Evil Soul Master

Inside a hotel in Extreme North City, Wu Xuan stretched fiercely and headed outside. One night of rest in this city was enough; he had no intention of staying long.

In the lobby, Wu Xuan ate flaky pastries one bite at a time, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Have you heard? It seems Mist Mountain City has encountered an Evil Soul Master," a thin man said quietly.

"Yeah! I heard the City Lord's entire family in Mist Mountain City was wiped out. That was over a hundred lives! What if that Evil Soul Master comes to our Extreme North City?" an older man sighed.

"Hey! You old fool, stop spouting nonsense. Our Extreme North City is so remote and sparsely populated. That Evil Soul Master would have to be full to come here," a burly man said, slapping the table.

"I'm just talking about what if!" the old man stubbornly retorted.

"Shut the hell up, all of you! You ignorant peasants, quit wagging your tongues. Let me tell you, that Evil Soul Master has already alarmed the governor of North Spirit City. High-level soul masters from North Spirit City will soon come deal with him," a soul master dressed as a military officer said as he entered the lobby, sternly rebuking them.

"Yes, yes, yes! Lord Soul Master is right," the civilians hurriedly said with bowed heads.

Wu Xuan shook his head at that and continued eating breakfast. Mist Mountain City happened to be on his way back to Shrek Academy anyway, so he could take a look when he passed through.

After leaving Extreme North City, Wu Xuan continued on his journey.

"Wu Xuan! What are these Evil Soul Masters those ordinary humans keep talking about? How are they different from ordinary soul masters like you?" Ice Empress asked curiously.

Wu Xuan's expression turned grave. "Evil Soul Masters have the worst reputation on the continent. Those who become Evil Soul Masters are all utterly vicious people. They improve their strength by killing and devouring lives. Every Evil Soul Master is a ruthless, inhuman killer. If we're making comparisons, even the Man Faced Demon Spiders among soul beasts would have to admit defeat."

"Humans have such evil beings too? From the perspective of us soul beasts, you humans seem rather united!" Ice Empress said with a trace of mockery.

"Humans have never been a single unified whole. As for why, that involves a fundamental question." Wu Xuan smiled. "Ice Empress, what do you think counts as one's own kind?"

Ice Empress smiled. "Isn't that simple? We soul beasts are one kind, and you humans are another."

Wu Xuan shook his head disdainfully. "You soul beasts all look bizarre, have different habits, and possess different strengths. You slaughter one another every day. Just because you are all called soul beasts, does that make you one kind?"

Ice Empress froze for a moment, but still stubbornly replied, "Survival of the fittest. That is the law of survival among soul beasts."

"Haha! Survival of the fittest! Well said. That is precisely what I want to tell you. What divides soul beasts has never been species, but class. Soul beasts have only predators and prey. Just as humans have only rulers and the ruled, strength is the sole dividing line."

"What own kind or not? Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts and Hundred-Year Soul Beasts are no longer even the same species. Even those of the same kind are no exception."

"Humans may be a little better, but the gap between ordinary soul masters and civilians has long since become like an uncrossable mountain."

"To those Evil Soul Masters, civilians and low-level soul masters are merely nourishment for their cultivation and growth stronger," Wu Xuan said with self-mockery.

"So that's how it is?" Ice Empress fell silent for a long time.

Wu Xuan watched Ice Empress sink into her own world, then shook his head and chuckled twice. Trying to argue with me, huh? I can make you shut down with just a few words. Did you think I went to college in my Previous Life for nothing?

After a brief moment of smugness, Wu Xuan resumed his journey.

A journey of several hundred kilometers took Wu Xuan only a few hours at his speed.

"Hiss—ugh! Blegh. This... this is the stench of corpses rotting in large numbers!" Wu Xuan stopped himself from vomiting and carefully surveyed the area with a frown.

Following the smell of decay, he found a ruined little village appearing in his field of view.

At the first sight of it, Wu Xuan nearly vomited up his breakfast. Rotten corpses littered the village, and purple-black bloodstains covered nearly every inch of the ground. The corpses had died terribly; not a single one was intact. No one in the entire village, men, women, young, or old, had survived. Their bodies lay exposed in the wilderness.

"Blegh!" Wu Xuan suppressed his retching and began examining the corpses. After all, he was someone who had weathered great storms; he still had this much endurance.

After examining them, Wu Xuan reached a final conclusion: the corpses had been dead for no more than half a month.

After composing himself, Wu Xuan still could not help feeling furious at what the Evil Soul Master had done.

If that Evil Soul Master was no stronger than a Soul Emperor, he would personally cut the bastard down.

But if the man was stronger than a Soul Emperor, he would avoid him as much as possible. He was certainly enraged by the Evil Soul Master's methods, but he would not act rashly because of it. He valued his own life more, and he could not manage every matter in the world.

At noon, Mist Mountain City.

This was not an especially prosperous city, but it was several times more flourishing than Extreme North City, where Wu Xuan had previously stopped, and its population was far beyond comparison.

Along the way, Wu Xuan had already discovered more than ten villages that had been massacred. Some had become fields of pale white bones, while others had not even left corpses behind. It was clear that this Evil Soul Master's crimes had not begun recently.

Wu Xuan was somewhat curious now. How had this Evil Soul Master dared to massacre villages here for so long, and even wipe out the City Lord's entire household? Although the area around Mist Mountain City was relatively underdeveloped, it was very close to North Spirit City, the northern stronghold of the Dou Ling Empire. From North Spirit City, soul masters could reach this place in just one day at their speed. Powerful soul masters could even arrive in only a few hours.

Daring to wipe out the City Lord's household in this area and draw North Spirit City's attention, Wu Xuan truly could not understand it. Unless this Evil Soul Master had absolute confidence in his own strength, or something hidden in this city was critically important to him, Wu Xuan could not fathom what the man had come here to do.

As he entered the city gate, Wu Xuan clearly noticed that the guards' inspections had become much stricter. Only after careful questioning could one enter the city, but leaving it was out of the question.

After entering the city, Wu Xuan came to a pastry stall near the City Lord's residence and casually tossed out a Gold Soul Coin.

"Weigh them out. Give me your best," Wu Xuan said flatly.

"Right away! Please wait a moment, sir." The vendor swiftly packed up the pastries.

"Uncle, let me ask you something. What has happened in the city recently? Why is security so tight?" Wu Xuan asked calmly, folding his arms across his chest.

The middle-aged man lowered his voice. "Young man, if you don't have anything particularly important to do, I'd advise you not to enter the inner city anytime soon."

Wu Xuan's gaze remained calm and utterly unruffled.

The middle-aged man glanced at Wu Xuan, then looked around before lowering his voice further. "Recently, the City Lord's residence, where the Qi Family lives, was slaughtered clean in a single night! City Lord Qi treated the people kindly, and he was also a forty-eighth-level Soul Ancestor, yet he was killed overnight. This matter has become too huge. It is an obvious provocation of the imperial family's dignity. The soul masters sent by the governor of North Spirit City will probably arrive tomorrow."

"I see." Wu Xuan narrowed his sharp eyes.

"Sir, I have a bit of unofficial news too. Do you want to hear it?" After speaking, the middle-aged man cautiously looked around again.

Wu Xuan tossed him another Gold Soul Coin. "Let's hear it."

The middle-aged man put away the Gold Soul Coin. After confirming once again that no one was nearby, he whispered, "A distant nephew of mine happens to be the manager of the Golden Source Restaurant across the street. He was on duty last night, and he vaguely saw a black-robed figure covered in blood, limping toward the north of the city. That black-robed figure was very likely the Evil Soul Master, so he is likely still in the northern part of the inner city. That's why I advise you, young man, to stay in the outer city if you don't have urgent business."

"Thank you." Wu Xuan nodded, accepted the pastries handed over by the man, and turned to leave.

Now that he knew the man was in the northern part of the inner city, it would be easy to handle. If the Evil Soul Master had suffered serious injuries just from dealing with a forty-eighth-level Soul Ancestor, then at most he was only at the level of a Soul King. Wu Xuan had no reason to ignore this.