A Chance Encounter with Ye Guyi—If You Can't Win, Self-Destruct!

At the border of the Sun Moon Empire, on the outskirts of Shadowy Forest.

The twilight was blood-red, stretching the sparse tree shadows into twisted, eerie shapes.

In a clearing at the forest's edge, five black figures darted about like phantoms, surrounding a young girl.

Her pale golden dress had been torn in many places, and the exposed skin beneath was covered in bloody wounds.

Yet she still stood tall, her golden eyes filled only with resolve, without the slightest trace of fear.

"Still being stubborn, little girl?"

Scarface licked his cracked lips, the lecherousness in his eyes nearly overflowing.

He bared his yellowed teeth in a grin. "Sacred Angel Martial Spirit... I've been with the Holy Spirit Cult for thirty years, and this is the first time I've seen a living one. Before I drain you dry of soul power, I'll have to get a good taste of that body of yours."

Beside him, a tall, thin evil soul master cracked a bone whip wrapped in vengeful spirits, letting out a shrill cackle. "Big Brother, once you're done enjoying her, let the brothers have a taste too. That sacred aura—tsk, tsk—it must feel amazing to absorb!"

"Get lost!" Ye Guyi forced out coldly through clenched teeth, swinging the sacred sword in her hand.

The next instant, a dazzling golden sword aura swept outward, carrying a purifying presence that forced the two men in front to retreat in panic.

Scarface snorted. The black bat phantom behind him let out a silent shriek as his third soul ring suddenly lit up. "Third Soul Skill, Blood Shadow Escape!"

As soon as the words fell, his body burst into a cloud of blood mist with a bang.

He immediately reformed three meters to Ye Guyi's left.

His withered, eagle-claw-like hand shot toward her snow-white neck, the bloody stench around his fingertips enough to make one retch.

Ye Guyi's pupils contracted sharply as she desperately twisted aside.

Even so, three wounds deep enough to expose bone were carved across her left shoulder, blood instantly soaking through her tattered golden dress.

The agonizing pain drew a muffled groan from her, cold sweat seeping from her brow.

But even so, the momentum of her sword did not falter in the slightest.

The sacred sword thrust backward like lightning, aimed directly at his heart.

"Overestimating yourself!" Scarface sneered. His second soul ring flashed, and a layer of viscous blood-red shield appeared before his chest.

At the same time, the other four evil soul masters lunged again from different directions like hyenas that had caught the scent of blood.

The bone whip howled through the air.

Spider claws gleamed with a ghostly green poison.

A rotting zombie spewed foul-smelling breath.

And a pair of ghostly hands silently emerged from the shadow beneath her feet, reaching for her ankles.

Ye Guyi bit through her tongue hard, the sharp pain jolting her nearly scattered consciousness awake.

"Argh—!"

With a low cry, she burned every last trace of soul power in her body without reserve.

Brilliant golden sacred flames erupted from within her.

The Sacred Angel phantom behind her spread its wings in fury.

Scorching light spread like a tide, temporarily forcing back the approaching foul creatures.

When the light faded, she was kneeling on one knee, supporting herself with her sword.

Her face was now as pale as paper, her chest heaving violently. Her soul power had clearly run dry, leaving her unable to fight any longer.

It was true that an Angel Martial Spirit naturally suppressed evil soul masters, but she was only a Grand Soul Master at present.

Facing four Grand Soul Masters and one Soul Elder, even a Sacred Angel Martial Spirit could not handle so many opponents.

"Keep stalling. Let's see how many more times you can burn your blood," Scarface said as he retreated to the edge of the battlefield, folding his arms and watching with the mocking gaze of someone enjoying a caged bird's struggle.

The tall, thin man wielding the bone whip greedily inhaled, as if even the sacred aura lingering in the air were a supreme delicacy. "Big Brother, this girl's soul power is terrifyingly pure. Once we drain her dry, I might break through level twenty-six right away!"

"Hehe, then I'm reserving her left leg first!"

The short, fat man with the zombie martial spirit licked his lips. A perverse gleam shone in his cloudy eyes as he appraised her. "An angel's leg, cured into blood food with a secret technique and savored slowly—it'll definitely taste beyond compare."

Their filthy words were like poisoned needles, stabbing one after another into Ye Guyi's ears.

She neither roared in fury nor trembled in fear.

But her fingers clenched so tightly around the sword hilt that her knuckles turned white, her nails digging deep into her palms until blood seeped out.

Unwillingness burned through her chest like wildfire.

She was unwilling to die like this.

Even more unwilling to let these filthy vermin lay a finger on her.

"Even if I die..."

Ye Guyi raised her head, her bloodstained pale golden hair clinging to her sweat-dampened cheeks.

She spoke one word at a time, each seeming to be forced from the depths of her soul, carrying the resolve to perish together with them. "I'll drag all of you down to hell with me."

Before her words had even faded, she abruptly closed her eyes. With the last of her mental power, she frantically stirred, compressed, and condensed the nearly dried-up source of soul power within her toward the origin of her martial spirit.

The Angel phantom behind her suddenly solidified, radiating an increasingly bright and blinding golden light.

Immediately afterward, a violent, unstable force of destruction began to gather, warping and trembling the surrounding air.

"Not good! That little bitch is going to self-destruct her martial spirit origin!"

Scarface's mocking smile froze instantly. His expression changed drastically as he roared, "Quick! Stop her!"

The five black figures held nothing back any longer. Like five poisoned arrows released from their bows, they each unleashed their strongest soul skills.

Blood-red claw shadows, wailing vengeful spirits, toxic spiderwebs, putrid corpse gas, and shadowy ghost hands bombarded the increasingly radiant golden cocoon at the center from all directions, determined to crush both her and her resolve.

Just as all the attacks were about to engulf Ye Guyi at that critical moment—

A beam of golden light descended without warning.

It was not the sacred light emitted by Ye Guyi, but a deeper, older, more majestic gold.

It poured down from above her like a waterfall, condensing around her into the phantom of a Nine-Tier Golden Pagoda.

Countless profound runes were engraved upon the tower, every line flowing with a pure power that made hearts tremble.

The evil soul master charging at the front could not stop in time and crashed headlong into the golden pagoda's barrier.

"Aah—!" An inhumanly shrill scream echoed through the forest.

Like a drop of water cast into boiling oil, his entire body began smoking. The vengeful spirits wrapped around him melted like snow beneath the golden light.

Not only that, even the martial spirit within his body was directly shattered.

The backlash of soul power made blood pour from his seven orifices. He was sent flying more than ten meters, smashed through a tree as thick as a bowl, and collapsed to the ground, his fate unknown.

Everything had happened in the span of a spark.

The remaining four evil soul masters forcibly halted, staring at the golden pagoda in terror.

The lecherousness on Scarface's face had long vanished, replaced by stunned horror. "Th-this... what is this thing?"

Ye Guyi was stunned as well.

The process of self-destructing her soul power had been interrupted by a gentle yet irresistible force.

She raised her head blankly, looking at the golden tower phantom enveloping her.

As the possessor of a Sacred Angel, she was more familiar than anyone with powers of sacredness, light, and purification.

Yet the aura emitted by this golden pagoda could not have been more different from that of the Sacred Angel.

If the Sacred Angel's power was a blazing, dazzling sun, then this golden pagoda's aura was the heavy, benevolent earth.

It was not fiery, yet it was boundless.

It was not blinding, yet it saw through every evil thing.

Beneath the golden light, she could clearly feel not only the wounds in her body that had been corroded by evil energy slowly healing, but even her depleted soul power gradually recovering.

What shocked her even more was that she could distinctly feel her Sacred Angel Martial Spirit—the one she had always taken pride in—trembling slightly before this golden pagoda.

It was not fear, but an instinctive reaction akin to submission.

"Impossible..." Ye Guyi murmured, confusion appearing on her beautiful face for the first time.

After all, the Sacred Angel Martial Spirit originated from the Six-Winged Angel of ten thousand years ago—a genuine god-level martial spirit.

It had only fallen from god-level to top-tier because the Angel God had perished, leaving it without the support of divine power.

But that did not mean another martial spirit could surpass hers in attributes.

And now, one had appeared!

And it was a golden pagoda she had never seen before!

"Who is it?! Get the hell out here!" Seeing this, Scarface suppressed the terror in his heart and shouted fiercely toward the surroundings.

The bat martial spirit behind him beat its wings uneasily, continuously shrinking beneath the golden light.

Silence.

There was only the mournful whistle of wind through the treetops and the weak groans of the heavily injured evil soul master.

Then footsteps sounded.

Neither hurried nor slow, calm and steady, approaching step by step from the direction of the village entrance.

Every step landed upon everyone's heartbeat.

Ye Guyi abruptly turned her head.

In the twilight, a figure gradually came into focus.

He was a boy who looked no older than ten, dressed in simple green robes. The cloth was ordinary, yet spotlessly clean.

He was slender, his features still carrying childishness, but those eyes...

Ye Guyi had never seen eyes like them—clear to the bottom, yet as deep as an ancient well, as though they had witnessed all the world's changes and settled a thousand years of sorrow and joy.

The boy stopped at the edge of the golden pagoda's barrier.

He first looked Ye Guyi up and down. After inspecting her, he frowned slightly and said, "Sacred Angel Martial Spirit? Its quality is excellent, and your talent isn't bad. But your brain doesn't seem to work very well."

Ye Guyi's face darkened at those words. She asked irritably, "Who are you? Why are you saying my brain doesn't work?"

Only then did the boy turn toward the four evil soul masters, who looked as though they were facing a great enemy. He said slowly, "Li Changqing."

Those three simple words made Scarface's face change drastically. He stumbled back three steps. "Li Changqing? The green-robed hunter who specializes in killing evil soul masters? Weren't you at Blackwind Ridge, a hundred li away?"

"If I didn't play a little dirty, wouldn't you have run away?" Li Changqing said, gently raising a hand.

The golden pagoda phantom around Ye Guyi trembled slightly. A beam of golden light rippled outward, sweeping across the four evil soul masters.

"Aah!"

Their screams rang out almost simultaneously.

Aside from Scarface, who relied on his cultivation as a Soul Elder to endure it, suffering only violent tremors in his martial spirit and blood flowing from his nose and mouth—

The other three seemed to be scorched by raging flames. Black smoke rose from their bodies as their soul power rapidly collapsed.

"Run!" Scarface made his decision immediately, turning to flee without even sparing a thought for his companions.

He knew the legends surrounding the boy before him all too well.

Over the past half year at the Sun Moon Empire's border, at least seventeen teams of evil soul masters had fallen to him, with no survivors.

"You want to run after the merit has already entered my mouth?"

As the words fell, he vanished from where he stood.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any gruesome scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere.

The four merely paused, then crumpled softly to the ground. Not a trace of evil energy remained on their bodies. They were clearly dead beyond doubt.

Ye Guyi stared blankly at the scene, her throat dry.

From Li Changqing's appearance to the end of the battle, only ten breaths had passed.

Four Grand Soul Masters and one Soul Elder had been so effortlessly...

Wiped out completely?

Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she might never have believed it for the rest of her life.