Heaven Dou City

After Elder Ye dealt with the assassins, a piercing screech suddenly rang out from afar. A vast swarm of black dots sped toward them.

The Skysea Alliance's reinforcements had finally arrived.

Though they might as well not have come. With Elder Ye present, the Evil Soul Masters' long-planned assassination attempt had ended like a joke before it could cause any damage.

Elder Ye left the cleanup of the aftermath to Skysea City's reinforcements and turned to return to the train.

"Elder Ye, why did you..." Li Ziming hesitated.

"You want to ask why I didn't leave anyone alive for interrogation?" Elder Ye asked after taking just one glance at him.

Li Ziming nodded slightly.

"You should know that madmen like Evil Soul Masters are hated by everyone across the three continents, like rats crossing the street.

"No organization would welcome them, much less sell them resources.

"Yet they still need to cultivate and eat, but they do not dare act too openly. To avoid driving them into a corner and making them lash out desperately,

"the major powers secretly entrust some of their dirty work, things inconvenient for them to handle themselves, to these people."

"Evil Soul Masters can obtain some non-rare resources through such jobs, and this has even formed a strange balance."

"However, the major powers do not want anyone tracing matters back to them or obtaining leverage against them, so they are extremely cautious when issuing commissions."

"Besides, these Evil Soul Masters are not very highly cultivated. They are merely laborers and would not know who issued the commission behind the scenes. Even if they did, the employer information would have passed through and been processed by who knew how many hands already."

"Oh, I understand." Li Ziming suddenly saw the light. It made sense, and he fell into thought.

Elder Ye watched Li Ziming and nodded faintly. As a leading candidate to become the next Divine Craftsman,

Li Ziming would certainly become part of the association's upper ranks in the future. It was better for him to learn about and digest some secrets now

than to be hit with too much at once later and have his worldview shattered.

But Li Ziming was not thinking about reconstructing his worldview. He was considering how to make use of this information in the future.

After the train rested for an hour, it set off once more for Heaven Dou City. The rest of the journey was peaceful.

At four in the afternoon, Li Ziming finally arrived at Heaven Dou City's Soul Tool station.

Heaven Dou City had existed for twenty thousand years. As early as the era of Spirit Hall, it had been one of the continent's foremost major cities.

It had even once been the number one city on the continent. Back then, it had been the capital of the Tiandou Empire.

Only after the Sun Moon Empire, the predecessor of the Federation, annexed the Tiandou Empire did it gradually lose its status as a political and cultural center, becoming an ordinary city.

However, due to its profound cultural heritage and special historical standing, it had retained many ancient buildings and remained one of the Federation's most important cities.

The last time he came here, he had been busy advancing to Seven-Star Saint Craftsman and had not had the chance to properly explore the city. This time, he had some free time.

Moreover, Li Ziming remembered that Heaven Dou City occupied an excellent location. It was not far from the Star Dou Forest, the legendary birthplace of Soul Beasts, though the fierce beasts within had probably mostly left by now.

At the same time, it was also very close to Shrek City, the continent's largest city.

It could be said to lie in the core region of the entire Douluo Continent. Many Martial Soul clans and major powers chose to station themselves here, so powerful figures emerged in great numbers.

In other words, the moment Li Ziming stepped into this place, he could be considered to have entered a safe zone.

With Li Ziming's blacksmithing talent as a twenty-one-year-old Saint Craftsman, the major powers would only compete to protect him. They would not make a move against him in secret.

After all, the more Divine Craftsmen there were, the greater their chances of obtaining Four-Word Battle Armor. If they had an opportunity to forge goodwill with a future Divine Craftsman, they could not ask for more.

As Li Ziming and Elder Ye walked down the street, they could already vaguely see the headquarters of the Forging Masters Association.

The Tiandou Blacksmiths Association was the largest Forging Masters Association on the continent. Its headquarters stood in Heaven Dou City, a towering building that reached into the clouds. Its design was simple and imposing, with a massive hammer emblem displayed on its exterior.

Suddenly, the Spatial Core connected to his mind trembled, sensing an exceedingly deadly danger.

Before he could warn Elder Ye, Li Ziming's gaze sharpened. Seven Soul Rings emerged beneath his feet, and the Two-Word Battle Armor "Blazing Sun" covered his body. Over the past six years, he had long since become a Soul Saint.

The three triggered ninth-grade defensive Soul Tools given to him by his master, Mu Chen, activated at once, blocking that scarlet, fatal strike.

Light flared from the Blazing Sun Hammer in his hand. Li Ziming swung it backward while shouting, "Elder Ye, be careful!"

"Hm?" A cold voice suddenly sounded behind them. Scarlet light appeared, directly neutralizing the scorching aura carried by that hammer strike.

"I was actually discovered?"

"What sharp senses. What dense Bloodline Power. Taking the commission to kill you was indeed the right choice."

The owner of the voice appeared. He was wrapped tightly from head to toe in a gray fitted outfit, with a hood covering his head and revealing only his eyes. His irises were gray, yet his pupils were red, making him look extremely eerie.

Elder Ye reacted as well, summoning his Martial Soul and expanding his domain. The gleam of the Wind God Sword forced the assassin back.

"How dare you! Die!"

"Azure Wind God! Come!"

In an instant, Four-Word Battle Armor covered his body. The Wind God Sword in his hand radiated sharp brilliance as it swept toward the black-clad assassin in a furious strike.

Elder Ye was both shocked and enraged. He had failed to notice this thief just now. If not for Li Ziming's sharp perception and sufficient means of self-defense, he might already have died to that blow.

If someone had succeeded in an assassination right outside his own association, he would no longer have the face to meet the association's people.

The assassin also summoned Three-Word Battle Armor and expanded his own domain to contend with Elder Ye.

However, his Three-Word Battle Armor was clearly inferior. Overwhelmed by the enhancement of Four-Word Battle Armor, he was sent flying dozens of meters away by Elder Ye's sword gleam.

"The Wind God Sword?!"

"Old man, you're still alive?" The assassin recognized Elder Ye's identity as well.

"Soul-Eater Douluo! So it's you! I was wondering why there were only a few assassins. I never expected you to dare make a move in Heaven Dou City!"

"But since you dared to come, die here! Seventh Soul Skill—Martial Soul Avatar!"

Elder Ye's sword aura drew inward, and his seventh Soul Ring blazed brightly. A massive sword abruptly appeared behind him and slashed toward the enemy before him.

Faced with Elder Ye's furious sword strike, Soul-Eater Douluo had no time to evade. He could only take it head-on, raising a pair of blood-red skeletal hands toward the Wind God Sword.

As the two attacks collided, shockwaves swept outward. Soul-Eater Douluo was outmatched and had no intention of continuing to clash head-on with Elder Ye.

I can't fight this old man head-on. No matter what, I can't kill that brat now. I should escape while I can. As Soul-Eater Douluo thought this, he spotted Li Ziming at the edge of the battlefield and came up with an idea.

The Evil Soul Master made his judgment swiftly. Their rapid exchange had been brief, but it was enough time for Zhenhua and the others above to react. If he did not leave now, he might truly be trapped here.

His sixth Soul Ring activated. Countless red points of light appeared in the sky, centered around his body.

At first, they were merely points of light, but they quickly expanded, looking like countless cold and merciless bloody hands.

Surging, dense blood energy erupted wildly. Immediately afterward, thousands of blood-red rays shot out from those bloody hands, hurtling directly toward Li Ziming, the weakest person present.

Elder Ye noticed this as well and could only flash in front of Li Ziming, taking the blood rays head-on and blocking every one of them.

When the smoke cleared and they tried to find Soul-Eater Douluo again, they saw that his entire body had transformed into streaks of blood-red light that scattered in every direction.

Rather than fleeing in one direction, he scattered in all directions and vanished without a trace in an instant.

"Bold indeed!"

The instant the Evil Soul Master vanished, two terrifying auras rose simultaneously from the top of the Forging Masters Association.

The next moment, crimson and golden light burst from the top of the Forging Masters Association. A crimson figure appeared before Li Ziming and Elder Ye as if teleporting.

"Are you all right?" As the crimson glow faded, Zhenhua, clad in Four-Word Battle Armor, appeared before them. His expression was ashen. He had never imagined that someone would dare stage an ambush at the entrance to the Forging Masters Association.

"Fortunately, Elder Ye was here, so we're fine. Martial Uncle, we need to chase that Evil Soul Master immediately. Otherwise, who knows when he'll come again," Li Ziming said.

Zhenhua nodded, then looked toward the dark-golden figure pursuing in the distant sky. "Don't worry. He won't get away."