Kill the Little Lackey First

"That pauper's last words were hilarious!"

"[A meeting gift for Young Master Tai Long?] Why pretend to be some big shot when you've got no money?"

"With that little wealth, he still dared to challenge me. He really didn't know his place."

Tai Long spoke with utter disdain.

"That's just how the world works!"

Tai Nuo smiled faintly.

In the eyes of the Strength Clan, the bigger fist was reason enough. The auction house was no different.

If you lacked the money but still wanted to compete, you deserved to be crushed.

The father and son turned into an alley.

It was a shortcut back to the Strength Clan residence.

They had walked it countless times and could have done so with their eyes closed without hitting a wall.

The alley was narrow, with tall walls on either side.

Moonlight could not reach inside. Only a faint glow from the streetlights spilled in through the entrance.

Tai Long walked ahead, still boasting about how impressive he had been at the auction.

Tai Nuo trailed two steps behind when a chill suddenly ran down the back of his neck.

He stopped.

The alley was too quiet.

Abnormally quiet.

"Tai Long."

"Don't speak."

Tai Nuo suddenly lowered his voice.

Tai Long turned around and saw his father's expression become extremely grave.

"Dad, what..."

Before Tai Long could finish, the moonlight overhead suddenly vanished.

No...

The moonlight had not disappeared. Something had blocked the light at the entrance of the alley.

Tai Long instinctively looked up.

A black figure stood atop the wall at the alley entrance, silhouetted against the moonlight!

His face was hidden in shadow, and only his eyes shone eerily in the darkness.

There was no anger in those eyes, not the slightest ripple of emotion.

"It's you..."

Tai Long recognized those eyes.

Jiang Ming did not say a word. He simply leaped down from the wall.

The fingers of his right hand spread slightly, and a silver-gray gleam flashed through his palm.

Tai Nuo's reaction was astonishingly fast.

Almost at the exact instant Jiang Ming landed, the Great Ape Martial Soul had already completed Martial Soul Possession.

His body grew half a foot taller the instant the Martial Soul Possession took effect.

Dense black fur sprouted across his body, radiating a brutal and violent aura.

Four Soul Rings rose beneath his feet...

Two yellow, two purple!

The aura of a level 48 Soul Ancestor exploded forth, cracking the bluestone slabs beneath his feet inch by inch.

"Kid, you're courting death!"

Tai Nuo did not ask why, nor did he ask Jiang Ming's purpose.

Having spent most of his life among Soul Masters, he knew better than anyone that when a stranger looked at you with that kind of gaze...

There was no need to ask anything. Kill him first.

His first Soul Ring lit up...

Soul skill: Bull Force!

A layer of earthy yellow light enveloped Tai Nuo's right fist.

His massive fist shot toward Jiang Ming like a cannonball, carrying a visible blast of air.

Every Soul Ring of the Great Ape Martial Soul provided pure strength amplification.

Bull Force could instantly increase the user's strength by thirty percent.

Combined with the Great Ape Martial Soul, this punch could smash through a steel plate!

But...

The fist force passed through empty air!

Jiang Ming's figure vanished into thin air just before the fist force struck him, as though an invisible hand had wiped him from a canvas.

"Tai Long, watch your back!"

Tai Nuo's pupils shrank as he shouted instinctively!

Jiang Ming was too fast, fast beyond all reason!

Only an agility-type Soul Saint could possibly achieve that kind of speed!

But that kid was not a Soul Saint...

That left only one possibility!

A Space Type Soul Master!

Hearing his father's furious shout, all the hairs on Tai Long's body stood on end.

He had no time to think and threw himself forward.

A silver arc swept past the back of his head, barely grazing it and cutting off several strands of hair.

Jiang Ming's figure flickered where Tai Long had just stood. When he appeared again, he was already at the other end of the alley.

His right hand remained in a slashing posture, silver light winding around his fingertips!

Space Tear!

Tai Long lay sprawled on the ground, his back soaked in cold sweat.

Just a little closer.

If his reaction had been half a beat slower, his head would be rolling on the ground now.

"Who exactly are you?"

Tai Nuo stood in front of his son, his voice deep as thunder.

The Soul Power within him had been driven to its limit. The light from his four Soul Rings made the entire alley flicker between brightness and darkness.

"I told you, that Whale Rubber was a meeting gift for Young Master Tai Long."

"But gifts like that... have to be repaid!"

As soon as the words fell, Jiang Ming vanished from where he stood once more.

"Third Soul Skill: Wild Stomp!"

The purple third Soul Ring on Tai Nuo's body erupted with dazzling light.

He slammed both fists viciously into the ground beneath his feet!

Centered on him, every bluestone slab within thirty feet exploded at once.

Shockwaves spread outward like ripples.

This move was specifically designed to counter fast opponents with strange movement techniques...

You could teleport, but you still had to land. And once you landed, you could not avoid the tremors from the ground!

Yet he miscalculated once again.

Jiang Ming did indeed need to land.

But in the instant before his feet touched the ground, the fingers of his right hand pressed lightly toward it...

Spatial Stripping!

Silver light flashed!

The space in that area warped strangely, as though it were separated by a layer of crumpled transparent film.

When the shockwave entered that stripped space, its force was torn apart by the warped space.

By the time it reached beneath Jiang Ming's feet, only a faint tremor remained. It could not even stir the corner of his clothes.

Alarm bells blared in Tai Nuo's heart.

He had never seen such a bizarre Soul Master...

He did not attack or evade. Instead, he directly altered the nature of space itself, nullifying Tai Nuo's attacks without a trace.

As far as Tai Nuo knew, there was only one Space Type Soul Master on the Douluo Continent!

But that man followed a defensive path!

Could a true Space Type Soul Master really be this absurd?

Frustrating!

Frustrating to the extreme!

Every one of his punches felt as though it struck empty space.

"To the left!!"

Tai Long's scream came from behind him.

Tai Nuo instinctively unleashed his fourth Soul Skill!

An incomparably powerful iron fist blasted toward the right!

But Jiang Ming's target had never been Tai Nuo.

At the moment Tai Nuo unleashed his Soul Skill.

More precisely, the moment his fourth Soul Ring lit up, Jiang Ming had already appeared before Tai Long.

Then Tai Long saw that silver arc.

Space Tear!

Silver radiance traced an arc through the air and silently sank into Tai Long's neck.

"No..."

Tai Long's voice cut off abruptly.

A thin red line appeared across his neck, and blood came gushing out.

He clutched his throat with both hands, staggered back two steps, then fell backward.

Tai Long died!

"Tai Long!"

Tai Nuo's body grew taller once more, and the light around his fist had become so intense it was nearly solid.

This punch!

It contained the fury filling his heart, as well as the pain of losing his son!

It was the strongest punch Tai Nuo had ever thrown in his life!

But it was still useless!

A strength-type Soul Master against a Space Type Soul Master?

The moon reflected in water, flowers seen in a mirror!

How could he fight?

Tai Nuo's full-force strike passed straight through!

It passed through without touching anything tangible!

"The Great Ape Martial Soul has its merits."

"Pure amplification Soul Skills, stacked layer upon layer. Its strength truly is astonishing."

"But no matter how great your strength is, what use is it if you can't hit anyone?"

Jiang Ming's figure emerged behind Tai Nuo.

That voice, full of malice and mockery, made Tai Nuo feel as though he had fallen into an ice pit!