Outside the hall, dozens of mercenaries came surging out.
They poured in from the training ground, the rear courtyard, and the side gate. People were everywhere.
Blades flashed from their scabbards, Soul Rings glimmered, and they surrounded the courtyard until not even a drop of water could pass through.
"A bunch of useless trash. You think having more people will help?"
Yan Lingji gripped a sword in each hand, flames surging around her.
"Fire Control Technique: Heaven Burner."
She crossed her swords and swept them forward. Flames roared ahead like a flood.
The facade and window lattice exploded into splinters. The dozen or so mercenaries at the front were swallowed by the flames before they could even scream.
A mercenary wielding a spear tried to flank her. She severed the shaft with one slash, then sent his head flying with another.
A mercenary with a giant bear Martial Soul pounced from behind. Two black tentacles coiled around his arms, and with a crack of breaking bones, she kicked him flying.
She plunged into the crowd, slashing left and right with her swords as her tentacles stabbed through the enemies' chests and throats from tricky angles.
The Soul Ancestor deputy charged with his shield raised. She leaped over him, drove both swords down into his shoulders, then kicked away the iron shield as it hit the ground.
In just a dozen breaths, she had slaughtered more than half of the dozens of mercenaries.
"Run!"
"That woman isn't human!"
"Help!"
The remaining mercenaries scattered in every direction.
Yan Lingji raised her hand. Venom in her left hand transformed into dozens of black threads that shot out, pinning the fleeing men to the ground one by one.
"Fire Control: Flame Burst."
The enormous fireball gathering in her right hand exploded at the densest part of the crowd, sending severed limbs and chunks of stone flying in every direction.
At last, the courtyard fell silent.
Lei Hu stood inside the hall, staring at the charred corpses strewn across the ground. Terror and disbelief mingled in his eyes.
He, a dignified Six-Ring Soul Emperor, had dozens of men at his command, yet a woman at the Soul King level had slaughtered them?
"You... who are you?"
Yan Lingji turned around. The flames on her swords gleamed red in the sunlight.
"Be smarter in your next life."
Her voice still echoed in his ears, but Yan Lingji's figure had already appeared behind him.
Lei Hu whipped around and swung his right claw with all his might.
But it struck empty air.
Yan Lingji had already crouched down. Her left-hand sword thrust upward into his chest, piercing his heart.
Her right-hand sword had already slashed through his throat.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Lei Hu looked down at the blade in his chest and opened his mouth. With his windpipe severed, all that came out was a hoarse, gurgling sound.
"Your speed... is too slow."
Yan Lingji drew out her sword.
Lei Hu's body crashed to the ground.
A black tentacle pierced Lei Hu's skull and read his memories.
"How interesting. The Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group wasn't only dealing with the Black Cloud Chamber of Commerce. They were also trading with an organization called the Dark Blood Alliance."
"The Dark Blood Alliance?"
"An evil Soul Master organization lurking across the continent. The Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group was just an outer pawn.
"The Black Cloud Chamber of Commerce provided money and connections, while the Dark Blood Alliance supplied forbidden cultivation resources.
"They had quickly pushed Lei Hu, who'd been at the peak of the Soul Ancestor realm, up to the Soul Emperor realm, and sent them everywhere to gather fresh blood."
Yan Lingji searched Lei Hu's body and found a blood-red skull token. She tossed it into her Storage Soul Tool.
"Evil Soul Masters?"
"Right. But there's no point getting tangled up with this trash right now. We should focus on improving our strength."
Yan Lingji searched all the corpses and found more than a dozen Storage Soul Tools.
The largest held twelve cubic meters. All told, there were about two or three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins' worth of odds and ends.
She headed toward the rear courtyard.
Pushing open the iron gate, she found a row of stone storerooms, all locked.
She shaped flames into a blade and melted the chains. Inside the first storeroom, more than a dozen wooden chests were neatly stacked with Gold Soul Coins, glittering gold in the sunlight.
"Master, we've struck it rich."
Jiang Ce's tentacle emerged from her chest, and he gave a scoff.
"They've been at this for years and only saved a few hundred thousand gold coins. What a bunch of useless fools. They probably handed over the lion's share."
"If Master says so, that fellow might get so angry he comes back to life."
Yan Lingji giggled coquettishly.
The third storeroom was the smallest, but it held the finest things.
Among a few well-made weapons on the shelves, a Soul Tool dagger gleamed with a pale golden light.
In the corner sat a palm-sized wooden box. Inside was a dark-red bone that gave off waves of heat.
"Hm? What's this?"
"A Soul Bone. A treasure that has a very low chance of dropping when a Soul Beast is slain, one in ten thousand. It's probably the right leg bone of a Fire Wolf that lived for around two thousand years."
Yan Lingji's eyes lit up.
"Then, Master... can I equip it?"
"It suits your attributes fairly well, but it's still trash. Equipping it would waste both time and space."
Yan Lingji sighed.
"Oh, Master, even a two-thousand-year Soul Bone would be something Soul Masters outside would fight tooth and nail to get. Many of them would never even find one."
"Is that all the ambition you have?
"You're going to become a God King someday.
"The Soul Bones you equip in the end will have to be at least a hundred thousand years old.
"Even Titled Douluo treasure Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones, but you need to set your sights higher."
"Even Titled Douluo covet Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones. Where am I supposed to find one with my current strength?"
"If you can't find one now, take your time. If you're lucky, hunting a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast can yield a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone. Use it for now, then replace it when you find something better."
"Didn't Master say that Soul Bones can't be removed once they're equipped? How will I replace it with a hundred-thousand-year one later?"
"Torso and Head Soul Bones can only be taken by killing and stripping them from someone, but you can replace hand and leg Soul Bones by cutting off the limbs.
"It doesn't matter if you equip it now. When the time comes, I'll cut off your hands and feet, remove the Soul Bone, and then reattach them."
Yan Lingji's eyelid twitched.
"So when I replace it with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, you'll have to cut off my hands and feet?"
"Of course."
A trace of resentment crept into Yan Lingji's voice.
"Oh, Master, I've served you so well. Now you're going to turn me into a cripple with no hands or feet. How am I supposed to serve you then?"
"Fool."
A tentacle patted her on the head.
"Have you forgotten that I have Super Healing? I can reattach them if they're cut off, and even if they're completely destroyed, I can regrow them. What's so hard about replacing a Soul Bone?"
Yan Lingji fell silent for a moment, then the hesitation in her eyes faded and her lips curled up again.
With Master around, she didn't need to fear losing her hands and feet.
She casually tossed the two-thousand-year Soul Bone into her Storage Soul Tool.
"Then I'll keep it to sell. A two-thousand-year Soul Bone wouldn't boost my strength by much anyway. No point getting my limbs chopped off for nothing."
She searched the storeroom again, making sure nothing had been overlooked.
"That should do it. There's just over a million Gold Soul Coins in total. Add the medicinal herbs, Soul Beast materials, and this Soul Bone, and the whole haul's worth at least two or three million. Master, does that mean we're rich now?"
"Rich enough. But don't get carried away. The good stuff takes money."
"Then I'll wait for Master to take me on a life of wine and luxury."
Yan Lingji left the storeroom and cast the Fire Control Technique, setting the entire courtyard ablaze.
She stood before the towering flames, her red lips curling into a smile, then turned and left.
The western outskirts of Heaven Dou City, at dusk.
A towering fire engulfed the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group's compound. The western sky glowed dark red, and smoke reached toward the heavens like a giant black hand.
Residents in the western part of the city came out to look, but no one went to put out the fire.
"That's the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group's territory. Good riddance."
When duty officer Zhao Ping saw the flames, he immediately gathered eleven water-attribute Soul Masters and headed for the western outskirts.
A wave of heat rolled toward them, and the acrid smell of burning stung their noses.
By the time they arrived, flames had consumed the entire compound. A water dragon tore through the blaze, revealing charred bodies inside.
Zhao Ping crouched to examine them—not burned to death. Their necks bore the marks of blades. They'd already been dead before the fire started.
After searching the grounds, they confirmed there were no survivors.
City defense commander Liu Yuan arrived on horseback.
"What happened?"
"The Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group had sixty-seven members. All dead, no survivors."
"Who did this?"
"Someone at least at the Soul Emperor level."
Liu Yuan crouched to examine the charred corpses.
"The flames were powerful. This wasn't ordinary fire. Its aura is unusual, distinct from Soul Power.
"Lei Hu was a Six-Ring Soul Emperor. Whoever killed him must have been at least a Soul Emperor, perhaps even a Soul Saint.
"But we can't let anyone get away with murder and arson in Heaven Dou Imperial City.
"Find the culprit within three days!"
The news quickly spread throughout Heaven Dou City.
People talked about it everywhere—in teahouses and taverns. "Someone wiped out the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group. Not one of their dozens of men survived."
"Looks like that bastard Lei Hu ran into a brick wall."
"I bet the culprit was a Soul Saint-level expert."
A few city defense soldiers drank together. An old veteran curled his lip.
"They're just putting on a show. So what if those Fierce Tiger bastards are dead? Do you think the commander doesn't know they're lackeys of the Black Cloud Chamber of Commerce?"
A night watchman passed the ruins with a lantern in hand. The embers were still hot, and he shivered before hurrying on.
In a dark alley, an outer member of the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group watched the ruins for a moment, then turned and vanished into the darkness.
He had to get the news out.
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