One Move Kill! (Seeking Follow-ups!)

"Tieniu, go and have a word with him. If possible, have him leave on his own; don't stir up trouble."

"Understood, Elder!" Wang Tieniu, having been named, stood up quickly and cupped his fists toward the old man.

After receiving his orders, Wang Tieniu suppressed the trepidation in his heart, straightened his back, and stepped out from the ranks of the evil soul masters.

He was burly and dark-complexioned, his black robes whipping in the frigid winds of the Far North. Eight soul rings rose slowly from beneath his feet: two yellow, three purple, and three black—a standard configuration for a Soul Douluo. Pitch-black, sinister soul power swirled around him, emitting a nauseating, decaying stench. With every step he took, the snow beneath his feet was corroded by his evil power, melting into black sludge.

He stopped at a distance of three zhang from Jiang Che, not daring to draw any closer.

The man before him, who looked excessively young, appeared to have his soul power restrained, yet the pressure he inadvertently radiated made it clear that he was a Title Douluo.

"Your Excellency, we are members of the Holy Spirit Cult, here to handle private matters. We have no intention of making an enemy of you." Wang Tieniu cupped his hands in a salute, his tone carrying a forced hardness he had deliberately adopted. His gaze swept over Jiang Che and the Ice Empress before finally settling on Jiang Che. "Let us each take a step back. If you take these two people and leave this place, we will let bygones be bygones regarding today's events. How about that?"

He had deliberately announced the name of the Holy Spirit Cult, hoping that the cult's fearsome reputation across the continent would make the other party wary and cause him to withdraw voluntarily.

After all, the other side appeared to have only three people, yet they harbored a Title Douluo. If a real fight broke out, even with a Title Douluo of their own presiding, they wouldn't gain any advantage, and it would only delay their important business.

"Haha, a fine 'Holy Spirit Cult' indeed, but so what? Others may fear your Holy Spirit Cult, but I certainly do not," Jiang Che said with a laugh, indicating that he cared nothing for the cult.

"Your Excellency, do not refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!" Faced with Jiang Che's provocation, Wang Tieniu's expression darkened, and the sinister soul power around him surged violently. "Our Cult Master is one of the top powerhouses on the continent. Offending our Holy Spirit Cult will do you no good. I advise you not to meddle in affairs that do not concern you; otherwise, even if you are a Title Douluo, don't think you'll be leaving the Far North in one piece!"

Wang Tieniu's threat was nothing but a joke in Jiang Che's eyes, and he looked the man up and down.

"If it were someone else, perhaps, but do you know who I am?" Jiang Che asked.

"I do not know who Your Excellency is..."

"I am a member of the Shrek Inspectorate. Suppressing evil soul masters is my duty."

"What! The Shrek Inspectorate!" Wang Tieniu's pupils constricted upon hearing the name. "Seventh Soul Skill: Avatar of the Martial Soul!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, Wang Tieniu's figure surged in size. His burly frame expanded several times over as if being inflated; his skin and muscles bulged, and his veins knotted like the roots of an ancient tree.

A hideous, blood-colored bull phantom rose into the sky behind him, its horns wreathed in grim black mist. It was the sign that Wang Tieniu had unleashed the full power of his Bloodthirsty Mad Bull martial soul avatar!

"Boom!"

He stomped heavily onto the solid ice, causing it to shatter into a spiderweb of cracks. Transforming into a streak of blood-colored black shadow, he didn't bother to engage at all and shot violently backward.

"Elder! He is from the Shrek Inspectorate!" Wang Tieniu screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice raspy from the frenzy of his bloodthirsty martial soul.

Wang Tieniu's roar pierced the frigid winds of the Far North, and the words "Shrek Inspectorate" struck the hearts of everyone in the evil soul master camp like a thunderclap.

The old man leading them also frowned, knowing that this situation would not be easily resolved. Who on the entire Douluo Continent did not know of the blood feud between the Shrek Inspectorate and the evil soul masters?

The Shrek Inspectorate was an exclusive law-enforcement force derived from the Inner Court of Shrek Academy, composed of the academy's top Inner Court disciples and Title Douluo-level elders. They were known as the righteous sword-wielders of the soul master world.

Any soul master faction that could not be controlled by national governments or that acted with wanton malice—especially those who cultivated by devouring the flesh, blood, souls, or soul beast origins of living beings—were targets for the Inspectorate to purge.

For thousands of years, the Inspectorate had traveled to every corner of the continent, hunting evil soul masters to extinction. Countless evil soul master sects and squads had perished at their hands, and the two sides had accumulated thousands of years of blood debt.

As the largest evil soul master organization in the world, the Holy Spirit Cult was fundamentally at odds with the Shrek Inspectorate. The two sides had engaged in life-and-death battles multiple times, each serving as the other's number one mortal enemy.

To the weaker evil soul masters, the Shrek Inspectorate was a lethal blade hanging over their heads—a nightmare that made them turn pale and flee at the mere mention of its name. Even hearing the title was enough to make them tremble with fear.

"The Shrek Inspectorate! It's actually someone from Shrek!" the "Second-in-Command" beside the leading old man hissed through gritted teeth, his voice trembling. Black mist churned violently around him as killing intent and trepidation warred in his eyes.

He never imagined that in this remote icy valley of the Far North, they would run into a member of the Shrek Inspectorate, and a suspiciously young Title Douluo at that.

"Big Brother, what do we do? He's from Shrek; he certainly won't let this go."

"Hmph, what are you panicking for!" The old man first scolded his subordinate, then sneered thoughtfully. "Second, he is from Shrek, so we should be happy! Such a young Title Douluo... I fear he might be the next Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion."

"Hm? Does Big Brother mean..." The "Second-in-Command" realized what he meant.

"Exactly. He is only at level 93 right now, and he is alone. You are level 92, and I am level 95. If we can capture him alive or kill him prematurely, wouldn't that be a great achievement?"

"Fourth Soul Skill: Pale Dragon Breath!"

In the brief gap while the two were talking, Jiang Che made his move. The Ice Dragon King behind him exhaled a stream of blue dragon breath.

Wang Tieniu felt a bone-chilling cold rushing toward his back. He hurriedly looked back, only to see the dragon breath moving far faster than he could. He was forced to stop in his tracks to face Jiang Che's attack.

"Third Soul Skill: Bloodthirst!" This soul skill allowed Wang Tieniu to increase the power of his soul skills by 30%.

"Sixth Soul Skill: Blood Fiend Body Shield!"

Wang Tieniu frantically poured his soul power into his sixth soul ring. As an eight-ring Soul Douluo, he knew clearly the gap between himself and a Title Douluo.

After using the skill, a shield of blood-colored malevolent energy swirled around him, capable of blocking soul skill attacks from soul masters of the same rank. When the shield shattered, the malevolent energy would recoil against nearby enemies.

But unfortunately, Jiang Che was not only higher in rank, but his martial soul was also of the divine beast level. This ultimate defense, which had exhausted all the means of an 86th-level Soul Douluo, still failed to withstand Jiang Che's Pale Dragon Breath.

"Boom—!"

Wang Tieniu only managed to hold out for a few seconds before the dragon breath shattered his defense, engulfing him in icy flames.

"Ah—!" Wang Tieniu let out a wail, clearly in immense pain. When the dragon breath subsided, all that remained was for people to see him curled up on the snow, unrecognizable. Though he still had breath, he couldn't even stand up, let alone continue the fight.