Evil Soul Masters

Thirty kilometers beyond the outer region of the Great Star Dou Forest at night.

Two figures suddenly descended in silence.

They were Yan Jingzhe and Huo Yuhao, who had come from the Far North.

"Yuhao, let's rest here for the night. We'll officially enter the Great Star Dou Forest tomorrow," Yan Jingzhe said calmly. They had traveled nonstop for the past two days, and in the Far North, they had also needed to guard against all manner of possible dangers. By now, even he, with the strength of a level 99 Limit Douluo, felt a trace of fatigue.

Not to mention Huo Yuhao. If he had not absorbed a nearly four-hundred-thousand-year torso bone, he would probably have collapsed and fallen asleep long ago.

"Alright, Master." Huo Yuhao nodded obediently.

After dinner, the two rested early. To Yan Jingzhe, the tent merely served to conceal the night; he would not actually sleep, only meditate inside to recover.

But Huo Yuhao truly cultivated inside. Although his cultivation had already reached a bottleneck, every Soul Master understood the principle of building up strength before unleashing it. A temporary bottleneck did not impede cultivation. Once he obtained a Soul Ring, his strength would directly rise into place.

It was said that this had been researched ten thousand years ago by one of Shrek's founders, the great "master" Yu Xiaogang, but that might fool others. As a transmigrator who had thoroughly read the original work, could Yan Jingzhe not know what was really going on?

The great "master" Yu Xiaogang had Luo Sanpao as his martial soul, innate soul power of level one, and could never break through level thirty in his life. After deceiving Bibi Dong, the Spirit Hall Saintess and a top-tier love-struck fool, into becoming his, he brazenly repackaged the knowledge accumulated by Spirit Hall over tens of thousands of years as the "Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls" that he had supposedly written, thereby earning the title of great "master."

Yan Jingzhe sighed. "If I had transmigrated ten thousand years ago, wouldn't becoming a god have been easy? Why would I be scheming and plotting like this now...?"

As they cultivated into the dead of night, Yan Jingzhe's eyelids suddenly twitched. He swiftly opened his eyes, and the instant he did, golden light filled the small tent with brightness.

Huo Yuhao was immediately startled awake and looked at him in confusion. "Master, did something happen?"

"Someone's coming," Yan Jingzhe said gravely. "Around five people: one Titled Douluo, two Quasi-Soul Douluos, and three Soul Emperors. They reek of something disgusting. They should be Evil Soul Masters hunting Soul Rings. Let's go take a look—and wipe them out while we're at it."

"Five Evil Soul Masters? Alright, Master." Huo Yuhao sounded startled.

By the time Yan Jingzhe lifted the tent flap and stepped outside, the five people were already a hundred zhang away.

He could sense the fluctuations of their soul power. They were like five clumps of filthy ink dropped into clear water, making one feel uncomfortable even from far away.

The Titled Douluo at their head had the strongest aura, carrying a cold and venomous presence, as though something were crawling in the darkness. The other four had weaker auras, but they were equally unpleasant.

Huo Yuhao followed him out. His Spirit Eyes activated automatically, and Spiritual Detection spread forward. His expression changed slightly. "Master, these are Evil Soul Masters?"

"Yes. Remember, don't show mercy when you encounter them in the future." Yan Jingzhe kept it brief. "Come on. Let's take a look."

He stepped forward. His strides were neither large nor fast, yet with every step, the ground seemed to shrink beneath his feet.

"Mm, understood." Huo Yuhao jogged after him, his Spirit Eyes locked tightly onto the five people. Spiritual Detection had already precisely captured every detail of their soul power fluctuations. As for danger? What a joke. His master, Yan Jingzhe, was a world-class powerhouse, a Limit Douluo. Wouldn't dealing with a few Evil Soul Masters be as easy as a few slaps?

The two walked toward the other side, and the people opposite them noticed them as well.

The five Evil Soul Masters had originally been heading toward the outer region of the Great Star Dou Forest. The middle-aged man at the front suddenly stopped and raised a hand to signal those behind him to halt. He wore a gray-black cloak, its hood pulled low enough to reveal only the lower half of his face. A scar ran from the corner of his mouth to the root of his ear along his chin.

"What is it? Someone there?" a tall, thin Evil Soul Master behind him asked.

"Two people." The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and licked his cracked lips. "One is weak, around level twenty. The other... I can't gauge."

When he said he could not gauge the other, his tone carried the excitement of a hunter spotting prey.

The middle-aged man had never expected to find two prey in such a remote wilderness. As for danger, they had one Titled Douluo, two Quasi-Soul Douluos, and three Soul Emperors. Even if the other side had a Titled Douluo, they would still meet their end here.

"Come on. Let's go see our prey." He waved his hand and led the four others forward.

Moonlight spilled through gaps in the leaves, casting mottled patches of light and shadow across the ground. The five Evil Soul Masters stood in a line, their gray-black cloaks swaying faintly in the night wind. The middle-aged man at the front pulled back his hood, revealing a gaunt face with deeply sunken eye sockets and murky dark-red pupils.

He first glanced at Huo Yuhao. Soul power in the twenties, not very old, but with a solid foundation—good prey. He nodded in satisfaction, then shifted his gaze to the man beside Huo Yuhao.

Silver-white hair, golden pupils, and a face so young it was absurd. He stood there in golden robes, releasing no aura, displaying no Soul Rings, even keeping his soul power fluctuations completely restrained. He seemed no different from an ordinary person.

But the middle-aged man's pupils abruptly contracted.

He recognized that face.

A few days ago, the Holy Spirit Cult had issued an urgent internal order, accompanied by a portrait. The man in the portrait had silver-white hair, a youthful face, and golden pupils. Only eight words were written beneath it: "Upon encountering this person, flee immediately. Do not fight."

There was another line of small print below: Level 99 Limit Douluo, Director of the Shrek Soul Guidance Department, Yan Jingzhe. One of the highest-threat targets currently recorded by the Holy Spirit Cult. Any member at the Titled Douluo level who encountered him was to prioritize self-preservation above all else. All forms of probing and contact were forbidden.

Seeing his stiffened body, Yan Jingzhe asked, "You know me? It's only been a few days. Looks like you Evil Soul Masters have quite efficient ways of passing information around."

The middle-aged man, a Titled Douluo, did not answer. Only one thought remained in his mind: Run, run, run. Do not hesitate. Do not look back. Do not harbor the slightest hope of luck.

He spun around sharply without even warning his companions. His entire body turned into a streak of gray-black light and shot toward the depths of the Great Star Dou Forest. He moved so fast that it did not seem possible for a Titled Douluo; he was more like a snake whose tail had been stepped on, desperately burrowing into the grass.

The four behind him were all stunned.

"Boss?"

"Why are you running?"

"Wait for us!"

The four stared at one another, utterly unable to understand what had happened. All they saw was their boss take one look at the young man opposite him before fleeing like a madman. A tall, thin Soul Douluo hesitated, then turned to follow, but after taking only two steps, he stopped. It was not that he did not want to run—he had discovered that he could not move.

At some point, a circle of golden light had appeared beneath his feet, as though someone had drawn a ring on the ground with golden powder, locking his entire body inside.

"Fifth Soul Skill, Light Prison." A black Soul Ring flashed around Yan Jingzhe as he imprisoned all the remaining Evil Soul Masters in place.

Standing beside Yan Jingzhe, Huo Yuhao looked at the three Evil Soul Masters frozen in place, then toward the direction where the Titled Douluo had vanished into the night. Somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Master, why did that Evil Soul Master Titled Douluo run deeper into the Great Star Dou Forest?"

"Mm, he's a smart one." Yan Jingzhe nodded. "Only by relying on those fierce beasts in the Core Area of the Great Star Dou Forest does he have a sliver of hope. If he ran outward instead, could he really get away?"

Huo Yuhao understood. "Then aren't we going after him?"

"Heh, not chasing him? How could that be?" Yan Jingzhe laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry. The moment they appeared before me, I planted marks on them. That Evil Soul Master can't escape."

Let's deal with these first.

He raised his hand and flicked a finger.

Four streaks of golden light shot into the foreheads of the four Evil Soul Masters. Their pupils dilated at the same time, their bodies stiffened for a moment, and then they crumpled limply to the ground.

"Let's go, Yuhao. We'll head in and find that Evil Soul Master." After saying that, Yan Jingzhe turned, grabbed Huo Yuhao, and swept toward the Great Star Dou Forest. "We'll also find you your second Soul Ring while we're at it."