Ambrosial Arbor Sprouting, Zhang Lexuan's Gravely Serious Expression

Moral coercion?

Bai Luo had never claimed to possess lofty morals, so why would he fall for moral coercion?

Everything he did was guided by his own heart.

Compassion for all living beings, absolute justice—those things were far too distant from Bai Luo.

He did things simply because he wanted to. Nothing more.

When had the male students of the inspection team ever encountered someone like Bai Luo, utterly impervious and without a single opening?

For a moment, he was left speechless by the retort.

Zhang Lexuan, the senior sister he admired, was standing beside him.

The boy felt humiliated and flew into a rage out of embarrassment.

"You coward who hides your face!"

"With such bizarre methods, I think you're an evil Soul Master too!"

The boy shouted angrily.

Flames surged around him.

They were especially dazzling beneath the pitch-black night sky.

His Martial Soul was the Flame Knight.

It was a fire-element Martial Soul of fairly high quality.

Though only in his twenties, he possessed the cultivation of a Soul King, making him a rare genius in the outside world.

In his Flame Knight Martial Soul Possession state, the boy gripped a long spear with a cluster of flames burning at its tip and thrust fiercely at Bai Luo.

"Chu Yan, stop!"

Zhang Lexuan's attention had previously been entirely focused on Bai Luo, this mysterious Calamity Ancestor who had suddenly appeared.

She had never expected this fellow to take the initiative and attack the mysterious Calamity Ancestor.

Before the situation was clear, Zhang Lexuan did not want their relationship to worsen. The instant she reacted, she spoke up to stop him.

But by the time her voice rang out.

Chu Yan's flaming spear had already reached within inches of Bai Luo.

A cruel smile spread across his lips.

It was as if he could already see the black-robed man before him, who was putting on such a mysterious act, pierced through by his flaming spear.

"You people still love slapping labels on others the moment you show up."

Bai Luo sighed softly.

He had long grown accustomed to being branded an evil Soul Master.

During the process of hunting targets under the identity of the Calamity Ancestor.

There had been no shortage of nobles like Earl Wang.

Officials and nobles connected to those aristocrats he had killed.

Would always seize upon his assassin's unusual methods to make an issue of them, branding him an evil Soul Master.

The evil Soul Masters Bai Luo had killed were also interpreted by them as the result of personal grudges and conflicts among evil Soul Masters.

But perhaps they were wary of the Life Association.

Or perhaps they feared Bai Luo would come looking for them.

So they acted very discreetly and did not dare be overly blatant.

As a result, Bai Luo's reputation was not greatly affected.

Some members of the association had even been displeased by the nobles' slander of their leader and retaliated.

Wasn't it just slapping labels on people?

Who didn't know how to do that?

A wave of public opinion soon swept across the entire continent like a storm.

An anonymous party listed every achievement of the Calamity Ancestor since his rise to fame.

They also detailed the sins of every person he had killed.

Thus, an immense doubt naturally arose.

The Calamity Ancestor had never killed an innocent person.

His methods were unusual, but that was not a reason to consider him an evil Soul Master.

What did certain people intend by branding such a "nemesis of evil" as an evil Soul Master?

Could it be that they themselves were evil Soul Masters, or supporters of evil Soul Masters?

The person leading this effort possessed considerable influence within the Star Luo Empire.

After the public opinion counterattack, the impact of those slanders was forcibly reduced to its lowest point.

It even caused the nobles manipulating public opinion behind the scenes to suffer a backlash from public opinion.

Therefore, Bai Luo felt no emotional stir at all toward such label-based slander. He only found it laughable.

He raised a hand.

His right index finger pointed forward.

The tip of the flaming spear abruptly halted.

The scorching flames at its tip seemed to lose their heat as well.

Chu Yan's face filled with horror at the sight.

How was that possible?

His furious strike had been blocked so effortlessly?

Bai Luo remained expressionless.

The thin lips beneath his mask moved slightly.

A pale golden radiance lit up in his emerald-like eyes.

Like molten lava flowing from a blast furnace.

"Ambrosial Arbor Sprouting."

As his words fell, they became reality.

A dull sound rang out.

The long spear in Chu Yan's hand fell to the ground.

With a thud, he dropped to both knees, clutching his throat with both hands.

His face twisted hideously.

Veins bulged around his neck.

Muffled, indistinct cries of pain escaped his mouth.

He could feel the life force draining from his body.

And something seemed to be breaking through the soil from within him!

Zhang Lexuan was the first to react.

This is bad.

She remembered the strange plants she had seen earlier and along the way just now.

Sure enough.

From deep within Chu Yan's open throat, golden shoots were already faintly emerging, growing vigorously at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Zhang Lexuan hurriedly acted.

Though she was dissatisfied with Chu Yan's sudden attack on the Calamity Ancestor without her approval.

As the leader of this operation, she was responsible for the safety of her team members.

A silver crescent moon appeared behind her, flowing with moonlight.

The moon.

That was Zhang Lexuan's Martial Soul.

It possessed a similar wondrous quality to the Silver Moon Martial Soul of a certain Soul Engineer god from the Sun Moon Empire.

It was undoubtedly a top-tier Martial Soul.

Soul Power carrying moonlight flowed into Chu Yan's body like water.

Zhang Lexuan attempted to use it to suppress the strange energy inside Chu Yan's body.

This was her first true confrontation with the Calamity Ancestor.

Only at this moment did Zhang Lexuan truly realize how terrifying this Calamity Ancestor's methods were.

The plant that had suddenly begun growing from Chu Yan's body for some unknown reason was continuously drawing upon Chu Yan's life force in a way she had never seen before.

It was not like the conventional extraction methods of evil Soul Masters!

It was as though Chu Yan had been turned into soil that provided nutrients, nourishing the growth of that peculiar plant!

Even when Zhang Lexuan forcibly suppressed it with her Soul Power, she could not eradicate it.

That plant was far too bizarre.

Even if she controlled her Soul Power and annihilated it.

It would grow out again the very next moment.

She wanted to trace its source, yet could not find the slightest clue.

She could not determine where exactly this strange plant had come from.

In only a brief moment.

A considerable amount of Chu Yan's life force had already drained away.

Several visibly white patches had appeared in his originally jet-black hair.

His skin had also begun to sag.

"S-Senior Sister, save me!"

"Save me!"

Clearly feeling the changes in his body, terror instantly shattered Chu Yan's mental defenses.

The sensation of distinctly perceiving himself rapidly aging in a short span of time was enough to make a person's mind completely collapse!

Zhang Lexuan took a deep breath and turned her gaze toward Bai Luo beneath the black robe.

This mysterious Calamity Ancestor.

From beginning to end, he had not made many movements.

He had not even released his Martial Soul or soul rings.

Yet he could silently unleash such a bizarre method, one for which she had no answer at all.

After their brief exchange, Zhang Lexuan already understood that her strength alone could not resolve the problem within Chu Yan's body.

To completely destroy that strange plant.

She would need to use the most overwhelming force to annihilate it.

But if she did that, Chu Yan would definitely not survive!