Teleportation

Purple soul fire erupted from Ming Lei Douluo's body. The Soul Power within him contracted sharply, even triggering strange phenomena in the surrounding world. The swirling snow slowed for a moment.

Driven to despair and consumed by madness, Ming Lei Douluo began to self-destruct.

In the Soul Master World, Titled Douluos were undoubtedly among the most powerful humans. Every Titled Douluo was of strategic importance to any faction.

There were countless Soul Masters across the continent, yet those who could cultivate to the rank of Titled Douluo were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

The most important step to becoming a Titled Douluo was opening a separate space within one's dantian and condensing a Soul Core. With a Soul Core, one could store a vast amount of Soul Power inside the body at all times, and could also absorb the power of heaven and earth during battle, converting it into Soul Power to replenish oneself.

This was the greatest difference between Titled Douluos and other Soul Masters. For other Soul Masters to recover their Soul Power, they had to meditate or use a Soul Tool. Either way, they could not be interrupted during the process.

Soul Cores brought many benefits, but also came with tremendous dangers.

If a Titled Douluo died naturally, there would be no problem. Once the Titled Douluo lost his life, his Soul Core would collapse and disappear within the space where he was. Even if it exploded, the blast would occur in another space and would not affect the present world.

But if a Titled Douluo ignited and detonated his Soul Core himself, the resulting power would be unimaginable. A single Level Nine Fixed Soul Cannonball could destroy a medium-sized city, and a Titled Douluo's self-destruction was no less powerful.

Ming Lei Douluo's aura surged. His Seventh Soul Ring flashed, purple lightning danced around him, and he hurtled toward Xu Lanqing. He was so fast that one moment his shadow was still in place, and the next, he was already a thousand meters away.

The Titan Snow Demon King and the Ice Bear King ignored him and turned to pursue the fleeing Nangong Wan and Youming.

Once soul fire and a Soul Core were ignited, there was no stopping them until death. They had no reason to fight a dead man head-on. Let those humans turn on each other.

"Elder Ye, can you go any faster? He looks like he's about to catch up."

Xu Lanqing was incredibly frustrated. He had just escaped the tiger's den, only to be targeted by a wolf. He'd been happy too soon.

"This is as fast as we can go. He's burning his soul fire, so for a short time, he'll be on par with a Super Douluo. And his Martial Soul gives him an advantage in speed."

Like a meteor streaking across the sky, Ye Yulin glanced at Ming Lei Douluo closing in behind them and shook his head helplessly.

Time passed slowly.

Now even Xu Lanqing could make out the purple figure in the distance. He seemed to see a black shadow beside it, too, but the moment he looked, a savage aura invaded his mind. His Sea of Consciousness churned violently, filling him with pain.

He quickly looked away, and only then did he feel somewhat better. His back was already drenched in cold sweat. What was that thing?

Unlike Xu Lanqing, Jing Hongchen could see it clearly.

It was conical at the front and cylindrical at the back, entirely black, with a dense web of intricate patterns engraved across its surface. It was about three meters long and one meter in diameter.

But seeing it clearly only made his face twitch. His expression was as ugly as if he'd eaten shit. He spat out each word one by one.

"Level Nine Fixed Soul Cannonball!"

As the master of Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen could at most requisition a single Level Nine Fixed Soul Cannonball. He knew its power all too well.

How could an Evil Soul Master possibly have a Level Nine Fixed Soul Cannonball?

Even if this Evil Soul Master was a Rank Nine Soul Master, he wouldn't be able to make one, even with the blueprints—and he wouldn't dare try.

Although Fixed Soul Cannonballs were single-use consumables with tremendous power, the materials they consumed were just as extraordinary, and their production process was incredibly complex, with an especially high failure rate.

Unlike failures with other Soul Tools, a failed attempt at making a Fixed Soul Cannonball was most likely to end in an explosion!

No matter what rank a Soul Engineer was, if a Fixed Soul Cannonball of the same rank as them exploded during production, casualties were almost impossible to avoid.

That was why Soul Engineers were most reluctant to make high-grade Fixed Soul Cannonballs. If they did, they had to be extremely careful and expend an immense amount of effort.

There hadn't been any reports of a Level Nine Fixed Soul Cannonball going missing from the empire. Could this Evil Soul Master have an even more powerful Soul Engineer backing him? Otherwise, where had the Level Nine Fixed Soul Cannonball come from?

After hearing Jing Hongchen's words, Xu Lanqing was completely numb.

Damn it, that pack of rabid dogs from the Holy Spirit Cult!

So they were determined to keep coming after him, huh? He'd make a note of it. Once he was powerful enough, he wouldn't let a single one of them get away.

Xu Lanqing took a deep breath and made up his mind. He turned to Jing Hongchen and asked, "Hall Master Jing, do you have some kind of tracking Soul Tool?"

"I do, but why are you suddenly asking, Your Highness?" Jing Hongchen asked, confused.

Xu Lanqing watched the purple figure drawing closer and smiled. "Give me one, then let me down. He's after me."

He had considered it carefully before making this decision. Once the Level Nine Fixed Soul Cannonball and the Evil Soul Master exploded—

Ye Yulin and the others could withstand the blast with their Soul Power and physical strength. As long as they weren't at the center of the explosion, they probably wouldn't die. After all, they were Titled Douluos. Their bodies had to be strong enough to bear the strain of a Soul Core.

But he was different. With his fragile little body, even if Ye Yulin and the others did everything they could to protect him, they might not be able to save him.

What was more, people's hearts were hard to fathom. He wasn't the master they had sworn loyalty to; they were only following orders to protect him. Faced with mortal danger, who could say for certain whether they would give their all to protect him, or save their Soul Power to protect themselves? People were selfish. Few had the courage to face death without fear.

He didn't dare gamble, and he couldn't afford to.

"How can we let you do that?"

"With us here, we'll surely keep Your Highness safe. There's no need to worry!"

"Exactly! We're not cowards who fear death!"

"..."

When the people present heard Xu Lanqing say this, they all became indignant, deeply scornful of abandoning one's companions and fleeing alone.

Who knew how many of them were sincere? At least with so many people present, they were putting on a good show.

"All right. Let me stay behind alone. My father left me a means of protecting myself, so I'll be fine."

Xu Lanqing was utterly calm. He then said casually to Jing Hongchen, "Hall Master Jing, give me a tracking Soul Tool. I'll be counting on it to help you find me later."

Jing Hongchen gave him a long, searching look, then handed him a button-sized Soul Tool and explained how it worked.

"This is the latest invention from Mingde Hall. It contains a special Soul Power fluctuation. As long as Your Highness keeps it on your person or in your Storage Soul Tool, I'll be able to sense it from within a thousand miles."

"Mm."

Xu Lanqing stored it in his Storage Ring with a turn of his hand, then said to Ye Yulin, "You can let me down now."

Since he had already made his decision, Ye Yulin said no more. He withdrew the Soul Power protecting Xu Lanqing and quickly flew away.

The sun sank toward the west. Its orange-red glow painted the layered clouds in brilliant colors. High above, the boy fell freely through the sky, his figure strikingly bright and lonely against the light.

Jing Hongchen looked back at Xu Lanqing. The red glow of the setting sun filtered through a break in the clouds and fell across the boy's face, tinting it with a faint, hazy red.

Xu Tianran, Xu Lanqing... Perhaps, just perhaps, he really could take that seat.

Jing Hongchen thought silently.

As he felt his body falling freely through the air, Xu Lanqing's mind grew utterly calm. He didn't think about anything.

It would have been even better if that terrifying pressure weren't getting closer and closer.

Without further hesitation, he activated Starry Night Guardian and Red Dust Protection at the same time. His body, which had been immobilized by the pressure of the Soul Power, was instantly freed. At that moment, he was like a star falling to earth.

A flash of light appeared in his hand, revealing a silver orb. He crushed it at once.

Silver light burst forth, tearing open a black rift. Xu Lanqing's figure vanished in an instant.

The next moment, Ming Lei Douluo appeared where Xu Lanqing had been. His eyes were full of unwillingness, but he could no longer control himself. He had reached the limit.