Chapter 38: Feng Chuixue, You're the Weakest One Now!
Lei Bao's wild, unrestrained laughter echoed across the training grounds, brimming with undisguised triumph and scorn. He folded his arms across his chest and gazed down imperiously at the gasping, heaving Feng Chuixue, his eyes gleaming with the razor-sharp light of a hunter locking onto cornered prey.
"Hahaha! Useless, useless—all of it, utterly useless! In my eyes, Feng Chuixue, you are the weakest one here!"
The barrier had looked solid enough, yet it was crude and rough—no refined soul skill, no masterfully crafted defensive art. It was nothing more than a desperate, last-ditch safeguard Feng Chuixue had thrown up in his moment of crisis. As a control-type soul master, his defenses were inherently fragile. Now, facing the sixth soul skill of a fully amplified assault-type Soul Emperor like Lei Bao, that hastily condensed barrier was little better than a paper window—one poke, and it would tear wide open.
"Break!" Lei Bao roared. His fist crashed down with the force of a thunderbolt, wreathed in blinding arcs of lightning, and slammed into the barrier.
Crack! A sharp, brittle sound rang out. The pale blue barrier shattered on impact, dissolving into countless flecks of light that scattered into the air. Feng Chuixue was sent hurtling backward like a kite with its string cut, his body tracing a wretched arc through the air before slamming into the granite viewing wall like a cannonball.
He slid down from the wall and dropped to one knee, a mouthful of blood bursting from his lips. His face was ashen as paper, his breathing ragged and chaotic. Every inhale sent searing pain lancing through his chest—he could feel, with absolute clarity, that at least three of his ribs had snapped.
A single year without crossing blades, and Lei Bao's strength had surged to such heights. Gritting his teeth against the agony, Feng Chuixue's mind raced through the calculations: at their last encounter, Lei Bao had been a rank 65 Soul Emperor, nothing more. Now, having acquired a soul bone—even the lowest-grade thousand-year soul bone—his soul power would have risen by at least one rank. After all, even the most basic of soul bones was, at minimum, of thousand-year quality. There had never been a recorded case of a hundred-year or ten-year soul bone in all of history.
Factor in the effects of a Soul Ascension Pill—that precious elixir capable of breaking through a soul master's bottlenecks, though limited to a single use in one's lifetime—and Lei Bao reaching rank 67 was hardly a stretch. Even if he hadn't taken the pill, a full year of grueling cultivation would have naturally pushed him up another rank.
But what Feng Chuixue could never have imagined, what lay far beyond his worst estimates, was this: after successfully absorbing the soul bone, Lei Bao's true soul power had already reached the terrifying height of rank 69.
Had time not been so tight, Lei Bao would have long since consumed the Soul Ascension Pill, broken through the rank 70 threshold, and hunted a ten-thousand-year soul beast to ascend, in one leap, to the realm of Soul Sage. By then, he would have been the first among the four to reach that exalted level—a glory that should have been his.
Yet after deep deliberation, Lei Bao had decided to hold off. He wanted to deliver a far greater "surprise" to this insufferably smug Feng Chuixue—to defeat him squarely, honorably, at the same cultivation tier.
That's right. In Lei Bao's grand design, Feng Chuixue had always been the stepping stone destined to be trod beneath his feet. The man was unfathomably cunning, sly as a fox, a man who never took a loss and loathed being used. If Lei Bao couldn't make him sincerely, willingly submit to the Church of the Water God—or if he simply let him walk away—endless troubles would inevitably follow.
Defeating Feng Chuixue completely in front of Yan Luo and Long Ziyun would accomplish three things: it would bring this thorny character to heel, establish Lei Bao's authority before all three, and let them witness with their own eyes the tangible benefits of joining the Church of the Water God.
Though the church had a Hyper Douluo like Neuvillette in residence, Lady Furina seemed reluctant to play that trump card lightly. As Lady Furina's most loyal follower and a member of the church, Lei Bao felt that no amount of effort could ever fully repay the grace she had bestowed—the miracle that had regrown his son's severed arm, the precious thousand-year soul bone. It was for this reason that he had meticulously orchestrated this duel, determined to bring Feng Chuixue into the fold.
Under the amplification of his soul skills, Lei Bao's form flickered like lightning. In the blink of an eye, he stood before the grievously wounded Feng Chuixue. He looked down at this once-unassailable opponent and spoke, his voice steady and deliberate: "Lord Feng, are you willing to yield now?"
Feng Chuixue lifted his head with immense difficulty. His eyes brimmed with unwillingness and humiliation. But the reality before him was undeniable—he had no strength left to fight. Blood still trickled from the corner of his lips. He drew a shaking breath and, with the last of his strength, said, "A wager's loss must be honored! From this day forth, I, Feng Chuixue, am a loyal servant of the Church of the Water God."
"A servant need not be a servant," Lei Bao's voice suddenly softened. He produced a jade vial from within his robes and tipped out a single pill, its surface faintly suffused with a delicate medicinal fragrance. "You need only be a faithful believer."
This was a Bone-Generating Pill that Lady Furina had procured through mysterious channels. As a second-grade pill, its healing potency far outstripped that of the first-grade Coagulation Powder.
"I struck far too heavily just now—my hand slipped before I could pull back. Please don't take it to heart." Lei Bao extended the Bone-Generating Pill toward Feng Chuixue, then produced an exquisite cream-and-strawberry cake—the very product of Furina's first soul skill. "If you're uneasy, you can also try this cake. I trust you saw, on your journey here, the cakes the Church of the Water God distributes to its believers. This is one of them. Its healing effects are quite good—better than most Soul Elder–level healing-type soul masters."
Seeing Feng Chuixue still hesitating, Lei Bao gently patted his shoulder with utmost care, as if afraid the slightest touch might worsen his injuries. "Rest assured—neither is poisoned. I have no reason to harm a future companion, now do I?"
Feeling the sincerity in Lei Bao's voice, Feng Chuixue at last released his guard. He let out a long, deep breath. "No need to test. If I couldn't muster even this much trust, wouldn't that make me a miserly fool?"
With that, he took the Bone-Generating Pill and swallowed it in one motion. The pill dissolved the instant it entered his mouth, and a warm, soothing medicinal force coursed swiftly through his limbs and into every bone. To his astonishment, the wounds within his body began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just a few short breaths, he had already recovered by roughly forty percent.
He then ate the miraculous cake. A wave of gentle, healing energy flooded into his body, mending another twenty percent of his injuries. Though he was not yet fully restored, he could now move freely without impediment.
Long Ziyun and Yan Luo, watching from the side, exchanged a glance. In each other's eyes, they saw the same undisguised shock. They marveled not only at the astonishing curative powers of the pill and the cake, but even more at the fact that the Church of the Water God could bestow a soul bone upon Lei Bao. No wonder he was so utterly, unshakeably devoted.
Once his breathing had fully steadied, Feng Chuixue rose to his feet. His gaze, complex and layered with unspoken emotion, fixed on Lei Bao. "That soul bone of yours—what soul skill does it provide? To completely neutralize my sixth soul skill, the Netherworld Sonic Wave..."
"This left-arm thousand-year soul bone grants a soul skill called Unyielding Body," Lei Bao answered candidly. "It renders me immune to the vast majority of control effects for a span of five seconds. Spiritual attacks are, naturally, included. It happens to be the perfect counter to your abilities." What he did not reveal was this: even without the soul bone's Unyielding Body, the various amplification and support-type pills Lady Furina had granted him would have been more than sufficient to deal with Feng Chuixue's insidious control skills.
"I see..." Feng Chuixue murmured. A glimmer of understanding passed through his eyes—but deeper still lay a bitterness too profound to voice.
No wonder Lei Bao had been so arrogantly confident. From the very first moment, Feng Chuixue had stumbled straight into Lei Bao's meticulously laid trap.
Feng Chuixue couldn't help a long, silent sigh. He gazed at the crater his body had smashed into the training ground, at the shocking cracks spiderwebbing across the wall, and at last acknowledged a brutal truth: from start to finish, he had underestimated Lei Bao—and overestimated himself. Today's defeat was no accident. It had been an inevitability.
And Lei Bao, watching the shifting expressions play across Feng Chuixue's face, knew that this proud control-type soul master was finally, truly beginning to submit. He smiled faintly and reached out to steady Feng Chuixue, whose body still trembled with lingering weakness. "Brother Feng, from this day forward, we are comrades, serving the Church of the Water God side by side. Lady Furina has never shortchanged a loyal believer. You will soon understand just how correct today's decision truly was."
Long Ziyun and Yan Luo stepped forward as well. The three exchanged a glance and a quiet smile, and in that moment, a new alliance was solemnly forged. Feng Chuixue looked into Lei Bao's earnest, unwavering eyes, and at last released the final sliver of doubt lodged in his heart. He nodded, heavily, resolutely.
In that instant, he understood: his life as a soul master was about to turn a brand-new page. And that mysterious organization known as the Church of the Water God—along with the Lady Furina he had yet to meet—would become the most pivotal guiding lights on the road ahead.