Rahula (Please Keep Reading)

The black banner swiftly passed through the middle-aged man's body.

The next second, the fleeing man crashed to the ground, his eyes vacant.

In his place, a new soul with a twisted expression appeared inside the black banner.

"Ah, that feels good~"

The cold-faced man in black waved his hand, drawing the black banner into his sea of consciousness. A strange energy seeped out of it, silently transforming his body.

"My grasp of the Death Law has grown clearer. It's almost on par with my original body's grasp of the Fate Law. I should be at about the intermediate level now..."

"My physical talent seems to have improved quite a bit, too. It's no weaker than that of an ordinary mid-level magical beast..."

"If I meet a few more fellow Daoists, I'll soon have the body of a Saint Domain magical beast, or even... a divine artifact!"

Lynn's clone narrowed his eyes.

The Silver Talent [Behind Me Are Thousands of Fellow Daoists] was even more powerful than Lynn had initially expected.

Its enhancement wasn't limited to just one area. It improved the clone's spiritual power, his talent for the Death Law, his physical potential, and even his combat strength when using the Death Law, among other things...

As long as Lynn collected enough souls, the Silver Talent [Behind Me Are Thousands of Fellow Daoists] could strengthen nearly every aspect of his clone to the limit of what a Silver Talent could achieve.

Other Silver Talents usually enhanced only one or two areas, but this one could do it all.

Of course, that required enough fellow Daoists—and they had to be high-quality ones.

Lynn's clone had come from the Roland Empire. Along the way, he had righted wrongs and punished evil, deliberately traveling through areas where bandits and thieves gathered. He had met quite a few fellow Daoists.

That had filled the Ten Thousand Soul Banner considerably.

His divine sense swept over the thousands of souls drifting inside the banner. Lynn's clone furrowed his brow. "This talent has enormous potential, but it needs an awful lot of souls."

"I'll have to find more high-quality fellow Daoists like that middle-aged man. One of them is worth hundreds of ordinary bandit fellow Daoists..."

Thinking this, Lynn's clone couldn't help looking forward to his upcoming trip to Green Wood Market.

As one of the largest black markets in the Southern Wilderness, Green Wood Market had an impressive founder: Lopez, the Green Wood King, one of the Southern Wilderness's three great rulers.

With Lopez's strength as a Level Nine warrior, Green Wood Market was exceptionally safe. It was also connected to the outside world and could acquire plenty of good things.

Many powerful fugitives chose to settle there. This led to a strange situation: although Green Wood Market had only a few thousand residents, a remarkably large proportion of them were strong. Warriors and mages at Level Four or above made up nearly half the population.

At the entrance to Green Wood Market, Lynn's clone licked his lips and strode inside.

Under the night sky, moonlight spilled over the ground like water, dreamlike and hazy.

But Lopez had no mood to admire the beautiful scene before him.

Step—step—

With bloodshot eyes, Lopez leaned against a boulder. There was nowhere left to retreat. He stared fixedly toward the darkness, where footsteps kept drawing closer.

Lynn's clone emerged from the darkness, a black banner floating behind him and releasing the anguished screams of countless souls.

"You're the last one."

"You... you devil." Lopez's voice trembled.

In less than half an hour, this black-robed devil had slaughtered everyone in the Green Wood Market he had spent half his life building.

Worst of all, the black-robed fiend hadn't just killed them. He had imprisoned their souls inside that strange black banner.

"Heh..."

Seeing Lopez's terror, Lynn's clone chuckled.

"I'm the devil?"

"Lopez, you were once a great general of the Starfire Kingdom. While in office, you colluded with the two great churches and trafficked in people. When your crimes were exposed, you led an army in rebellion, laying waste to cities and fortresses everywhere. If not for Albert, that legendary warrior of the Starfire Kingdom, hundreds of thousands might have died!"

"And now you call me the devil?"

"How amusing..."

Lynn's clone smiled as he spoke. With a casual wave of his hand, the black banner behind him stirred and shot toward Lopez.

"No!"

Lopez's face filled with despair. Consumed by his bitter resentment, he was swallowed whole by the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

"Ahh~ A real feast!"

Lynn's clone sighed in satisfaction, put away the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, and continued deeper into the Southern Wilderness.

There were several more settlements like Green Wood Market waiting for him to reap.

"Sir... could you tell us your name?"

Just as Lynn was about to leave Green Wood Market, a weak woman's voice came from a wooden hut.

The hut's door opened. A ragged woman, her body covered in scars, leaned against the wooden wall as she stepped outside.

Her chest was full, and glimpses of pale skin showed through her torn clothes. She was an ordinary woman with some beauty.

There were many unfortunate people like her in Green Wood Market. Most had been captured by the desperate fugitives there and kept for their pleasure.

Some were women, some were men, and some were even children...

At the woman's voice, many people emerged from the surrounding huts and looked toward Lynn's clone.

Feeling their gazes on his back, Lynn's clone didn't turn around. Only his voice traveled back on the wind.

"You may call me... Rahula!"

Half a month later.

In the Southern Wilderness desert, dust filled the air.

Rumble~~

The violent sound of collisions rang out again and again through the sandstorm.

"Eek, eek~~"

A huge, earth-yellow beast roared at the sky and charged fiercely toward the figure ahead.

The black-robed man—Rahula—faced the charging beast with excitement in his eyes. He neither dodged nor retreated, instead throwing a punch and relying entirely on his physical strength to withstand the impact.

Thud!!

A dull collision rang out. The earth-yellow beast and Rahula were both sent flying backward.

Each of them retreated dozens of meters.

Their physical clash had ended in a draw.

Rahula clenched his fist, a wicked smile curling his lips.

"I've more or less figured it out."

"You're no longer useful. There's a seat waiting for you in the Human Emperor Banner!"

"Help me achieve the Dao, and I'll send you straight to the Saint Domain!"

Rahula thrust out one hand. No longer holding back, he directly used his original body's understanding of the Fate Law. In an instant, he appeared above the beast and refined it on the spot!

Even the Earth Armor Beast King, a Level Nine magical beast, couldn't withstand a single move from a serious Rahula.

Strange energy flowed out, transforming Rahula's body.

Rahula closed his eyes and felt the changes. Only after a long while did he open them again.

"My talent for the Laws has now been enhanced to a decent level. It's enough to get me started on the Death Law and even... cultivate it to the peak of the Saint Domain. But it's still far from enough to become a god."

"My physical talent surpasses that of ordinary humans. Though my body hasn't reached the level of a Saint Domain magical beast, its strength is comparable to that of a slightly stronger Level Nine magical beast, like the Earth Armor Beast King or the Spine-backed Iron Armor Dragon..."

"My talent has reached this point. To improve it further, I need more fellow Daoists."

Rahula looked beyond the Southern Wilderness.