"Did I say you could move?" Qin Xuan's expression turned cold as he snapped his fingers sharply.
At once, the Nine Nether Evil God Tiger spread the wings on its back and lunged toward E Kao at breakneck speed.
E Kao felt a chill run down his back. When he turned around, the Evil Emperor Hook, gleaming with black light, was already right in front of him!
Whoosh!
The Evil Emperor Hook pierced E Kao's heart with ease!
His muscles quickly withered, and the signs of life began to fade from him.
"H-How is this possible?" After letting out a mournful cry, E Kao's body deflated like a punctured ball, shrinking by an entire size.
Only then did the Nine Nether Evil God Tiger give the hook a sharp tug, yanking it out of his body with a whoosh.
Thud.
When E Kao hit the ground hard, two Yellow Soul Rings flew uncontrollably out of his body.
—Crack!
The Nine Nether Evil God Tiger crunched the two Yellow Soul Rings to pieces and swallowed them, as if they were potato chips.
E Kao's eyes were wide open, unseeing in death. His left hand still reached toward Bu Le and Tian Ya, as though he'd hoped to call for help in his final moments.
"W-What kind of wicked Martial Soul is that? It can even devour Soul Rings!" Bu Le was drenched in cold sweat, and as he spoke, he unconsciously began backing away.
Tian Ya wasn't faring any better. But as the oldest of the three, he was far more composed than the other two.
That black tiger is incredibly fast. There's no escaping now. We can only try to make peace! After glancing at E Kao's mangled corpse, Tian Ya made up his mind and spoke in a trembling voice:
"We were blind to the truth today and offended you, young hero. Please forgive us!"
"We're willing to give you everything we own—eight thousand Gold Soul Coins in total. Please, hero, spare our lives!"
At this, Qin Xuan didn't say much. Instead, he smiled and slowly walked toward them.
"D-Don't, don't, don't... Let's talk this out." Seeing him approach, Tian Ya could no longer pretend to be calm. "We've only just met, and we have no grudge against you. Can't you let us live?"
Qin Xuan shook his head and replied calmly, "If I weren't outrageously powerful, you'd have killed me and stolen my belongings by now."
"You beasts don't realize you were wrong. You've just realized you're about to die!"
"First Soul Skill, Dark Fire Wind Blade!"
As the purple Soul Ring flashed, four blazing blades, each three meters across, shot toward Bu Le and Tian Ya from different directions.
The two fought with all their might and barely managed to block the first blade.
Then came a bang! The two blades that struck from behind sent them flying more than three zhang!
"Ah!!!" Their piercing screams echoed through the alley.
Fierce flames engulfed Bu Le and Tian Ya.
In less than three minutes, they had burned to ash.
Qin Xuan's thoughts stirred as he tried to control the Nine Nether Evil God Tiger into absorbing the energy from their Soul Rings, but he found he couldn't.
Only then did he realize that to absorb a Soul Master's energy, the Evil Emperor Hook had to pierce their body while they were still alive.
Qin Xuan had just dealt with three stray dogs. He couldn't even be bothered to look at their corpses again; his heart was unmoved.
But just as he was about to leave the alley, his violet eyes suddenly turned red.
In an instant, a murderous urge welled up from the depths of his heart.
At that moment, all he wanted was to slaughter every living thing within a hundred meters!
But the thought vanished as quickly as it had come.
When his eyes turned violet again, he soon regained his senses.
Qin Xuan let out a long breath and remarked, "That extremely evil aura nearly made me lose control just now."
"Though the devouring ability is powerful, using it too often might lead to unimaginable consequences!"
After dealing with that little incident, Qin Xuan hurried back to the Spirit Hall Primary Academy.
The next two years passed without incident.
Qin Xuan and the two girls devoted themselves to cultivation, and their days were fulfilling enough.
Song Qingling and Xia Hui had both become One-Ring Soul Masters.
Qin Xuan's Soul Power had also reached the bottleneck at level thirty.
Around noon.
They walked out of the Mimicry Training Ground.
"Brother Qin, let Qingling and me help you hunt a Soul Beast," Xia Hui said, casually wiping the sweat from her brow.
"No need..."
"I'm heading to the Sunset Forest this time to hunt a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. It's far too dangerous."
"A Spirit Hall elder will accompany me."
"All right, then." Xia Hui knew her limits and simply said, "A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast really isn't something One-Ring Soul Masters like us can handle."
"If we went along, we'd only cause trouble for Brother Qin."
At this, Song Qingling's bright eyes shimmered, and she smiled. "Xia Hui, we need to cultivate faster, so Brother Qin doesn't leave us too far behind."
"Oh, heavens..." Xia Hui looked troubled. "Qingling, Brother Qin was born with full Soul Power at level twenty and has a god-level Martial Soul. How can we compare ourselves to him?"
"Though you and I are talented enough to just about qualify as geniuses, next to Brother Qin, we're like stars beside the bright moon!"
"Even Hu Liena, though she's the Pope's personal disciple, isn't fit to tie Brother Qin's shoes when it comes to talent!"
Her last sentence was so loud that it immediately drew the attention of the students passing by.
Song Qingling hurriedly covered Xia Hui's pink lips. "Could you be a little quieter, you loudmouth?"
Xia Hui nodded quickly, and only then did Song Qingling let go.
"I'll be off." Qin Xuan watched the two girls playfully bicker and smiled affectionately.
"Brother Qin, take care!" Song Qingling and Xia Hui said in unison.
Qin Xuan gave a quiet "Mm," then turned and left without looking back, thinking to himself:
I'm Bibi Dong's personal disciple, after all. It's quite discourteous that I haven't seen her in so long.
Ah... It's time to go see my master.
Truth be told, he didn't particularly like Bibi Dong.
If Bibi Dong hadn't launched the Soul Hunting Operation, Qian Renxue's plan wouldn't have been brought forward, and the coup in Heaven Dou might have succeeded.
Besides, Bibi Dong was a once-in-a-generation prodigy. He just couldn't understand why she'd fallen for that useless Gangzi. Was she hoping to absorb a Ten Year Lone Bamboo, too?
If Bibi Dong hadn't insisted on eloping with Yu Xiaogang, why would Qian Xunji have taken her purity?
It was just like Yang Jian's sister falling in love with a mortal scholar.
Qian Xunji must have felt much the same as Yang Jian back then. The fact that he hadn't killed Yu Xiaogang could already be considered merciful.
Putting himself in Qian Xunji's shoes, Qin Xuan felt angry too.
How could he let his own disciple get trampled by a pig?
Of course, he would never do what Qian Xunji had done and forcibly take Bibi Dong's purity.
As an outsider, he thought both parties were at fault. Qian Xunji and Bibi Dong had both gone too far.
"Yu Xiaogang..." Qin Xuan murmured, recalling many of the Grandmaster's famous moments, and laughed aloud.
Before he knew it, Qin Xuan had arrived at Pope Hall, high in the mountains.
He pushed open the doors of Pope Hall and looked inside.
Besides Bibi Dong, seated on the papal throne, he saw three figures: two men and one woman.
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