"Thud!"
The maid who had screamed was already scared out of her wits. Her eyes rolled back, and she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Outside the hall, guards' hurried footsteps and the clatter of armor rang out. The scream had clearly drawn their attention.
"Your Highness! Are you all right?!" the captain of the guards called anxiously from beyond the door, accompanied by the metallic clang of weapons being drawn.
Prince Xue Xing shuddered violently, a sliver of reason breaking through his overwhelming terror.
No! He absolutely couldn't let the guards come in and see this!
"Get out!!!" he roared, summoning every last bit of strength. His voice was hoarse and distorted beyond recognition. "All of you, get out! Without my orders, anyone who dares take one step inside will be put to death!!!"
The guards outside were cowed by his furious roar. Their footsteps halted abruptly, and they exchanged glances, not daring to take another step.
The prince's voice sounded... terribly wrong.
Prince Xue Xing stared fixedly at the few heads whose eyes had been left open in death, his body trembling like a sieve.
He forced himself to calm down, but every breath carried the heavy stench of blood, raking at his nerves.
Cold sweat trickled from his temples and sideburns like a stream, soaking through his underclothes.
Who had done this? A chill ran down Prince Xue Xing's spine. Whoever could place these heads at his bedside without a sound could just as easily kill him without a sound.
"Gulp." Prince Xue Xing swallowed. No matter what, he couldn't let anyone see these heads. And he had to deal with the maid, too.
Meanwhile, in the East Palace,
Ye Yang was leisurely enjoying his breakfast, a playful smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
"Xue Xing, that old dog, must be scared witless by now. No rush. I can still have plenty of fun with you. We've got a long time ahead of us."
It had been nearly a week since she left the troubled grounds of Nuoding Junior Spirit Master Academy. With that still meager bundle on her back, Qian Renxue ventured alone into a relatively quiet stretch of Soul Beast forest on the outskirts of Star Dou Forest.
The Soul Beasts here were not particularly strong. Most were ten-year or Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, with the occasional thousand-year one appearing. Given her current condition, this was the perfect "training ground."
She needed a truly quiet place, free of interruptions, to understand and master the power held within this body called "Ye Yang."
Losing control in Holy Soul Village and clashing with Yu Xiaogang at Nuoding Academy had made her painfully aware that her understanding and use of this power were still crude. They could even lead to needless trouble and expose her.
"Radiant Emperor War Dragon..." Qian Renxue murmured. She found a clearing in the woods and sat down cross-legged.
She closed her eyes, cast aside distracting thoughts, and slowly sank her consciousness into her body.
Level thirty Soul Power surged through her meridians. It was even more searing and domineering than the Soul Power of her own Angel Martial Soul, carrying an imposing imperial might and an indescribable aura of the Five Elements.
She tried gathering Soul Power in her palm. A gentle golden orb appeared, but it contained terrifying energy; inside it, faint dragon shadows seemed to swim.
"Control... I need precise control." Qian Renxue focused intently.
With a shift of her will, the golden orb in her palm began to change shape.
At one moment it stretched into a sword, its sharp edge fully exposed; at another, it became a phantom vine, brimming with resilience. Then it flowed like rippling water, before bursting into tiny flames. At last, it settled into a weighty form like the earth itself.
Each transformation brought a subtle shift in the Soul Power's attributes. She needed a deeper understanding of the Five Elements and finer control to manage them.
At first, the changes were a little stiff. Energy leaked from the orb's edges, scorching the grass beneath her into blackened patches.
But she didn't lose heart. She tried again and again, concentrating intensely until beads of sweat formed on her brow.
"Roar!"
A low growl sounded from the woods. A Hundred-Year Soul Beast emerged: its body covered in rock-like armor, resembling a pangolin but several times larger—the Rock Armor Beast.
Drawn by the energy fluctuations leaking from Qian Renxue's practice, it had burrowed up from underground. Its little, blood-red eyes fixed on her, the "intruder."
Qian Renxue's gaze sharpened. She wasn't alarmed; instead, she thought this was an excellent opportunity to put her skills into practice.
"Just in time."
She dispelled the orb in her palm. With a shift of her thoughts, brilliant golden light erupted from within her. The phantom of the Emperor War Dragon did not fully manifest, but its supreme pressure spread outward like a tangible force.
The Rock Armor Beast had been charging toward her, ready to pounce. Under the sweep of that dragon's might, it froze in place!
Its massive body began trembling like a sieve. It let out a frightened whimper, then turned tail and clawed at the ground, burrowing underground in a panic even faster than it had emerged. It didn't even dare look back.
"Intimidation..." Qian Renxue mused. The Emperor War Dragon's pressure suppressed Soul Beasts far more than she'd expected.
She stood and stretched her limbs. Next, she needed to test how her strength held up in actual combat.
She chose a giant tree, thick enough for several people to encircle, as her target. Without using a Soul Skill, she channeled Soul Power into her right fist. A faint golden glow covered it, carrying an edge sharp enough to cut through anything.
"Hah!"
She punched! There was no earth-shaking boom, only a muffled "puff."
Her fist sank deep into the trunk without resistance, like a red-hot iron pressed into butter!
The force of the punch passed straight through the tree, then erupted from the other side, blasting a bowl-sized hole through it as wood chips flew everywhere!
Qian Renxue pulled her fist back and stared at the hole piercing through the trunk, along with the cracks spreading around it. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes.
This was just an ordinary punch backed by Level thirty Soul Power. She hadn't even used a Soul Ring skill, yet its destructive power was already astonishing!
The foundation of Ye Yang's body—the way it bore and unleashed Soul Power—was ridiculously strong.
More importantly, the sharp force of the "Metal" attribute had been perfectly incorporated into the blow.
She tried testing her speed next.
With a shift of her thoughts, Soul Power burst beneath her feet. She became a blurred golden streak and darted sideways more than ten meters in an instant, leaving a faint scorch mark where she had stood.
Even as she moved at high speed, she could feel the invisible barrier formed by her Soul Power gently parting the pressure of the wind.
"The power of the Five Elements... seems to blend naturally into basic movements." Qian Renxue stopped, breathing slightly hard, but her eyes grew brighter and brighter.
She began deliberately guiding Soul Power of different attributes and experimenting.
She gathered Soul Power at her fingertips, trying to imitate the penetration and Entanglement of the "Wood" attribute. Green light flashed, and her fingertip easily bored a deep hole into the rock.
She turned her palm downward and activated the "Earth" attribute. The ground trembled slightly, and a small patch of soil instantly became as hard as refined iron.
She pressed her palm toward the stream. Soul Power of the "Water" attribute drew the current into a small waterspout...
Before you continue