North border of the Heaven Dou Empire, in a small mountain village.
With a flash of light, Xu Xiaoyun dropped from the sky, riding his massive Black Tortoise Shield as it slowly hovered to a stop. After touching down, he paused and instinctively glanced back, his brows slightly furrowed.
He couldn't explain it — just a gut feeling. But as someone whose strength was already close to Limit Douluo, his instincts weren't to be taken lightly.
"We only caught a three-thousand-year soul beast. Shouldn't be enough to alarm the Snow Empress or Ice Empress, right?" he muttered, exhaling warm breath into the freezing air, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Ugh… Master-ancestor, I feel dizzy…" came Xu Tianxi's woozy voice from behind.
Just stepping off the soul tool, he felt like the whole world was spinning. He couldn't even walk straight.
Elder Xue, who was a bit better off, immediately pulled out a piece of warm jade and pressed it to Tianxi's forehead to help him recover.
"Haha, don't worry. First rides are always like that," Xu Xiaoyun chuckled. "That flying Black Tortoise Shield of mine isn't exactly built for comfort. When we have the time, we'll head to the Sun Moon Empire and check out their flying soul tools. I hear the ones from the Imperial Soul Engineering Academy are top-notch — smooth like clouds, even based on bionics."
He added with a grin, "If they won't sell, I'll just make them an offer they can't refuse."
Xu Tianxi blinked. "Bionics… wait, aren't those like planes but soul-powered?"
He vaguely remembered something about that from a novel. Flying soul tools that felt like private jets, except the poor pilot — the engineer — had to fly on the outside like a kite on a string. Brutal job.
But no time for that now — priority was absorbing his new soul ring and breaking through to Grandmaster.
With a soft thud, the previously captured Illusory Moon Butterfly appeared in front of them again. Its wings, once glowing with misty moonlight, had already dulled. Its moon dust had been washed off, and it lay barely alive, unable to resist.
No nonsense. Xu Tianxi raised one of his custom-made soul tool pistols and fired a burst of explosive soul energy. With a crackling bang, the dazzling butterfly's short life came to an end.
Blue-and-white spirit light drifted off its remains. A glowing purple three-thousand-year soul ring rose up from its corpse like a crown.
Xu Tianxi sat down cross-legged, eyes glowing with clarity. A silvery light bloomed from his forehead, slowly flowing back to form a glowing full moon behind him — a spiritual projection he had trained for over two years.
As long as there was moonlight, he could absorb it to cultivate spiritual power. What started as a bean-sized light had now expanded into a full, glowing moon.
This spiritual full moon amplified his control and focus, letting him perform fine soul tool carving, and unleashing full-force spirit techniques far beyond his level.
Xu Xiaoyun once estimated: if Tianxi unleashed all the spiritual force stored in the full moon at once, he could kill a Soul King outright — maybe even higher, assuming the enemy lacked a high-tier mental defense soul tool.
But the cost would be massive. Xu Tianxi himself would likely pass out or suffer soul sea damage.
With a deep breath, he drew in the purple soul ring. The moment it touched him, a powerful mental shockwave slammed into his mind, instantly putting his spiritual sea under attack.
Most people would've blacked out instantly.
But Xu Tianxi had already faced something like this before — back when he clashed with that weird spirit ape in the monkey incident. The moment his soul sea sensed danger, the full moon behind his mind lit up like a blade.
The soul of the Illusory Moon Butterfly appeared, trying to resist.
Too bad.
The moon behind him cracked into slivers — crescent blades that sliced out in a storm, cutting the butterfly spirit into pieces.
The butterfly's desperate resistance slowed it only a moment. But then, Xu Tianxi snapped coldly: "Burst."
Two of the crescents exploded into a mental cold wave, swallowing the phantom whole. It screeched silently and shattered like a dream.
The storm was over. The soul ring's energy began to flood his body.
Tianxi's body had already been strengthened with years of soul food and rare herbs — easily Soul Ancestor level — so the ring's energy didn't overload him. One hour later, he opened his eyes.
"I did it."
He stood up, eyes bright, and turned to Xu Xiaoyun and Elder Xue. "The soul skill I got is called Reflections of the Moon in Water (Mirror Flowers, Water Moon). It creates a large-scale spiritual illusion. I can alter my appearance and the battlefield environment, quietly pulling enemies into my illusion."
"If they fall in and can't break free, their life or death is in my hands."
Xu Xiaoyun raised a brow. "How wide is the area?"
"About 100 meters for now. It'll expand as my spiritual power increases. And it doesn't just affect one person — everyone inside is pulled in. And if I use the full moon projection at the same time..."
Xu Tianxi gestured to the now half-faded moon behind him.
"…The effect can double. Unless someone has crazy mental strength or a specialized tool, once they're caught, it's over. They can't escape until I'm out of power."
"Which means they'll be sitting ducks. Perfect targets for my allies."
He added honestly, "Only problem is, if their mental resistance is strong, I could get stuck in a mental stalemate. If they break the illusion forcefully, I take backlash."
"That's more than enough!" Elder Xue practically leapt. "Young Master! This is a battlefield monster of a skill! On a real field, you could cause half an army to freeze up!"
"If you ever reach Titled Douluo, this skill would be a strategic weapon!"
Xu Xiaoyun's expression turned serious. He took a deep breath, muttering, "No wonder they say the Illusory Moon Butterfly is the spiritual version of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor..."
"If used at the right moment... a massacre is possible."
He thought of an old record — how Poison Douluo Dugu Bo once used poison to wipe out tens of thousands, earning eternal infamy.
"Tianxi," he said solemnly, "this soul skill is dangerous. You must keep it secret. Unless you choose to, never let others know. Skills like this invite fear — and fear invites enemies."
Xu Tianxi nodded. "Understood."
Xu Xiaoyun asked one last question: "How deep can your illusion go? Can you fake your spirit rings?"
Tianxi grinned. "Yep. Right now I can fake ring number and color. I can also turn invisible and mess with the surrounding terrain."
"Here, watch this — Elder Xue, observe."
He activated the skill. His two real rings — one yellow, one purple — turned white, then yellow, then purple, then black… even red. He even vanished for a second, while the snowy ground beneath them turned into spring meadows filled with flowers.
Two seconds later, everything snapped back. Xu Tianxi looked exhausted — cheeks pale, spiritual energy drained.
"...This is unbelievable. It's like… a dream of death," Elder Xue whispered, eyes wide.
Two seconds may seem short — but on a battlefield, it's all you need to decide life and death.
Xu Xiaoyun clapped him on the shoulder, chuckling. "Well done. That's enough for now. Let's head to Hanhai City and meet your senior brother — from here on, he'll be guiding your path for a while."