It Was Him Who Came

Ning Qiu sighed. He knew that the things he had to face would have to be faced eventually. He stepped forward and opened the door.

Outside, Xiao Wu was already wearing a short dress, her hands planted on her hips. Her face was flushed red as she stared fixedly at Ning Qiu.

"Xiao Wu, what is it?" Ning Qiu asked.

"Little Village Chief, hurry and take a look. Something's wrong."

Before Xiao Wu could make her request for a spar, a panting villager burst into Ning Qiu's small villa.

"What happened?" Ning Qiu asked.

"Those hoodlums from Notting City are here again." The villager reporting the situation answered Ning Qiu, glancing at Xiao Wu. There were Soul Masters among those hoodlums. In his view, only Xiao Wu, who was also a Soul Master, could save Holy Soul Village.

"They came to Holy Soul Village?" Ning Qiu frowned.

"Exactly. They've gone too far. Hurry, let's go take a look. If we get there too late, I'm worried they'll start fighting."

Following the villagers of Holy Soul Village, Ning Qiu, Xiao Wu, and Gou Dan ran into Ning Chen halfway there and arrived at the village entrance.

While Ning Qiu was still some distance from the village entrance, he could already hear the voices ahead.

"We haven't gone to your territory to sell Vegetables these past few days. Why are you still charging us protection fees?"

"You've always sold Vegetables on my turf. How can you suddenly stop selling? Are you looking down on my Black Wolf Gang? Do you think my Black Wolf Gang is inferior to those gangs from before?"

"If we don't want to sell Vegetables anymore, is that somehow our fault? You demand five Gold Soul Coins from us every month. We can't make any profit at all."

"Then raise your prices!"

"Vegetables are the least profitable business. We've already raised our prices two or three times. Now nobody can even afford to buy our Vegetables."

"That's your problem. What the hell does it have to do with me? Stop talking nonsense and hand over all the protection fees you owe from these past days."

"Master, I heard you're a Soul Master too! You can't be so unreasonable!" Old Jack's hoarse, aged voice came from ahead.

"Heh heh, is the Black Wolf Gang being unreasonable?"

"You... you're being completely unreasonable!"

"That's right, I am unreasonable. I'll count to three. Pay the protection fees you owe from these past days, and we'll leave immediately. If you don't pay, then don't blame us for getting rough."

"One!"

"You're bandits!"

"Two!"

"I... I have no way out. I'll fight you!"

An impulsive villager from Holy Soul Village stepped forward, raised the hoe in his hand, and smashed it toward Scarface, the man at the front.

Bang

The villagers of Holy Soul Village were simple folk with no combat experience. How could they be a match for hoodlums who lived by the blade? The hoe swung by the villager was caught in one hand by a hoodlum. Then the hoodlum kicked him flying.

Whoosh

Ning Qiu had just reached the front of the crowd and happened to witness the scene. His body flashed as he stretched out his hand and caught the villager.

Pfft

The Holy Soul Village villager spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Uncle Skinny Monkey, are you alright?" Ning Qiu asked with concern.

Gou Dan's father, Skinny Monkey, shook his head slightly.

"Gou Dan, someone hit your father. What do you think we should do?" Ning Qiu asked.

"Boss, leave him to me!" Gou Dan stepped forward, glaring furiously at the hoodlum.

The hoodlum was not very old, looking only a few years older than Gou Dan.

"Gou Dan, come back! He's a Soul Master!" Skinny Monkey cried anxiously.

"Are you sure you want to fight me?" The teenage boy planted his foot on the ground, and a white soul ring lit up around him. Red Soul Power condensed into a staff in his hand.

"I'm sure!" Gou Dan replied.

"You actually dare fight me? If I don't beat you until you're crawling around looking for your teeth today, then my surname isn't Liu!"

"Your surname isn't Liu?"

Ning Qiu froze inwardly. Why did that line sound so familiar?

"If your surname isn't Liu, then I'll call you a wilted flower and broken willow instead. You dare hit my father with nothing but a white ten-year soul ring? Today, I'll definitely beat you until you're crawling around looking for your teeth." Gou Dan's eyes were sharp, and his tone was filled with rage.

Thud

Gou Dan stomped his foot, and a yellow soul ring lit up beneath him.

"A soul ring!"

"And it's a hundred-year soul ring!"

"So that's why you dared act so arrogantly today. Turns out there's a Soul Master among you!"

The Black Wolf Gang's leader sounded slightly surprised, but he still mocked all the villagers of Holy Soul Village.

"Skinny Monkey, hadn't Gou Dan tested negative for Soul Power? How had he become a Soul Master in just five months? And even obtained a hundred-year soul ring?" Old Jack asked the middle-aged man beside him, his expression filled with shock and confusion.

"I don't know either. He's been farming with the Little Village Chief all this time. I have no idea how he suddenly became a Soul Master!" Gou Dan's father, Skinny Monkey, stared at his son in utter shock.

Slap!

Gou Dan's father, Skinny Monkey, raised his hand and slapped himself.

It hurt!

Skinny Monkey stared blankly, realizing that this was not a dream. He asked in delighted surprise, "Gou Dan, when did you become a Soul Master?"

"Dad, I'll tell you about that later. For now, let me teach that guy who just hit you a lesson." Gou Dan grinned smugly, channeling his Soul Power as he swung the hoe in his hands and charged at the youth surnamed Liu.

First Soul Skill Staff

The Soul Master surnamed Liu set the staff in his hand ablaze and attacked Gou Dan.

First Soul Skill-Splitting Earth-Rending

At the same time, Gou Dan's soul ring lit up with a yellow glow. He swung his hoe and leaped high into the air, then brought it down fiercely upon the youth rushing toward him.

Bang!

An unbelievable scene unfolded.

The force behind Gou Dan's hoe smashed a striking mark five or six meters long into the ground. The impact of its descent also blasted away the youth, who had yet to get close to Gou Dan.

Gou Dan's soul ring was no ordinary soul ring—it was a soul ring with a cultivation of two hundred and fifty years. Exchanging for it from the Treasure Pavilion had cost Gou Dan two hundred and fifty Contribution Points.

"Y-You... what are you trying to do?"

As Gou Dan approached step by step, the youth who had kicked Gou Dan's father away stared at him in terror.

"You dared to lay a hand on my dad. I said I'd beat you until you're crawling around looking for your teeth," Gou Dan said sharply.

"Ling Feng, stop him!" ordered the leader of the Black Wolf Gang to another youth dressed as though he wore a school uniform.

"Ning Chen, you go!" Ning Qiu ordered at the same time.

"Ning Qiu, what are you trying to do?" Before Ning Chen could respond, his father, Ning Sixth Uncle, cried out in alarm.

"Obviously, I'm going to teach these bad people a harsh lesson," Ning Qiu replied.

"Teach them a lesson? Are you joking? Don't you know that Ning Chen has... no... Soul... Soul Power!" Before Ning Sixth Uncle could finish speaking, he stared in stunned disbelief at his precious son.

Ning Chen stepped forward. Soul Power actually surged from his body, and beneath his feet was a yellow soul ring.