Right now, the Evil-Repelling Sword had become an extremely powerful sword martial soul.
Its first soul skill, Meteor Crash, allowed the soul master to charge forward rapidly with sword energy, crashing into the enemy like a meteor. Unless there was an overwhelming difference in strength, even agility-type soul masters would find it hard to dodge and would be forced to take it head-on.
Moreover, the Evil-Repelling Sword's sword energy carried a mental attack.
Ordinary defenses were almost useless against it.
"Hehe!" Xia Yi chuckled. Behind him, eight snow-white tails emerged as his second soul ring lit up. Fox Mind Art instantly immobilized Lin Pingzhi, who was charging at him like a meteor.
"Fox Mind Art... you're Xia Yi! We're both Soul Sages now! I'm no longer afraid of you!" Lin Pingzhi immediately recognized Xia Yi. Without any hesitation, his two-word battle armor emerged.
The moment his battle armor's wings spread out, he formed an orchid hand sign with his left hand, wielding the Evil-Repelling Sword with his right, twirling it into a sword flower in the air. In the next instant, his gaze turned icy and devoid of emotion. He broke free from the Fox Mind Art almost instantly and launched another attack at Xia Yi.
"This aura... a domain." Xia Yi was inwardly shocked. This Lin Pingzhi was truly remarkable.
Even Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan, if they were at the same level, would find it hard to defeat him.
Lin Pingzhi's comprehension was of the Heartless Domain, unlike any ordinary domain — it was invisible.
However, anyone within his domain who experienced emotional fluctuations — love, hate, sorrow, or joy — would see their emotions transformed into his power.
If a soul master was careless, they might not even realize how they lost.
If Xia Yi's spiritual power hadn't already broken into the Spirit Domain realm, he might not have even noticed he was already trapped inside it.
"Xia Yi, today I'm going to see just what kind of abilities the so-called number one of our generation has!" Lin Pingzhi's expression turned grim, trying to provoke Xia Yi — but honestly, he was very poor at it.
"Number one of our generation?" Xia Yi laughed. He had never thought of himself that way.
He didn't even know if there were more monsters lurking out there; at the very least, he couldn't beat Gu Yue.
"Hmph!" Lin Pingzhi snorted coldly and stopped talking. Lifting the Evil-Repelling Sword, countless sword lights burst forth like exploding fireworks, filling the entire Sky Arena.
With the amplification from his battle armor, Lin Pingzhi's strength was pushed to its peak.
Xia Yi could clearly sense the terrifying nature of these sword energies — even intangible powers like his Fox Mind Art could be pierced through.
Moreover, Xia Yi noticed that as his emotions fluctuated, these sword energies became even more fearsome, forming a subtle connection to his feelings.
"So this is the Heartless Sword Technique?" Xia Yi shook his head. Back when he was at Shrek Academy, he had heard that Lin Pingzhi had created his own Heartless Sword Technique.
Now it seemed that this sword technique was becoming increasingly refined.
But it still wasn't complete yet.
If it were truly perfected, it wouldn't feel this way.
"Since you know, just admit defeat," Lin Pingzhi sneered as his sixth soul ring lit up: Banishing Evils in Groups.
Lin Pingzhi wore a confident, victorious smile.
If Xia Yi had a two-word battle armor as well, he might still feel some pressure.
But Xia Yi hadn't summoned any battle armor, meaning he might already possess a three-word battle armor, which couldn't be used within the Star Dou Battle Network.
Since they were both Soul Sages, Lin Pingzhi didn't believe he could lose to a Xia Yi who had no armor.
Ever since he had castrated himself, his strength had been skyrocketing daily.
Lin Pingzhi pointed the Evil-Repelling Sword, and the sword energies around the arena transformed into black threads, weaving into a massive black net aimed straight at Xia Yi.
Combining soul skill and self-created techniques — no wonder he had held a place in Shrek Academy's Inner Court.
Xia Yi's third soul ring lit up — Absolute Zero spread out from him, instantly covering most of the arena.
Lin Pingzhi simply sneered, swiftly retreating while stabbing out with his Evil-Repelling Sword. Under his control, the black sword web maneuvered through the Absolute Zero ice with ease, continuing its advance on Xia Yi.
"It's not slicing through the ice — it's merging with it... or rather, ignoring it. Interesting. What is this?" Xia Yi's interest was finally piqued. His second soul ring lit up again, but as he expected, even Fox Mind Art couldn't control the black sword web.
This black web was visible and tangible yet felt almost nonexistent — it couldn't be captured, blocked, or destroyed.
"I'll tell you — this is the Heartless Sword Web. What's the hardest thing to cut in this world? Naturally, the three thousand entanglements of mortal life — the seven emotions and six desires. As long as you're still attached to mortal life, to Gu Yue and the others, you won't be able to sever it," Lin Pingzhi laughed triumphantly from the arena's edge.
He still vividly remembered how Xia Yi had once refused to forge a battle armor for him.
Now, he finally had the power to take revenge on Xia Yi.
By borrowing the strength of his battle armor and the emotional energy gathered from Xia Yi inside his domain, the Heartless Sword Energy was now as strong as a Title Douluo's attack.
Once caught by the Heartless Sword Web, Xia Yi would be instantly sliced into pieces.
"Really?" Xia Yi smiled faintly. Watching the approaching Heartless Sword Web, he slowly raised his hands.
"Are you seeking death?" Lin Pingzhi sneered. He didn't believe that Xia Yi could sever emotions and desires.
Xia Yi ignored him. His sixth soul ring lit up.
To Lin Pingzhi's shock, Xia Yi reached out and grabbed the Heartless Sword Web directly.
The moment Xia Yi touched it, the unbreakable Heartless Sword Web shattered instantly.
"Impossible! Impossible!" Lin Pingzhi's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Nothing's impossible. Forcing me to use my sixth soul skill, Insulation Claws, you can be proud," Xia Yi said calmly.
"No, I don't believe it! I don't believe you can sever the Heartless Sword Web!" Lin Pingzhi roared frantically. On the arena, countless Heartless Sword Energies appeared again as his first, sixth, and seventh soul skills all lit up at once.
Lin Pingzhi himself transformed into a giant Evil-Repelling Sword, carrying an even larger Heartless Sword Web as he lunged toward Xia Yi.
"You don't believe it? Then let me show you something you will believe," Xia Yi smiled faintly. His second and third soul rings lit up simultaneously.
In an instant, Lin Pingzhi's Martial Soul True Body — the Evil-Repelling Sword — and the Heartless Sword Web were frozen by Fox Mind Art, followed by the spreading of Absolute Zero that instantly engulfed him.
The whole process didn't even give Lin Pingzhi time to react.
Then came the fourth soul skill — Exorcism Strike.
"You've disgusted me more than once. Next time, don't go looking for trouble." Xia Yi gave Lin Pingzhi a cold glance and punched out.
With a loud boom, the entire arena shook.
The ice encasing Lin Pingzhi's Martial Soul True Body shattered instantly, and the Evil-Repelling Sword itself split into several pieces.
By the time Lin Pingzhi regained consciousness, he found himself back inside the Star Dou Pod in Sky Dou City.
"Impossible! Impossible!"
In the Star Dou Battle Network, although death would inflict real-world damage, it wasn't as severe as in the Ascension Platform.
Right now, Lin Pingzhi felt like his head was about to explode, but he was still capable of thought.
Even now, he couldn't believe he had been subdued by the Fox Mind Art, and that his Heartless Sword Web had been broken.
After all, he had an extra set of two-word battle armor compared to Xia Yi.
At the beginning, Xia Yi couldn't control him — hadn't that been the case?
But he didn't realize that, at first, Xia Yi was only using soul power to activate the Fox Mind Art.
After Lin Pingzhi donned his battle armor, his soul power reached a level comparable to a Title Douluo. At that point, Xia Yi's soul power alone was insufficient to control him.
However, Fox Mind Art wasn't solely driven by soul power — it could also be powered by spiritual strength.
And when it came to spiritual power, even with two-word battle armor, Lin Pingzhi was far inferior to Xia Yi.
The Heartless Sword Web was indeed intriguing — but it wasn't fully comprehended yet.
Or rather, Lin Pingzhi would never truly grasp its essence.
He mistook his own physical mutilation and inability to stand displays of affection as "heartlessness."
But that was merely psychological damage — not true heartlessness.
In reality, his emotions were deeper than anyone else's.
He just didn't dare to express them.
If he were truly heartless, he wouldn't have had so many internal monologues.
(End of Chapter)