One Move Was All It Took! (Please Keep Reading!)

"Tieniu, go talk to him. If you can, persuade him to leave on his own. Don't cause trouble."

"Yes, Elder." Wang Tieniu, the man who had been called out, sprang to his feet and cupped his fists toward the old man.

After receiving his orders, Wang Tieniu suppressed the apprehension in his heart, straightened up, and strode out of the Evil Soul Master ranks.

He was a hulking man with dark skin. The black robe around him whipped in the bitter Far North winds, and eight Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath his feet: two yellow, three purple, and three black—the standard Soul Douluo configuration. Dark, sinister Soul Power coiled around him, giving off a nauseating stench of decay. With every step he took, the snow beneath his feet was corroded by his evil power and turned to black water.

He stopped ten yards from Jiang Che, not daring to approach another inch.

The young man before him seemed to have restrained the Soul Power around him, but the pressure he released unconsciously made it clear that he was a Titled Douluo.

"Esteemed sir, we are members of the Holy Spirit Cult, here to settle a personal matter. We have no intention of making an enemy of you." Wang Tieniu cupped his hands in greeting, his tone deliberately firm. His gaze swept over Jiang Che and the Ice Empress before settling on Jiang Che. "Let's each take a step back. You can leave this place with your two companions, and we'll let today's matter go. How does that sound?"

He had deliberately invoked the Holy Spirit Cult's name, hoping its fearsome reputation across the continent would make his opponent hesitate and leave of his own accord.

After all, there were only three of them, but one was a Titled Douluo. If they fought, even with a Titled Douluo on their side, they wouldn't gain anything—and they would only delay their real business.

"Haha, the Holy Spirit Cult, you say? So what? Others may fear your cult, but I don't." Jiang Che laughed, making it clear that the Holy Spirit Cult meant nothing to him.

"Don't push your luck!" Faced with Jiang Che's provocation, Wang Tieniu's expression darkened, and the sinister Soul Power around him suddenly surged. "Our cult master is one of the continent's top experts. Making an enemy of the Holy Spirit Cult will do you no good. I advise you to stay out of this. Otherwise, even if you're a Titled Douluo, you won't leave the Far North unscathed!"

In Jiang Che's eyes, Wang Tieniu's threat was a joke. He looked him up and down.

"If this were anyone else, perhaps. But do you know who I am?" Jiang Che asked.

"I don't know who you are, sir..."

"I'm a member of the Shrek Inspectorate. Hunting down Evil Soul Masters is my duty."

"What! The Shrek Inspectorate!" Wang Tieniu's pupils contracted at the words. "Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar!"

Before Wang Tieniu had even finished speaking, his body suddenly swelled. His hulking frame ballooned several times over, his muscles bulging and veins twisting like the roots of an ancient tree.

A fearsome blood-red mad bull phantom surged skyward behind him, its horns wreathed in sinister black smoke. It was a sign that Wang Tieniu's Bloodthirsty Mad Bull Martial Soul Avatar had unleashed its full power!

Boom!

He stomped hard on the solid ice beneath his feet, splitting it into a web of cracks. Then he shot backward like a streak of blood-red shadow, making no attempt to fight and breaking away at once.

"Elder! He's with the Shrek Inspectorate!" Wang Tieniu roared, his voice hoarse from the savagery of his bloodthirsty Martial Soul.

His shout tore through the bitter Far North wind. The words "Shrek Inspectorate" struck the hearts of the Evil Soul Masters like a thunderclap.

The old man at their head furrowed his brow. He knew this would be difficult. Who on the entire Douluo Continent didn't know of the feud between the Shrek Inspectorate and the Evil Soul Masters?

The Shrek Inspectorate was a specialized law-enforcement force formed from Shrek Academy's Inner Court. It was made up of the Academy's top Inner Court disciples and veteran Titled Douluos, and was known as the righteous sword of the Soul Master World.

Any Soul Master faction beyond the control of the various nations—or one that wantonly committed evil—was a target for the Inspectorate. That was especially true of Evil Soul Masters, who cultivated by devouring the flesh and blood of living beings, their souls, and the essence of Soul Beasts.

For thousands of years, the Inspectorate had traveled to every corner of the continent, hunting Evil Soul Masters to the last. Countless Evil Soul Master sects and squads had fallen to its hands, and the two sides had built up a blood feud spanning millennia.

As the largest Evil Soul Master organization of the age, the Holy Spirit Cult was utterly at odds with the Shrek Inspectorate. The two sides had fought several deadly battles, and each was the other's foremost enemy.

To the weaker Evil Soul Masters, the Shrek Inspectorate was a deadly blade hanging over their heads—a nightmare whose very name made them tremble and flee. Even hearing of it was enough to leave them terrified.

"The Shrek Inspectorate! He's actually from Shrek!" The "Second Brother" beside the old man gritted his teeth and growled. His voice trembled, the black energy around him roiling more violently as fear and murderous intent tangled in his eyes.

He had never imagined that they would run into a member of the Shrek Inspectorate in this remote ice valley in the Far North—and that he would be a Titled Douluo of such bizarre youth.

"Big Brother, what do we do? He's with Shrek. He definitely won't let this go."

"Hmph, what's there to panic about?" The old man rebuked Second Brother, then let out a thoughtful, cold laugh. "Second Brother, we should be happy he's from Shrek. A Titled Douluo this young—he may well be the next Sea God Pavilion Master of Shrek."

"Hmm? You mean..." The "Second Brother" beside him caught on, too.

"Exactly. He's only at level 93, and he's alone. You're level 92, and I'm level 95. If we capture him alive or kill him before he can rise further, won't that be a great achievement?"

"Fourth Soul Skill, Pale Dragon Breath!"

While the two were talking, Jiang Che made his move. The Ice Dragon King behind him unleashed a blue dragon's breath.

Wang Tieniu felt a bone-piercing chill sweep up behind him. He hurriedly looked back and saw that the dragon's breath was far faster than he was. He had no choice but to stop and face Jiang Che's attack.

"Third Soul Skill, Bloodthirst!" This Soul Skill increased the power of Wang Tieniu's Soul Skills by thirty percent.

"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 all too well the gap between himself and a Titled Douluo.

After activating his Soul Skill, a shield of blood-colored fiendish energy swirled around him. It could withstand Soul Skill attacks from Soul Masters of the same level, and when the shield shattered, its energy would rebound against nearby enemies.

But Jiang Che was higher-ranked than him, and his Martial Soul was divine-beast-class as well. Even the strongest defense Wang Tieniu could muster as an eighty-sixth-level Soul Douluo failed to withstand Jiang Che's Pale Dragon Breath.

Boom—!

Wang Tieniu lasted only a few seconds before the dragon's breath broke through his defenses, engulfing him in icy flames.

"Ah—!" Wang Tieniu let out a pained howl. When the dragon's breath finally faded, all that remained was his disfigured body curled up in the snow. He was still breathing, but he couldn't even stand, let alone keep fighting.