Chapter 6: Two in the Early Stage of Tribulation

“Why should I give you the soul core of the Eight-Clawed Soul Fish that I killed?” Yue Zheng shouted angrily.

Qu Yi pointed his Golden Spear at Yue Zheng and laughed lightly, “The Eight-Clawed Soul Fish had agreed that I alone would slay them, so all their soul cores belong to me. Now you have only one choice—give me the soul core.”

“Agreement? Hmph, did I agree to that?” Yue Zheng roared, storing the soul core in his space ring before wielding his Yellow Yuan Sword against Qu Yi.

Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, and Zong Chun immediately flew between the two as they saw them locked in conflict, trying to mediate.

“We’re all on the same team. Stop fighting among yourselves.”

“It’s just a soul core. There are plenty in the Heart Soul Star Region. We can go hunt more soul beasts.”

“Let’s discuss this properly. Don’t hurt our own people.”

……

The four immediately acted as mediators, constantly trying to persuade them.

A smile appeared on Yue Zheng’s face. He was already thinking that with these four meddling, the soul cores would end up in his hands.

Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, and Zong Chun also understood the situation. They had all entered the Heart Soul Star Region together. Since it had been agreed that Qu Yi would slay the Eight-Clawed Soul Fish, their soul cores naturally belonged to him. Although Yue Zheng hadn’t admitted it outright, the four had already agreed, making it a 5-to-1 decision—meaning the matter was settled. When Yue Zheng saw an injured Eight-Clawed Soul Fish approaching, he greedily killed it to seize its soul core, which was morally questionable. But for the sake of their journey ahead, the four couldn’t side with either party and could only act as mediators.

Qu Yi listened calmly to the four until they all fell silent, then burst into laughter, his eyes filled with coldness.

“Yue Zheng, do you really think we don’t know what you’re thinking? Again, you have only one choice—hand over the soul core to me,” Qu Yi sneered.

Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, and Zong Chun were shocked and looked at Qu Yi, realizing now that the conflict between the two was irreconcilable.

Yue Zheng had thought that with the four meddling, Qu Yi, who was in the Heart Soul Star Region, would surely show them respect, allowing him to seize the soul cores by chance. But Qu Yi was so persistent and unyielding.

Joke aside, it was already good enough that Qu Yi didn’t try to take advantage of others. Now Yue Zheng was resorting to despicable tactics to steal the soul cores—he had really run into a tough opponent.

“Qu Tian, don’t think just because you have spirit talismans and speed, you can act lawlessly. I’m telling you now—these soul cores belong to me!” Yue Zheng shouted angrily.
Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, and Zong Chun saw this and wanted to intervene again to persuade the two of them. They understood well that once a fight broke out, their team effort would fail, and they would have to disband.
Qu Yi suddenly said, “Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, Zong Chun—stop talking. Stand aside. Once I deal with this guy, we’ll enter the core area of the Heart Soul Star Zone.”
Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, and Zong Chun wanted to speak but stopped, hovering in midair.
Seeing that the four hadn’t come to mediate after hearing Qu Yi’s words, Yue Zheng grew furious inwardly, though he remained calm on the surface.
“Qu Tian, since you want to fight me, I’ll go along with you,” Yue Zheng snapped.
As soon as he spoke, Qu Yi vanished suddenly and appeared behind Yue Zheng, delivering a kick.
There was a sharp ‘crack’—it seemed Yue Zheng’s ilium had broken. He flew away like a falling leaf, carried by the wind, before crashing heavily to the ground.
Yes, Qu Yi had used the gold-element attack technique ‘Final Blow,’ but instead of a magic weapon, he simply kicked with his foot. His speed was nearly that of a late-stage tribulation master—Yue Zheng couldn’t even sense it, let alone react.
Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, and Zong Chun stared in shock at Qu Yi, unable to believe he could be so fast.
“Too fast! What kind of speed is this? I can’t even sense it!”
“He’s too strong! So Qu Tian had hidden some of his strength. At the merged stage, I guess no one can defeat him anymore.”
“Too fierce! Such speed, such a powerful kick!”
“Amazing! I’ve seen many fights in my life, but none were as decisive, swift, or impressive. Kicking through someone’s pelvis at the late merged stage—no one would believe it if I told them.”
The four thought in astonishment.
……
Qu Yi just smiled, floating lightly above Yue Zheng, looking down at him lying on the ground.
At that moment, Yue Zheng felt an anger so intense he wanted to cry but couldn’t. He had thought he could compete with Qu Yi using a secret technique he possessed, but now he realized he was utterly insignificant against Qu Yi—there was too huge a gap in strength.

“Yue Zheng, one last warning—choose between the soul cores or your life,” Qu Yi said with a smile, showing not a trace of pity.
Yue Zheng grunted in pain, enduring the severe agony in his hips as he reluctantly threw all five soul cores of the eight-clawed soul fish into the air.
Qu Yi chuckled, swept his right hand, and the five soul cores were drawn into his palm before being placed inside his space ring.
In truth, Yue Zheng’s attempts to take advantage and use underhanded tactics hadn’t truly crossed Qu Yi’s killing threshold, so he didn’t actually kill Yue Zheng. Yet, some minor punishment was necessary to establish his authority.
Sure enough, after Qu Yi obtained the soul cores, Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, and Zong Chun all looked at him with fear in their eyes. All they hoped for was to quickly find the treasures they wanted in the Soul Star Region so they could leave and stay away from this powerful pervert, Qu Yi.
After all, Yue Zheng was still at an advanced stage of fusion cultivation. Even if his bones were broken, as long as his vital energy circulated a few times and some of it was expended, his bones would recover quickly. Now, after standing up, he flew over to the five of them in a gloomy mood, standing there awkwardly without saying another word.
But when he lowered his head, hatred flashed in his eyes.
Qu Yi, Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, and Zong Chun were all at an advanced stage of fusion cultivation, so they didn’t dare mock Yue Zheng. Instead, they focused their attention on the soul beasts, using their spiritual senses to scan the surroundings for more.
“The Soul Star Region is truly a dangerous place. First, there were soul snakes in trouble, then a wave of eight-clawed soul fish, and now a soul beast in the Tribulation stage,” Chu Gao suddenly exclaimed, looking panicked.
At this stage, Chu Gao, also at an advanced fusion cultivation level, wasn’t sure whether the approaching soul beast was in the early or middle stage of the Tribulation stage.
Qu Yi narrowed his eyes and said slowly, “This soul beast in the Tribulation stage doesn’t seem to be here to help the soul snakes. It seems there’s a powerful cultivator chasing it.”
Eep!
Chu Gao, Zu Xiao, Zhuang Xiao, Zong Chun, and Yue Zheng all sensed the soul beast, and their hearts grew anxious. All six of them were only at an advanced fusion cultivation level, slower than the soul beast. If they faced it and were attacked by its soul magic, their souls would surely suffer damage. Hearing Qu Yi’s words, they immediately felt relieved. Since the soul beast was being chased, they didn’t have to worry about its attack.

Sure enough, after a while, Chu Gao and the other five sensed that behind that Soul Beast in the Tribulation Phase, there were actually two cultivators in the Tribulation Phase chasing it. This Soul Beast was a Silver-Winged Soul Eagle, with two huge silver wings that, with just a slight flap, could cover a distance of a hundred miles. Yet its speed still couldn’t compare to that of the two human cultivators in the early Tribulation Phase. The Soul Beast was strong in soul attacks, but its speed and spell attacks were far inferior. As the Silver-Winged Soul Eagle flew closer to Qu Yi and the other six, the two cultivators in the early Tribulation Phase finally caught up and surrounded it from both sides. “Soul Eagle, where can you run? Since we two brothers have found you, just submit and face your death,” laughed the cultivator in purple. “That’s right, Soul Eagle. What’s the point of resisting? Your soul attacks may work against those in the Combined Phase, but they’re useless against us two brothers,” said the cultivator in green with a smile. Clearly, the two cultivators in the early Tribulation Phase were confident they could kill this Silver-Winged Soul Eagle. “Human cultivators, don’t be arrogant. Do you think you can kill the Soul Beasts in our Heart Soul Star Region at will? As long as the Soul Lords from our core region step forward, all human cultivators who enter the Heart Soul Star Region will die,” shouted the Silver-Winged Soul Eagle, stopping in frustration as it realized it couldn’t escape. The two cultivators in the early Tribulation Phase burst into laughter upon hearing this, then stared intently at the Silver-Winged Soul Eagle. “Yue Kang, strike!” suddenly ordered the cultivator in purple to the one in green. At that moment, the cultivator in green took out a white rotating wheel with ten sharp blades. As it spun, it emitted a chilling glow, terrifying in appearance. “Rotating Annihilation!” cried the cultivator in green. The white wheel rushed toward the Silver-Winged Soul Eagle, ready to slice through it. The Soul Eagle flapped its wings slightly, quickly dodging the attack, then suddenly shrank down to the size of a fist, turning into a silver bird. It darted to the side of the cultivator in purple, enveloping him in a terrifying soul aura. This was a soul attack technique—Soul Aura Envelopment. Once the Soul Eagle’s soul aura entered the cultivator in purple’s primordial spirit, it could directly attack his soul, completely surrounding it and preventing him from emitting any spiritual energy again. The cultivator in purple simply smiled lightly, his primordial spirit separating from his body. Surprisingly, his primordial spirit was covered by a layer of silver armor, protected by defensive battle armor.

Naturally, the deadly strike of the Silver-Winged Soul Eagle failed to find its target; it merely wandered inside the body of the purple-clothed warrior before failing to locate the target’s soul essence. By then, the green-clothed warrior had already flown over, wielding a white spinning wheel to split the shrunk Silver-Winged Soul Eagle in one strike, after which a white soul core fell to the ground. “Haha, brother, we’re so lucky! We’ve got another soul core. With this, our soul realm at the early stage of the tribulation can reach perfection, and we can prepare to endure the sixty-nine-day tribulation,” said Yue Kang, the green-clothed warrior, holding the soul core and laughing loudly. The purple-clothed warrior’s soul essence had returned to his body, and he too watched the Silver-Winged Soul Eagle’s soul core with joy. “Oh, there are actually six people in the later stage of fusion over there. Brother, let’s go take a look,” Yue Kang said immediately after sensing Qu Yi and the others. “Okay, let’s go,” replied the purple-clothed warrior with a smile. The two warriors at the early stage of the tribulation teleported right in front of Qu Yi and the six others, wearing smiles on their faces as they scrutinized them.