An Unexpected Yet Inevitable Encounter
On the left arm, the chilling energy of the 70,000 Year Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone had completely merged with the blood in its body.
He raised his left hand, his fingertips twitching slightly, and a deep blue Ice Blast Rune appeared faintly in his palm, ready to detonate any ice-attribute frozen object it touched at any moment.
On the bed next to hers, Zhu Lu also entered into Deep Meditation.
Level 53 Soul Power flowed smoothly around her, 60,000-Year Netherworld Demon Leopard Head Soul Bone emitted a cool aura, constantly nourishing her spiritual sea.
Her breath grew lighter and lighter, almost blending into the surrounding shadows.
Di Lingxi was lying on the soft couch by the window, taking apart the wind-up frog with a small screwdriver, muttering to herself about the gear structure inside.
Ice Empress sat at the table, resting her chin on her hand, watching Di Lingxi's flustered state, and couldn't help but tease her.
"You broke the spring inside. Don't cry when you can't put it back together later."
"It won't break. I just saw that stall owner twist it like that."
Di Lingxi retorted stubbornly, and with a sudden burst of force, the tiny metal spring snapped and flew off onto the roof beam.
The girl stared at the scattered metal parts on the ground, and froze on the spot.
Snow Empress sat down beside her, picked up a glass of water, and gently shook her head with a very faint smile on her lips.
Bi Ji then condensed a ball of emerald green life energy at her fingertips, gently nourishing the energy she had expended during the day's journey.
Nothing more was said that night.
The next morning, the morning mist had not yet dissipated.
Dai Huabin finished his practice and stood up.
Zhu Lu also awoke from her meditation, full of energy, and her movements were faster and more silent than ever before.
The group changed into dark hooded cloaks to cover their faces and left the inn.
After walking through three intersecting, dirty streets, Dai Huabin stopped in front of a three-story stone building called "Iron Hook Tavern".
The first floor of the tavern was filled with burly men with fierce faces, and the smell of cheap ale permeated the air.
Dai Huabin walked to the bar, tapped the hard oak countertop, and casually pushed three heavy Gold Soul Coin over.
"I heard there's a tough opponent coming up down there today."
The one-eyed bartender wiping the glasses glanced at the gold coins and skillfully slipped them into his apron pocket.
Then, the bartender pulled a hidden rope under the bar.
A heavy iron door in the corner of the tavern slowly slid open, revealing a dimly lit stone staircase leading downwards.
A cold, damp wind, accompanied by a deafening roar, rushed in from the depths of the tunnel.
Dai Huabin raised his hand to signal everyone to follow, and quickly walked down the stone steps.
The underground space is much larger than imagined.
The entire underground arena was carved out into a circular, sunken Beast Arena, the size of four standard martial arts arenas.
In the center was a huge arena made of obsidian, covered by a light purple level six protective soul guide shield.
The circular stands were packed with thousands of gamblers and Soul Master. The shouts, betting noises, and piercing screams mingled together, causing dust to fall from the dome.
Here, there is no imperial law, no judges, no rules, only life and death, victory and defeat.
The bodies of the defeated are thrown directly into the sewers, while the victors not only receive a huge sum of money but also get to choose any of the lost players' Storage Soul Tool and Soul Bone.
Dai Huabin led Zhu Lu and the others to sit in a dark corner at the top of the stands.
On the Obsidian Arena below, a fierce battle has just begun.
Two people were standing on the ring.
On the left is a burly middle-aged man with five Soul Ring —yellow, yellow, purple, purple, and black—shining on his body. His Martial Soul is a ferocious Red-Armored Earth Dragon.
The young man on the right was thin and had five Soul Rings on his body, but he was wearing a full set of silver-white level 5 melee Soul Tool Armor.
With a roar, the Red-Armored Earth Dragon Soul King's fifth Soul Ring suddenly lit up, and his entire body transformed into a crimson magma shockwave that rushed straight towards the youth's face.
Faced with this fierce charge that relied purely on the explosive power of Martial Soul, the young Soul Engineer did not panic.
He raised his hand and slapped his chest, and a foldable, level-six sturdy shield instantly unfolded, forcefully withstanding the first wave of the shockwave with a piercing metallic scraping sound.
Immediately afterwards, the two auxiliary propulsion tubes on the youth's back emitted blazing white flames, propelling him backward five meters and avoiding the slap of the earth dragon's giant claw.
As he glided, he gripped a high-frequency vibrating soul-guided sword tightly in his right hand and flung out three high-explosive armor-piercing bullets with his left.
Boom!
The armor-piercing bullet exploded at the big man's joints, its scorching shockwave instantly tearing through the Red-Armored Earth Dragon's defensive armor.
The young man seized the moment when the opponent's Soul Power stagnates, then leaped up close to the ground, his vibrating sword slicing directly into the burly man's throat through the crack in his carapace.
Blood splattered on the protective shield.
The entire exchange, from start to finish, took less than ten seconds.
A burst of frantic howling and cursing erupted from the stands.
"Level 5 melee soul-guided armor combined with armor-piercing projectiles is practically a game-changer against traditional beast Soul Master."
Zhu Lu analyzed the situation in a low voice from the stands.
"If that Soul King hadn't charged head-on at the beginning, but instead had created distance, he might have had a chance."
Dai Huabin shook his head slightly.
"The margin for error for Soul Engineer is too high."
"Even if the first attack fails, the shield generator and thrusters can help him retreat safely, create distance, and redeploy the firepower."
"Once a traditional Soul Master's Soul Skill are depleted, their meridians will enter a brief period of Soul Power vacuum, which is their fatal weakness."
Ice Empress leaned back in his chair, watching the bloody scene below. Although somewhat disdainful, he had to admit that this coordinated attack was indeed extremely lethal.
"If Soul Beast of equal cultivation level were to face this equipment, the thick-skinned ones could withstand a few blows, but the slower ones would simply become sitting ducks."
Just as Dai Huabin was about to respond, the Eye of Life in his sea of consciousness suddenly twitched slightly.
A faint, pure, and gentle ray of light pierced through the heavy smell of blood and sweat in the stands and entered his senses.
This aura was holy and righteous, possessing a natural quality of judgment and purification, making it completely out of place in the chaotic and filthy Underground Black Market around it.
Moreover, the Angel Holy Sword in Dai Huabin's Storage Soul Tool also emitted an extremely faint resonance and tremor at this moment.
Dai Huabin's expression shifted slightly.
He lowered the brim of his hat and gave a brief instruction to Zhu Lu beside him.
"You all stay here and keep watch. I'll go check things out. Don't move."
Zhu Lu nodded slightly and moved her body slightly to block the view from the stands behind him.
Dai Huabin got up and, using the dim shadows of the aisle, silently walked towards the edge of the stands.
After passing several crowded betting tables, he stopped behind the shadow of a stone pillar in the most secluded part of the stands.
Behind the stone pillar stood a young girl dressed in a plain white coarse cloth dress.
The girl was tall and slender, with her full head of golden hair tightly wrapped in a gray cloth. She wore a half-black iron mask on her face, revealing only her clear and bright eyes and her beautifully shaped jawline.
Her Soul Power fluctuations were very restrained, probably at the Soul Elder level.