Surrounded

The Sword of Exorcism pierced the man's body. Lin Li could sense a disturbance in his Martial Soul, but the situation didn't allow him to inspect it. He withdrew his Martial Soul and prepared to continue the pursuit.

"Ah!"

Just then, Lin Li heard a cry of surprise from behind.

He turned around and saw Huo Wu rushing after him.

"You saw that?"

Lin Li's heart tightened. He had hidden his Twin Martial Souls for so long, yet he hadn't expected them to be discovered so soon.

"...I didn't expect you to actually..."

Huo Wu stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the two Soul Rings beneath Lin Li's feet, one yellow and one purple.

The unconventional Soul Ring colors had captured all her attention, to the point that she thought Lin Li had been talking about the Soul Rings.

"Let's pursue them first. We'll talk about everything else after we return."

With that, Lin Li's entire body once again transformed into an Arrow Leaving the Bowstring and shot forward. After coming back to her senses, Huo Wu followed close behind.

From a bird's-eye view, one could see three Soul Ancestor-level Fallen Soul Masters fleeing madly, with three people following them not far behind in a single-file line.

Lin Li and Huo Wu remained relatively close, while Feng Xiaotian had fallen farther back, making sure he stayed at the edge of their field of vision.

"Second Brother, that little brat is catching up again. Let me turn back and kill him!"

One of the Fallen Soul Masters spoke angrily. He had already realized that the companion they had left behind had died.

Although it was hard to believe, he had still accepted it.

"Pursue us? Let him come."

The man called Second Brother had an icy look in his eyes as he continued, "Once we leave the city and meet up with Big Brother and the others, we won't have to worry about the experts inside the city anymore. Then that little brat will come but never leave!"

The other two nodded when they heard this, and their speed rose another level.

Lin Li followed behind them, a faint sense of unease rising in his heart.

Fallen Soul Masters were generally powerful, and they often formed strongholds in groups, making them highly dangerous.

But there was good news as well. When Lin Li saw that Huo Wu had come alone instead of with Huo Wushuang, he knew that Huo Wushuang had definitely gone back to report.

The only thing he couldn't figure out was whether Huo Wushuang had really been clever enough to immediately determine the identities of the Fallen Soul Masters.

There was no time to think further. Lin Li had already spotted the city gates.

"A little faster."

"Click, click!"

As Lin Li poured more Soul Power into his legs and felt the pressure, the Dark Gold Dharma Wheel atop Mahoraga's head began turning once again.

"Just a Soul Grandmaster..."

One of the Fallen Soul Masters could no longer endure the frustration in his heart, but he didn't want to disobey Second Brother's orders. He casually threw an infant in his hand toward Lin Li behind him.

Seeing this, Lin Li could only helplessly change his trajectory. He leaped up, caught the infant in his arms, and then handed the child to Huo Wu, who had caught up.

"I'm going after them."

"I'm coming too!"

"Your strength isn't enough."

At this point, Lin Li couldn't be bothered to soften his words. The truth was that even though Huo Wu's level was somewhat higher than his own, her strength was inferior to his. He was the best choice for the pursuit.

With that, Lin Li continued after them, leaving Huo Wu behind, stomping her feet in anger.

"I'm weak?!"

"Fine... very well!"

Several minutes after leaving the city, Lin Li followed the three men into a mountain forest.

The three men immediately split up, while Lin Li stopped on a treetop.

Through his senses, he detected the fluctuations of Soul Power from at least ten people around him!

"This is a little troublesome..."

He had already used up nearly half his Soul Power. Thus, whether he fought a prolonged battle or went all-out, neither option was ideal.

Before long, several streaks of light appeared in the dim forest, darkened by the cover of the trees.

They surrounded Lin Li in a fan-shaped formation. Every streak of light represented either a Soul Ancestor or a Soul Elder, while two Soul Kings stood directly ahead.

"Little brat."

A voice as grating as fingernails scraping across glass rang out from behind Lin Li, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

When he turned around, he saw that it was actually a seven-ring Soul Saint with the Blood Skull Martial Soul!

Lin Li swept his gaze over the surrounding personnel once more, and his heart sank.

Two Soul Kings, four Soul Ancestors, and seven Soul Elders.

What frightened him most was the seven-ring Soul Saint, whose strength was heaven-defyingly greater than his own.

"There are two more little brats?"

The Soul Saint seemed somewhat surprised. He turned to look behind him, waved to signal the four people beside him to loosen the encirclement, and then concealed himself.

The situation became tense for a moment. The Fallen Soul Masters wanted to catch them all in one net, while Lin Li waited for reinforcements.

The situation had exceeded his expectations.

Fallen Soul Masters cultivated primarily through slaughtering lives. Generally speaking, the stronger the Fallen Soul Master, the more people they needed to kill. By rights, a Soul Saint should have been searching for some remote town to slaughter, yet for some reason, this one had chosen to abduct children.

Logically speaking, no matter how much vitality children possessed or how deep their fear was at the moment of death, it still shouldn't satisfy the needs of a Soul Saint-level Fallen Soul Master.

Before long, two figures appeared behind Lin Li. One was Huo Wu, while the other could be identified as Feng Xiaotian from his clothing and Martial Soul.

Huo Wu had yet to break through to the Soul Elder level, while Feng Xiaotian had already obtained his Third Soul Ring. It seemed that he hadn't yet devoted his attention to Self-Created Soul Skills.

"Why are there so many people?"

Huo Wu hadn't expected so many people to be in front of them, and their strength was far from weak.

Before she could finish reacting, the Soul Saint, who had been hiding behind them, appeared again. His chilling laughter rang out.

"This old man won't keep playing slowly with you children. The ceremony is about to begin... Second Brother, kill them within five minutes and come over."

"No problem. I've been hungry for this for a long time."

The Wolf Martial Soul behind that Soul King opened its mouth and let out a roar. Immediately afterward, his entire body vanished from sight.

"Be careful!"

Lin Li cried out and dodged to the side.

As he moved away, a pit appeared where he had originally been standing.

"First Soul Skill, Wind Blade!"

Feng Xiaotian released his Soul Skill and stepped forward to engage the Soul King in battle.

He knew very well that, as the strongest of the three on the surface, he had to hold this man back. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the slightest chance of survival.

Lin Li, meanwhile, set his sights on the other, weaker Soul King and moved to attack him.

"You're not running away. You're actually attacking me? What a naive brat."

The Soul King laughed disdainfully. He had seen Lin Li's Soul Rings and knew that he was a genius.

Geniuses always harbored unrealistic fantasies. He had killed plenty of them before, and today there would be one more.

"Third Soul Skill, Deadly Strangling!"

A huge Python Martial Soul appeared and launched a fierce attack together with the Soul King.

Lin Li didn't choose to evade. Instead, he threw a punch at the snake tail that was trying to coil around him.

"Overestimating yourself!"

The snake tail and fist collided, and both sides felt the terrifying force carried by the other.

The Soul King was knocked back three steps, disbelief appearing on his face.

How could this kid possess strength that was not much weaker than his own without even using his Soul Rings?

Naturally, he didn't know that Lin Li's Martial Soul gave him All Attributes one major realm higher than his own. Combined with his two Passive Soul Skills, which were constantly active, his pure strength already surpassed that of a Power Attack System Soul Ancestor.