First Soul Skill, Listen to Rain

Having said that, Zhou Qiubai charged forward.

He did not use the slightest bit of Soul Power. Relying purely on the strength he had built up over the years, he swung his longsword in an arc through the night, straight at the middle-aged man's face.

"So fast!"

The middle-aged man's pupils contracted sharply. He instinctively leaned back while clenching his right fist, a layer of pale yellow light covering it.

Fist and sword collided with a crisp clang.

With a flick of his wrist, Zhou Qiubai let the blade slide along the other man's fist. The sword tip then swept upward, stabbing straight for his throat.

"Roar!"

The middle-aged man bellowed, and the first Soul Ring beneath his feet suddenly lit up. A blast of air exploded outward from him.

Using that force, Zhou Qiubai drifted backward three zhang. As though he had anticipated it beforehand, he emerged from the exchange completely unscathed.

"How is that possible?" The middle-aged man stared fixedly at Zhou Qiubai, his face full of disbelief. "You clearly didn't use Soul Power."

Though the last exchange had been brief, he could clearly sense that Zhou Qiubai's sword had not received even a trace of Soul Power enhancement.

But wasn't Zhou Qiubai's Martial Soul useless?

How could an ordinary person without the slightest bit of Soul Power possess such speed and strength?

"It seems I can't hold back anymore." The middle-aged man drew a deep breath as Soul Power surged around him. "Huang Tianzong, level twenty-one assault-type Soul Grandmaster, Martial Soul: War Tiger."

As his words fell, his body began to swell. His muscles knotted, yellow-and-black fur grew across his skin, his hands turned into sharp claws, and a faint tiger-king marking appeared on his forehead.

One white and one yellow Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet, slowly pulsing.

As soon as Huang Tianzong finished speaking, the seven or eight people behind him also unleashed their Martial Souls. For a moment, lights of every color shone in the darkness.

"Lin Zibai, level nineteen agility-type Soul Master, Martial Soul: White Crane!"

"Zhang Tieshan, level eighteen defense-type Soul Master, Martial Soul: Iron Armor Shield!"

"Hu Yang, level twenty-eight control-type Soul Grandmaster, Martial Soul: Poplar Tree!"

Watching this group introduce themselves one by one, Zhou Qiubai could not help shaking his head.

No wonder the Tang Sect's crude hidden weapons and cultivation techniques could thrive in this world. These Soul Masters actually announced their names and abilities before fighting. They were practically too honorable.

"So be it." Zhou Qiubai murmured. His longsword pointed diagonally at the ground, and a dark crimson light suddenly rose beneath his feet.

The light gradually condensed into a ring. Unlike the usual white, yellow, purple, black, or even the red of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring, it was an eerie sky blue.

"Zhou Qiubai, level nineteen assault-type Soul Master, Martial Soul: Longsword."

Silence.

The silence seemed to envelop the entire camp.

Huang Tianzong and the others stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, unable to utter a word for a long while.

"A sky-blue Soul Ring?" Lin Zibai stammered. "What is that? Can Soul Rings even be that color?"

They had read plenty of books over the years. The colors of Soul Rings had all been illustrated in those books, so how could there be a Soul Ring this color?

"How could a useless Martial Soul cultivate to level nineteen?" Hu Yang frowned deeply, speaking haltingly. "And the color of that Soul Ring... I've never seen it before."

Huang Tianzong was the first to recover. He shouted, "Don't let this brat scare you! Who cares what color it is? He's only a level nineteen Soul Master. Let's take him together!"

Seven or eight figures lunged forward at once, yellow and white lights flashing around them.

Zhou Qiubai merely stood where he was, a flash of white passing through his eyes.

This was his first Soul Skill, called Listen to Rain. It could greatly enhance his senses and reaction speed.

Even Zhou Qiubai did not know where this Soul Skill had come from. It was simply that one day, when he broke through to the first level of his martial arts realm, this sky-blue Soul Ring appeared on his body.

From then on, Zhou Qiubai was certain that martial arts and Soul Power did not conflict. Over the years, he had figured out a few things.

Then, like a fallen leaf drifting in the wind, Zhou Qiubai passed through the crowd's airtight barrage of attacks. Step by step, he moved closer to them without suffering the slightest injury.

As the distance between them steadily closed, their hearts grew heavier with fear.

Every attack had missed by mere inches, yet every attack missed nonetheless.

The next moment, Huang Tianzong's second Soul Ring suddenly lit up. His chest swelled as terrifying energy gathered in his throat.

"Roar!!!"

Huang Tianzong's roar had barely begun before it came to an abrupt stop.

At some point, Zhou Qiubai had appeared in front of Huang Tianzong. He struck Huang Tianzong's Adam's apple directly with the sword hilt, instantly dispersing the gathered Soul Power and sending him into a violent coughing fit.

Then, sword light flashed.

Huang Tianzong let out a miserable scream. His arms hung limply at his sides as searing pain shot through his shoulder joints.

Zhou Qiubai planted a foot on Huang Tianzong's chest, his sword tip aimed at Huang Tianzong's eye. "Don't move. Take another step forward, and I'll do it."

Everyone stopped, not daring to move again.

They feared that Huang Tianzong would die at Zhou Qiubai's hands the very next moment.

Zhou Qiubai looked down at Huang Tianzong beneath his foot and shook his head. "With this little strength, you dared come to Star Dou Forest to steal business? If you really encountered a thousand-year Spirit Beast, you wouldn't even know how you died."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Huang Tianzong hurriedly begged. "We failed to recognize your greatness! I shouldn't have let greed get the better of me! Please spare my life!"

Zhou Qiubai stared at him for several seconds, then kicked Huang Tianzong in the waist.

Huang Tianzong groaned, rolling three or four zhang away before his subordinates hurriedly caught him.

"Get lost." Zhou Qiubai flicked his blade and said coldly, "If I see you again while carrying out a mission, losing your arms won't be the end of it."

The group nodded repeatedly, supporting Huang Tianzong as they vanished into the forest without looking back.

"Mr. Zhou?" Shui Bing'er's voice came from inside the tent, carrying a hint of hesitation. "I think I heard some commotion just now. Did something happen?"

Zhou Qiubai immediately adopted his professional, calm tone. "Nothing. Just a few blind fools. I've already driven them away."

Inside the tent, Shui Yue'er leaned close to Shui Bing'er and said excitedly in a lowered voice, "Sister! Did you see it? I saw a Soul Ring beneath Zhou Qiubai's feet! A sky-blue Soul Ring!"

Shui Bing'er lay on the bedroll with her eyes closed, her tone calm. "I saw it."

"Didn't they say he had a useless Martial Soul? How could a useless Martial Soul cultivate?" Shui Yue'er asked in confusion. "And when have Soul Rings ever been sky blue?"

"There are many strange things in this world. The rumors may be wrong, or perhaps something went wrong when he awakened." Shui Bing'er turned over, presenting her back to Shui Yue'er. "Either way, that is his own secret. Don't ask too much."

Shui Yue'er pouted and complained, "But he always acts so cold, and he even said I was slowing everyone down. If he dares act like that again, I'll tell everyone he has a Soul Ring and see whether he can keep pretending!"

"Don't mess around. Once we finish obtaining your Soul Rings tomorrow, I'll take you all away from here." Shui Bing'er had already closed her eyes as she spoke.