Su Yuntao was secretly delighted.
This was the perfect chance to ask these two locals for directions and, while he was at it, show all of Douluo Continent's viewers the might of a Soul Grandmaster from Spirit Hall.
He deliberately quickened his pace and blocked the middle of the steps.
The two young men in white robes had been chatting. When they saw someone in strange clothing suddenly appear ahead and block their way, they both stopped.
"Who are you? Why are you blocking the path to the mountain gate of the Hengyue Sect?" asked the taller young man on the left, frowning.
Su Yuntao had no idea what the "Hengyue Sect" was.
On Douluo Continent, he had visited countless villages to awaken children's Martial Souls. Ordinary people had always treated him like a grown-up to be waited on.
Now these two brats, who didn't have an ounce of Soul Power, actually dared to question him like that.
He gave a cold laugh and shouted, "Enough nonsense!"
"You two little brats, watch closely. I'll show you the strength of a Soul Grandmaster from Spirit Hall!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Su Yuntao's eyes snapped wide open.
"Lone Wolf, possess me!"
With a low growl, Su Yuntao's body immediately began to change.
His muscles swelled rapidly, stretching his clothes tight.
Not only that, his hands turned into sharp wolf claws, and gray fur sprouted from beneath his skin.
Then a white Soul Ring and a Yellow Soul Ring rose slowly from beneath his feet, circling his body as they pulsed up and down, releasing waves of Soul Power.
Once he had finished, Su Yuntao lifted his chin and folded his arms across his chest.
He was ready to enjoy the sight of the two young men dropping to their knees in terror and begging for mercy.
At that moment, viewers across Douluo Continent watched with rapt attention.
Some low-ranking Soul Masters from Spirit Hall even cheered, convinced that Su Yuntao had brought honor to their organization.
But the reaction of the two Hengyue Sect disciples on-screen took everyone by surprise.
They didn't scream or run. Instead, they looked at Su Yuntao as if he were an idiot.
The young man in white on the right covered his mouth and chuckled, then turned to his companion. "Senior Brother, this man is rather strange."
"He clearly doesn't have the slightest trace of spiritual energy in him—not even enough to reach the first layer of Qi Condensation. Yet, somehow, he's used some crude martial trick of the mortal world to turn himself into this half-man, half-monster."
The young man called Senior Brother shook his head, his eyes full of disdain.
"So he's just a clueless mortal from the secular world, ignorant of the heavens' height and the earth's depth, come to our Hengyue Sect's territory to play tricks."
At their repeated references to him as a mortal, Su Yuntao's anger flared.
He was a mighty Soul Grandmaster, and these two ordinary people were looking down on him!
"You little brats, you're asking for death!"
Su Yuntao roared. The Yellow Soul Ring on his body flashed as he unleashed a Soul Skill and lunged at the senior brother, swinging his wolf claws.
At that moment, viewers across Douluo Continent widened their eyes, waiting to see Su Yuntao unleash his might.
But the senior brother didn't even dodge.
He simply brought together the index and middle fingers of his right hand, formed a simple sword gesture, and pointed lightly at Su Yuntao from a distance.
"Go!"
The next moment, the wooden sword strapped to his back gave a metallic ring and flew out of its sheath on its own.
The ordinary-looking wooden sword streaked through the air, moving so fast that Su Yuntao couldn't react.
When Su Yuntao's wolf claws were still half a meter from the senior brother—
the wooden sword had already come to a steady halt right in front of Su Yuntao's brow.
Its tip pierced the skin on his forehead, drawing a bright red bead of blood.
With death right before his eyes, Su Yuntao's lunging body came to an abrupt halt.
He stared blankly at the wooden sword so close to him, knowing that the slightest movement would send it straight through his brain.
On-screen, the drop of blood on Su Yuntao's forehead trickled slowly down the bridge of his nose.
He couldn't even sense the other man using any power. The sword seemed to have a life of its own, locking onto him all by itself.
"Demonization? So you're an inferior half-demon—or you've trained in some vile martial art of the secular world."
The young man in white called Senior Brother glanced at Su Yuntao, his gaze utterly cold.
In the eyes of cultivators, mortals were no better than ants—especially a ruffian who shouted and made a scene at their mountain gate, looking so bizarre.
"The Hengyue Sect is a place of pure cultivation. How dare a filthy thing like you run wild here?"
The young man didn't even make any unnecessary movements. He simply pressed his joined fingers downward.
"Pfft!"
The hovering wooden sword instantly turned into a streak of light and pierced straight through Su Yuntao's brow without the slightest resistance, trailing a spray of blood.
Su Yuntao's eyes bulged, and his pupils instantly went blank.
His swollen Lone Wolf body deflated like a punctured ball, quickly returning to its original shape. Then he collapsed onto the bluestone steps with a thud and lay still.
The wooden sword deftly looped through the air without a drop of blood on it, then flew back into the young man's scabbard.
The two men didn't even look at the corpse on the ground. They continued chatting as they walked down the steps.
At the moment Su Yuntao fell, a line of cold, blood-red text slowly appeared on his Sky Screen.
[Explorer Su Yuntao has died.]
[Cause of death: Provoked a fourth-layer Qi Condensation disciple of the Cultivation World's Hengyue Sect. His soul was pierced by a flying sword; his body and soul were destroyed.]
As the text appeared, Su Yuntao's Sky Screen gradually turned gray and went completely dark.
After a brief silence, all of Douluo Continent erupted in unprecedented shock.
Two of the three arrivals had already died in less than the time it took an incense stick to burn!
Heaven Dou Empire, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
The spacious, timeworn council hall had been filled with the delicate fragrance of sandalwood.
But now, an overbearing sword aura swept the fragrance away without a trace.
"Clatter!"
The usually composed and refined sect leader, Ning Fengzhi, accidentally dropped the fine white jade teacup in his hand. It shattered into several pieces on the golden-threaded nanmu floor, and scalding tea splashed across the hem of his robe. He didn't seem to notice.
Beside him, Sword Douluo Chen Xin, renowned as the strongest attacker on Douluo Continent, wore an exceptionally grave expression.
The unconscious sword aura had carved deep gashes into several massive, coiling dragon pillars in the hall.
"Uncle Jian, you..." Ning Fengzhi came to his senses and looked at Chen Xin with concern.
Chen Xin didn't turn around. His eyes remained fixed on the now-dark Sky Screen in the heavens, and his chest rose and fell heavily.
After a long while, he finally let out a deep breath.
"Unbelievable... I've never heard of anything like it!"
Chen Xin raised his right hand. Light shimmered in his palm, and a silver-white Seven Kill Sword took shape.
Looking at his Martial Soul, he murmured, "I've immersed myself in the sword for decades and reached the peak of rank ninety-six. I've always believed that no one in this world could surpass me in understanding the sword."
"But that boy in the Sky Screen, who looks fifteen or sixteen, didn't use a Martial Soul or release a single Soul Ring!"
"With just a hand gesture, he made an ordinary wooden sword hover in the air and kill his enemy!"
"That technique, which combines sword intent with some invisible power to control a sword from afar, has completely surpassed the bounds of Soul Skills."
"And that flying sword moved like a bird, killing without a trace."
"What... what level of power is this?"
Hearing Sword Douluo's analysis, Bone Douluo Gu Rong, who had been sitting in the shadows, also slowly stepped forward. His bark-like face was full of gravity.
"Old blind man, didn't you notice the text on the Sky Screen?" Gu Rong pointed at the sky and said hoarsely. "It said the Cultivation World, the Hengyue Sect, and the fourth layer of Qi Condensation."
Ning Fengzhi hurried to the edge of the hall and gripped the white jade railing tightly, his thoughts racing.
"The Cultivation World—cultivating oneself and seeking the truth?"
"That seems completely different from the Soul Master system on Douluo Continent."
"The most terrifying thing is their cultivation levels."
Ning Fengzhi drew a deep breath and continued, "That sect disciple looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, and his cultivation was only at what they call the fourth layer of Qi Condensation."
"Just the fourth layer, and he could effortlessly kill a level-twenty-six Soul Grandmaster."
"What if that sect has people at the fifth or tenth layer of Qi Condensation?"
"What if there are even higher realms beyond Qi Condensation?"
Ning Fengzhi's words left Chen Xin and Gu Rong deep in thought.
On Douluo Continent, the Soul Master ranks were clearly defined, and the gap between each rank was plain to see.
But now, an entirely new and unfathomably deep cultivation system had been laid out before them without reservation.
"And those final four words: 'body and soul destroyed.'" Chen Xin closed his eyes, replaying the moment the wooden sword pierced Su Yuntao's brow.
"That wooden sword didn't just destroy his body. It shattered the Soul Grandmaster's spirit in an instant."
"Even a Titled Douluo specializing in mental power couldn't attack the soul so casually."
"How many terrifying secrets does that world hold?"
Meanwhile, in Spirit City, at Pope Palace.
The lofty, cavernous hall was dimly lit.
The red torches on either side crackled now and then, stretching Bibi Dong's shadow across the steps behind her.
To all of Spirit Hall, Su Yuntao's death was no more than the death of an insignificant ant.
What truly made Bibi Dong shudder was the strange ability the boy had displayed.