Fighting to the Death

Although Mu Feng had seized the initiative in battle and used his advantage in attribute suppression to inflict some damage on Yan Kun, who was encountering this strange fighting style for the first time,

the nearly thirty-level gulf in their soul power was not something that could be easily crossed. As Yan Kun gradually figured out the characteristics of Mu Feng's soul skills, he was able to hold Mu Feng at a stalemate even while injured, relying on his abundant soul power.

For a time, neither could do anything to the other. But compared to Yan Kun's composure, Mu Feng grew increasingly anxious as the battle dragged on.

He knew full well that Mu Feng was not the only evil soul master. Two others were currently slaughtering people throughout the village. If he could not end this battle quickly, Stone Village would still face only one outcome: destruction.

Even facing Yan Kun, a Soul King, alone was already leaving him somewhat exhausted. Not to mention that once the other two arrived, he likely would not be able to escape death either.

The more he thought about it, the more frantic Mu Feng became, desperate to deal with Yan Kun as quickly as possible. Yan Kun soon noticed his intentions and gave him no opportunity to get close.

Using his skill at setting traps, Yan Kun began playing hide-and-seek with Mu Feng amid Stone Village's maze-like houses. As he ran, he cursed his two idiot teammates in his heart.

"Is the fighting over here not intense enough? Are those two idiots blind?"

On the large locust tree in the middle of the village, neither the pair of evil soul masters carrying out their slaughter nor Mu Feng and Yan Kun, one chasing and the other fleeing, noticed the figure sitting on one of the tree's thick branches.

Through the leaves, her porcelain-white skin could be seen. Her brilliant golden hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and the outer corners of her eyes tilted slightly upward. Her beautiful phoenix eyes carried a heroic air.

She watched in Mu Feng's direction, her brows slightly furrowed as she wondered about something.

Mu Feng angrily slashed through the surrounding spiderwebs. This was the third time—the third time he had fallen into a trap set by Yan Kun. The first two times, he had accidentally touched the webs, and the paralytic poison upon them had nearly robbed him of his ability to move.

As a result, he could only deal with the webs carefully. Yet the more cautious he was, the more irritated he became. The stench of burning and blood in the air around him was growing stronger and stronger.

He had considered giving up on killing Yan Kun and going to save the others instead, but Yan Kun would interfere whenever he tried. As the battle continued, Yan Kun kept changing locations, using the complicated terrain to conceal himself and preventing Mu Feng's Sacred Radiance from displaying its full power.

The hard gap in strength caused by their vast difference in soul power levels now became apparent. It was just like when Mu Feng had fought the Ironclad Rhino, except this time Yan Kun was the one employing hit-and-run tactics, while Mu Feng had become the clumsy rhinoceros.

The slaughter proceeded quickly. The two evil soul masters had noticed the battle over there long ago. Possessing evil martial souls, they had sensed that repulsive sacred aura from the start.

However, they could also sense that Yan Kun's aura had not disappeared, only weakened somewhat. Clearly, that side had fallen into a stalemate, which meant that person was not particularly strong.

Just as Yan Kun looked down on the two of them, they were deeply dissatisfied with Yan Kun as their leader. He often bullied them under all kinds of pretexts and even squeezed them of their cultivation resources.

The Holy Spirit Cult had no cumbersome sect rules. Naturally, whoever had the stronger fist held the right to speak. It was rare to see Yan Kun suffer a setback, so neither of them was in any hurry to help him.

As he thought this, the cleaver in the hands of the Green Bone Revenant behind him plunged straight into the body of the soul master before him, who possessed only one soul ring. What he had his eye on was the pretty woman behind that soul master.

He had been cooped up in the Holy Spirit Cult's underground caverns for so long that he had nearly gone mad from it. Hearing that the man had stopped making any sound, a lewd smile appeared on his face. Compared to saving Yan Kun, enjoying the beauty before him was far more important.

Every time Yan Kun changed the battlefield, countless corpses would greet Mu Feng's eyes. Naturally, Yan Kun was not fleeing around like a headless fly. He was luring Mu Feng, whose mind had been clouded by rage, toward the other two. Once there, the three of them could join forces and kill Mu Feng.

Worried that Mu Feng would see through his plan, Yan Kun had no choice but to keep turning back to provoke him. Yet he could not evade Mu Feng's attacks every time. For that, he paid the price of several more bloody holes on his body, which only made him hate Mu Feng to the bone.

Having already lost half a palm, his future strength would inevitably be affected. Mu Feng was responsible for all of it. Yan Kun hid in a corner and looked coldly at Mu Feng, who was still searching for his trail.

A cruel smile tugged at his lips as he imagined Mu Feng dying miserably at his hands.

At that moment, he could clearly sense that those two idiots were in the house next door. All he had to do now was lure Mu Feng inside.

With that in mind, Yan Kun leaped out of the corner and stomped on a wooden board. The force of the blow shattered it, and he raced toward the house from which screams were coming.

Such a commotion naturally caught Mu Feng's attention. Overwhelmed by emotion, he had long since cast everything else from his mind. Yan Kun was the only person in his eyes.

He hurried after Yan Kun and slashed his sword at the door Yan Kun had shut. The room was a complete mess, broken furniture strewn across the floor. A gentle-looking, upright-faced man lay in a pool of blood on the ground.

Mu Feng, who had followed close behind, suddenly trembled. The familiar scene before him overlapped endlessly with the images flashing through his mind, stirring the pain buried deep within his heart.

He looked ahead and saw a woman pinned beneath a middle-aged man. The Green Bone Revenant martial soul was manifesting behind the man's back.

In an instant, a tremendous roar erupted in his mind. For a moment, he felt as though he was not standing at the doorway at all, but had curled up in a corner just as he had three years ago.

His blood surged with fury. Only then did he belatedly understand Yan Kun's intentions. Against a combination of two Soul Ancestors and one Soul King-level evil soul master, he had almost no chance of victory.

If he faced them head-on, there was only one path: death. The most correct choice was to flee.

Yet both the towering rage within him and his obsession with revenge locked his legs firmly in place.

He had an absolute reason not to run!

Suddenly, Mu Feng erupted as though he had gone mad, venting his soul power. The soul rings beneath his feet shone as several Sin-Breaking Flying Blades shot toward the three of them. These were already all the soul skills he could currently unleash.

The two Soul Ancestors reacted quickly as well, immediately joining Yan Kun in blocking the attack. The Sin-Breaking Flying Blades exploded the instant they collided with the three men's soul skills, countless rays of radiance flooding the cramped room.

"Damn it!" Alarm bells rang wildly in Yan Kun's heart. Having grown familiar with Mu Feng's fighting style, he had already anticipated Mu Feng's next move: he would certainly detonate all the Sacred Radiance. In such a confined space, Yan Kun would have almost nowhere to evade.

Suddenly, he looked at the two stunned men before him, and a plan instantly formed in his mind.