They were both Evil Soul Masters, but one was a Soul Elder and the other a Soul Ancestor.
Mu Xuanheng knew he could take down the Soul Elder, but that didn't mean he could defeat the Soul Ancestor.
The Evil Soul Master used a Soul Skill, and several vines wrapped around the corpse of the Evil Soul Master on the ground.
Before long, only bones remained of the corpse.
The Flesh Tree devoured flesh and blood.
"One ring to kill a third-ring Soul Master. I wonder which family's genius you are. Now I'd like to see if you can kill me."
The vines lashed out, carrying a chilling, bloodthirsty aura.
Mu Xuanheng hurriedly dodged.
"Where the hell did that old man go? This isn't just making things harder for me—it's getting me killed."
He couldn't just wait there to die, and he wasn't a match for the Evil Soul Master before him. He turned and ran deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.
Only by fishing in troubled waters could he survive.
Meanwhile, Xuan Zi was still happily gnawing on roast meat.
"Such a little kid, yet you can run this fast. You really are a genius."
"Since you know I'm a genius, why don't you get lost? When my guardian gets here, you'll die without a place to be buried."
"Trying to scare me? If I kill you now, who'll ever know it was me? Leaving you alive would only invite endless trouble."
Simple tricks like that wouldn't fool an Evil Soul Master.
Mu Xuanheng could only run faster for his life.
Fortunately, over a year of training, along with Ice and Fire Body Tempering, had made it possible for him to maintain a high speed. He barely managed to keep his distance from the Evil Soul Master.
Bloodstained leaves flew at him from behind. Mu Xuanheng's dragon claws had already torn through several of them.
Surrounded by trees, he dodged and weaved among them, doing his best to escape.
He ran deeper and deeper into the forest.
The vines killed Soul Beasts with ease.
That kept the Soul Beasts from forming a blockade.
But the rate at which they were killed slowed, because the Soul Beasts were growing stronger.
"Did you think running deeper into the forest would save you? Let me tell you, our master is deeper in the forest. You'll wish you were dead by the time you get there!"
The Evil Soul Master shouted, trying to frighten Mu Xuanheng into stopping.
Whether it was true or not, Mu Xuanheng had no intention of stopping.
His dragon claws chopped through the trees, trying to bring them down and block the path.
His attempts kept failing. Eventually, each claw strike could only gouge the trees a little, no longer enough to chop them down and block the way.
The trees were growing stronger, too.
Then he saw the first thousand-year Soul Beast.
A thousand-year One-Horned Dragon appeared from nowhere.
They had entered the One-Horned Dragon's territory.
At that moment, he realized this was an opportunity.
He spun around and unleashed a long-range claw strike, forcing the Evil Soul Master to use her fourth Soul Skill.
She twisted aside again. Though she took part of the attack head-on, she dodged most of the flying leaves.
The leaves struck the One-Horned Dragon instead.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan. As long as the One-Horned Dragon and the Evil Soul Master started fighting, he could get away—and might even profit from their clash.
But the One-Horned Dragon refused to follow his script. It joined the pursuit and went after him, too.
"Damn it! There's a strong one right there, and you're going after me, the weak one? What kind of territory guardian does that?"
Mu Xuanheng couldn't make sense of the One-Horned Dragon's behavior, and he didn't have time to think about it.
The pursuit from behind continued unabated.
"Damn it, I wanted to go out and try my luck, not run into this kind of trouble. Xuan Zi, what the hell are you doing?"
At that moment, Xuan Zi was still enjoying his roast lamb.
The pursuit showed no sign of stopping, and the distance between them kept shrinking.
All Mu Xuanheng could do now was fight to the death.
He had always been lucky. Or perhaps the group of Evil Soul Masters he had encountered was facing some sort of attack.
A tiger's roar rang out across the surrounding area, scaring the One-Horned Dragon into stopping.
A wisp of black smoke followed.
The smoke appeared right in their path.
"Boy, you're lucky. The place you're heading is where I'm going, too."
Mu Xuanheng said, "Is that so? Then you should thank me properly."
"I really should thank you. It's lucky for me that you managed to make it all the way here."
Several vines blocked Mu Xuanheng's path. The thick aura of blood was unmistakably the work of the Evil Soul Master behind him.
Even his Chaofeng Dragon Claw couldn't break through them quickly.
"How is this possible? It's a trap?"
The Evil Soul Master said, "You know, the reason I didn't stay with that useless fool was that I had to come set the trap. Our master wants to catch a powerful Soul Beast. To make sure it doesn't escape, I set vine traps in several places. What a coincidence that you ran right into one."
Her laughter wasn't loud, but it was unbearably grating, as if mocking Mu Xuanheng's pathetic escape.
Mu Xuanheng stopped. "Looks like I really have no choice but to fight to the death."
"Fight to the death? I'm not giving you the chance." The Evil Soul Master took out a Soul Tool: a small tower only three stories tall.
"This is a Soul Tool our master prepared just in case. You should be proud that I'm using it on you."
An incredibly dense aura of blood poured from the Soul Tool, carrying a terrifying aura of resentment.
Its bright red glow gave off a sinister feeling.
"Be afraid. This fourth-tier Soul Tool was refined through the blood sacrifice of several hundred people."
Mu Xuanheng thought of the ninth-level Soul Tool, the Death God Tower, from Peerless Tang Sect. This thing was probably inspired by some of the same ideas.
"You're a Soul Ancestor killing a Soul Master, and you still need a Soul Tool?"
"Better safe than sorry."
"A fourth-tier Soul Tool to play it safe, at the cost of several hundred lives. You really are taking every precaution."
Mu Xuanheng cursed Xuan Zi in his heart. What a perfect time for the old man to have one of his episodes.
Elsewhere, Xuan Zi still had a lamb leg in his hand. "Should I save it for the little brat?" After some "deep thought," he decided to eat it himself. "He won't know anyway. I might as well eat it." And so he happily polished off the delicious meat.
With Mu Xuanheng trapped, his only option was to kill his way out.
Anyone watching would have said he had no chance of survival.
With the Soul Tool bolstering the Evil Soul Master's Soul Skills, Mu Xuanheng had nowhere to dodge.
His body was covered in cuts left by the flying leaves.
The vines around him kept multiplying.
But he still had one chance.
His dragon claws tore a gap through the vines at close range. He stopped running and charged at the Evil Soul Master.
The Evil Soul Master simply threw Soul Skills at him, unconcerned by his counterattack. She had a fourth-tier Soul Tool in her hands. "Blood Tower Guard!"
The small tower grew larger and shielded her inside.
Mu Xuanheng had no way back, either. He could only bet that he could cleave the tower open. "Sky-Ripping Claw!"
Inside the small tower, the Evil Soul Master saw everything. That wasn't the power of a Soul Ring—it was a Soul Bone's Soul Skill.
Amid the danger, Chaofeng was delighted; when all seemed hopeless, Chaofeng brought him a glimmer of hope.
The Sky-Ripping Claw left not the slightest mark on the small tower.
The Evil Soul Master didn't feel the Blood Tower shake, either. "You scared me. I thought you had some powerful Soul Bone effect. In the end, you couldn't even shake the Blood Tower."
But she soon realized the attack hadn't been aimed at her.
The phantom dragon claw tore through space with that strike, revealing a tiny gap.
A wisp of gray air drifted out.
The sky was dark and gloomy. The gray air took the shape of an aged figure. "With the sun and moon in my hands, I pluck the stars from the sky. There is no one in this world like me."
The figure took half a step forward. The dense resentment around the Blood Tower all surged toward the Evil Soul Master within.
She learned what it meant to wish for death and be unable to die.
The old voice grew faint. "Since I sense a familiar presence, I shall reside within you."
The figure turned back into a stream of air and burrowed into Mu Xuanheng's body.
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