Corpse Explosion Technique

Deep within the cave, the battle had already reached a fever pitch.

Ma Xiaotao charged at the front. The Fire Phoenix's flames turned the entire passage blazing red as Dai Yueheng and Chen Zifeng followed behind her. The three advanced in a triangular formation, crushing the Evil Soul Masters wherever they passed. Groups of gray-robed figures blocked the passage corners, trying to stop them with a hodgepodge of soul skills, but they could not even last two exchanges before the Ultimate Fire.

"Slow down, Captain! We've already been separated from the team!" Dai Yueheng growled.

"Don't worry. These Evil Soul Masters are all trash. The three of us are enough. There's a Soul King-level Evil Soul Master ahead. Let's go," Ma Xiaotao said dismissively. Without slowing down, she led them deeper inside.

The three accelerated at the same time. After rounding the final bend, the space before them suddenly opened up.

This was a naturally formed underground cavern, its ceiling soaring high above and its area nearly half that of a Soul Fighting Arena. All kinds of debris and human bones lay scattered across the floor. Dark-red soul lamps were embedded in the walls, casting an eerie crimson glow. At the center of the cave stood a tall, thin figure.

The man wore a pitch-black cloak, his hood concealing most of his face and revealing only a pale, bloodless mouth. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, and his back was slightly hunched. He looked like a black statue standing there.

"More little bugs," he said in a hoarse, drifting voice, as though the words had been squeezed from the depths of his throat. "From Shrek? Tch. You come every year. Aren't you sick of it? Go die. Corpse Explosion Technique."

"Watch out!" Huo Yuhao shouted. Through his Spiritual Detection, he had discovered in horror that the corpses already lying on the ground were swelling and reddening at an alarming speed.

As though something had activated them, the corpses abruptly expanded, countless purple-black blisters bulging beneath their skin.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom... Violent detonations rang out one after another throughout the cavern, and flesh and blood flew in every direction with the terrifying explosions.

The next instant, the defensive Soul Guidance Devices on the reserve team members all lit up. The protective rings Wang Yan had given each of them activated a pale white layer of light, trying to block the blast. Yet the light screen developed cracks after only two breaths, and the poisonous gas and bone fragments were about to pierce through them.

Huo Yuhao instinctively took a step back. Wang Dong's butterfly wings had already unfurled, while Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron clanged as it rose to block the front.

But everyone knew their defenses could not withstand an attack of this level. Just as despair rose in their hearts,

a layer of golden light suddenly flared over every one of them at once.

The light surged out from their shoulders. At first, it was only a thin golden film, but in the blink of an eye, it swelled into a ring of burning golden flames. The flames were not hot, yet they carried a reassuring sense of weight, as though a warm, massive hand had pressed down from above and shut every danger outside.

The golden flame barrier enveloped everyone on the reserve team, along with Wang Yan. When the dark-green poisonous gas and bone fragments struck the golden flames, they seemed to hit an invisible wall. They hissed, then dissipated into the air.

At almost the same moment, the main team's side lit up as well.

The golden flames around Ma Xiaotao were the densest, nearly wrapping her entire body. The same warm golden light surged from the shoulders of Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and the other main team members, forming a translucent wall of shields before them. The explosion's shockwaves struck the golden shields and were silently neutralized.

The cave fell silent for a moment.

"Hehehe—how did my Corpse Explosion taste? No matter how strong you are, before my Chain Corpse Explosion, you're all doomed to die. If the explosions don't kill you, the poison will!"

The tall, thin Evil Soul Master stood amid the churning dark-green toxic smoke, his mouth beneath the hood opening wide.

As the smoke dispersed, he saw the scene before him. Not a single person from Shrek had died, and he froze.

"How is that possible?"

At that moment, Yan Jingzhe appeared at the entrance to the cave.

He covered the hundred meters from the rear of the group to the cave entrance in a single step. When he entered, there was not even one additional crease in his light-gold fitted clothes, and his silver-white hair glimmered with a faint golden edge beneath the cavern's red light.

He looked at the tall, thin Evil Soul Master at the center of the cavern, his expression unchanged.

"Corpse Explosion Technique," he said. "A disgusting skill. If I hadn't prepared in advance, you might actually have succeeded."

He paused, as though explaining something to someone, or perhaps merely speaking to himself.

"So, you can die now."

Yan Jingzhe raised a hand.

A streak of golden light flew from his fingertip toward the Evil Soul Master.

The Evil Soul Master's expression changed. He tried to dodge, but the moment he lifted his foot, the golden light had already pierced through his head.

The Evil Soul Master's body stiffened, then abruptly went limp. His eyes remained open, but all light had vanished from his pupils. Like a toppled stone statue, he collapsed crookedly to the ground without even letting out a final scream.

The cave became completely silent.

The dark-green toxic smoke slowly dispersed, though a pungent, burnt stench still lingered in the air.

Ma Xiaotao stood some distance away. The golden flames around her had faded, but her expression was rather ugly. She had nearly gotten the entire team wiped out.

She looked at Yan Jingzhe's back, opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Yan Jingzhe turned around. His gaze swept from the reserve team to the main team before finally settling on Ma Xiaotao.

"Ma Xiaotao."

"Here." Her voice was quieter than usual.

"Before you charged in, did you confirm how many corpses were in the cave?"

Ma Xiaotao froze for a moment, her lips tightening.

"No, did you?" Yan Jingzhe said. "Did you smell it? The stench of decay in that cave was more than ten times stronger than in those outer passages. There were at least twenty corpses piled up inside, yet before leading people in, you did not even make that most basic judgment."

Ma Xiaotao clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white, but she did not argue.

"And you two," Yan Jingzhe said, his gaze shifting to Dai Yueheng and Chen Zifeng. "You've been main team members for years. When you saw your captain charging in, you just charged in after her? You clearly knew the formation had fallen apart. Why didn't you stop your captain?"

Chen Zifeng lowered his head without speaking. Dai Yueheng opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately closed it.

"You were lucky today." Yan Jingzhe withdrew his gaze, his tone as calm as though he were discussing someone else's affairs. "If I hadn't been following you, none of you would have had that layer of golden flames. When the Corpse Explosion Technique went off, at least two or three of you main team members would have fallen. As for those seven little brats on the reserve team, not one of them would have escaped.

He paused and glanced at the Evil Soul Master's corpse, now completely cold on the ground.

"That's enough. Clean up the mess yourselves. Clear out this entire stronghold by today. Tomorrow morning, we head to Star Luo City."

After saying that, he turned and walked toward the cave exit. After taking two steps, he stopped again and tilted his head slightly.

"Xiaotao."

"Dean Yan."

"On the battlefield, the deadliest things are often not the enemies you see, but those you fail to notice." Yan Jingzhe did not turn back. After saying that, he continued walking out.

The cave remained quiet for a long while. Ma Xiaotao stood where she was, watching Yan Jingzhe's back vanish around the bend in the passage. Then she cursed softly and fiercely wiped a hand across her face.

"Clean up the scene." Her voice was far heavier than before. "Dispose of those corpses. Don't leave a single Evil Soul Master alive."

The main team and reserve team began moving. Some cleared away the aftermath, while others checked the depths of the cave for any Evil Soul Masters who might have slipped through. Huo Yuhao remained where he was, looking in the direction his teacher had gone. He touched his shoulder. After the golden flames vanished, they had not left behind even a trace of warmth, but he knew they had truly been there.