"Maybe I just look a lot like its grandpa." Qian Yuhan said without the slightest hesitation. His voice carried on the wind to Zhongli Ren's ears, making Zhongli Ren so furious he nearly ground the last of his teeth to dust.
Suppressing the fear that was already threatening to overwhelm him, Zhongli Ren shouted at Qian Yuhan, trying to sound fierce:
"Kid, don't get cocky! It's not that I'm afraid of you! I'm just worried the Soul Cannon beside the little princess might be set off by the shockwaves from my attack!"
A Soul Cannon?
Oh, so that thing was called a Soul Cannon!
Qian Yuhan quietly turned the thought over in his mind, then continued taunting Zhongli Ren. "Now the princess has already put the cannon away. Why are you still too scared to come over and fight? All you dare do is hold a hostage and talk to us!"
As he spoke, Qian Yuhan showily swung the Angel Holy Sword around in his hand, drawing Zhongli Ren's fearful gaze firmly to it.
Meanwhile, the Rakshasa Demon Scythe he had tossed aside quietly sank into the shadow beneath it.
"It's not that I'm afraid of you two little brats. I simply hate to see such promising talents go to waste. I can't bear to hurt two rising stars of the Soul Master World!"
To protect the scraps of dignity he had left, Zhongli Ren had sunk to shamelessly making things up, talking nonsense, and spouting utter rubbish.
Watching Zhongli Ren's laughable, sophistic performance, Qian Yuhan shook his head again and again. I give up. Have Soul Douluo really gotten this rotten? He's got no shame at all!
Xu Tianzhen, on the other hand, tugged at Qian Yuhan's sleeve again and whispered:
"That old dog has two older brothers, both of them at the eight-ring level. But they're already tied up with Xu Yan and Xu Yu. Just keep him occupied until Xu Yu and the others get here, and everything will be fine!"
"Oh! (´∀｀) There are two more?"
Realizing he might get to kill three eight-ring Evil Soul Masters in one go today, Qian Yuhan could barely keep from laughing out loud. He nodded to Xu Tianzhen to show he understood, then pointed the Angel Holy Sword straight behind Zhongli Ren. "Hey, old geezer! Why don't you take a look behind you?"
"Hmph╭(╯^╰)╮! You little brat, you're a sly one! You think you can trick me! There's nothing behind me, is the—"
Before he could finish, a strange feeling suddenly stirred in Zhongli Ren's heart.
The inexplicable pang of dread made him glance behind him instinctively. What he saw was terrifying: something was crashing down on him—a scythe dropping straight out of the shadow.
Caught completely off guard, he was met by a sudden force as crushing as Mount Tai, slamming down squarely on his head.
It was a weight that even an eight-ring Soul Douluo couldn't resist.
So when the Rakshasa Demon Scythe came crashing down on Zhongli Ren, his body toppled toward the ground with it.
And once a weight of eighty-eight thousand jin started falling, it came down fast.
In his panic, Zhongli Ren couldn't even cry out. He could only struggle desperately.
That said, Zhongli Ren was still a powerful fighter with eight rings. At such a critical moment, even though he didn't have time to summon his Martial Soul, he still managed to react in the blink of an eye.
First, he kicked the long handle of the Rakshasa Demon Scythe hard, making it pause for a moment. Then he flung the "two hostages" off to either side.
With both hands free, Zhongli Ren shoved against the Rakshasa Demon Scythe with all his might. He knew full well he couldn't push away a weapon that heavy, but he could use the recoil to fling himself backward.
Even then, Qian Yuhan wore a faint smile. Only when Zhongli Ren's palms struck the Rakshasa Demon Scythe and sent him flying backward at an angle did Qian Yuhan finally move.
He dragged the Angel Holy Sword behind him, gouging a deep furrow in the ground as he flashed toward Zhongli Ren's retreating body.
A dozen meters was nothing. With the two of them rushing toward each other, Qian Yuhan reached Zhongli Ren in an instant and brought the three-thousand-six-hundred-jin Angel Holy Sword down on his chest.
That was right—not a flashy slash or a swift thrust. Just one simple move: a smash!
With a dull thud, blood burst into the air. Fueled by its own weight of thirty-six thousand jin and Qian Yuhan's explosive swing, the Angel Holy Sword, wreathed in blazing golden flames, smashed Zhongli Ren out of the air and drove him into the earth in the shape of a "﹀." The bones and organs in his thin chest were crushed into a mangled mess.
"You, you..."
Even now, with blood frothing at his lips, Zhongli Ren couldn't believe what had happened. He pointed at Qian Yuhan, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Qian Yuhan lifted the Angel Holy Sword off Zhongli Ren and mocked him with scorn. "I told you to look behind you. Why wouldn't you listen? Well, look at that—you've lost your life."
Without waiting for Zhongli Ren to utter some worthless last words, Qian Yuhan drove the Angel Holy Sword cleanly into his mostly intact head, ending a life that was neither worth remembering nor worth missing, and had no value at all.
Qian Yuhan withdrew the Angel Holy Sword and closed his eyes, sensing the pure Soul Power that came back to him from purifying Zhongli Ren, that old eight-ring Evil Soul Master. A faint smile appeared on his face—
The purifying power he gained from an eight-ring Evil Soul Master was immense—so immense that he could hardly wait to send Zhongli Ren's two older brothers down to keep him company.
Just then, the two maids, who had first been through a plane crash and then been tossed aside as hostages by Zhongli Ren, finally woke up after Xu Tianzhen had lavished medicine on them.
Pale-faced, they supported each other as they followed Xu Tianzhen. Without a word, they watched Qian Yuhan finishing off Zhongli Ren. "..." Little brother, there's really no need to be so cruel to a corpse!
Yes, just to be safe, Qian Yuhan had cut off Zhongli Ren's head after he stopped breathing, then used holy fire to burn his mangled corpse to ash.
Only then did Qian Yuhan turn around and explain with a perfectly serious expression:
"Evil Soul Masters are incredibly cunning! He might look like he's dead, but he could be playing dead to fool us. So after defeating an Evil Soul Master, we must always remember to finish him off."
Before you continue