Messenger of Death

Chapter: Messenger of Death

These were the Inner Court disciples chosen to participate in this year's Soul Fighting Tournament, the elite Shrek's Seven Devils! To think that three of them had been wiped out in a mission like this.

The missions of the Shrek Inspection Team were always extremely dangerous, and casualties were to be expected. But what was not normal was that Elder Xuan had been leading this operation!

If they had been severely wounded by a Title Douluo or someone even stronger, it might have been understandable, but against a five-ring Soul King, Elder Xuan had failed to protect them at all.

It wasn't until this moment, as a yellow light flashed at the cave entrance, that Elder Xuan's figure finally appeared. Even though his aged white beard was trembling with rage, Wang Yan could no longer feel a ripple of emotion in his heart.

Having watched with his own eyes as the students who were chatting with him just a short while ago were reduced to such a miserable state, no matter how much turmoil he might have felt later, he was numb for now.

Moreover... Elder Xuan was widely recognized as the strongest person in Shrek after Mu En. With his status as the future successor of the Sea God Pavilion, Elder Xuan would not have to bear much actual responsibility for this failure. Even if he wanted to, Elder Mu would stop him.

So who would take the blame? And what background did he, Wang Yan, have? He was nothing more than a senior teacher from the Outer Court. It always came back to that same saying—the glory of Shrek did not belong to the Outer Court.

And he was the teacher leading the team for this tournament!

Elder Xuan's face was ashen. He reached out and grabbed at the air, pulling a figure from the depths of the cave. The man was clad in a black robe, with five soul rings flickering eerily around him. His body looked like a withered husk, with only green ghost fire flickering in his eyes.

Elder Xuan's eyes widened in fury, and as he increased the pressure in his hand, the man's fourth and fifth soul rings immediately flared.

First, the man transformed into a wisp of purple smoke, drifting away from Elder Xuan's grasp; at the same time, the remaining half of Yao Haoxuan's corpse began to swell and turn red.

"Elder Xuan—" Wang Yan cried out in grief.

Hearing this, Elder Xuan was forced to withdraw his hand to prevent Yao Haoxuan's body from exploding. At the same time, the wisp of purple smoke swept past the unconscious Xi Xi, and the agility-type soul master, who had bravely blocked the explosion for her younger juniors, vanished without a trace along with the Soul King.

Wang Yan was certain that this was the leader of Death's Hand, the Messenger of Death.

"Wang Yan, save the other students! I'm going after that bastard!"

Elder Xuan's eyes were bloodshot, his rage and grief nearly shattering his reason. The last time a major casualty incident occurred in the Shrek Inner Court, it had also been on his watch. He had failed these children!

After saying this, he unleashed his martial soul. His figure surged in size, and with a wave of his massive hand, the remaining bandits were instantly blown to pieces. Then, he immediately charged out of the cave, pursuing the Messenger of Death.

The cave fell silent once more.

Wang Yan could only offer a bitter smile. He was also severely injured, and Zhu Lu, whom he had shielded behind him, watched the mangled flesh on his back with trembling hands.

"Teacher is fine," Wang Yan said to Zhu Lu through gritted teeth. "Don't worry, Teacher is going to check on the other students now."

Xie Huanyue was still alive, but barely; he had only survived because his martial soul was tough enough. Dai Huabin had been protected by Xie Huanyue, and although his life was not in danger, half of his shoulder had been corroded by corpse poison.

The poisonous blood on Ma Xiaotao had been burned away by her own evil fire, but she was still unable to move. Those eyes, usually as fierce as fire, were now filled only with a hollow emptiness after the bloodbath.

Dai Yueheng could move, and he was currently crawling toward Dai Huabin to check on his brother. Wang Yan walked over to him and gently pressed his hand down: "Huabin is still alive. Don't move, just rest."

Hearing this, Dai Yueheng slowly stopped moving. Only then did his fingers begin to tremble.

Ling Luochen had injured her leg, and Wang Yan hurriedly called for the remaining able-bodied reserve team members to help move the rubble pinning her down. The recent explosion and Elder Xuan's outburst in the cave had caused a cave-in, worsening her leg injury.

Xu Sanshi had exhausted almost all of his soul power to defend against the explosion, and his face was ghastly pale. Bei Bei and He Caitou supported him, letting him lean against the wall to urgently recover his soul power. Even Jiang Nannan, who usually looked down on him, didn't care about anything else now and focused on guarding him.

After settling everyone down, Wang Yan looked at the cave, which was almost entirely painted in blood, his eyes filled with despair. How could he not be reminded of the tragedy when Elder Xuan led a team out and was slaughtered by a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, leaving only Zhang Lexuan alive?

Suddenly, he thought of Huo Yuhao, the child who had left on leave after failing to obtain core disciple status and was eventually expelled by the academy. He had always thought highly of that child, but unfortunately, his voice in the Martial Soul Department was too weak. Then there was Chi Qiu, who left with him, and Wang Dong, who had quit in a fit of rage because the two of them were expelled...

At this moment, he felt that it was good that Huo Yuhao and the others had left, even if he didn't know where those children would go. Anywhere was fine, as long as they didn't have to face this tragedy.

He looked at He Caitou, who had the least consumption. The reason He Caitou was the most composed person right now was because of the three trigger-based defensive soul tools he carried.

The arrogance of the Martial Soul Department meant they never equipped defensive soul tools when going out; wasn't today's tragedy the price of that arrogance?

Thinking of this, Wang Yan closed his eyes in pain, the dual agony of body and soul burning his heart.

He truly didn't know what to do next.

"That guy is actually a Title Douluo or stronger. Damn it, he's relentless."

The Messenger of Death cursed under his breath. Based on their clothing, he had guessed their origin—the Shrek Inspection Team that had been such a nuisance to them.

However, the Shrek Inspection Team usually only operated within the three Douluo nations and rarely ventured into the Sun Moon Empire. After all, the three nations couldn't do anything about such interference in other countries' internal affairs, but the Sun Moon Empire certainly wouldn't tolerate it.

This was exactly what the Messenger of Death was counting on. The Mingdou Mountain Range was the border between Star Luo and the Sun Moon Empire; as long as he successfully crossed the line, even the Title Douluo behind him couldn't do anything to him. Surely that man wouldn't cross the border to enforce the law, would he?

Besides, there were other evil soul master organizations within the Sun Moon Empire, so it wouldn't be too hard for him to get by once he crossed over.

In his hand, Xi Xi was still unconscious. To him, she was perfect material for a corpse slave. If he could refine a corpse slave with this level of cultivation, he felt he would be able to trade blows with a Title Douluo in just a few years of cultivation.

However, he had underestimated Elder Xuan's cultivation. Elder Xuan was no ordinary Title Douluo.

Just as he was about to reach the Sun Moon border, the Messenger of Death felt a sudden pull, and his body was forcibly yanked back. His hand loosened in pain, and Xi Xi slipped from his grasp, falling straight toward the ground from high altitude.

"Bastard!"

Elder Xuan roared in fury, reaching out to grab Xi Xi. But his soul power fluctuations were too intense, triggering the Sun Moon Empire's reconnaissance soul tools. These soul tools initiated their preset counterattacks; although they wouldn't cause damage to someone of Elder Xuan's cultivation, they at least delayed his movements.

His hands came up empty, and he could only watch as Xi Xi plummeted toward the forest on the Sun Moon Empire side.

The next second, a terrifying wave of soul power, laden with rage, slammed into the Messenger of Death, tearing the evil soul master into pieces before he could even scream.