Fighting Across Ranks, Crushing Momentum

Flender walked toward Liu Erlong and Ling Feng, his eyes narrowed and a smile playing on his face.

"Young lady, have you changed your mind? Do you wish to sell the Dragon Ganoderma Leaf?" Flender asked.

Liu Erlong looked toward Ling Feng, seemingly asking him how to handle the situation.

Seeing this, Ling Feng nodded and said, "The Dragon Ganoderma Leaf is actually something I gave her!"

"I have hidden the medicinal herb in the Sunset Forest. If you want it, follow me!"

Flender's eyes lit up. No wonder Liu Erlong didn't want to sell the herb to me, he thought. It wasn't even hers to begin with!

"Fine!"

Flender also wanted to find a quieter place to conduct the transaction, as it would make it easier to "hoodwink" the pair and earn a bit more money.

Ling Feng led Flender and Liu Erlong into the territory of the Sunset Forest.

They were in the outermost fringe of the forest, where there were basically no soul beasts active.

Yet, under the cover of night, the area felt a bit more dangerous.

It was only because Flender was bold due to his high level of skill—relying on the fact that his cultivation was higher than the two and that he possessed an agility-attack type martial soul—that he dared to follow them.

"We're here. This will do!" Ling Feng said.

Flender cautiously came to a halt and asked, "Where is the medicinal herb you spoke of?"

Ling Feng replied, "We'll talk about the herb later. First, return the two hundred Gold Soul Coins to her!"

Flender's heart sank; he realized these two had no intention of selling any herbs.

"What two hundred Gold Soul Coins? That was money from selling books, and this young lady agreed to it at the time!" Flender retorted.

"So, you don't intend to return it?" Ling Feng asked.

Flender said, "I don't intend to return it. What can you two possibly do about it?"

Ling Feng and Liu Erlong exchanged a glance, and their soul power erupted instantly as they unleashed their martial soul avatars and dragon transformations.

"So you're only Soul Elders. I thought you were some kind of experts!"

"If you can defeat me, it wouldn't be impossible to return the money to you!" Flender left himself an out.

He wasn't a truly wicked person; he just loved swindling small amounts of money to fund his ideals.

These two were so young, yet their strength far exceeded his own at that age; perhaps they had some powerful faction backing them.

Flender also activated his martial soul, his two yellow and two purple soul rings pulsing rhythmically beneath his feet.

He prepared to take flight into the air, placing himself in an invincible position.

But just then, he suddenly felt a cold, sinister aura descend, wrapping tightly around him.

Caught within this malevolent energy, he felt his soul power drop by more than ten percent.

Furthermore, the aura seemed to carry a corrosive poison, forcing Flender to become cautious.

"It's you?"

He finally remembered where he had seen Ling Feng; Ling Feng had used this same aura to warn him before.

Ling Feng ignored Flender. His strength had improved too rapidly over the past year, and he needed someone to spar with to digest his gains.

His first soul ring lit up, his body was encased in spider armor, and his aura surged accordingly.

The next moment, several spider spears, sharp as blades, tore through the soil and lunged at Flender.

Flender was an agility-attack soul master, after all; he shifted his body rapidly, dodging Ling Feng's attacks.

But he soon discovered that those spider spears had formed a cage, trapping him inside and rapidly closing in to shred him.

Liu Erlong didn't remain idle; her dragon-transformed arm morphed into a massive dragon claw, swiping toward Flender.

Flender possessed no defensive soul skills; if he were caught, his entire body would be torn apart.

"Gale! Wind Blade!" Flender chanted his soul incantation, and his soul ring lit up.

A whirlwind struck toward Liu Erlong to obstruct her, while several invisible wind blades sliced toward the spider-leg cage trapping him.

Flender was experienced; fearing he couldn't break the cage formed by the spider spears, he directed all his wind blades at a single spear.

Sure enough, after a few wind blades, Flender managed to break one of the spears and burst out from within.

"I am a Soul Ancestor, and he is clearly only a Soul Elder—why do I feel so strained?" Flender sensed something was wrong.

Although both were hundred-year soul skills, his soul power was stronger, so his soul skills should have been more powerful.

But now was not the time to ponder this. Once free, Flender prepared to fly into the sky to secure his advantage.

However, at that moment, he caught sight of Ling Feng's eyes.

Those eyes were like a deep, swirling abyss, seemingly filled with corruption, malice, and the intent to slaughter.

Flender only had to look for a second before his head felt as if it had been struck by a hammer, and his movement toward the sky stalled.

His performance was significantly better than that of the fallen one from before; at least he managed to maintain his martial soul avatar.

But Ling Feng did not give Flender a chance, unleashing his second soul skill again, as several spider spears grazed Flender's body and trapped him once more.

Some of the spider spears even pierced his body, rendering him unable to move.

Flender's head felt dizzy, but the pain in his body forcibly jolted him awake.

Coming straight at him, however, was Liu Erlong's dragon claw, glowing with fire and covered in clearly visible red dragon scales.

Seeing he was about to be struck, Flender pulled himself together and circulated his soul power, using the wind to shift his body to the side.

"Ugh!" Flender let out a muffled groan as he and the spider spears embedded in his body were sent flying by Liu Erlong's punch.

"I surrender! I'll pay you back, just don't kill me!"

Flender slammed heavily into the ground, his face twisted in agony as a wave of lingering fear washed over him.

If that punch from Liu Erlong had landed on his head, he likely would have died; fortunately, at the very last moment, he had used a wind vortex to shift his position.

"Hmph!" Liu Erlong let out a cold snort, standing to the side and glaring at Flender to prevent him from pulling any tricks.

Enduring the pain, Flender counted out two hundred Gold Soul Coins from his money pouch and tossed them over.

"That's not enough. You still need to make amends to us—hand over all your money!" Ling Feng said as he approached.

The sky was too dark, but now Flender could clearly see that the third soul ring at Ling Feng's feet was actually a black, ten-thousand-year soul ring.

Flender felt a surge of terror; facing a ten-thousand-year soul skill, even as a Soul Ancestor, he stood little chance of winning.

"I..." Flender still wanted to defend himself.

But upon seeing Ling Feng's black soul ring, he completely abandoned any thought of resistance and handed over his money pouch.

Flender felt a pang of heartache; giving his money to Ling Feng was even more painful than being injured.

Ling Feng opened the pouch and saw a few scattered Gold Soul Coins inside, along with a card from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Chamber of Commerce.

"Hmph, if I catch you swindling people again, it won't be as simple as just a little lesson!"

Ling Feng did not kill Flender, but he did not let him off easily either.

Because his second soul skill had pierced Flender's body, he had already infected him with Death Spider Poison.

If he could neutralize the toxin, then it was his good fortune.

If he couldn't, he would have to rely on his soul power to suppress the poison, suffering from its torment for the rest of his life.