1642 Mental Breakdown, Jiang Fangyou

It was already inconceivable that the person before him had managed to comprehend the Spatial Quintessence and the Time Quintessence… but who could have thought that he would have successfully grasped the Soul Quintessence as well!

In the past tens of thousands of years, nearly no one in the Three Premier Clans had managed to comprehend any of these three Quintessences. Even Ancient Sages would view comprehending any one of these Quintessences as their greatest pride, regarding it as their bragging rights toward their fellow Ancient Sages.

But somehow, a single person had actually able to grasp all three of them. How in the world was this possible?

Just what kind of monster was he?

Kacha!

In Jiang Fangyou's moment of shock, the thief had already broken through the windows of the treasure vault, ready to escape at any moment.

"Do you think that I'll allow you to escape after emptying our Jiang Clan's treasure vault? You are really taking me too lightly!"

With a face reddened with rage, Jiang Fangyou pushed his foot forcefully against the ground and leaped out of the window as well. Raising his right hand, he swiped forward ferociously.

Hong long!

A powerful surge of zhenqi burst forth with astounding speed, forming an energy wall which sealed all possible escape routes. At the same time, Jiang Fangyou concentrated his soul energy into his hand to forge a sharp sword and slashed it down on the thief forcefully.

Peng!

Through the sheer congregation of soul energy, Jiang Fangyou's sword overcame the limitations of space and time to sever the thief's neck.

Weng!

However, as the sword of soul energy came into contact with the thief's neck, a faint ripple of luminescence flowed out from the thief's body. It easily deflected the sword, allowing the thief to escape unharmed from this offense.

"Barrier of Soul Ripple? You are… a soul oracle?" Jiang Fangyou's heart jolted once more as he nearly plummeted from the sky.

The shock that he had received that day was far more than what he had encountered in his entire life!

Barrier of Soul Ripple was a battle technique unique to the soul oracles. By wrapping one's body with flowing soul energy, one would be able to deflect most soul offenses.

It was a technique which only the most authentic soul oracles were able to pull off. Even Jiang Fangyou wasn't capable enough to execute it…

On top of comprehending the Time, Spatial, and Soul Quintessences, the thief was actually a soul oracle too?

Just when in the world did such a formidable expert appear on the continent?

However, Jiang Fangyou knew that this was not the time for him to remain stunned in shock. With a swift flick of his wrist, a triangular flag materialized on top of his palm and rose into the air.

Great Sage artifact, Darksoul Flag!

This was an artifact that had been forged by an Ancient Sage of the Jiang Clan. It had been a hundred years since Jiang Fangyou gained possession of the flag, and he had been nourishing it with his soul energy every single day. Furthermore, he had not used it since the major fight eighty years ago.

In other words, there was eighty years worth of soul energy stored within the Darksoul Flag!

With the activation of the Darksoul Flag, a profuse amount of soul energy gushed frenziedly into the surroundings, preventing anyone within its sphere of dominion from escaping.

A sinister aura drifted across the air, and it felt as if the temperature around the Jiang Clan had abruptly plummeted. Even though Saint cultivators possessed a certain degree of resistance to heat and cold, the cold vibe seemed to seep right into their souls, leaving them shuddering uncontrollably.

The soul energy emanated by the Darksoul Flag held malevolent intent. Those whose cultivation was weaker could end up turning into retards under the hostile assault of the flag. Even those who were stronger would find themselves light-headed, inhibiting their reaction speed. This would create an opening for others to exploit.

Many years ago, Yang shi had a friendly duel with Jiang Fangyou. He had been caught off guard by the prowess of the Darksoul Flag and nearly suffered a huge setback.

Before the prowess of the Darksoul Flag, the body of the thief was forcefully halted on the spot. As if an ant cast within a block of ice, he was unable to escape no matter how desperately he struggled.

Seeing that he had managed to seal the movement of the thief, Jiang Fangyou heaved a sigh of relief. "You might be a true soul oracle, but you are simply too weak at the moment. You are no match for the prowess of the Darksoul Flag!"

Just as he was about to apprehend the thief to see the face of the culprit, he suddenly felt the flag in the air trembling non-stop. To his astonishment, it felt like the Darksoul Flag was running out of control!

Tzzzzzzz!

The eighty years worth of soul energy accumulated within the Darksoul Flag suddenly surged into the seemingly-trapped thief beneath it. Before long, a huge whirlpool had already formed between them.

"H-he… is absorbing the soul energy in the Darksoul Flag? This is bad…" Jiang Fangyou's face turned ghastly pale, and he nearly blacked out.

The Darksoul Flag is one of the strongest artifacts in the Jiang Clan! Yet, not only are you unfazed by its attack, you are even absorbing soul energy from it…

You monster! Show your true form!

With a livid expression, Jiang Fangyou maneuvered the Darksoul Flag to pierce into the body of the thief. "You b*stard, there's no way I'll let you do that! Die!"

The Darksoul Flag was not just capable of soul offense, it wielded formidable physical prowess as well. Under its full might, even a Great Sage 2-dan Aureate Body realm cultivator would be completely destroyed!

Hula!

The Darksoul Flag pierced right toward the thief with astounding speed. Jiang Fangyou thought that he would finally be able to subdue the thief with this move, but to his bewilderment, the thief raised his hand and stroked the flag lightly. Following which…

The Darksoul Flag suddenly twisted and twirled delightfully around the thief, and a moan of delight echoed from its body. It was almost as if it had just been reunited with its long-lost father!

Pu!

Jiang Fangyou's face paled, and he spurted a mouthful of blood. To his horror, he could feel his mental connection with the Darksoul Flag being decisively severed!

"Y-you… You tamed my Darksoul Flag…" Jiang Fangyou was on the verge of bursting into tears.

It is one thing for you to be able to steal my soul energy within the Darksoul Flag, but to be able to tame it in the blink of an eye as well…

What in the world is happening? Who am I? Where am I?

Jiang Fangyou had been traumatized so badly that he was starting to doubt the reason behind his existence.

That was an artifact that he had spent over a hundred years nourishing! Yet, it had actually betrayed him for a new master without any second thoughts…

It was as if all of the tender love that he had showered upon it had gone to naught. This betrayal came like a dagger plunged into the depths of his heart…

Huhu!

After taming the Darksoul Flag, the thief quickly stowed it into his storage ring before continuing his escape.

"Is that the thief who has stolen from our treasure vault? Where do you think you're going?"

"If I allow you to escape today, I shall cast away my Jiang surname!"

The clashes between Jiang Fangyou and the thief had caused a huge commotion and alarmed the members of the Jiang Clan. Dozens of elders from the Jiang Clan flew out and encircled the area, sealing all escape routes of the thief.

Seeing that reinforcements had arrived, Jiang Fangyou heaved a sigh of relief. With a wrathful look on his face, he whipped out a jade token and tossed it into the air.

Hong long!

As soon as the jade token appeared, a formation shrouding the entire Jiang Clan suddenly whirred into action, and an immense amount of energy swiftly gathered in the air.

The Guardian Formation of the Jiang Clan had just been activated!

Narrowing his eyes, Jiang Fangyou pointed his finger at the jade token and commanded, "Seal!"

Weng!

Amid blinding radiance, energy swiftly gathered in the area.

This was not any manipulation of space or soul art. Rather, it was the true accumulation of raw, unrefined energy.

There was no weakness to exploit in this massive accumulation of energy. Once trapped within this raw energy, there would be nowhere for the thief to escape to.

Seemingly noticing the frightening prowess of the accumulation of energy, the thief cowered backward fearfully, even stumbling over nothing in the midst of doing so.

Kacha!

But all of a sudden, the accumulation of raw energy suddenly exploded. A powerful shockwave swept across the area before everything vanished completely.

"The formation was halted?" Jiang Fangyou was startled.

At that moment, he felt as if ten thousand divine beasts were stampeding through his mind.

Somehow, the thief seemed to wield some mysterious ability to overcome everything that he threw at the other party.

Bro, is there anything in this world that you can't do?

Unfortunately, that was not the end of it.

Before Jiang Fangyou could even recover from his shock, the thief beckoned with his hand, and the jade token floating in the air swiftly flew over.

Hu!

The jade token landed on the thief's hand. With a slight stroke, an excited hum sounded from the jade token…

It had been tamed as well!

Pu!

Another mouthful of fresh blood spurted from Jiang Fangyou's mouth as he saw the world before him turning dark.

He did not know how much trauma his old body could take before breaking down!

Can you please stop stealing my possessions?

Taming the Darksoul Flag and my Clan Head Token… Those are mine, not yours!

How in the world did you even manage to tame them?

Looking at it now, it seems like I'm the outsider instead!

Seeing the bad condition that her father was in, Jiang Feifei quickly rushed forward anxiously. "Father…"

However, Jiang Fangyou quickly stopped her with a bellow. "Don't come over! Be careful and don't get tamed by that fellow…"

Given how the thief had managed to tame the Darksoul Flag, Clan Head Token, and even the Guardian Formation, he felt like the other party would tame his daughter if she rushed over.

In fact… he was thinking that the other party would be able to tame even him if he were to rush over!

"…" Jiang Feifei.

"…" Zhang Xuan.