Malicious Intent Arose

Murder for treasure!

Dai Chong understood what Sixth Brother meant.

There was nothing strange about such things happening among soul masters. If commoner soul masters wanted to advance further, they could only fight and seize through every possible means.

It was only because of Spirit Hall's strict control that some people's ambitions had been suppressed, making such incidents relatively rare.

Without Spirit Hall, no one knew what this continent would become.

Just like in the Extreme North Land, beyond Spirit Hall's jurisdiction, murder for treasure was far more brutal than in the Star Dou Great Forest. People there killed with almost no reservations.

Every year, a large number of soul masters vanished into the ice and snow, never to return. No one knew whether they had frozen to death, starved to death, or been murdered.

"Are you crazy?! This is the Star Dou Great Forest, not the Extreme North Snowfield!" Dai Chong glared at Sixth Brother.

The Star Dou Great Forest stretched between the Two Great Empires, and Spirit Hall's control here was far stronger than in the Extreme North Snowfield.

Besides, they had accepted this commission through Spirit Hall. If anything happened to the employer, Spirit Hall would certainly investigate thoroughly. It would be terrible if the trail led back to them!

"Boss, we can finish the mission first, then force him to reveal the Secret Technique!" A vicious gleam surged in Sixth Brother's eyes. "Besides, so what if Spirit Hall finds out? At worst, we'll flee into the City of Slaughter!"

The City of Slaughter was the final destination for everyone hunted by Spirit Hall, a place where the wicked could live freely—an existence even Spirit Hall could not wipe out.

If they were discovered, they could simply hide in the City of Slaughter. Spirit Hall would be helpless against them.

Dai Chong still could not make up his mind, his expression shifting unpredictably.

"Boss, let me be honest with you. I know my own talent. I'll never break through to Soul King in this life, but I'm not willing to accept that. I still want to go further. I think about it day and night. I want to become a Soul Saint. I want to live a good life!" Sixth Brother panted heavily. Though his voice was low, it carried force, as if he were venting all his resentment.

"Look at my face, covered in scars. I'm afraid I'll never marry a decent woman in this life. But I'm unwilling to marry some useless martial soul wife with no Soul Power. I've struggled for most of my life, and I refuse to let my son become a worthless nobody without Soul Power. I want to find a soul master wife!"

"Only by becoming a Soul Emperor, or even a Soul Saint, can we truly rise above others. We won't have to watch people's faces, and only then will female soul masters look at me differently!"

"I..."

Just then, Cheng Xiao suddenly emerged from the woods and called out, "All right, let's go!"

Sixth Brother's body instantly stiffened, as though someone had seized him by the throat. Every word caught in his throat. Cold sweat seeped down his back, and his palms turned clammy with nerves. He even unconsciously held his breath, as if the filth in his heart had been exposed beneath the sunlight, making him want to crawl into a crack in the ground.

Dai Chong grew nervous as well, but he remained fairly composed. He patted Sixth Brother, telling him to relax, then looked at Cheng Xiao and tested, "Finished so soon today?"

"Haha, little brother was really quick this time. Weren't you satisfied with that soul beast?" Sixth Brother stiffly turned around and forced an ugly smile.

"Practice makes perfect." Naturally, Cheng Xiao would not tell them about his failure. He shook his head and casually made up an excuse.

Seeing nothing unusual on Cheng Xiao's face, Dai Chong and Sixth Brother breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he had not overheard their conversation.

"Then let's go!" Dai Chong called to the others.

The seven of them once again escorted Cheng Xiao to hunt the next soul beast. As they packed up, Sixth Brother, despite his relief, did not dare say anything more. He kept his head lowered, as though he wished he could hide himself in the shadows.

Slap!

Suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder. Sixth Brother jolted and immediately spun around, retreating sharply.

"Calm down!" Dai Chong rebuked him in a low voice.

Only when he saw that Dai Chong was behind him did Sixth Brother relax.

"Nothing's even happened yet! Why are you acting like you've seen a ghost?"

"..." Sixth Brother opened his mouth, then gave a bitter smile. "I understand."

Dai Chong glanced at Cheng Xiao in the distance, who seemed completely unaware, then leaned close to Sixth Brother's ear and whispered, "Find an opportunity. We brothers need to discuss this."

Sixth Brother's eyes widened at once. He looked up at Dai Chong in delight. "Boss, you agree..."

"Shh!"

Dai Chong hooked an arm around Sixth Brother's neck in exasperation. "Keep it down! Aren't you afraid of being exposed?"

Sixth Brother shut his mouth and nodded repeatedly.

"Be careful. Don't let that kid notice anything unusual."

"Mm, mm, I know!"

Only then did Dai Chong release Sixth Brother in satisfaction.

"Stand Up!"

A sharp shout rang out, and an enormous shadow rose from its corpse.

This was the seventh soul beast. There had been no mishaps with the last one—a Profound Dark Tortoise around three thousand years old. At Cheng Xiao's third command, it finally rose and became Cheng Xiao's Shadow Soldier.

Its massive body radiated immense pressure, yet before Cheng Xiao, it lay prone like a puppy.

At last, he had gathered all six soul beast shadows: the Tiger Demon Cat for agility assaults, the Lightning Stripe Tiger for powerful assaults, the Spotted Head Boa for control, the Profound Dark Tortoise for defense, and... the Blazing Fire Spirit Kite, which commanded the skies.

Influenced by the keyboard warriors of his previous life, Cheng Xiao would never forget the importance of air superiority.

"Come back!" Cheng Xiao smiled in relief and drew the Profound Dark Tortoise into his shadow.

The six phantom soul beast figures tangled beneath Cheng Xiao's feet for a moment before settling down.

Once they had seemingly discussed matters and divided up their territory, Cheng Xiao walked out. The purple soul ring pulsating on the Profound Dark Tortoise appeared to have lost a trace of its luster.

"Finished, little brother?" Seeing Cheng Xiao emerge, Dai Chong grinned and asked.

"Yeah." Cheng Xiao nodded.

"You've hunted all seven soul beasts you requested. So, about..." Dai Chong rubbed his fingers together and asked with a smile.

In truth, the extraction of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape's shadow had failed, so Cheng Xiao had only obtained six soul beast shadows. But there was no way to argue with Dai Chong's group about that. They had been paid to do a job, and since they had agreed to kill only seven soul beasts, they naturally would not put in extra effort.

"Let's go to Spirit Hall." Cheng Xiao nodded.

The eight of them then left the Star Dou Great Forest and headed all the way to the Spirit Hall branch where they had agreed to complete the handover.

At the commission desk, Cheng Xiao took out a seal token and handed it to the person in charge at Spirit Hall.

The person took the token, searched through the mission register, and found the other half of the seal. After fitting them together and confirming they formed one whole, he checked Cheng Xiao's personal information and code phrase against the records in the register.

Once everything was confirmed correct, the person in charge handed the mission form to Dai Chong and the others.

With the commission claim form in hand, Dai Chong beamed with delight. He cupped his hands and asked, "Are you heading back, little brother? Do you need us to escort you?"

"No need. Go your own way. I still have something to do." Cheng Xiao waved his hand and quickly left Spirit Hall.

Dai Chong narrowed his eyes. Once Cheng Xiao had disappeared from the hall, he gave Third Brother a look. "Third Brother, you're fast. Follow him and don't lose him. We'll collect the commission first, then come back for you. Remember to leave a trail."

Third Brother nodded and silently darted out of Spirit Hall, tracking Cheng Xiao in the direction he had vanished.

"Come on, let's make this quick! Once we have the commission, we'll find out what exactly is going on with this kid!"