Down Syndrome

BOOM!

Under Elder Chen's bewildered gaze, Jiang Lin took off in an instant, slamming headfirst into the mountain face opposite them.

Elder Chen froze for a moment, then hurriedly caught the dazed and groggy Jiang Lin.

"What is wrong with you, kid? If you didn't want to explain, you could have just said so; there was no need to go slamming into a mountain to prove your point, was there?"

Jiang Lin's mouth twitched. What the hell is "slamming into a mountain to prove a point"?

It was clearly just him failing to adapt to the speed of the Wind-Thunder Wings.

Although Jiang Lin hadn't fully refined them, the speed was still astonishing.

It was just that the soul power consumption was a bit high.

After all, the old demon's Evil-Warding Divine Lightning was innate, while his own Blood Fiend Divine Lightning was tied to his martial soul, requiring soul power to drive it.

At this moment, Elder Chen suddenly reacted.

"Wait, the speed you just had..."

Now, Elder Chen looked at Jiang Lin as if he were looking at a monster.

Based on his calculations, the speed Jiang Lin had just displayed was no slower than an agility-attack system Soul King.

But he wasn't an agility-attack system soul master; he was actually a power-attack system soul master, a class that was typically on the slower side.

A halberd, after all, was a heavy weapon; speed was not its advantage.

What Elder Chen didn't know was that Jiang Lin hadn't finished refining the Wind-Thunder Wings; otherwise, his speed would have been far greater than this.

Having adjusted himself, Jiang Lin gradually stabilized in the air.

"Hoo." Exhaling a long breath, Jiang Lin fixed his gaze on the waterfall opposite them.

"Elder Chen, let's clean up. Don't leave any traces of us behind."

A few days later.

Tang Hao, carrying a wine gourd and reeking of alcohol, stumbled through the waterfall, wanting to visit his long-lost Ah Yin.

"Ah Yin..."

Tang Hao suppressed his drunkenness, his face subconsciously softening into a tender expression.

However, the next second, with a crisp "clatter," the wine gourd in his hand fell to the ground, splashing wine everywhere.

Tang Hao stared at the empty hidden compartment before him and the ground that held nothing but a dirt pit—not even a blade of grass remained. The tenderness on his face instantly froze, replaced by a terror and disbelief akin to a dying beast.

Immediately following, a blood-red killing intent, thick as substance, erupted from his body. A shrill, harrowing roar echoed through the entire back mountain of Holy Soul Village:

"Who?! Who the hell touched my Ah Yin!!!"

The frantic rage of losing his beloved caused him to completely lose his sanity; the drunkenness vanished, and the tenderness was wiped clean away.

His terrifying Slaughter God's Domain expanded instantly. He gripped his Clear Sky Hammer tightly and began rampaging through the cave like a madman.

His powerful spiritual energy spread outward like a tidal wave, refusing to miss a single trace, even turning every inch of soil within a five-kilometer radius upside down.

Yet, aside from the mist of the waterfall and the scent of damp earth, the air was clean—the thief had not only taken Ah Yin and that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, but had also erased every trace of their presence.

The despair of finding nothing caused Tang Hao to instantly fall into a "Tang-style syndrome," his eyes bloodshot, his breathing ragged like an ox.

Overcome by fury, Tang Hao suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Martial Soul Hall! It must be Martial Soul Hall!"

Tang Hao's not-so-bright brain could only come up with this one answer.

After all, aside from the Clear Sky Sect and Martial Soul Hall, he couldn't think of anyone else who knew Ah Yin's true identity.

Furthermore, deep down, Tang Hao would never believe the Clear Sky Sect had done this.

Thus, his pent-up hatred found an outlet, and Tang Hao roared at the sky:

"Martial Soul Hall! I, Tang Hao, will never coexist with you!!"

In his extreme rage, he swung the world's number one tool martial soul, shattering the entire cave and the forest on the back mountain to pieces.

Rocks collapsed and the earth caved in, as if he meant to level everything in the world to vent his spite.

It wasn't until the valley was destroyed beyond recognition that the rampaging momentum dissipated along with his exhausted strength.

Tang Hao, like a puppet whose soul had been drained, collapsed onto his knees before the dirt pit where Ah Yin had once grown.

His hands gripped the cold soil tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

The towering rage from moments ago now turned into a blade pointed at himself. A deep sense of powerlessness and regret cut into his heart like a rusted, dull knife:

"Why... if I hadn't gone out... if I had brought you with me sooner... Ah Yin, Xiao San... I have failed you all..."

In the empty, shattered cave, only Tang Hao remained, letting out suppressed and desperate sobs.

On the other side, Jiang Lin flew rapidly through the air.

After several days of practice, he was already able to use the Wind-Thunder Wings normally.

However, to conserve his soul power, Jiang Lin generally kept his speed at around that of a Soul King.

He had also tested just how fast the Wind-Thunder Wings could go when pushed to their limit—

With his cultivation as a Soul Elder, pushing them to the limit allowed him to reach the speed of a typical Agility-Attack System Soul Saint who had activated their Avatar of the Martial Soul.

However, this referred to his speed when fleeing with single-minded focus.

In combat, he naturally could not reach such speeds.

Of course, this was not the limit of the Wind-Thunder Wings, but rather his own limit.

Even so, it was already very fast.

One must know that a Soul Saint is a watershed, because upon reaching level 70, one can use the seventh soul skill, Avatar of the Martial Soul.

Do not be misled by the original work, where Soul Saints seemed like dime-a-dozen trash that were not worth looking at.

That was only because the perspective followed Tang San, the protagonist.

Looking at the entire continent, a Soul Saint is already considered a formidable powerhouse.

Moreover, his Wind-Thunder Wings still required some time before they were fully refined.

Behind Jiang Lin, Elder Chen followed at a leisurely pace.

The destination for the two of them on this trip was Heaven Dou City.

Jiang Lin took advantage of the journey to practice his proficiency with the Wind-Thunder Wings.

As it stood, the results were quite good.

After flying for another distance, Jiang Lin gradually came to a stop.

Elder Chen, who was behind him, quickly caught up. "Why did you stop? You don't look like you've exhausted your soul power."

Jiang Lin pointed downward: "I've practiced enough, and it's getting late. There's a town below; let's see what place this is, find a place to stay, and then hire a carriage to go directly to Heaven Dou City."

Elder Chen did not refute this suggestion. Over the past few days, he had watched Jiang Lin's flying skills progress from wobbling and nearly crashing into trees to flying steadily; there was indeed no need to continue practicing.

The two retracted their auras, descended outside the town, and entered disguised as ordinary travelers.

The town was not large, and there were no pedestrians left on the streets. The two walked along the main street for a while until they found an inn that was not luxurious but looked quite clean.

Jiang Lin pushed open the Space Gate, and a middle-aged man sat behind the front desk, head lowered as he flipped through an account book.

"Boss, two rooms, and bring some hot food up as well," Jiang Lin said as he walked to the front desk, scanning the surrounding environment.

The boss looked up, and seeing customers had arrived, immediately put on a smiling face: "You two have come at the right time; I happen to have two clean, superior rooms left. Hot water and food are always available; I'll have someone send them up right away."

Jiang Lin nodded. After completing the formalities and leaving behind a Gold Soul Coin, he took the keys and went upstairs with Elder Chen.

The rooms were on the third floor. They were not large and the furnishings were simple, but the bedding was white and neat, the windows were bright, and the floors were clean; it was indeed well-maintained.