Night Raid on the Underground Palace, the Dagger Revealed

Nuoding Academy, Dormitory Seven.

Han Yuchen sat cross-legged on his bed, looking no different from an old man practicing Tai Chi in the park.

Yet before his eyes was a real-time image condensed from water vapor, clearer than the screen of the latest flagship phone.

This was what VIP-exclusive ultra-HD Blu-ray livestreaming felt like.

In the image, the entrance to the abandoned basement of Spirit Hall in Nuoding City sat quietly like a black hole.

A furtive figure hunched his neck and sneaked inside like a thief.

Supervisor Xiao, you finally showed up for work.

If you'd taken any longer, I would've finished all my sunflower seeds.

Almost at the same time, another figure silently withdrew from the shadows in the corner and headed straight for Spirit Hall's rear hall.

The fish took the bait.

Han Yuchen yawned and stretched.

Now comes the moment to witness a miracle.

The image shifted.

Old Ma Xiunuo's study.

A knock sounded at the door.

The spy slipped inside and delivered his report at a rapid pace.

A layer of frost instantly settled over Ma Xiunuo's usually unruffled old face.

Good lord, his gaze was sharp as knives.

He slammed his palm on the desk and rose to his feet.

The old man was genuinely furious.

Move. Let's catch ghosts!

Without the slightest hesitation, Ma Xiunuo picked three people.

One was the captain of the guards, a Soul Ancestor in his forties who looked fierce enough.

The other two were also Soul Ancestors in their thirties, with solid muscles and bulging temples.

Not bad. This lineup would have been enough even for demolition work.

The four figures moved like panthers in the night, silently making their way toward the abandoned basement.

Han Yuchen crossed one leg over the other.

The foreplay is over. Time for the main feature.

Creak—

Ma Xiunuo shoved open the basement's hidden door.

An overwhelmingly thick stench of blood, mixed with a nauseatingly evil aura, rushed at them.

Though Han Yuchen could not smell it, he could see from the water-vapor image that the guard captain in front had gone green and nearly vomited on the spot.

Sheesh, just how potent was that smell?

The full sight of the basement unfolded before them.

An altar built from ghastly white bones stood there, covered in twisted runes that glimmered with an eerie red light.

At the center of the altar was a bound soul beast, its fur dull, taking more breaths in than out.

Judging by its size, it was at least a five-hundred-year-old Wind Speed Wolf.

What a waste. It's about to become the base for dog-meat hotpot.

Supervisor Xiao was kneeling before the altar like the most devout of believers.

He muttered under his breath, acting all mysterious, like some shaman performing a ritual.

He was conducting a sacrifice.

Using the soul beast's life and soul in exchange for the power of some evil god.

TMD, what a talent.

Ma Xiunuo's lungs were probably about to burst from rage.

Soul Power trembled all over his body.

Supervisor Xiao!

The furious shout exploded through the cramped basement like thunder from a clear sky.

You dared commit such a demonic act within Spirit Hall!

Caught red-handed, Supervisor Xiao froze for a moment.

Then he slowly turned around.

That face could no longer be described as merely twisted.

It was pure madness.

Hahaha... Hahahahaha!

He threw back his head and laughed, laughing until tears streamed down his face.

Old fool, you only found out now? Too late!

Supervisor Xiao abruptly rose, spreading his arms as if embracing the entire darkness.

Today, all of you will become the most perfect sacrifices for my lord's descent!

The moment his words fell.

Boom!

The altar's blood-red runes instantly blazed to their brightest.

Surging black aura shot skyward, enveloping the entire basement in an instant.

Supervisor Xiao's body swelled like an inflated balloon, his aura rising step by step.

Soul Elder, Soul Grandmaster, Soul Ancestor...

At last, his aura had actually approached the fiftieth rank of Soul King without limit!

Did he take drugs, or borrow from loan sharks?

His martial soul possessed him as well.

No longer was it that ordinary-looking demon wolf.

It was a monster covered from head to toe in savage bone spikes, its eyes burning with scarlet flames.

Bone Demon Wolf!

Kill!

Supervisor Xiao roared, turning into a bolt of black lightning as he pounced at Ma Xiunuo.

Ma Xiunuo remained calm in the face of danger.

Staff of Light!

A staff shining with holy radiance appeared in his hand.

Fourth Soul Skill, Holy Light Barrier!

A golden shield of light appeared before the four of them.

Bang!

The Bone Demon Wolf's claws slammed viciously into the light shield.

The shield shook violently as spiderweb cracks instantly spread across it.

Ma Xiunuo let out a muffled groan, and a trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

The other three Soul Ancestors attacked at the same time.

Flashing blades and the brilliance of soul skills instantly lit up the entire basement.

The battle had fully erupted.

Han Yuchen watched with great interest.

The scene was decent, a little better than those cheap special-effects movies from my previous life.

But the situation was not looking good.

The basement was too cramped, which greatly disadvantaged a Light-type soul master like Ma Xiunuo, whose fighting style required broad, sweeping movements.

Moreover, there was something strange about the black aura emanating from Supervisor Xiao.

It could corrode Soul Power.

Ma Xiunuo's Holy Light Barrier was being rapidly weakened.

The attacks of the three Soul Ancestors were also mostly blocked by that layer of black aura when they landed on Supervisor Xiao.

As one side waned, the other waxed.

Splat!

One guard failed to dodge in time and was grazed on the arm by a streak of black aura.

The flesh and blood on his entire arm withered at a visible speed.

Tsk...

Even Han Yuchen felt the pain for him.

At this rate, Ma Xiunuo's group is probably going to get wiped out here.

Han Yuchen frowned slightly.

A bunch of trash.

Even demolition work is this difficult for them.

Looks like I have to help.

He sat unmoving on the bed.

Yet his consciousness had already descended into that basement through the ever-present water vapor.

On the battlefield.

Ma Xiunuo was being forced back step by step, his breathing becoming labored.

Supervisor Xiao, meanwhile, only grew fiercer as he fought, looking like a madman.

Old fool, die!

Seizing an opening, he made the phantom of the Bone Demon Wolf roar as it condensed its strongest black claw and thrust it directly at Ma Xiunuo's heart.

There was no avoiding this strike!

A trace of despair flashed through Ma Xiunuo's eyes.

Inside the dormitory.

Han Yuchen's thoughts stirred.

Now.

In the basement, directly along Supervisor Xiao's path of full-speed charge.

A thin film of water, as thin as cicada wings, instantly condensed over the surface of an utterly ordinary stone brick.

Slippery.

Extremely slippery.

Like stepping onto an icy surface smeared with oil.

Supervisor Xiao, who was charging at full speed, suddenly stumbled.

Skrrt—

A textbook fall on level ground.

His forward momentum came to an abrupt halt, and his body stiffened for one-tenth of a second.

A massive opening.

For a veteran battle soul master like Ma Xiunuo.

One-tenth of a second was enough to decide life and death.

A heaven-sent opportunity!

The despair in Ma Xiunuo's eyes vanished, replaced by wild delight and ruthless ferocity.

Almost instinctively, he poured every last bit of Soul Power into the Staff of Light.

Third Soul Skill, Holy Light Judgment!

Buzz!

A pillar of light more dazzling than the sun burst from the tip of the staff.

It gave Supervisor Xiao no time to react.

It struck his chest with perfect precision.

Aah—!

An inhuman scream echoed beneath the earth.

When the black aura met holy light, it sizzled and dissolved like snow under a branding iron.

The evil power on Supervisor Xiao's body was instantly purified.

He went limp like a heap of mud, and the guard captain rushing forward locked him down tightly with specially made shackles.

The battle was over.

Han Yuchen dispersed the water-vapor image and yawned.

Work's done. Time to sleep.

As for how to collect the director's fee, that could wait until tomorrow.

Inside the basement.

Ma Xiunuo leaned on his staff, gasping for breath.

He watched Supervisor Xiao being dragged away, still cursing madly, then lowered his gaze to the ground.

That slip just now...

It had been too much of a coincidence.

So coincidental that it was as if a god had intervened.

He had no time to dwell on it and immediately ordered a search.

Before long, they found a notebook on Supervisor Xiao and several tokens carved with strange symbols around the altar.

The notebook recorded several names and locations.

They were merely the tip of the iceberg of a vast Evil Spirit Master organization.

Ma Xiunuo's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he raised his head and looked toward Nuoding Academy with a complicated expression.

He knew.

A massive crisis, one that could have overturned Nuoding City, had been silently resolved by a six-year-old child through a method he could not understand at all.

That child...

Who exactly was he?

For the first time, Ma Xiunuo felt profound awe toward a six-year-old child.