Impulse

The familiar village entrance, the familiar pebble road—Mu Feng could hardly believe that everything before him was real. Just moments ago, he had been absorbing a soul ring in the Star Dou Great Forest, yet when he opened his eyes, he had somehow returned to Stone Village.

Just as he had thought he had successfully absorbed the soul ring, something unexpected happened: that thousand-year soul ring had strangely contained a mental shock. The instant he lowered his guard, he was struck. His head throbbed unbearably, as if it were about to explode.

He had never expected that this accident would trigger the trial.

Mu Feng looked around. The morning sunlight bathed the tranquil Stone Village, scattering colorful halos through the smoke that had just begun to rise from each household's chimney.

"Oh my, isn't this Little Feng?" a middle-aged woman called out as she stepped from her house carrying a basin of water. After splashing out the dirty water, she 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 awakening is coming up? Were you too excited to sleep last night?"

"My martial soul awakening?" Mu Feng blurted out.

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

"This is bad." A sense of foreboding rose in his heart. He seemed to have gained some idea of what the upcoming trial would entail.

Mu Feng raised his head and looked at the blazing sun hanging high overhead, as though he had suddenly remembered something.

Three years ago, it had been noon. The scorching sun had baked the earth mercilessly. As everyone gathered beneath the shade of the great locust tree, excited for their impending martial soul awakenings, three black-robed evil soul masters had suddenly appeared.

Realizing the situation, Mu Feng dashed into the village. Though he knew this was an illusion created by the trial and that the best choice should have been to remain calm and analyze the situation, he still could not suppress the impulse in his heart.

Even if he hurried with all his might, 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 black-robed evil soul masters were still chasing the villagers scattering in all directions. Rather than simply slaughtering them, they seemed to enjoy toying with their prey.

As he looked at the blood flooding the ground before him, the hellish scene from three years ago flashed through his mind once more. Mu Feng felt as though fire were blazing from his eyes, while a surging rage nearly burst his chest apart.

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

Several villagers struggled desperately in a spiderweb, crying, pulling, and thrashing with all their might. But the enormous web was like a swamp—the more they moved, the more firmly they became stuck.

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

He was not like those two idiots, who only knew how to enjoy the crude pleasure of killing. Next, he would carefully dissect the prey he had captured and admire the way they convulsed in pain. That was true pleasure from the bottom of the heart.

Suddenly, he heard someone calling his name from behind. It did not sound like one of his companions either. Yan Kun turned around with a frown, only to find a blade of light rushing toward him. In his haste, he could only barely twist aside.

Yet it still struck his right hand, slicing off half his palm with the razor-sharp blade. Blood sprayed from the severed wound as a ferocious-looking youth appeared before him.

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

Mu Feng, whose mind had long been overwhelmed 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 simultaneously. The third soul ring granted him the soul skill bestowed by the Starwind Heavenly Feather Crane, Star Spirit's Grace, which could select up to three targets and amplify or weaken their speed, strength, and soul power in every aspect.

Its potency depended on the gap between the target's strength and his own soul power level. Normally, the difference in strength between the two was far too great, limiting how much Mu Feng could weaken him. However, because Kayle's martial soul possessed the characteristics of Divine Judgment and strongly restrained evil martial souls, the weakening effect on Yan Kun was still remarkably significant.

Yan Kun, originally level fifty-eight, could now barely display the power of a newly advanced Soul King. Facing Mu Feng's incoming second soul skill—Sin-Breaking Flying Blades, which condensed soul power into blades of light and slashed them forward, much like the Light-Splitting Colt's method of driving its horn to attack—

The difference was that Mu Feng could control the blades of light to explode while they were in flight. Yan Kun hurriedly activated his third soul ring, causing an enormous spiderweb to appear before him in an attempt to block the attack.

Just as the web was about to touch the blades of light, their sharp edge suddenly vanished, exploding into countless golden radiances. The shockwaves then passed through the gaps in the web and flew toward Yan Kun.

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

The once-tough spiderweb gradually dissolved upon contact with the radiance. One villager after another fell from the web, and the moment their feet touched the ground, their legs moved as if fitted with engines. They ran even faster than they had during their desperate flight for survival.

Although he had dodged in time, Yan Kun was still stained by quite a bit of Sacred Radiance. It clung to his body, impossible to shake off no matter how he moved, as though it had no weight at all.

Wherever it touched, his soul power slowly dissipated, and even the circulation of soul power within his body was hindered. Fortunately, he could completely remove it by expending his own soul power to neutralize the holy flames.

Just as he was about to clear away those troublesome radiances, Mu Feng's first soul ring suddenly flashed.

The holy flames Yan Kun had not yet managed to dispel instantly exploded, catching him completely off guard. His body staggered atop the roof, and he nearly fell to the ground.

Compared to the Six-Winged Angel of the Martial Soul Hall, Mu Feng's Kayle possessed not only the attributes of judgment and holiness, but also the exclusive Sacred Verdict Mark—the countless motes of radiance scattered through the air.

In the game, Kayle's first skill released a stream of holy fire at an enemy, while also reducing the defenses of nearby enemies.

Mu Feng's Sacred Verdict Mark achieved the same effect through the Radiant Feather Spirit Sparrow's unique traits. As it flew, sparks of starlight formed around the Radiant Feather Spirit Sparrow's feathers. After Mu Feng absorbed it, the two merged to become the Sacred Radiance now spread 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, the amount of Sacred Radiance on the field increased every time Mu Feng used a soul skill. Enemies seemed to gain a weakening effect under its reduction, while Mu Feng, bolstered by its enhancement, consumed far less during battle than his opponent.

With one side waning as the other grew stronger, the longer the battle lasted, the more favorable 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, through Kayle's ultimate light attribute and its restraining effect on evil soul masters.