"Soul Master! Eight rings! It's Soul Douluo!!"
"Lord Soul Master, I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness. Please be merciful and spare my life!"
The bandits, armed with spears and machetes, turned pale with fright when they saw eight Soul Ring —two yellow, two purple, and four black—appear beneath Qiangu Liuyun's feet. They immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for their lives.
Qian Xunfeng and the others all showed signs of annoyance, truly baffled as to how the Star Luo Empire managed its country. How come in this border region, they encountered a group of bandits almost every time they crossed a mountain, sometimes more than one group?
Qian Xunfeng's piercing eyes fell on the spear in the leader's hand, a spear made entirely of metal. This kind of spear was not something ordinary bandits could possess, nor would ordinary bandits waste money on forging a pure metal spear; a metal spearhead and a wooden stick would be the best they could manage.
"Is your Star Luo Empire suffering from a severe drought? Are you having a hard time? There are bandits everywhere."
The bandit leader looked up in confusion and asked, "Sir, don't you know?"
"We come from across the sea and truly don't know what happened in the Star Luo Empire. Since you do know, then tell us. If you tell us something nice, we might spare your lives."
Seeing that offending Soul Douluo still offered a chance to live, the bandit leader immediately told them about the Star Luo Empire's war against the Spirit Hall two years prior. The Spirit Hall's decapitation strike, which killed both the Star Luo Emperor and Empress, and their subsequent destruction of the Star Luo Empire camp, resulted in a crushing defeat for the Star Luo Empire.
"Because our commander was killed by the Spirit Hall, our supplies were destroyed, we had no water, no food, and no pay, so we had no choice but to become outlaws in the mountains."
"Lord Soul Master, we were forced into this situation by life's hardships. Robbing you was a last resort. Please spare our lives!"
After saying that, the bandits slammed their heads on the ground again.
Qian Xunfeng narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of murderous intent flashing within them. He didn't believe a word of these bandits' claims that they were forced into this situation by life. They not only robbed money but also raped women; that was what being forced into this situation meant.
He didn't believe that regular soldiers, with their physical abilities, couldn't do odd jobs and save up for travel expenses. The reason these people went up the mountain to become bandits was simply because the Star Luo Empire had suffered heavy losses and temporarily lacked the resources to manage these people. In other words, the laws and regulations were relaxed, and these people, relying on their soldiers and armor, began to unleash the evil in human nature.
Why did the bandits along the way never encounter Soul Master? Because Soul Master live a carefree life in the city; they would never stoop to banditry and rob low-quality villages.
"Get out."
Qian Xunfeng spoke, too lazy to kill these people. Since the Star Luo Empire had taken action against the Spirit Hall and wanted to destroy Spirit Hall, he wouldn't bother to help the Star Luo Empire eliminate these scum who were harming it. He was already being magnanimous by not causing any damage.
After all, who wouldn't want to retaliate after having their entire family wiped out, especially if the other party actually attacked them?
"Let's take the main road. These people are really disgusting. We're much less likely to run into them on the main road."
As Qian Xunfeng and his companions walked across the continent, they recalled what the bandits had said: the Star Luo Empire had launched a massive attack on the Spirit Hall, only to be easily defeated by the Spirit Hall with a decapitation strike and a decisive blow, ending the battle like lightning. Although the Star Luo Empire had suffered few casualties, it had been severely weakened, plunging the entire nation into internal strife.
Qian Xunfeng believed that the person who came up with such an astonishing strategy must be his father, Qian Daoliu. His elder brother, Qian Xunji, didn't have such a brain, and his niece, born from the union of his brainless elder brother and the brainless Bibi Dong, certainly didn't have such a brain either. She was probably just following her father's orders and acting as a henchman.
However, these people didn't seem to mention anything about the Angel God, and it's unclear whether his niece, the Angel God Trial.
Suddenly, Qian Xunfeng's heartbeat quickened for no apparent reason, and she felt a slight throbbing in her left hand.
What happened?
Qian Xunfeng was startled and quickly raised his left hand to look. Instantly, he saw wisps of blue energy swirling around his left hand, as fine as silk threads, releasing themselves with a slight tremor.
A flash of blue light appeared, and the Sea God Martial Soul pulsated in Qian Xunfeng's hand. An excited feeling entered his body from the Sea God Martial Soul. It was a bloodthirsty excitement. The patterns of the Divine Slaughter's Domain engraved on the Sea God Martial Soul turned completely blood-red, and a clear blood light gradually emerged from the surface of the Sea God Martial Soul.
Bloodlust, slaughter, terror—various negative auras continuously emanated from the blood-red patterns. This was the first time Qian Xunfeng had felt such a change within the Killing Divine Slaughter's Domain since acquiring it. Generally, this feeling should be experienced by enemies shrouded within the Divine Slaughter's Domain.
"Xiao Feng, what happened?"
Xie Yue and the other five gathered around, staring at Qian Xunfeng's left hand.
"I'm not quite sure either." Qian Xunfeng had concentrated all his mental power, which was at the level of a 99th- Limit Douluo, on the Sea God Martial Soul. After careful observation, he still couldn't find the reason.
"Why don't we try the Sea God's Light?"
Upon hearing this, Qian Xunfeng's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and his fingers pressed against the Trident Mark on his forehead. The Sea God's Light shone down, completely enveloping the Sea God Martial Soul within it.
With the help of the Sea God's Light, Qian Xunfeng quickly discovered that the Divine Slaughter's Domain being inscribed on the Slaughter Angel seemed to be maintaining a subtle connection with a trace of spiritual energy from the outside world. And the function of this trace of spiritual energy was to lock on.
In a relatively prosperous second-tier city in the Heaven Dou Empire, there is usually a Heaven Dou Empire guard stationed in such a city. Therefore, even Soul Master do not dare to be too presumptuous. If they do dare to be presumptuous, they can only do so like the three lewd guys, sneaking around in the dark alleys at night.
In a large mansion in this second-tier city, a woman experienced the same thing as Qian Xunfeng. This woman was Hu Liena.
Since Qian Renxue became a god, she had not sought out Bibi Dong for Jiujiu. Bibi Dong was somewhat relieved and learned that without the restraint of the Spirit Hall, the Soul Master on the continent were causing trouble. In order to ensure the safety of her most beloved disciple and only relative in the world when she was not around, she brought Hu Liena to this second-tier city, bought this house, and gave it to Hu Liena to live in.
Hu Liena looked at her right hand. The bat pattern representing the Divine Slaughter's Domain engraved on her Heavenly Fox Martial Soul was boiling intensely. The blood-red killing aura completely dyed the Heavenly Fox Martial Soul blood-red. The pink light that the Heavenly Fox Martial Soul emitted, representing Charm aura, was also torn to pieces by the blood-red killing aura. She had no idea what was happening.
She wanted to ask her teacher for help, but her teacher was currently conducting the final test for the Rakshasa in the Slaughter City, and she couldn't find anyone to answer her questions.