Ningshui Island Town was a fairly large settlement near the Mingdou Mountain Range. Though it couldn't compare to Spirit Soul City, it was still a sizable place.
The town had drifted in from distant seas along with the Sun-Moon Continent. It had originally been an island, but after colliding with the Douluo Continent, it had gradually become a town, with trade as its main industry.
After Li Changsheng and the others left the Pre-Education Academy,
they followed the intelligence distributed by the Centrifugal Killing Mirror.
Their destination was a bandit hideout in the mountains near Ningshui Island, where many kidnapped people were being held.
Li Changsheng had originally thought they would have to investigate the disappearances themselves, then follow the clues to find the hideout.
But he hadn't expected that, according to the Centrifugal Killing Mirror,
they were still very young. Though the Pre-Education Academy trained Soul Masters through missions, unknown missions often carried the danger of death. So, before issuing certain special missions, the academy would have dedicated teachers investigate and assess the danger. Only then would the missions be given to these teams and classes to complete.
After replenishing their supplies in Ningshui Island Town, they set off for their destination on foot.
The five of them walked in a loose formation. The Centrifugal Killing Mirror and the Iron Armor Linked Shield led the way, while the Star Universe Flying Sword followed beside Li Changsheng and the Seven Absolute Zither Master.
They hadn't formed a defensive formation.
According to the intelligence, the bandits had one Soul Master who had just reached the Soul Ancestor rank, along with over a hundred ordinary people. The report also estimated that they had kidnapped at least fifty people, men and women, old and young. It didn't specify what they intended to do with them.
But people in this world apparently didn't have a habit of demanding ransom.
In any case, perhaps because the mission was considered simple, this was all the intelligence they'd been given.
One Soul Ancestor.
Li Changsheng had been thinking the whole way there. The five of them—four Soul Grandmasters and one Soul Master, himself—were actually going to pick a fight with a Soul Ancestor. It really was thrilling.
Near afternoon, they finally reached the vicinity of the destination listed in the intelligence.
With the Centrifugal Killing Mirror at their head, they didn't approach right away. Instead, they chose to observe from a distance.
"Don't worry too much. A Soul Douluo-level expert will be following us from afar. Stay by my side later. No one will dare give you a failing grade." The Seven Absolute Zither Master glanced at Li Changsheng, her tone serious.
Li Changsheng froze. Even the muscles beneath his mask twitched.
Was he really so weak that a girl had to protect him?
But he had no reason to refuse the Seven Absolute Zither Master's motherly attentiveness. So he nodded and moved to stand beside her.
The Centrifugal Killing Mirror, the Iron Armor Linked Shield, and the Star Universe Flying Sword gathered around them.
The Centrifugal Killing Mirror said gravely, "The three of us have done this kind of mission at least five times. This is the first time for you two. I won't ask you to do too much, but there's one thing I hope for: don't hold us back."
Li Changsheng could hear how serious he was and nodded.
The Seven Absolute Zither Master did the same.
The Iron Armor Linked Shield, who had been silent until then, spoke up and took out a map.
Yes, a map that hadn't appeared in the intelligence.
Li Changsheng stared in surprise at the map spread out on the ground.
Was this a layout of the inside of a cave? It only showed the interior, not the layout of the entire mountain.
It looked like the bandits' main base.
Impressive. They'd even managed to get their hands on this? Did they have an informant?
The Iron Armor Linked Shield's voice suited his burly build, rumbling with a deep, reverberating force.
"Most of the bandits are gathered in the cave. The intelligence didn't give us its exact location, so we'll have to find it ourselves. Based on our deductions, there should be at least five hidden lookout posts scattered across this mountain."
The Iron Armor Linked Shield seemed meticulous in his thinking. "From the intelligence, we also know that the entire bandit gang has only one Soul Master who's just reached the Soul Ancestor rank. The rest are ordinary people. So I suggest we act shortly before dawn. The people coming to relieve the lookouts won't have arrived yet, and the ones who've been keeping watch all night will be exhausted. No matter how well they hide, they'll let their guard down. That's when the Centrifugal Killing Mirror's Soul Skill will come in handy."
Li Changsheng listened and nodded. It was true that ordinary people weren't like Soul Masters; they needed sleep. After staying awake all night, they would be mentally drained and exhausted. It was indeed a good plan.
The Star Universe Flying Sword beside them spoke with a trace of impatience. "Hmph. If there weren't hostages, we could just storm the place."
Li Changsheng really wanted to say, Hostages? Heh. It's been so long—maybe they're already dead.
As for why they hadn't gone to rescue the hostages right away...
It was simple. This was a place neither side cared about. The people of the Sun Moon Empire couldn't be bothered to intervene, while the people of the Star Luo Empire despised the Sun Moon Empire and wouldn't help either. One delay followed another, and things had ended up like this.
Li Changsheng felt that the people being held were terribly unlucky.
"All right, it's still early. Let's go over each other's abilities so we can coordinate later. Even if the other side only has one Soul Ancestor, there are still dozens of ordinary bandits. Blades and swords have no eyes, so we have to be careful." The Centrifugal Killing Mirror once again showed why he was the team leader.
He spoke first. "Centrifugal Killing Mirror, level twenty-eight Agility Attack System Soul Grandmaster. My Martial Soul is the Centrifugal Mirror. My two Soul Skills are as follows: my first, a hundred-year Soul Skill called Image, lets me use my own Soul Power to create four image doubles. The more I create, the weaker each double becomes; conversely, fewer doubles are stronger. They can be used for scouting. My second, a hundred-year Soul Skill called Exploding Mirror, creates doubles that explode and deal twice the damage."
The Iron Armor Linked Shield spoke next. "Iron Armor Linked Shield, level twenty-six Defense System Soul Grandmaster. My Martial Soul is the Equal Force Shield. My first, a hundred-year Soul Skill, is Gravity Assimilation. It can defend against all physical attacks, assimilating them within the limits of what I can withstand, but each use costs twice as much Soul Power as the last. My second Soul Skill, Great Virtue Carries All, can defend against Soul Power attacks. It weakens all Soul Skills below the fifth ring by forty-five percent."
The Star Universe Flying Sword followed. "Star Universe Flying Sword, Martial Soul: Starfall Sword. My first, a hundred-year Soul Skill, is Sword One. It lets me throw my Martial Soul and control it with Soul Power. My second, a hundred-year Soul Skill, is Sword Two. Its effect is simple: the flying sword I throw and control with my first Soul Skill becomes two flying swords."
Li Changsheng froze. The first two had explained their abilities in detail, but the Star Universe Flying Sword had made hers sound awfully simple.
But then again, weren't both of her Soul Skills about controlling flying swords?
That wasn't anything special, was it?
Just then, the Centrifugal Killing Mirror spoke up. "Star Universe, don't joke around."
He then turned to Li Changsheng and the Seven Absolute Zither Master. "Her Soul Skills may sound simple, but her true strength lies in condensing her Martial Soul into a physical sword. In close combat, she's hardly inferior to a Power Attack System Soul Master. You'll understand once you see her in action. For now, just think of both her Soul Skills as long-range support."
The best support was attack?
Li Changsheng smiled slightly, though he was more interested in what the Centrifugal Killing Mirror had said about condensing her Martial Soul into a physical sword.
Did that mean she didn't manifest or possess it, but simply held it in her hand?
That wasn't much different from his Genesis Book.
The Seven Absolute Zither Master spoke up as well. "Seven Absolute Zither Master, level twenty-two Control System Soul Grandmaster. My Martial Soul is the Seven Absolute Zither. My Soul Skill is Zither Sound Manifestation."
Level twenty-two already?
Li Changsheng was surprised for a moment, then accepted it. A genius was a genius.
The Seven Absolute Zither Master didn't seem inclined to explain further, and no one else asked. Instead, everyone turned their attention to Li Changsheng.
Surrounded by their gazes, Li Changsheng wasn't embarrassed, but he spoke at once. "Xiangjian Yueliang. My Martial Soul is the Heavenly Book. My Soul Power Level is fifteen, and I'm a one-ring Control System Soul Master. My first Soul Skill is Speech Manifestation. It's similar to the Seven Absolute Zither Master's Soul Skill."
What?
Level fifteen?
Speech Manifestation?
Not only were the Centrifugal Killing Mirror and the other two stunned, even the Seven Absolute Zither Master beside them froze.
"Y-you said you're level fifteen? After adding your Soul Ring, you rose five levels in a row?" the Centrifugal Killing Mirror asked incredulously.
Li Changsheng acted embarrassed. Scratching his head, he said in a guileless voice, "It's all thanks to that Meditation Method. After I added my Soul Ring, I found that my Soul Power was breaking through much faster."
Li Changsheng hadn't considered hiding his Soul Power Level or anything like that. If he had talent, he would show it openly. If a genius got cut down before he could grow powerful, then he simply hadn't had the luck to become strong. If he died, he could only blame himself for not being strong enough.
Besides, over the past few days, Li Changsheng had seen that geniuses at the Pre-Education Academy received different treatment. The sooner they showed their talent, the better the resources they could get.
"I see..."
Things had turned out a little differently than he expected. Once Li Changsheng said that he'd been cultivating with the Meditation Method, the Centrifugal Killing Mirror's surprised tone quickly settled. He merely added, sounding a little astonished, "I've heard that quite a few people have improved rapidly after cultivating with the Meditation Method."
Li Changsheng nodded.
And after Li Changsheng said his Soul Skill was similar to the Seven Absolute Zither Master's, the Centrifugal Killing Mirror and the others didn't ask for details.
That surprised Li Changsheng. By all rights, shouldn't they have asked more about someone like him?
Without meaning to, he looked at the Seven Absolute Zither Master beside him.
The Seven Absolute Zither Master had been staring at Li Changsheng ever since the conversation began. Her sky-blue eyes showed no emotion, as calm and still as an ancient well. Yet her gaze also seemed to be probing him.
He wanted to ask what was going on with the Seven Absolute Zither Master, but in the end, he didn't.
Night soon fell. The five of them stayed atop a dirt slope, quietly waiting as time passed.
As it neared midnight, the hurried clatter of a carriage woke the group from their meditation.
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