Night deepened.
Su Chen vaulted over the courtyard wall, his figure vanishing into the Rear Mountain.
That two-meter-high wall should have been an obstacle for a six-year-old child.
But he did not want Iron Wall's help.
Last time, Iron Wall had merely touched the courtyard gate, and the gateframe and half the wall had collapsed together.
There was an abandoned training ground on the Rear Mountain, where wild grass had already grown knee-high.
It stood a full four hundred paces from the nearest dormitory building, quiet enough.
Su Chen raised a hand.
Ten dark golden spatial rifts opened before him.
The ground trembled repeatedly as ten Ten-Thousand-Year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bears stepped out one after another, their heavy paws crushing the stones beneath them.
Su Chen gave no order.
Only one word flashed through his mind.
Defend.
The bear pack immediately moved.
Iron Wall stood in the center, with four Fearclaw Bears spreading out on either side and the last one holding the rear.
The ten colossal beasts pressed shoulder to shoulder, forming an arcing shield formation.
A translucent film of light rapidly formed between their dark golden scales.
Corps Coordination—Dark Golden Iron Wall.
Su Chen's thoughts changed again.
Attack.
The formation changed instantly.
Iron Wall charged at the front, while the nine colossal beasts behind it split into two rows, forming a triangular arrow formation.
Change formation.
Encircle.
The ten Fearclaw Bears scattered with a thunderous crash, surrounding the withered locust tree in the middle of the field.
They left no gaps between them.
Su Chen withdrew his intent.
All the Fearclaw Bears stopped at once.
From defense to offense, then to encirclement, the three formation changes took less than five breaths.
Su Chen had not shouted any commands, nor had he specified any directions.
"Driven by strategic intent."
He spoke softly.
"There is no need for detailed command. Just determine the objective and direction."
He thought of his adoptive father's shabby wooden cabin.
There had been an old, worm-eaten book in that cabin, with only two words on its title page.
The Art of War.
Before he turned six, he had read that book twenty-seven times.
Back then, he did not understand why a mountain herb farmer would keep a book on military strategy.
Now, that question no longer mattered.
At noon the next day, Jiang Yuandong appeared again.
This time, he had brought two gray-robed Soul Masters.
The two were only Soul Grandmasters, yet they wore standard Spirit Hall soul-tool daggers at their waists. That was not the equipment of ordinary guards; it looked more like the gear used to escort prisoners.
"Young friend Su Chen." Jiang Yuandong's face was full of smiles. "A new special training ground has been built west of the academy. It is more suitable for cultivation than the Rear Mountain. I have already applied for it on your behalf. Shall we go now?"
Su Chen followed him for a dozen paces before suddenly stopping.
"Elder Jiang."
Jiang Yuandong turned back.
"The training ground is to the east." Su Chen looked at the road ahead. "Yet you are leading me west."
Jiang Yuandong's steps halted.
Su Chen continued, "Beyond the academy wall to the west, Nording City's western gate is three hundred paces away. Outside the western gate is open wilderness, with a clear field of view."
He raised his head.
"It is well suited for an ambush."
Jiang Yuandong turned around. The smile remained on his face, but the corners of his mouth had stiffened.
Su Chen looked at him and continued, "At the third watch last night, you contacted Spirit Hall headquarters with a soul-tool communicator. The call lasted roughly the time it takes to drink two cups of tea. The communicator is hidden in the third drawer of the desk in your study, wrapped in soundproof beast hide. The hide can block sound, but it cannot block Iron Wall's senses."
The smile on Jiang Yuandong's face vanished completely.
He slowly straightened up. The back he had kept bent in servility for two days now regained the bearing of a Soul King powerhouse.
Five Spirit Rings rose in succession. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black.
A Gray Shadow Wolf appeared behind him, its wolf eyes glinting with a cold, ghostly green light.
"Young friend Su Chen." Jiang Yuandong's voice turned cold. "I had intended to let you go to Spirit Hall in comfort and enjoy a good life. But you insisted on seeking your own death."
"Take him!"
The two gray-robed Soul Masters simultaneously drew their soul-tool daggers and closed in from both sides.
At that moment, a black shadow dropped from the academy rooftops, as swift as Gui Mei.
The two Soul Grandmasters only saw a blur before a cold purple flame flashed across their necks.
They did not even have time to scream before their bodies stiffened in place. The light in their pupils quickly dimmed, and their vitality vanished in an instant like withered grass set ablaze.
The black-robed figure landed, revealing beneath his hood a pale and handsome young face.
It was Mo Qianye.
Behind him, a black phoenix with a wingspan exceeding four meters silently emerged. Purple Netherfire burned at its wingtips, while two thousand-year Spirit Rings pulsed beneath his feet.
"Spirit Hall's dogs." Mo Qianye's voice held no emotion, yet the dark purple light deep in his pupils seemed almost tangible. "All of you deserve to die."
Jiang Yuandong's pupils constricted. "Where did this little brat come from? You're courting death!"
He forcibly stirred his Soul Power and released his third soul skill with a furious roar. "Nether Wolf Howl!"
Gray sound waves took the shape of a wolf's head and blasted toward Mo Qianye.
Mo Qianye remained expressionless. The Nine Netherworld Phoenix behind him let out a low cry, and the purple Netherfire at its wingtips surged. It opened its beak and swallowed the gray wolf head, erasing it without a trace.
"Fifth Soul Skill—Shadow Escape!"
Seeing that things were going badly, Jiang Yuandong transformed into a gray shadow and tried to flee.
Su Chen raised his right hand.
Ten dark golden rifts burst open beneath his feet at once. Ten Ten-Thousand-Year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bears instantly formed a military formation, and an invisible force field sealed the entire area.
Jiang Yuandong had barely escaped several meters when he crashed into an invisible wall and was pinned fast. He was forced out of his soul skill state, his body solidifying again.
He stared in horror at the dark golden colossal beasts surrounding him, then at the black-robed youth approaching with leisurely steps. For the first time, pure fear appeared on his face.
"Y-you... you..."
Mo Qianye walked before him, a cluster of purple Netherfire resting in his palm.
The flame had no temperature, yet Jiang Yuandong felt his very soul trembling.
"No... don't..."
The Netherfire gently fell onto him.
There was no burning pain, only the agony of an extreme punishment that tore his soul apart inch by inch from its very depths.
The Gray Shadow Wolf martial soul behind Jiang Yuandong let out a mournful cry. It was forcibly driven from his body alive, twisting and struggling painfully in the Netherfire before finally turning into specks of purple light and dispersing.
"Ah—!"
Jiang Yuandong clutched his head and rolled across the ground, animalistic howls squeezing from his throat.
His martial soul had been burned away alive by that strange flame!
Mo Qianye withdrew his hand and calmly watched Jiang Yuandong convulse on the ground, his gaze indifferent.
From the moment Jiang Yuandong released his martial soul to the moment it was destroyed, fewer than thirty breaths had passed.
Su Chen crouched beside Jiang Yuandong and met his gaze.
"Will Spirit Hall send more people?"
Jiang Yuandong convulsed all over, half his face buried in the dirt. Only one eye remained, glaring at him with venomous hatred.
"You... killing me... won't help..."
"Headquarters already knows..."
"They will send a Soul Emperor, perhaps even a Soul Sage..."
Su Chen stood. He would not kill Jiang Yuandong.
A living but crippled Soul King could bring greater confusion and wariness to Spirit Hall.
Su Chen turned to Mo Qianye. "Your condition."
"Spirit Hall's destruction." Mo Qianye spoke those four words. Behind him, the Nether Phoenix raised its head, purple flames dancing in the night.
Su Chen did not hesitate. "Deal. But all actions proceed at my pace."
Mo Qianye nodded.
Su Chen said, "Let's go. We cannot stay in Nording City."
"Where to?"
Su Chen looked north.
At the end of the horizon, a dense forest pressed down upon the earth, its canopies merging into a vast expanse of darkness.
The Star Dou Great Forest.
The largest soul beast forbidden zone on Douluo Continent.
"To a place where no one can find us."
Su Chen leaped onto Iron Wall's broad back.
Mo Qianye tapped the ground with his toes and followed along the flank atop purple Netherfire.
The ten Dark Golden Terrorclaw Bears formed a long column and marched forward, making the earth tremble.
When the group passed through Nording City's northern gate, Little Gold walked at the rear. It glanced back at the tiny city and snorted two streams of white vapor from its nostrils.
Several guards atop the city wall widened their eyes.
A six-year-old child rode atop a dark golden colossal beast, followed by ten Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, heading toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
One guard stood with his mouth open for a long while before finally forcing out a sentence. "My god... he's going to the Star Dou Great Forest? Does he not value his life?"
The old soldier beside him stared fixedly at the departing group and swallowed.
"Whether he values his life, I do not know."
"But this matter will soon spread across the continent."
Su Chen did not look back.
The ten Dark Golden Terrorclaw Bears stepped across the boundary of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The towering canopies closed overhead, leaving the light from the city walls behind them.
From the depths of the darkness, Su Chen's voice drifted out.
"While we're at it—"
"I need a second Spirit Ring."
Before you continue