Annihilation of a Clan

When the lord of Benoa City arrived at the Gold Strength Clan with his men, the battle had already ended.

The book was first released across the web on .

Jin Yan, the clan leader, had been beheaded, his corpse casually tossed aside.

The scene was bloody. Many Soul Masters had died, most of them members of the Gold Strength Clan.

Only then did Ambro emerge from the Gold Strength Clan residence, his expression grim.

Clearly, he had not found what he wanted.

And what he had done today would inevitably bring retaliation from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

He might even be stripped of his position as a bishop of Spirit Hall because of it.

If he had obtained the treasure, all of this would have been worth it. But there had been nothing in the Gold Strength Clan residence at all.

He had turned the entire residence upside down, yet found no trace of it.

Impossible. He had no reason to lie to me, Ambro thought.

"Ambro, who gave you people the authority to do this?" Huang Xi asked gravely.

As the lord of Benoa City, he represented the dignity of the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family. Ambro had led Spirit Hall Soul Masters to wipe out the Gold Strength Clan and kill Jin Yan; that was no different from challenging his authority.

"The Gold Strength Clan colluded with Fallen Soul Masters. I wiped them out completely. What was wrong with that?

On the contrary, you, the city lord, allowed Fallen Soul Masters to harm people right under your nose. What exactly did that mean?

And as for this authority you spoke of? Don't you find that laughable? Why would eliminating Fallen Soul Masters require authority?" Ambro had clearly come prepared. His brazen attempt to shift the blame showed that he did not take the other man seriously at all.

"You... Fine. Fine!" A cold light flashed in Huang Xi's eyes. After this, he would certainly report the matter to the royal family.

He was no match for Ambro. If he attacked in anger now, the only one who would be humiliated was himself.

"Heh, ridiculous! Let's go."

Ambro waved at the Soul Masters under him and left just like that.

He could not help feeling regretful. If Huang Xi had attacked just now, he could have muddied the waters.

News of the Gold Strength Clan's destruction spread through every corner of Benoa City the very next day.

Another deeply entrenched Soul Master clan had been wiped out.

When Tie Li and the others learned of it after getting up that morning, they could not help sighing.

But there was also good news for them: they had a bye in the next round and advanced directly.

Their originally scheduled opponents in the third round had been the Gold Strength Clan's team.

But with the Gold Strength Clan destroyed, where could there still be a team?

The only surviving members were probably the Gold Family ancestor in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and several younger members of the Gold Family.

Although there was no soul fighting match today, Kaiqi still brought everyone to the Great Soul Arena.

The main reason was that Spirit Hall had a team competing today, and the Great Soul Arena had specifically arranged Spirit Hall's match in the Main Soul Arena.

Upon reaching the spectator stands, they found the audience exceptionally enthusiastic. Wave after wave of cheers supported the Spirit Hall Team.

The Spirit Hall Team's opponents today were the Noah Academy Team.

After learning that their next-round opponents were the Spirit Hall Team, they had sent all five Soul Elders onto the field.

Both teams stepped onto the Soul Fighting Platform. Every member of the Noah Academy Team looked extremely vigilant.

The Spirit Hall Team members, on the other hand, appeared relaxed, and there was unmistakable disdain in the way they looked at their opponents.

As the referee announced the start of the soul fight, dazzling Soul Rings filled the Soul Fighting Platform.

Watching a team soul fight from the stands delivered an even stronger visual impact.

"Whoa!"

Dolangbu and the others cried out in surprise, because all seven members of Spirit Hall were Three-Ring Soul Elders.

Tie Li's gaze sharpened as he stared intently at one of Spirit Hall's female Soul Masters.

Her Martial Soul was... the Golden-Waisted Flying Swallow!

She was one of the core members who would represent Spirit Hall in the future All-Continent Soul Master Elite Tournament. Perhaps she was not as outstanding as Spirit Hall's Golden Generation, but being able to represent Spirit Hall in the tournament was enough to prove her talent.

She was the youngest of the seven, yet her Soul Power Level was the highest among them.

Of the seven Soul Elders, five had the optimal Soul Ring configuration of two yellow and one purple. The other two had one white, one yellow, and one purple. Though slightly inferior, they were still Soul Elders with Thousand-Year Soul Rings.

The match had been one-sided from the start. Under the full-force assault of Spirit Hall's seven members, the Noah Academy Team held out for only ten minutes before losing.

After witnessing the Spirit Hall Team's strength, a shadow could not help settling over everyone's hearts.

It stood in stark contrast to the enthusiasm of the surrounding audience.

"Just do your best. Don't put too much pressure on yourselves."

Kaiqi's attitude had changed noticeably in recent days. Before, she had cared greatly about their ranking in the soul fighting competition. Every day, she discussed tactics with the team members and simulated all sorts of unexpected situations that might arise in team soul fights, as well as how they should respond when those situations occurred.

But now, things were different. She no longer seemed to care so much about their ranking.

After returning to the dormitory, Zhang Yang could not help voicing his question.

"Why has Kaiqi been acting so mysteriously lately?"

"Did you notice anything?" Tie Li asked.

Zhang Yang merely shook his head. It was precisely because he had noticed nothing that he felt Kaiqi had become mysterious.

Tie Li did not care much about it. Winning this soul fighting competition would be difficult. Spirit Hall's team had a full seven Soul Elders, and every one of them possessed a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. That invisibly placed immense pressure on the other teams.

As long as they did not encounter Spirit Hall's team in the next round, they could still fight for second place.

"By the way, do you know the reward for second place?" Tie Li asked.

The brothers Lin Wen and Lin Wu were also very interested and both looked toward Zhang Yang.

"Three thousand Gold Soul Coins. Core members can choose century-grade spiritual materials, while substitute members can choose spiritual materials that are fifty years old," Zhang Yang said.

"Can we choose whatever we want?"

"Yes. You can choose from their treasury, but only one plant."

"That's pretty good too!"

In any case, they no longer hoped for first place. In everyone's eyes, Soul Beast eggs were not as good as each person getting a century-grade spiritual material.

Kaiqi left the dormitory again as usual and came to a room in the Great Soul Arena.

This time, Director Ao stood to the side like a subordinate, while an elderly man over fifty sat in the seat of honor.

"You did well this time. You allowed me to obtain the treasure before Ambro," the old man said with a smile.

"You are too kind, sir. It was what we should have done," Director Ao said respectfully.

The old man before them held an extremely high position in the Great Soul Arena, and his strength was unfathomable.

"Once this soul fighting competition is over, I will take away the Soul Masters you recommended. I have already had people investigate them; there are no problems with their identities or backgrounds."

"Sir, Tie Li has improved within a year..."

"The Soul Master world is vast. Obtaining a small fortunate encounter is nothing unusual. I have sensed the attribute of his Soul Power, and there is no trace of any evil aura. He is an orthodox Soul Master."

[Author's Note: These past two days, I've seen everyone discussing the plot and the upcoming Soul Ring choices. I have to say, you are all really impressive—far more impressive than me;

As for the plot, I will stay closer to the original work. Becoming a Soul Saint at twenty-four and then participating in a major Soul Master event would be far too exaggerated! You have probably guessed the rest as well. Why is the Martial Soul called the Forging Hammer instead of simply an iron hammer? That is the reason.

Next are the plot characters. In that regard, I will respect the original work. If I dislike a character, I will magnify their flaws and downplay their strengths, but there will be no baseless uglification or malicious distortion.

Thank you all for reading this far. At this final stage, could you check in so I can see some of the readers who have been lurking?]