Soul Bone? Immortal Herb?!

In the grass by the roadside, a Wolf Bandit stood with its back to him, covered in wounds, clearly having just emerged from a brutal fight.

Beside it, a man's corpse lay face-up on the ground, his chest torn open by sharp claws, blood staining the mud beneath him.

And beneath the Wolf Bandit, a woman was being pinned down tightly.

She looked to be in her thirties, her clothes long since torn to rags, her exposed skin covered in bloody welts.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as she stared blankly at the sky, emitting a faint, barely audible whimper.

Hearing the commotion, the Wolf Bandit paused its rhythmic movements, whipped its head around, and locked its scarlet eyes onto Elder Chen, baring its teeth in a hideous grin.

Elder Chen's pupils contracted sharply.

A terrifying pressure erupted from his body, forcing the surrounding vegetation to flatten against the ground.

He said nothing, for he knew the creature before him was nothing but a beast.

And this beast was defiling a human.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black.

Nine soul rings manifested rapidly around him, Martial Soul Possession.

A scorching wave of heat blasted outward from his center, a low leopard's roar resonated from within his body, and crimson light instantly engulfed him.

His frame surged in height, his muscles swelling until his robes strained, and dark golden leopard markings emerged across his skin.

His white hair turned a burning crimson in an instant, his ears grew pointed, and his pupils transformed into vertical, golden beast eyes.

The third eye in the center of his forehead opened fully, appearing to flow with molten lava; merely meeting that gaze was enough to make one's soul tremble.

A leopard tail, formed entirely of flames, lashed out behind him, making the air crackle and pop.

The ground beneath his feet could not withstand the intense heat and began to crack, while the surrounding grass ignited spontaneously.

It was not as if Elder Chen had never killed a Wolf Bandit before, but no matter how many times he witnessed such a scene, it filled him with fury.

Though he did not know the two soul masters, the Wolf Bandit's actions had crossed the bottom line of any decent human being.

Upon seeing Elder Chen's soul rings, the Wolf Bandit's eyes were instantly filled with terror.

A whimper escaped the wolf's maw instinctively.

But before it could make another move, Elder Chen closed the distance and hoisted it into the air.

The flames surged along Elder Chen's hand, instantly setting the creature ablaze.

Amidst the fire, the Wolf Bandit let out a piercing howl.

Jiang Lin stepped down from the carriage and froze at the sight before him.

A wave of nausea churned in his gut.

The man's internal organs had been ripped out and scattered across the surrounding earth.

The woman, too, seemed to be drawing her final breaths, her eyes filled with nothing but dead silence and despair.

Even though Elder Chen had rescued her, her heart had already died.

As a fellow human, even though Jiang Lin did not know them, he could not help but mutter:

"Wolf Bandit... you truly deserve to die!"

"Oh my goodness, one, two, three, four... seven, eight..."

Jiang Lin suddenly heard the carriage driver cowering, counting the soul rings on Elder Chen.

"Good heavens, eight soul rings, this... is he a Title Douluo?"

Jiang Lin tilted his head slightly, looking at the driver with a strange expression.

The driver noticed Jiang Lin's gaze and said sheepishly:

"My wife says I always miss one when I count, so I... heh, I always add one after I finish."

The shift in focus made Jiang Lin feel slightly better.

It wasn't that he had never seen a dead body; after all, the Douluo Continent was not a society governed by law like his previous life.

But this was the first time he had seen such a gruesome scene with entrails strewn about.

A moment later, Elder Chen used his flames to reduce the horrific scene to ashes.

The woman breathed her last the moment she saw Elder Chen burn that wretched Wolf Bandit to dust.

After finishing his task, Elder Chen returned to Jiang Lin.

He held out an object toward him.

"Is this... a soul bone?"

Jiang Lin looked at the item and reached out to take it.

It was a fragmented skull, emitting a faint, glowing red light.

"Yes, my flames burned it to ash, leaving only this skull behind."

Do Wolf Bandits drop soul bones too?

Jiang Lin could not quite remember the original story anymore.

But since the facts were right before his eyes, Jiang Lin did not intend to dwell on it.

"System, what is its value?"

"Ding, a special skull bone nurtured by the Immortal-grade Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus, value: 300 points."

Immortal-grade Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus?

What on earth is that?

There is an immortal herb nearby?!

No, that's not right; it should be that there is an immortal herb among this pack of Wolf Bandit.

Otherwise, this lone beast shouldn't have just been tainted by the aura.

"Elder Chen, can you detect where the main force of these Wolf Bandit is? Let's go and wipe them out."

Hearing this, Elder Chen could not help but reveal a cruel smile.

"Hahaha, good, that suits me perfectly. If I hadn't seen them, it would be one thing, but since I have, if I don't do something, I fear my Dao heart will become unstable."

As he spoke, Elder Chen flew directly into the high sky.

Jiang Lin turned his head to look at the carriage driver.

"You should head back to the town first; we might not be back for a while."

Hearing the voice, the carriage driver nodded in a daze.

"Uh... this lord, what about the money..."

"No need for a refund."

About a quarter of an hour later, Elder Chen returned.

"How was it? Did you find them?"

"Yes, in the northwest direction, about twenty li away. There is a group of soul masters also surrounding and suppressing them there. I imagine the two from just now must have been stragglers from that team."

Jiang Lin nodded, but as if thinking of something, he took two ghost-face masks out of his storage Soul Tool.

Elder Chen looked at the two masks with a strange expression. "Isn't this a bit superfluous?"

It was no wonder Elder Chen would say that; after all, on the Douluo Continent, simply covering one's face was not enough to hide one's identity.

Others could identify who you were just by looking at your martial soul and cultivation level.

"At least when we don't activate our martial souls, no one will be able to recognize us, right?"

"Fine, suit yourself."

Elder Chen casually took a mask and put it on his face.

A moment later, the two appeared one after another in the air not far from the battlefield.

Jiang Lin's Wind-Thunder Wings spread out as he hovered in the air, watching the battlefield below.

The immortal herb... where could it be?

Below, the mountain wind, laden with a heavy stench of blood, poured into the valley entrance. Hu Liena crouched behind a bluestone, her pretty face stained with streaks of blood, her fox-like eyes staring fixedly at the chaotic melee ahead.

"These beasts are not right."

Behind her, Xie Yue gripped his two Moon Blades, a thin layer of blood-frost already congealing on the blades.

Yan leaned against an Iron Wood tree that had been snapped in half, his chest heaving violently, a claw mark on his right arm deep enough to see bone still oozing blood.

Although the three of them were only at the Soul Elder realm, as the Golden Generation cultivated by Martial Soul Hall with all its resources, their practical combat experience was far richer than that of soul masters of the same rank.

Yet even so, the development of this encirclement battle had far exceeded everyone's expectations.