Impulse

The familiar village entrance, the familiar stone path—Mu Feng could hardly believe that any of this was real. Just moments ago, he had been absorbing a Soul Ring in the Star Dou Great Forest. When he opened his eyes again, he had somehow returned to Stone Village.

Just as he had thought he had successfully absorbed the Soul Ring, something unexpected happened. The thousand-year Soul Ring had strangely carried a Spiritual Shock. The instant he lowered his guard, he was struck. His head throbbed as if it were about to explode.

Unexpectedly, this accident had triggered the trial.

Mu Feng surveyed his surroundings. Morning sunlight spilled over the tranquil Stone Village, scattering colorful halos through the fresh smoke rising from each household's chimney.

"Oh my, isn't that Little Feng?" called an auntie carrying a basin of water as she emerged from her house. She poured out the dirty water and slowly walked over.

"Why are you up so early today?" Seeing Mu Feng still standing there blankly, she continued, "Is it because your martial soul is about to awaken? Were you too excited to sleep last night?"

"Awaken my martial soul?" Mu Feng blurted out.

"What's wrong with you, child? How could you forget something so important?"

This is bad. A sense of foreboding surged through him. He seemed to have some idea of what the upcoming trial would entail.

Mu Feng raised his head to look at the blazing sun hanging high overhead, as though something had suddenly occurred to him.

Three years ago, it had been noon. The scorching sun had baked the earth mercilessly. As everyone sat beneath the shade of the great locust tree, excited for their imminent martial soul awakening, three evil Soul Masters in black robes had suddenly appeared.

Realizing what was happening, Mu Feng dashed into the village. Even though he knew this was an illusion created by the trial and that the best option should have been to calmly analyze the situation, he still could not suppress the impulse in his heart.

Even if he hurried with all his strength, an ordinary person without Soul Power was no different from fish on a chopping block when facing evil Soul Masters.

By the time Mu Feng arrived, more than a dozen corpses already lay on the ground. The three evil Soul Masters in black robes were still chasing the scattered villagers. Compared with a one-sided massacre, they seemed to enjoy toying with their prey.

Seeing the river of blood before him, the hellish scenes from three years ago flashed through Mu Feng's mind one by one. His eyes seemed to spit fire, and a raging fury nearly burst through his chest.

Not far ahead stood a black-robed man. From the side of his face, Mu Feng saw the deep lines around his mouth, and a face he had dreamed of countless times surfaced in his mind. Mu Feng roared with all his might, "Yan Kun!"

Several villagers were struggling desperately in a spiderweb. They cried and pulled with all their strength, but the enormous web was like a swamp. The more they moved, the more firmly they were stuck to it.

A black-robed man stood before them, wiping the gleaming dagger in his hand. Mu Feng had not been mistaken. This black-robed man was Yan Kun. He watched with satisfaction as they writhed in the trap he had so carefully woven.

He was not like those two idiots, who only enjoyed the crude thrill of killing. Next, he would carefully dissect the prey he had caught and savor the sight of them convulsing in agony. That was true pleasure from the bottom of one's heart.

Suddenly, he heard someone behind him call his name. The voice did not sound like either of his companions. Yan Kun frowned and turned around, only to find a blade of light flying straight at him. Caught off guard, he could only barely twist aside.

Yet it still struck his right hand, slicing off half his palm with its sharp edge. Blood sprayed from the severed wound as a boy with a twisted expression appeared before him.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Yan Kun was drenched in cold sweat from the pain. He hurriedly unleashed a soul skill, using tough spiderwebs to temporarily seal his hand and prevent himself from bleeding to death.

Mu Feng, long blinded by rage, paid Yan Kun no heed. He gave him no chance to speak again. The second and third Soul Rings beneath his feet lit up at the same time. The third soul skill granted by the Starwind Heavenly Feather Crane was Star Spirit's Grace, which could select up to three targets to strengthen or weaken their speed, strength, and Soul Power in every aspect.

Its strength depended on the gap between the target's Soul Power Level and his own. Originally, the disparity between them had been too great, so Mu Feng's ability to weaken Yan Kun was limited. However, Kayle's martial soul possessed the characteristics of Divine Judgment and greatly restrained evil martial souls, making its weakening effect on Yan Kun quite considerable.

Yan Kun, who was level fifty-eight, could now barely exert the strength of a newly advanced Soul King. Facing Mu Feng's incoming second soul skill—Sin-Breaking Flying Blades—which condensed the Soul Power within his body into blades of light and slashed them forward, it was similar to the Light-Splitting Colt's method of launching attacks with its horn.

The difference was that Mu Feng could control the blades of light and make them explode while they were in flight. Yan Kun hurriedly activated his third Soul Ring, and an enormous spiderweb appeared before him, intending to block the incoming light blades.

Just as the spiderweb was about to touch the light blades, their sharp edges suddenly vanished. They exploded into countless golden rays, whose impact passed through the gaps in the web and flew toward Yan Kun.

Yan Kun could sense the danger of those Sacred Flames from their aura alone. He leaped away and jumped out of the alley entrance as golden radiance scattered across the spiderweb and villagers behind him.

The once-tough spiderweb gradually dissolved upon touching the radiance. One villager after another fell from the web, and the moment their feet touched the ground, their legs seemed to have engines installed. They fled even faster than they had during their desperate escape for their lives.

Although he had dodged in time, quite a bit of Sacred Radiance still clung to Yan Kun's body. No matter how he shook himself, he could not throw it off. It seemed weightless.

Wherever it touched, his Soul Power slowly faded away, and even the circulation of Soul Power within his body was hindered. The only fortunate thing was that he could completely remove it by expending his own Soul Power to offset the Sacred Flames.

Just as he was about to clear away those troublesome rays, Mu Feng's first Soul Ring suddenly flashed.

The Sacred Flames still clinging to Yan Kun instantly exploded, catching him completely off guard. Standing atop a roof, he staggered and nearly fell to the ground.

Compared with Spirit Hall's Six-Winged Angel, Mu Feng's Kayle possessed not only judgment and holy attributes, but also its own unique Sacred Verdict Mark—the countless rays of light scattered through the air.

In the game, one of Kayle's skills released sacred fire at an enemy, while reducing the resistances of nearby enemies.

Mu Feng's Sacred Verdict Mark achieved the same effect through the unique nature of the Radiant Feather Spirit Sparrow. As it flew, sparks formed around its feathers. After Mu Feng absorbed it, the two combined and became the Sacred Radiance now scattered across the battlefield.

Mu Feng called it the Sacred Verdict Mark, and these marks had completely opposite effects on enemies and allies.

As the battle dragged on, every soul skill Mu Feng released increased the amount of Sacred Radiance on the field. Enemies would be weakened by the radiance as though afflicted with a debuff, while Mu Feng, bolstered by its effects, consumed Soul Power far more slowly than his opponent in battle.

As one side waned and the other waxed, the longer the battle continued, the more advantageous it became for Mu Feng. Especially when facing an opponent whose Soul Power far surpassed his own, Mu Feng actually managed to suppress Yan Kun, a Soul King, by relying on Kayle's extreme light attribute and its suppressive effect against evil Soul Masters.