It let out one final shriek.
Soul-Devouring Shriek.
Jiang Lin instantly sensed something was wrong.
The sound wave was too fast—so fast that it gave him no time to dodge.
It ignored the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd, the black shield, and even the storm of energy produced by their collision. Like a ghost piercing through the material world, it shot straight into Jiang Lin's brow.
In that instant, Jiang Lin heard a crisp crack from his own soul.
It was as if something had broken.
Then came a pain beyond words.
It wasn't physical pain. It was thousands of times worse than broken bones, having flesh sliced away, or being burned alive.
The agony struck directly at the root of his consciousness, as if someone were sawing at his soul again and again with a rusty, dull knife. Each stroke made his whole body convulse, his vision go dark, and his mind turn blank.
Damn it! A mental attack!
At this stage, this really was his weak point.
Jiang Lin's Soul Power began to run wild through his meridians. Out of control, it was like a herd of untamed horses rampaging through his body. Several meridians burst under the strain, and blood-swollen lumps rose beneath his skin.
His consciousness began to blur. The scene before him overlapped, warped, and shattered, as if it had been torn into countless fragments and pieced back together, every shard carrying enough agony to drive a person mad.
"Kh—"
Jiang Lin clenched his teeth until one of his molars cracked, forcing a beastlike growl from his throat. He instinctively retreated, flying back to where he had been standing.
He used every ounce of willpower he had to keep himself from passing out. Otherwise, the consequences...
Emmm... With Elder Chen there, the consequences probably wouldn't be that serious.
That attack wasn't enough to kill him.
Jiang Lin raised his head.
His vision was blurry, and everything seemed veiled in red.
But he still saw—
Under the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd's relentless assault, the black shield had finally reached its limit.
The last few layers of runes on its surface shattered all at once, vanishing into nothing.
The halberd's blade pierced through the shield, through the mouth that hadn't had time to close, and through the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus's core. The blood-red tip emerged from its back.
All the thunderous power stored in the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd erupted at that moment.
Blood-red lightning swallowed the entire Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus from within.
The mouth let out one final, piercing shriek—not a mental attack, but a genuine death cry.
Its petals convulsed violently, peeling away from the lotus one after another. Before they could hit the ground, they crumbled to dust in the lightning.
The vines thrashed wildly a few final times, then stiffened and withered, like dead branches drained of every drop of moisture. Its bone-like scales shattered and fell away, revealing the charred, necrotic cores beneath.
The Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus's aura plummeted.
It wasn't dead yet.
But it was close.
Without hesitation, Jiang Lin endured the discomfort and pulled it out.
He had expected it to produce a Soul Ring, but it didn't.
It was a strange phenomenon, and not what he had expected.
But Jiang Lin had no time to think about it.
"System, collect it."
"Ding. Damaged, ten-thousand-year immortal-grade Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus, worth 15,000 points. Recovered."
The system's recovery notification eased the stabbing pain in Jiang Lin's mind a little.
The pool around him had completely dried up. All the runes on the stone walls had shattered, leaving nothing but ordinary rock.
The suffocating aura of corruption in the air vanished without a trace, replaced by a hollow, deathly silence.
The cave fell quiet.
Only Jiang Lin's ragged breathing could be heard.
After withdrawing his Martial Soul, Jiang Lin couldn't help feeling a little shaken. "I... almost got myself killed."
Taking off his mask, Jiang Lin wiped the blood from his face. His voice was so hoarse it sounded as if it had been scraped across sandpaper.
He managed a strained smile, his teeth covered in bloody froth. "But I only almost did."
Afterward, though, he became even more desperate for treasures that could strengthen his soul.
He had to get Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew.
And when the system refreshed its selection of ways to strengthen mental power, he had to buy one.
A moment later, Jiang Lin tried to stand. His knees had barely left the ground when he fell back down.
The aftereffects of his severely damaged soul were worse than he'd imagined. His consciousness was still unsteady, and his vision kept doubling.
Jiang Lin simply sat down where he was, regulated his breathing, suppressed his injuries, and slowly guided his rampaging Soul Power back into the proper channels of his meridians.
He glanced at Hu Liena, unconscious in the corner—she was unharmed, her breathing steady, and her wounds hadn't worsened. But her face seemed to have gone a little darker...
He looked outside as well. The sounds of battle continued, but they were clearly less intense than before. The Wolf Bandits' frenzied state was evidently fading.
Of course, they might also have been getting slaughtered without being able to fight back.
Outside.
After Elder Chen's second Soul Skill burned the head of the frenzied Wolf Bandit leader to ash, the battlefield suddenly fell silent.
The Wolf Bandits seemed to sense their leader's death and instinctively broke free of the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus's control.
But because the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus was under pressure, it didn't spend any more effort strengthening or controlling the Wolf Bandits.
So everyone's attention turned to the old man wearing the Ghost Face Mask.
When they noticed the nine Soul Rings beneath his feet—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—the Spirit Hall Soul Masters immediately sucked in a breath.
"A... a Titled Douluo?!"
Someone cried out in shock, snapping Riels to his senses—and waking the Wolf Bandit in front of the startled Soul Master who had shouted.
The Wolf Bandit howled and immediately lunged to launch a sneak attack.
But a streak of fire struck it, sending it to join its leader on the spot.
That little interruption instantly reignited the battlefield, which had just fallen quiet.
Under Elder Chen's watchful gaze, the three Soul Douluos were also forced to fight, hoping to quickly finish off the Wolf Bandits and check on Hu Liena.
"Thank you for saving my life, senior. I'm Riels. May I ask who you are...?"
Riels asked weakly, his face full of relief at having survived and gratitude toward Elder Chen, the Titled Douluo above them.
"Is... is he one of our Spirit Hall elders?"
Yan and Xie Yue looked at each other and asked the same question at the same time, then fell silent.
"What incredible flames. If only I could become his disciple..."
"Cough, cough."
Xie Yue coughed softly, cutting Yan off.
After all, they still didn't know where this senior stood.
Elder Chen paid no attention to what they said. In the end, the two of them were only Soul Elders—not worth any special attention from him.
Elder Chen simply remained above them, watching the entire battlefield.
Whenever he spotted a Wolf Bandit trying to flee, he sent it to meet the God of Death with a streak of fire.
Inside the cave, however, a different scene was unfolding...
Before you continue