly be called "secret" anymore.

But Li'er hadn't expected Ye Yuan to be the first to step onto the arena today, challenging all the heroes of the world!

Hearing Yàn'er's teasing transmission, Li'er felt a ripple in her heart, for some reason.

To her, this was simply an unbelievable thing.

Wasn't Li'er's heart supposed to stir only for him?

What's wrong with me...

Naturally, Li'er was unwilling to admit to such a near-betrayal: "What thoughts could I have? Xiao Ruyan, known as one of the Two Peerless Beauties of the royal city, must be as beautiful as a celestial maiden. If Master Ye can forge a marriage with her, I should congratulate him."

Yàn'er pouted and said, "Your words don't match your heart! Though I'm not a worm in your belly, if anyone in this world knows you best, it's me! You went to great lengths to enter the Windstorm Realm and did so much for Master Ye—could it be that you have no feelings for him?"

Li'er was startled inwardly but retorted, "What feelings? Don't you know that my soul-splitting affliction depends on Master Ye for a cure? I'm only doing this to repay his kindness enough, so he'll treat me earnestly."

Yàn'er waved her hand and said, "Fine, fine. Whatever you think doesn't matter anyway—after today, he'll be a married man!"

For some reason, hearing this, Li'er felt a strong surge of unwillingness in her heart.

...

Elsewhere, another inconspicuous person in the crowd stared fixedly at Ye Yuan, his eyes revealing extreme shock!

"I didn't expect this kid to really sneak into the royal city! Not only did he infiltrate the city, but he also became a disciple of Star Abyss Emperor, and even shows his face so openly on such a grand occasion—what audacity! No wonder there was no news of him for the past two months; he had already slipped into the city! But... heh, your luck ends today!"

This person quietly withdrew from the crowd and dashed toward the imperial palace!

If Ye Yuan were here, he would recognize this man as Blue Tiger, who had tracked him all the way here.

For the past two months, Blue Tiger had never left the royal city. Persistence pays off—he had finally discovered Ye Yuan's trail!

But what Blue Tiger hadn't expected was that the recent city-wide sensation of the bramble-bearing apology was actually for Ye Yuan, the Seventh Prince's target of apology!

...

On the arena, Ye Yuan was completely unaware of all this.

Xu Qing across from him had already recovered a fair amount of soul power. He spoke slowly: 'The Western Mountain Monarch... is precisely my master! This is my first venture into the world since completing my training. I never imagined... I would suffer such a crushing defeat. Xu Qing's skills are lacking; today I have disgraced my master!'

'So he really is the Western Mountain Monarch's disciple! The Western Mountain Monarch left the royal city so many years ago, yet he has trained a disciple at the Sea of Transformation realm!'

'But this disciple seems rather useless. With his Sea of Transformation soul power against Ji Qing at the Crystal Condensation realm, he collapsed without the other even lifting a finger. He truly brings shame to the Western Mountain Monarch!'

'Exactly! The Western Mountain Monarch was invincible in his day—even the Phoenix Emperor treated him with respect. How arrogant he was! Yet the disciple he taught is so pathetic, it's truly disappointing!'

The Western Mountain Monarch's reputation was immense. In everyone's mind, aside from the Phoenix Emperor, he was the embodiment of invincibility.

But his disciple today had been utterly defeated!

Although everyone knew Ye Yuan was formidable in soul attacks, shouldn't the Western Mountain Monarch's disciple, as a soul warrior, be even stronger in that regard?

Even if Ye Yuan was exceptionally talented, how could he have exhausted himself to the point of collapse?

This they could neither understand nor forgive!

Xiao Changfeng was quite surprised when Xu Qing admitted it, but he consoled him: 'Young Master Xu, do not blame yourself. It's not that your skills are lacking, but that your opponent is too strong. Today's defeat is not due to any fault in your strategy!'

Xu Qing asked in surprise: 'What do you mean by that?'

Xiao Changfeng smiled: 'Young Master Xu, as a disciple of the Western Mountain Monarch, have you ever heard of Absolute Soul Defense?'

Xu Qing's expression changed, and he nearly jumped up: 'Abs... Absolute Defense! Are you saying that Brother Ji just used... Absolute Defense?'

Xiao Changfeng said with a wry smile: 'Actually, I don't know either. But aside from Absolute Defense, I truly can't think of any other method that could achieve such a result. As for the answer... you'll have to ask Young Master Ji to confirm.'

When Xiao Changfeng guessed this answer, the shock in his heart was no less than Xu Qing's.

The term 'Absolute Soul Defense' was merely a legendary concept. How could it actually appear in a human being?

Xiao Changfeng had even suspected that this defensive method was something someone had fabricated, or perhaps conceived by some genius.

How could such an absurdly powerful defensive method exist?

And today, he had truly witnessed it!

The so-called Absolute Soul Defense meant that no matter what soul attack the opponent unleashed, as long as it couldn't surpass the limit of one's own soul, it couldn't cause any harm!

Such a defensive method was simply heaven-defying!

Xu Qing's gaze turned to Ye Yuan, who smiled and said: 'Lord Xiao is indeed well-traveled and knowledgeable, even aware of Absolute Soul Defense. That's right, the method I used just now was precisely Absolute Soul Defense.'

The attributes of the soul are completely different from those of primal power, and the cultivation systems are also entirely distinct.

The methods of soul attack are equally varied, but through a profound understanding of the soul, one can construct a defensive method a hundred or a thousand times stronger than protective primal power—that is Absolute Defense!

Soul attacks are formless and intangible, and naturally do not possess such immense destructive power.

The essential nature of a soul attack is still to use one's own soul power to disrupt the opponent's soul structure.

As long as one's comprehension of the soul is deep enough, Absolute Defense is theoretically achievable!

Of course, even with Ye Yuan's profound understanding of the soul, mastering this technique in his previous life had taken a great deal of time.

Xu Qing was only at the early stage of the Sea of Transformation realm, not much stronger than Ye Yuan in terms of soul power.

Trying to harm him under Ye Yuan's Absolute Defense was nothing short of a fool's dream.