After a minute, the pillar of fire dissipated.

Elder Huai, the Half-Step Martial Spirit, had been burned to ash. The old man’s house and yard were also completely destroyed.

All that remained nearby were five enormous lava pits, slowly cooling.

Chu Qingyun found a suitable spot nearby to bury the old man’s remains. He observed a moment of silence, sighed, and then departed.

His own horse, as well as the one Elder Huai had ridden, had been incinerated in the aftermath of the five great pillars of fire. With no other choice, Chu Qingyun had to run to the nearest post station.

However, with his strength as a Half-Step Martial Spirit, he was actually faster than a horse...

After acquiring a new horse, Chu Qingyun rode toward County City.

Along the way, he mulled over a problem: Elder Huai had been utterly shocked to see his Tier Four Flame Martial Soul.

If he wanted to learn Alchemy Skill when he returned, he would have to reveal his Flame Martial Soul—at least to Qin Ya and Elder Qin.

’Qin Ya seems to know that I have a Tier Three Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul... This is going to be difficult to explain...’

’Twin Martial Souls... Mutated Martial Soul... Twin Martial Souls... Mutated Martial Soul...’

Chu Qingyun muttered the two terms to himself over and over as he rode.

Twin Martial Souls, as the name implies, meant that a person had awakened two Martial Souls.

Someone with two Martial Souls, two sets of Soul Techniques, and a double portion of Martial Soul Power was a one-in-ten-million prodigy. Basically, no one had ever seen such a person.

Many even believed that so-called Twin Martial Souls were just a myth, an ideal that could never truly exist. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

’Not a good idea. It’s too conspicuous...’

Chu Qingyun shook his head, rejecting the idea.

While Twin Martial Souls would explain why he had two Martial Souls, the condition was far too rare. He had too many secrets and preferred not to draw excessive attention to himself.

’If Twin Martial Souls won’t work, then a Mutated Martial Soul is the only other explanation...’

A so-called Mutated Martial Soul was a variation of a common Martial Soul, one that had undergone a partial transformation. Even some extremely rare Martial Souls could be classified as Mutated Martial Souls.

A mutation wasn’t always a good thing; it could turn a perfectly fine Martial Soul into a useless, defunct one.

More importantly for Chu Qingyun, while Mutated Martial Souls were also rare, they were far more believable than Twin Martial Souls.

For instance, the father and son duo he had met in Qingshan City, Qi Fan and Qi Gang, possessed a Tier Two Mutated Martial Soul: the Blood Wolf Martial Soul.

If Chu Qingyun claimed his was a Mutated Martial Soul—an Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine that was on fire—it would only arouse curiosity.

But if he said he had Twin Martial Souls—a pure Flame Martial Soul in addition to his Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine—it would cause a sensation.

’In that case, I’ll just say my Martial Soul... mutated into a Flame Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul!’

With a flicker of his will, Chu Qingyun prepared to summon his Martial Soul to test it out.

However, the moment a hint of his Martial Soul’s aura was released, the horse beneath him suddenly shrieked in terror, its legs buckled, and it nearly threw Chu Qingyun to the ground.

Startled, Chu Qingyun quickly retracted his Martial Soul and leaped off the horse’s back.

He had almost forgotten that this was just an ordinary horse. Even a Half-Step Martial Spirit like Elder Huai couldn’t withstand the aura of a Tier Four Martial Soul. If he had fully released it, the horse would have likely been scared to death...

The horse was spooked and couldn’t travel for the time being.

Since Chu Qingyun also wanted to figure out how to fake a Flame Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul, he led the horse off the main road to rest.

Chu Qingyun himself sat down under a tree, silently pondering, ’To fake a Flame Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul, I’ll need to manifest both Martial Souls at the same time. I wonder if that’s even possible...’

Although he was confident in his ability to control his Martial Souls, he had never tried anything like this before and had no idea if it would work.

In the end, Chu Qingyun decided he might as well try.

After confirming no one was around, he focused his will, and his Flame Martial Soul and Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul manifested simultaneously.

Two somewhat illusory Martial Souls appeared at the same time behind Chu Qingyun, one on his left and one on his right.

The Tier Four Flame Martial Soul was a column of fire over two meters tall, burning fiercely upward with an incredibly violent momentum.

Meanwhile, the Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul had grown from the small version Chu Qingyun used to hold in his hand into a gigantic vine over two meters tall. A long iron thread ran through the center of each of its ten vines, which swayed gently behind him.

’Disguise two Martial Souls as one...’

Chu Qingyun stroked his chin and began to control the two Martial Souls, guiding them toward the center to merge.

Instantly, two powerful forces of resistance transmitted into his consciousness. It seemed neither Martial Soul wanted to get close to the other.

From the very beginning, his attempt to disguise the Martial Souls met with immense resistance.

Having finally come up with a plausible excuse, Chu Qingyun wasn’t about to give up so easily. He gritted his teeth and forced the two Martial Souls to converge in the middle.

They were both his own Martial Souls. Even if they were unwilling to merge, they probably wouldn’t harm each other.

However, Chu Qingyun had clearly underestimated the difficulty of this task. He struggled for over ten minutes, breaking out in a sweat, but the two Tier Four Martial Souls had only moved a tiny bit closer. They showed no intention of coming together at all!

’Damn it, this is impossible!’

Chu Qingyun cursed inwardly and gave up.

He couldn’t even force them to get close to each other, let alone make them look like a single Martial Soul.

Chu Qingyun had perfect control over his Soul Techniques and Martial Soul Power.

But controlling the Martial Souls themselves was extremely difficult.

After all, the form and appearance of a Martial Soul were innate. Basically, no one had ever even considered changing their Martial Soul’s shape.

’Fuck, they were both created by the Devouring Martial Soul, so why can’t they merge... Wait, the Devouring Martial Soul...’

Chu Qingyun’s eyes lit up as if he had suddenly grasped something.

Every other Martial Soul in his Qi Sea seemed to fear the Devouring Martial Soul, repelled by it to the far edges of his Qi Sea.

Since the two Martial Souls were so resistant to merging, what if he used the Devouring Martial Soul to force them...

Heh heh.

Chu Qingyun chuckled slyly as he channeled a stream of Devouring Power from his Devouring Martial Soul and gathered it in his hand.

Feeling the aura of the Devouring Power, both Tier Four Martial Souls trembled slightly.

’Like hell I can’t handle you two! Get together, now!’

Chu Qingyun split the Devouring Power into two streams, using them to herd the Flame Martial Soul and the Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul toward the middle from both sides.

Sure enough, under the threat of the Devouring Power, both Martial Souls began to move.

Soon, the Iron Thread Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul bored its way into the Flame Martial Soul.

It looked like a Ten-Star Vine was growing out of a ball of fire.

Staring at the strange and discordant sight, Chu Qingyun frowned. ’It looks so bizarre... like it was just forcibly smashed together...’