The Eve of the Roger Family's Destruction

The two Soul Kings were both cowed by Azure Dragon's Fury.

The Shadow Leopard Soul Master's knees slammed into the ground, his kneecaps striking the stones with a dull thud. He tried to stand, but the pressure bearing down on his shoulders left him unable even to straighten his spine. The Iron-Bone Eagle Soul Master braced himself with one hand while desperately mobilizing his Soul Power with the other. His five soul rings flashed violently as he tried to force his way through the intimidation.

But the pressure of a ten-thousand-year soul skill locked down his movements like shackles. With every struggle, the pressure grew heavier. His arm began to tremble, and the elbow of the hand supporting him slowly bent.

They could still move, but every motion required ten times their usual strength.

I walked over to the Shadow Leopard Soul Master. He raised his head, and his hood slipped off, revealing the face of a man in his forties with an old knife scar at the corner of his eye.

Confusion appeared in his murky eyes. A twelve-year-old Soul Elder had taken the fifth soul skills of two Soul Kings head-on and suppressed them both at once. He had never seen anything like it in his twenty years as an assassin.

I gave him no time to be confused. I stretched out my right hand and clamped my fingers around the crown of his head.

First soul skill, Azure Dragon Longevity.

The Shadow Leopard Soul Master's body jolted violently. The vitality and Soul Power within him were drawn out through my palm, turning into a warm torrent that poured into my meridians.

He wanted to resist, but Azure Dragon's Fury was still suppressing his movements. His hands began shaking violently before he could even raise them halfway, his fingers curling spasmodically.

His face shriveled at a visible rate. His cheekbones protruded, his eye sockets sank deep, and his skin lost its luster, becoming like dried tree bark.

"Y-you... monster..." Those were the last words he forced from his throat.

The corners of my mouth curled up on their own. A low laugh spilled from my throat, one that even I found unfamiliar.

"Heh heh... I'll accept that assessment."

The Iron-Bone Eagle Soul Master watched the entire process as his companion was drained dry. His pupils shrank to pinpoints. His instinct for survival unleashed unprecedented strength, and he broke free of the control. Forcing his martial soul wings into motion, he burst open his iron feathers and sprang toward the depths of the forest.

I released the Shadow Leopard Soul Master's shriveled corpse and turned to pursue him. The Iron-Bone Eagle Soul Master was indeed fast; each beat of his wings carried him ten steps. But he had only just broken free from the soul skill's intimidation, and the Soul Power in his meridians was still in chaos. I caught up with him before he had fled thirty steps. I grabbed the back of his neck from behind, tightened my five fingers, and activated Azure Dragon Longevity again.

The Iron-Bone Eagle Soul Master let out a brief scream, which abruptly cut off. His body convulsed violently in midair as iron feathers fell one by one from his wings, turning into grayish-white powder before they touched the ground. When the last trace of vitality had been drained away, his body fell from the air like a dead branch, striking the ground and kicking up a small cloud of dust.

The two Soul Kings had been drained into two dried corpses.

I withdrew my hand and looked down at my palm. Greenish-blue vitality curled around my fingertips before slowly seeping into my meridians. The claw wound on my shoulder and the scrape on my lower back were healing at a visible rate, my skin glowing faintly green. The vitality of the two men replenished the greater part of my depleted Soul Power. Not only had I returned to my peak condition, but I also faintly sensed a breakthrough approaching.

I turned and walked toward Roger.

Roger was still slumped beside the ancient tree, his legs too weak to support him. He had watched everything that had just happened. The two strongest trump cards in his father's hands had been drained alive into dried corpses before him.

And the one who had done it wore no extra expression on his face, while letting out that scalp-numbing laugh.

He had seen countless arrogant noble youths since childhood, and no few Soul Masters with heavy killing intent, but he had never felt such terror from anyone.

"D-don't come any closer!" He scrambled backward on hands and feet, only stopping when his back struck the rough bark of the ancient tree. His voice had completely changed. The composure and arrogance of a noble youth had been shattered beyond recognition.

I stopped before him and looked down at him. Moonlight shone from behind me, leaving most of my face hidden in shadow. Only my eyes glimmered faintly green in the darkness.

"Where is Yu Xiaolou?"

"H-he's... he's in the cave behind us!" His tongue seemed tied in knots, every word coming out in a stammer.

"Two hundred steps south, there's an abandoned mine. The entrance is hidden by vines. I had him tied up there. Without my orders, they wouldn't dare touch him. He's alive, he really is alive!"

The stench of urine drifted up from beneath him. A large patch of his pants darkened as urine dripped down his trouser legs onto the ground.

The standout of Thunder Academy's Advanced Class, the legitimate son of a viscount of the Balak Kingdom, was now sprawled in his own urine, trembling uncontrollably from head to toe.

"I failed to recognize greatness. Please, be merciful and spare my life. My father will give you however many Gold Soul Coins you want. I'll do anything you ask. Don't kill me. Please, don't kill me!"

"Sure. I want you to die."

I placed my hand on top of his head.

Roger's eyes flew wide open, the greenish-blue light blooming in my palm reflected in his pupils. He wanted to say something, but only a string of incoherent whimpers came from his mouth.

Azure Dragon Longevity activated. His body convulsed violently a few times before collapsing like a heap of mud. The legitimate son of a viscount, the once-unrivaled Roger of Thunder Academy, became a dried corpse just like that.

A gust of night wind swept past, and several dead leaves fell onto his face, covering the eyes that had remained open even in death.

I did not spare his corpse another glance as I turned and headed south.

Two hundred steps away, an entrance to a mine was indeed hidden in a stone wall covered with vines. I pushed the vines aside and walked in. The cave was damp and cold, its air thick with the smell of mold and rust.

The mine was not deep. After walking a little over twenty steps, I reached the end. A familiar figure was curled up in the corner.

Yu Xiaolou was tied to a rusted iron pillar, his hands bound by coarse hemp rope so tightly that they had turned purple. Several bruises covered his face, and a dried streak of blood hung from the corner of his mouth. His left eye was swollen to a thin slit. His clothes had been torn in several places, and the exposed skin was covered in whip marks and bruises from punches and kicks.

His Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul was too weak. Once he had been captured, he had no room to resist. These people had not killed him because they needed him alive. Only alive did he have value as bait.

Hearing footsteps, he barely opened the right eye that could still move. Once he saw it was me, a faint light appeared in his swollen eye socket. He pulled his mouth into an exceedingly ugly smile. "Brother Tian Lin... I knew you would come... I knew it..."

"Stop talking."

I crouched before him and pressed my palm against his chest. The second effect of Azure Dragon Longevity, Rejuvenation, activated. A surge of pure vitality flowed through my hand into his body, warm energy spreading through his limbs and bones.

The bruises on his face faded at a visible rate, and his swollen eyelid gradually subsided. The split corner of his mouth closed again. The bloody whip marks across his chest scabbed over layer by layer, peeled away, and revealed fresh skin beneath.

The entire process lasted only half the time it took to burn an incense stick.

Yu Xiaolou's complexion visibly recovered by seventy to eighty percent. He moved his arms, stiff from being tied up for too long, then lowered his head to inspect his uninjured chest before looking back up at me. His mouth opened several times, and tears glimmered in his eyes in the darkness.

"Brother Tian Lin, your soul skill is incredible. I feel like I've been brought back to life."

"We'll talk later. Let's go back first. Qing Luo is still in the dormitory and doesn't know about this. You vanished for most of the day, and I disappeared too. She's probably worried sick."

I untied him from the iron pillar, helped him out of the mine, and headed toward the academy.