On Tiger Island, beneath Howling Moon Peak, the vital stronghold of the Tiger Clan's Third Branch, panicked screams erupted from within a great hall steeped in chilling yin energy.
"The Branch Commander has met with disaster! The Branch Commander's soul orb has exploded! He was clearly killed!"
Within the great hall, which covered dozens of acres, several hundred black crystal spheres the size of human heads floated in midair, faint light flickering within them. Looking closely from time to time, one could see a man's face flash past inside a crystal sphere. Most were sharp-featured old men; only a very few bore the faces of middle-aged men.
These crystal spheres had been forged from extraordinarily rare soul crystal stones harvested from the deepest reaches of the Eastern Ocean. So long as a drop of blood and a thread of soul power were merged into one, it could be made into this wondrous soul orb. It constantly reflected its owner's physical condition. If the owner was slain, the shattered soul orb would forever preserve every scene around its owner's body at the instant of death.
Now, a soul orb floating in the center of the hall had already shattered. Within it, Lin Haiyuan could faintly be seen lying on the ground, a massive sword of light piercing his body, while a twelve-winged archangel stood with one foot on his head.
Dozens of white-haired old men drifted into the hall like a clear breeze. They stared blankly at the scene within the soul orb for a while, then suddenly let out long howls and swiftly vanished from the hall. Drawn-out tiger roars came from all directions. In the forests surrounding Howling Moon Peak, countless hard-faced men in blue robes rushed out from exquisite towers and courtyards, answering one another with howls. The