...Ghost Soul Forest.
Central Region.
More than a dozen Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts had gathered there. At the front stood a blood-blue Soul Beast, its eyes filled with a bloodthirsty gleam. This forest overlord should have had eyes as deep as the starry sky and fur that radiated nature's splendor, but now some evil substance had twisted it beyond recognition.
Its eyes were as red as pools of blood, and strange purple-black patterns flickered in its pupils. Unlucky black-purple mist swirled around it, withering plants and splitting the earth wherever it passed.
"Brother Xun, that's a sixty-thousand-year Blue Spirit Meditative Deer, but its eyes don't look right, do they...? Look, there's a corpse beside it, too."
On a nearby mountain peak, Qian Xunji and the others observed the scene and immediately sensed trouble.
"Evil power." Qian Xunji's brow furrowed as he murmured his assessment.
"Looks like our guess was right. That group of Evil Soul Masters was trying to infect this Blue Spirit Meditative Deer. They may be dead, but they succeeded. It's an Evil Soul Beast now, and its strength is probably no weaker than that of a seventy-thousand-year Soul Beast. This is troublesome."
"Brother Xun, just tell us what to do. We'll follow your lead," said a burly man behind him. His name was Man Zhen, the oldest among them. His Martial Soul was an Earth Explosive Bear, and he was a seventy-fifth-level Soul Saint.
At that, Qian Xunji thought for a moment, then analyzed the situation. "Since this Soul Beast has become an Evil Soul Beast and run into me, it's brought this death upon itself.
"Brothers, I'm going to break free of my restraints and release my Martial Soul. It may cause a considerable surge in Soul Power, so please protect me while I do it."
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