This was the first time Tang Wulin had ever seen a dead person, and one in such a gruesome state at that. It hit him hard.
"Oh? I didn't expect you to be such a little greenhorn. You're already hammering metal at your age? Well, the younger you are, the sweeter your blood must taste!" Wolf Soul Emperor tossed aside the corpse in his hands and charged toward Tang Wulin, reaching out with his right hand to snap his neck.
Tang Wulin instinctively raised his right hand. The Golden Dragon Claw appeared in an instant, and he punched at his opponent's hand.
"Bam—"
Tang Wulin's body flew backward, slammed into the wall of the Forging Room, then slid to the floor.
"Cough—cough—"
A few mouthfuls of blood spilled from his mouth. The collision had clearly injured his internal organs.
The gap in cultivation between them was simply too great. Tang Wulin was no match for his opponent.
"Ah! Hiss—"
But Wolf Soul Emperor was in no better shape. His right hand had twisted at an unnatural angle.
"Ha—ha—huff—"
Wolf Soul Emperor gasped for breath. The sharp pain in his arm made his body spasm, but his eyes had turned bloodred.
How could the boy be so strong? No matter. That would only make him taste better.
He roared and pounced at Tang Wulin.
"Little brat, I was going to give you a quick death, but now I'm going to keep you alive and drain your blood bit by bit!"
Tang Wulin no longer had the strength to fight back. His vision began to blur, and he could only watch his opponent's indistinct figure loom larger and larger.
Was this really where it all ended?
Dad, Mom, Master, Na'er...
Just then, a blue-gold trident pattern suddenly appeared on Tang Wulin's forehead.
"What?!" Before Wolf Soul Emperor could react, a phantom trident pierced through his chest.
The golden Sea God's Light shimmered, gradually dissolving the Evil Soul Master's body.
Tang San withdrew the trident in his hand and turned to look at the unconscious Tang Wulin.
"Damn it!" His handsome face twisted into a grimace. "My divine-consciousness avatar hasn't even awakened yet, so how has Wulin already broken one of the Golden Dragon King's seals?"
He could feel matters slipping out of his control. And all this just to deal with an Evil Soul Master at the Soul Emperor level—he had wasted one of his precious chances to intervene!
"Hmph! What on earth were they doing?" Tang San cursed under his breath.
He had deliberately left his father, Tang Hao, his mother, Ah Yin, and Da Ming and Er Ming on Douluo Continent to look after his son. Yet this had still happened.
"Hmph! Those two beasts. I knew Soul Beasts couldn't be trusted. They'd ruin my great plan sooner or later!" Tang San thought angrily. But he couldn't keep this up for long, so he hurriedly used the power he had left to place a barrier around Tang Wulin, protecting him from further danger before help arrived.
"Looks like I'll have to find a way to get him to release my avatar soon..." As Tang San thought this, he sent a strand of divine consciousness into the Golden Dragon King's seal.
As he saw it, the next time Tang Wulin entered his spiritual space and encountered the Golden Dragon King's seal, he would be able to activate his divine-consciousness avatar.
"For the sake of my Ten Thousand Year Plan, you'll understand me, Wulin..."
Tang San's figure dissolved into specks of light.
The commotion had drawn quite a few people. Not long after Tang San left, a crowd of Evil Soul Masters arrived, including Shi Qian.
"Ahh, what a fragrant smell."
"Exactly. Just smelling his blood tells me how delicious he must be!"
The Evil Soul Masters murmured among themselves, but no one dared approach. They all looked to Shi Qian instead.
That kid looked delicious. What if the elder took a liking to him?
Shi Qian glanced at the unconscious Tang Wulin. With his cultivation, he could naturally tell that the boy was only a one-ring Soul Master.
"Ke ke ke, he's yours. The rest of you, hurry up and empty the warehouse where they're keeping the special metals!" Shi Qian pointed at a random Evil Soul Master and gave his orders.
"Yes!" The chosen Evil Soul Master looked thrilled. His cultivation wasn't high, and he hadn't had a taste of anyone yet today.
The other Evil Soul Masters were reluctant, but they could only obey.
But after that Evil Soul Master had taken just a few steps, something unexpected happened!
A huge hole suddenly burst open in the wall, and a golden streak flashed past.
"Boom—"
A fierce gust hit them. Chunks of flesh struck the Evil Soul Masters who hadn't yet scattered, knocking them to the ground.
"Hmph! You've got some nerve, causing trouble on my turf."
As the dust cleared, a tall young man lowered his right fist. The Evil Soul Master who had been approaching was nowhere to be seen.
Shi Qian narrowed his eyes. His deeply lined old face looked like a demon's.
"Who are you? How dare you ruin my Holy Spirit Cult's great plan?"
"Your holy cult?" Long Yuan brushed off his clothes. "So that's who you are. You're just the rats from the gutters of the Holy Spirit Cult."
"Impudent! How dare you insult our Holy Spirit Cult! I'll refine your soul and make you wail forever inside my Ten Thousand Soul Banner!"
Though he said that, Shi Qian very sensibly put the other followers between himself and Long Yuan.
He was surprised to find that he couldn't make out Long Yuan's cultivation. As someone well-versed in the art of keeping himself safe, he naturally wasn't about to be the first to attack.
"Ten Thousand Soul Banner?" Long Yuan glanced at the black banner in the other man's hand, which was belching black smoke. It did look a bit like that famous treasure.
But that wasn't what mattered most. Tang Wulin was.
Long Yuan looked back at the still-unconscious Tang Wulin. The Evil Soul Masters couldn't sense it, but he clearly detected the layer of invisible golden light surrounding him.
"Is this the Sea God's Light? Could Tang San have already intervened?"
Long Yuan was secretly delighted. This couldn't have been better news. Tang San's three chances to intervene had been a thorn in his side. Now that one had been used up, it cheered him up considerably after his plans had been forcibly interrupted.
The other Evil Soul Masters groaned as they struggled to their feet. They had heard Shi Qian's orders, but the sight of their companion's gruesome death was still fresh in their minds, and they didn't dare act rashly.
"What are you standing around for? Attack! Or I'll devour your souls!"
Under Shi Qian's tyrannical threats, the Evil Soul Masters had no choice but to grit their teeth and charge at Long Yuan.
They released their ranged Soul Skills in perfect coordination.
In an instant, dozens of Soul Rings crowded together, many of them beginning to glow. Beams of all kinds shot toward Long Yuan.
"A rabble of nobodies. No matter how many ants come, they're still ants. They'll only be crushed."
Six golden Soul Rings appeared behind Long Yuan.
"Roar—"
A resounding dragon's roar rang out. The third Soul Ring lit up, and Long Yuan's Dragon Might surged. It swept through the space before him like tangible sound waves, turning everything back on itself and instantly annihilating the rain of ranged Soul Skills.
Then the Evil Soul Masters' bodies began to burst one after another beneath the combined assault of Dragon Might and the dragon's roar!
Even the two Evil Soul Masters at the Soul Douluo level were no exception.
Only Shi Qian, a Super Douluo, managed to hold on through his powerful spiritual cultivation.
Even so, tiny beads of blood seeped from his ears.