Undercurrents

Under the terrifying pressure, Zhang Qing's thousand-year soul ring lit up. His already burly body grew even more exaggerated, like a humanoid soul beast, and he let out a roar.

Those arms, utterly unlike a human's, reached out in an attempt to grab Tie Li's Thunder Hammer.

Boom!

Tie Li felt the tremendous force transmitted through the hammer. He was sent stumbling back eight or nine meters before barely managing to steady himself.

In contrast, his opponent had only taken three steps back. However, his arms had been forcibly torn open with several cracks from receiving Thunder Strike head-on. Blood flowed from the fissures, and his arms trembled unnaturally.

"Again!" Dolangbu shouted.

At the same time, he controlled the vines to attack Zhang Qing. A three-ring Soul Elder suffering such severe injuries was the perfect target to eliminate.

Two thick vines instantly transformed into dozens of smaller tendrils that surged over Zhang Qing's body, wrapping around his massive frame.

"Alright."

Tie Li had also been affected, but the thunder armor on his right arm had absorbed most of the damage for him.

He unleashed his second soul skill once more. Thunder Strike, condensed with lightning, erupted again with astonishing force.

Li Qing'er's expression changed slightly. She could not possibly watch Zhang Qing get eliminated just like that.

But at that moment, Bai Jiao blocked her path.

Bai Jiao knew that doing this might get him eliminated as well, but as long as he held her back, the other side would have one fewer Soul Elder.

Boom!

Boom!

With those two sounds, the first two people to be eliminated were unexpectedly Youhe and Zhang Qing, both Soul Elders.

Bai Jiao became the third soul master to be eliminated after intercepting Li Qing'er.

With that, the situation became even more grim.

They had already been at a disadvantage, and now their only Soul Elder had been eliminated. The battle had become five against six.

As the team leader, Kaiqi left the sub-arena at this moment and entered a room in the Great Soul Arena.

"You're saying the people we encountered on the road weren't from the Gold Strength Clan?" Kaiqi had long had her suspicions; she was merely curious about their identities.

"They were from the Crimson Fire Clan. I just received word that the Crimson Fire Clan has been destroyed, with only a handful of clan members escaping.

"The Crimson Fire Clan had deep roots in Guya City, yet they were exterminated on their own turf. More importantly, news of their destruction only came out now. Don't you find that unbelievable?" A trace of shock still lingered deep in Manager Ao's eyes.

Manager Ao had called Kaiqi to the room alone because her team had encountered fleeing members of the Crimson Fire Clan on their journey.

"When you came here, you should have sensed the soul masters pursuing them, right? What are your guesses? Or rather, have you determined where those soul masters came from?" Manager Ao asked.

Kaiqi shook her head. In truth, she already had a suspected target in mind, but she did not dare voice it.

Anyone capable of wiping out the Crimson Fire Clan in Guya City while keeping the news from spreading had to be a colossal force. But... for such a force to target the Crimson Fire Clan, could it be that the Crimson Fire Clan had obtained some priceless treasure?

Manager Ao saw Kaiqi's apprehension and did not press her further.

To be honest, if it had not been for instructions from above, he would not have wanted to wade into this mess at all.

But in order to answer to his superiors, he could only put on a show by calling Kaiqi over. It just so happened that her group had encountered fleeing members of the Crimson Fire Clan on the road.

After asking a few more inconsequential questions, Manager Ao let Kaiqi leave first.

"Do you merely want to know what happened? Or are you also interested in the treasure the Crimson Fire Clan obtained?" Manager Ao muttered as he looked toward a dark corner.

When Kaiqi returned to the sub-arena, the soul battle had already ended.

Facing a team with three Soul Elders, they had lost the soul battle as expected. What surprised Kaiqi was that they had actually managed to eliminate two of the other side's Soul Elders.

Fortunately, the second round used a points system. Losing just one match would not have much impact.

"It's alright. The team we face next won't be nearly as difficult to handle," Kaiqi comforted them.

Everyone returned to the venue. After discussing the teams they would face next and devising tactics, they went back to their rooms to rest.

A string of soul battles awaited them, so rest was extremely important.

Over the next six consecutive days of soul battle matches, Rock Team lost only its team soul battle against Giant Stone Team and won every other match. They had earned enough points to avoid last-place elimination. With only two soul battles remaining, they would be able to conclude the second round.

What Tie Li was curious about was just how formidable the team sent by the Main Martial Soul Hall would be, aside from the rewards for the top three.

That night, Tie Li unwillingly took out the soul beast skull again and fiddled with it.

Every time he took out the soul beast skull, he carried a trace of hope in his heart, but every time, he angrily put it back into his storage ring.

"Ugh, two thousand gold soul coins!"

A hint of regret mixed into his faint sigh.

After learning that they had enough points to advance to the next round, they let the members who had never taken the field participate in the remaining two matches, so that no one would be left with regrets.

The second-round elimination matches came to an end, and Rock Team advanced in sixth place.

On the same night, the Main Martial Soul Hall of Benoa City surrounded the Gold Strength Clan.

"Ambro, what do you mean by this? Are you planning to make a move against my Gold Strength Clan?" As the Gold Strength Clan's patriarch, Jin Yan glared angrily at the other party.

"Patriarch Jin, your Gold Strength Clan has colluded with fallen soul masters. Today, the Martial Soul Hall will wipe you all out."

"Ambro, accusations require evidence. You have no evidence at all, so what makes you say we've colluded with fallen soul masters? Does whatever the Martial Soul Hall says simply become the truth?"

"This is the evidence."

Ambro waved a hand, and a Martial Soul Hall deacon carried out a drained corpse and tossed it directly before Jin Yan.

"You're using some inexplicable corpse as evidence?"

"Still not enough? Once I capture you, won't all the evidence come to light? Attack!"

At Ambro's signal, all the soul masters from the Main Martial Soul Hall charged into the Gold Strength Clan's residence.

"Ambro, you're courting death!" Jin Yan roared as soul rings appeared beneath him.

Two yellow, three purple, and one black!

As the Gold Strength Clan's patriarch, his soul power had reached level sixty-seven.

In his martial soul possession state, a layer of golden insect armor covered his body. His physique did not change much, but terrifying power lay beneath that armor.

The most distinctive traits of the Vajra Ant martial soul were its exceptional strength and formidable defense.

"Have the ancestor of your Gold Strength Clan come out instead. You're not qualified."

An icy spear appeared in Ambro's hand, radiating an extraordinary presence. Seven soul rings emerged around him.

One white, one yellow, three purple, and two black!

As a senior bishop of the Martial Soul Hall, his soul power had reached level seventy-three. His martial soul was the Ice Crystal Glass Dragon Spear, a weapon martial soul.

His first, third, and fifth soul rings lit up simultaneously. Empowered by three enhancement-type soul skills, his aura rose to its peak.

Jin Yan's expression darkened, but he did not retreat. The ancestor was absent, and as patriarch, he had to stand at the front.

Black light flared. Without the slightest hesitation, Jin Yan unleashed his sixth soul skill, his only ten-thousand-year soul skill.

Against a seven-ring Soul Sage, this was his only option.