Encounter

At the entrance to Soul Hunting Forest, dust swirled through the air. Tang San and Yu Xiao Gang happened to arrive just then, and from afar they saw a crowd gathered in a circle, the clamor unending.

"Teacher, did something happen over there?" Tang San keenly sensed fluctuations of Soul Power and looked curiously toward the crowd.

Yu Xiao Gang narrowed his eyes, unable to suppress his own curiosity. "Come, let's take a look. Remember, watch more and speak less."

At the center of the crowd, Michael stood in robes whiter than snow, radiating youthful vigor.

Five fierce-looking Soul Hunters stood before him. The bald, burly man at their head sneered. "Brat, mind your own business! I'm a three-ring Soul Elder!"

"Besides, what happened earlier was because her man broke the rules and got himself killed. Can that be blamed on us?"

"No, my husband didn't!" The woman sat kneeling behind Michael, and a sob finally rose in her throat. "I've only just become pregnant with his child. He valued his life dearly. How could he possibly do something that would get himself killed?"

"How the hell would I know?" The burly man spat a glob of phlegm onto the ground impatiently, looking down at Michael as a lewd glint flashed through his eyes.

This boy was fair and pretty. He knew that certain nobles in the city had a taste for this sort of thing. Why not go all the way, kidnap the boy, and offer him to those important figures? Wouldn't that earn him another fortune?

Qian Daoliu, disguised as Michael, naturally did not miss the lewdness in the man's eyes. He had not expected that, even at over a hundred years old, he would still see such looks directed at him.

Disgusting!

Michael's white robes fluttered gently in the wind. He lowered his eyes to the filthy spit on the ground, then suddenly laughed softly.

That laughter made the bald man shudder for no reason. He could not understand why this boy could still laugh in such a hopeless situation.

"What are you laughing at?" the man barked, putting on a brave front as three Soul Rings abruptly lit up.

The four companions behind him released their Martial Souls at the same time. Five waves of Soul Power pressure bore down on the slender youth.

The surrounding crowd cried out in alarm. Tang San instinctively took several steps back, but Yu Xiao Gang mistook it for the child trying to rush forward and quickly pressed a hand onto his shoulder.

"Don't move." The master's voice trembled. "You don't even have a Soul Ring. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

At that moment, Michael slowly raised his right hand, and a blinding white light suddenly burst from his fingertips.

The light flowed as though it were tangible, gathering in his palm into a longsword blazing with holy fire.

"I'm laughing at you," his voice suddenly became ethereal and distant, "for fabricating such vile lies when no one dares to refute you."

He looked at the surrounding spectators, his tone turning icy.

Among the people gathered here, more than a few knew the full story. Most of them even knew that everything the woman said was true, yet not one person stepped forward to help.

How could human hearts be so cold?

Was this why The Lord had sent him into the mortal world?

Michael was an Angel of Judgment. When Ye Su bestowed upon him that noble name, he had also granted him a measure of the authority of judgment.

Lying before judgment—did they think judgment could no longer raise its blade?

The burly man's sneer froze on his face. He only felt an unprecedented pressure descend upon him, forcing him to his knees!

His knees slammed heavily into the ground, cracking the earth into a spiderweb pattern. To his horror, his Martial Soul began to collapse beyond his control, and his three Soul Rings went out one after another like snuffed candles.

"Who exactly are you?!" The burly man's companions were already kneeling on the ground, and one of them had wet himself.

The spectators retreated like a receding tide. Someone knocked over a roadside stall, and fresh fruit rolled across the ground.

The holy sword in Michael's hand suddenly dissolved into specks of light.

He bent down and helped the trembling woman to her feet, his voice unbelievably gentle. "Madam, please identify who took your family's belongings."

Yu Xiao Gang's pupils contracted sharply.

As a master of theory, he understood better than anyone that perhaps only the legendary Domain-type Spirit Skills could force a Soul Master's Martial Soul to disperse like that.

Yet this white-robed youth had not even revealed his Soul Rings!

The woman gathered her courage and pointed at the bald man's waist. "That jade pendant was my mother-in-law's dowry!"

Michael lightly tapped with a fingertip, and the money pouch in the man's clothes suddenly flew out on its own. Gold coins spiraled through the air like a golden stream before arranging themselves neatly at the woman's feet.

"I understand that you chose silence because you feared their strength," Michael said, turning to face the silent spectators. "But every one of you knows the truth."

"If you stand by today, then when disaster befalls you someday, who will come to save you?" As Michael spoke, he picked up a gold coin, and an image unfolded beside him.

This was part of a demigod's authority. Through the power of judgment, he could display a fragment of the truth from the past.

It only worked for those who had suffered injustice.

The image clearly showed how this Soul Hunter squad had been overcome by greed after seeing the woman's husband's wealth, killed him, and then embezzled his belongings.

"Spirit Hall will deliver the fairest judgment." As soon as Michael finished speaking, Spirit Hall stewards emerged from around the corner and arrested the members of the Soul Hunter squad who had broken the rules.

They had not originally come to arrest these men. They had merely heard that someone was causing trouble at the entrance to Soul Hunting Forest and had come to take a look.

They had not expected to stumble upon such a scene by chance.

The surrounding spectators soon fell completely silent, leaving only the woman's choked sobs.

They also knew in their hearts that if they always stood by and did nothing, then when disaster someday struck them, perhaps no one would raise a banner for them either.

Very soon, someone stepped forward. "I can testify! They were the ones who stole Madam Qin's property!"

"I saw it too!"

"Me too!"

The crowd grew noisy once more. Michael quickly slipped out from the center of the crowd, but just as he was about to leave, a weary voice called out to him.

"Young brother, I am Yu Xiao Gang. What you used just now should have been a Self-Created Soul Skill, correct?" Yu Xiao Gang strolled out from behind the crowd, excitement in his eyes.

What kind of lucky days had these been?

First, he had met Tang San, a socially clueless boy with Twin Martial Souls, and taken him as his disciple. Then he had encountered this fifteen- or sixteen-year-old youth. Although he did not yet know what Martial Soul the boy possessed, what Soul Skills he had, or how many Soul Rings he carried... he could tell at a glance that this youth was extraordinary.

Perhaps he could talk this one into becoming his disciple too!

Michael turned around, slightly startled. When he saw Yu Xiao Gang, he blinked. Naturally, he knew Yu Xiao Gang—Bibi Dong's former lover, the famously useless member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan... he was rather well known.

He had not expected to encounter him here.