Yan Lingji: Master, my limbs are still useful

Outside the main hall, dozens of mercenaries swarmed out.

The training grounds, the backyard, the side gates—people were everywhere.

Blades were drawn and soul rings flickered, sealing the courtyard off completely.

"A bunch of trash. Do you think numbers matter?"

Yan Lingji held a sword in each hand, flames surging violently around her body.

"Fire Control: Heaven Burner."

She crossed her blades and swung them forward, the flames rushing ahead like a torrential flood.

The door frames and window lattices were blasted into splinters, and the dozen mercenaries at the front were instantly swallowed by the fire, not even having time to scream.

The spear-wielding mercenaries flanking her had their shafts severed by one strike, their heads sent flying by the next.

A mercenary with a Giant Bear martial soul who lunged from behind was ensnared by two black tentacles; amidst the sound of shattering bones, she kicked him away with a backward strike.

She charged into the crowd, her twin blades hacking left and right, while tentacles pierced through the chests and throats of enemies from impossible angles.

The Soul Ancestor deputy who charged with a shield was vaulted over; she drove her blades down into his shoulders, sent his iron shield clattering to the ground, and kicked him aside.

In just over a dozen breaths, half of the dozens of mercenaries had been slaughtered.

"Run!"

"This woman isn't human!"

"Help!"

The remaining mercenaries fled in all directions.

Yan Lingji raised her hand, her left hand transforming into dozens of black venomous threads that shot out, pinning the fleeing men to the ground one by one.

"Fire Control: Flame Burst."

The massive fireball condensed in her right hand detonated in the densest part of the crowd, sending severed limbs and debris flying everywhere.

The courtyard finally fell silent.

Lei Hu stood inside the main hall, looking at the charred corpses covering the ground, his eyes filled with a mixture of terror and disbelief.

He was a dignified six-ring Soul Emperor with dozens of men under his command; how could they be slaughtered by a woman at the Soul King level?

"Who... who exactly are you?"

Yan Lingji turned around, the flames on her twin blades glowing red in the sunlight.

"In your next life, try to remember this lesson."

The voice was still echoing in his ears when Yan Lingji's figure appeared behind him.

Lei Hu spun around violently, swinging his right claw with all his might.

But he swung at empty air.

Yan Lingji had already crouched down, her left-hand sword thrusting upward into his chest, piercing his heart.

Her right-hand sword had already slashed his throat.

Fresh blood splattered everywhere.

Lei Hu looked down at the blade in his chest and opened his mouth, but because his windpipe had been severed, he could only emit a rattling sound.

"Your speed... is too slow."

Yan Lingji withdrew her longsword.

Lei Hu's body collapsed with a loud thud.

Black tentacles pierced into Lei Hu's skull to read his memories.

"Interesting. Behind the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group, aside from the Black Cloud Chamber of Commerce, they are also dealing with an organization called the Dark Blood Alliance."

"The Dark Blood Alliance?"

"An organization of evil soul masters lurking on the continent; the Fierce Tiger is just a peripheral pawn.

The Black Cloud Chamber of Commerce provides funds and connections, while the Dark Blood Alliance provides forbidden cultivation resources, quickly boosting Lei Hu, who was originally at the peak of the Soul Ancestor realm, to a Soul Emperor, and having them collect fresh blood everywhere."

Yan Lingji searched Lei Hu's body, found a blood-colored skull token, and tossed it into her Soul Tool.

"Evil soul masters?"

"Correct. But getting entangled with this trash is less important than improving my own strength."

Yan Lingji looted all the corpses, finding over a dozen storage Soul Tools.

The largest had a capacity of twelve cubic meters, and the miscellaneous items added up to roughly two or three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

She walked toward the backyard.

Pushing open the iron gate, she found a row of stone warehouses, all locked.

She condensed flames into a blade to melt the chains; in the first warehouse, over a dozen wooden crates were neatly stacked with Gold Soul Coins, shimmering brilliantly in the sunlight.

"Master, we've struck it rich."

Jiang Ce's tentacles slithered out from her chest, letting out a scoff.

"To have only a few hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins after operating for so many years—what trash. They must have handed over the lion's share."

"If you say that, Master, that guy might just be angered back to life."

Yan Lingji giggled coquettishly.

The third storeroom was the smallest, but its contents were the most refined.

Among several decent-quality weapons on the shelves, a Soul Tool short sword shimmered with a pale golden light.

In the corner sat a palm-sized wooden box; when opened, it revealed a dark red bone emitting fiery fluctuations.

"Eh, what is this?"

"A Soul Bone. A treasure with an extremely low drop rate from hunting Soul Beasts, one in ten thousand. It should be a right leg bone dropped by a two-thousand-year Fire Wolf."

Yan Lingji's eyes lit up.

"Then, Master... can I equip this?"

"It matches your attributes well enough, but it's trash. Equipping it would be a waste of time and a waste of a slot."

Yan Lingji sighed.

"Oh, my Master, even a two-thousand-year Soul Bone is something those Soul Masters outside would break their heads trying to snatch, wouldn't they?"

"Is that all the ambition you have?

You are someone destined to become a God King in the future.

The final Soul Bones you equip must be at least the Hundred Thousand Year level.

Although even Titled Douluo regard Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones as priceless treasures, you must keep your sights set further."

"If even Titled Douluo crave Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones, where am I supposed to find one with my current strength?"

"If you can't find one now, you look slowly. If you're lucky, hunting ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts can also drop ten-thousand-year Soul Bones. Use this for now, and replace it when you find something better."

"Didn't Master say that once a Soul Bone is equipped, it can't be removed? How would I replace it with a Hundred Thousand Year one later?"

"Trunk and head Soul Bones can only be obtained by killing and stripping them, but limb Soul Bones can be swapped by cutting off the limbs.

It doesn't matter if you equip it; when the time comes, I'll just chop off your limbs, remove the Soul Bone, and reattach them."

Yan Lingji's eyelids twitched.

"So, to swap for a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, you have to chop off this humble one's limbs?"

"Naturally."

Yan Lingji's voice carried a hint of resentment.

"Oh, my Master, this humble one serves you so well, yet you would turn me into a cripple without hands or feet? How would I serve you then?"

"Fool."

A tentacle patted her head.

"Have you forgotten I have Super Healing? If they're cut off, they can be reattached; even if they're completely destroyed, they can be regenerated. It's just swapping a Soul Bone, what's so difficult about that?"

Yan Lingji fell silent for a moment, the hesitation in her eyes fading as the corners of her mouth curled up again.

With Master here, she had nothing to fear, not even losing her limbs.

She casually tossed the two-thousand-year Soul Bone into her Soul Tool.

"Then I'll keep it to sell for money. A two-thousand-year Soul Bone wouldn't increase my strength much anyway, and this saves me from being chopped up for nothing."

She rummaged through the storeroom one more time, ensuring nothing was left behind.

"That's about it. A little over a million Gold Soul Coins in total, plus the medicinal herbs, Soul Beast materials, and this Soul Bone—the total value is at least two or three million. Master, are we considered rich people now?"

"Yes. But don't get cocky; good things are bought with money."

"Then this humble one will wait for Master to lead me into a life of luxury."

Yan Lingji walked out of the storeroom, raised her hand to unleash her fire-control technique, and ignited the entire courtyard.

She stood before the soaring flames, her red lips curling upward, before turning to leave.

Western suburbs of Heaven Dou City, dusk.

A towering fire erupted at the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group's station, illuminating the western sky with a dark red glow as thick smoke reached toward the heavens like a giant black hand.

Residents in the west of the city stepped out to watch, but no one moved to put out the fire.

"That's the Fierce Tiger's territory; it's a good thing it's burning."

Duty officer Zhao Ping saw the flames and immediately assembled eleven water-attribute Soul Masters to head toward the western suburbs.

A wave of heat rushed to meet them, the smell of burning flesh pungent and sharp.

By the time they arrived, the entire courtyard had been swallowed by flames. Water dragons surged to suppress the fire, revealing the charred corpses within.

Zhao Ping crouched down to inspect the bodies—they hadn't been burned to death; there were marks of a sharp blade across their necks, meaning they were already dead before the fire started.

After a thorough search, it was confirmed: there were no survivors.

Liu Yuan, commander of the City Defense Army, arrived on horseback.

"What's the situation?"

"Sixty-seven members of the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group, all dead, no survivors."

"Who did this?"

"At least a Spirit Emperor level or higher."

Liu Yuan crouched down to examine the charred corpses.

"The flames are intense, not ordinary fire. The aura is unique, distinct from spirit power."

Lei Hu was a six-ring Spirit Emperor; to kill him, the opponent must be at least a Spirit Emperor, perhaps even a Spirit Saint.

"But to dare kill and commit arson within Heaven Dou Imperial City—this cannot be overlooked."

"Three days. Find the culprit!"

The news quickly spread throughout Heaven Dou City.

In teahouses and taverns, everyone was discussing it: "The Fierce Tiger group got wiped out, dozens of them, not a single one left alive."

"That grandson Lei Hu must have hit a steel plate, right?"

"I'm afraid it was a master at the Spirit Saint level."

A few City Defense soldiers were drinking, and a veteran curled his lip.

"Just putting on a show. If that bunch from Fierce Tiger is dead, they're dead. Do you think the commander doesn't know they were just lackeys for the Black Cloud Chamber of Commerce?"

A night watchman carrying a lantern passed by the ruins, where the embers were still steaming; he shivered and hurried away.

In a dark alley, an peripheral member of the Fierce Tiger group stared at the ruins for a moment, then turned and vanished into the darkness.

The message had to be sent out.