The Seraph's First Appearance!

Purple, purple, purple, purple!

Four Spirit Rings slowly faded into view. Lin Yan reached out and clenched his hand in the air, and the [Blade of Judgment], wreathed in golden-red flames, appeared in his grasp.

At that moment, Lin Yan held a blazing greatsword, wore a golden crown, and spread twelve golden-red wings that shed flickering embers. Like a second sun beneath the gloomy sky, he radiated scorching heat and delivered an overwhelming visual impact.

"Radiant wings, resplendent hope."

"Blade in hand, judgment upon all!"

Lin Yan's cold, arrogant gaze swept across the people below as he murmured softly.

The next second, the scorching and holy aura surged higher and higher, while the light blooming around him grew ever more dazzling.

"Move! Move! Fucking move already!"

"What are you worthless trash standing around for?!"

Dai Mubai shouted in panic, his body continuously retreating as though he might turn and run at any moment.

Seeing this, Lin Yan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Soul Ancestor? Soul Emperor?"

"Heh heh~"

[Third Soul Skill: Flame Light Prison Kill]

With a sweep of his longsword, several Soul Masters below were instantly engulfed in golden light. Diamond-shaped barriers rapidly condensed, shrinking from large to small.

"What kind of skill is this? Why can't I move?"

The black-clad guards panicked. From the barriers' appearance to their formation, only a single breath had passed.

Aside from the sole Soul Emperor present, who managed to react in time, everyone else was caught.

"Lord Soul Emperor, save me!"

"I don't want to die!"

"Save me!"

"..."

Pleas for mercy rang out one after another through the forest, instantly filling the area with noise.

"Don't want to die?"

[Fourth Soul Skill: Blazing Light Judgment]

A golden-red judgment array slowly formed, covering every struggling Soul Master present.

"No! Don't!"

They watched helplessly as the massive formation's patterns began to move, about to close... Their instincts told them this was the omen of death's arrival.

For a time, the pleading and cursing grew louder, and the scene became increasingly chaotic.

Not long after... the formation's patterns finally closed completely.

Boom!

The second wave of damage from [Flame Light Prison Kill] and the eruption of [Blazing Light Judgment] descended at the same time. Raging flames scorched the heavens and swept across the land, soaring high into the sky and dyeing the entire firmament golden-red.

"Ahhh!"

"No... don't..."

The screams before death were hysterical, but the howling wind stirred up by the raging flames was even more chilling.

Not far away, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong stared at the scene before them in utter shock.

"Is that... Lin Yan?"

Ning Rongrong leaned against Zhu Zhuqing, while Zhu Zhuqing relied on her strength to remain standing. The two girls used one Soul Shield after another, barely managing to preserve themselves amid the lingering shockwaves.

Soon, while using a Soul Shield, Ning Rongrong discovered a pair of gold-rimmed half-frame glasses.

She remembered that Lin Yan had let her play with them before. Once worn, the glasses could directly determine someone's Martial Soul, level, Spirit Rings, and other information.

"Were they caught inside?"

Ning Rongrong assumed that Lin Yan had accidentally brought the glasses out while taking something else out. Yet, as if possessed, she slowly picked them up and put them on.

The girl looked at Lin Yan again, and line after line of information appeared before her.

"Martial Soul: Prayer Angel, Seraph."

"Level: 49."

"First Martial Soul Spirit Rings: purple, purple, purple, purple."

"Second Martial Soul Spirit Rings: purple, purple, purple, purple."

Boom!

Ning Rongrong felt as though thunder had struck her from every direction, shattering everything she thought she knew.

"Seraph?"

"Level 49?"

"Eight purple Spirit Rings?"

"Was this Lin Yan? Was this the Healing Soul Master who had always seemed indifferent toward everything, smiled at everyone, and needed others to protect him?"

"Was this the Lin Yan who promised to be my third husband?"

Thud!

Ning Rongrong lost her footing and suddenly fell to the ground.

Zhu Zhuqing was the same... She had thought that following Lin Yan would only earn her those Soul Tools. She believed that once she grew stronger in the future, she would still need to protect Lin Yan and Ning Rongrong, the two support types, and had felt quite a bit of pressure.

She had even thought Lin Yan needed her protection, which had made her feel a little proud.

But now, it seemed that her decision that night had truly allowed her to cling to a powerful backer.

Lin Yan had been monitoring their situation all along. When the two girls fell, he glanced sideways, his attention briefly diverted.

At that very moment, the sole Soul Emperor found his chance.

"What an opportunity!"

The Ghost Leopard Martial Soul granted him unparalleled speed. His black figure flashed and vanished, arriving behind Lin Yan in an instant.

[Sixth Soul Skill: Ghost Shadow Claw]

A black claw shot straight toward Lin Yan's heart from behind, as though it intended to pierce through it in a single strike.

The two girls turned pale in fright at the sight. They wanted to shout a warning, but their terror was so extreme that they could not make a sound.

Only when his palm passed through Lin Yan's body did the Soul Emperor let out a sinister laugh...

"Heh heh heh~"

"Although I don't know why your Spirit Rings are all purple, at the end of the day, you're only a Soul Ancestor."

"So what if you killed those cannon fodder? In the end, weren't you still—"

Squelch~

The flaming longsword pierced through the Soul Emperor's chest with a dull sound.

"Wh... what?"

The Soul Emperor looked at the sword tip that had "grown" out of his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He looked up again, only to discover that Lin Yan, whom he had thought he had just killed, had already dispersed into flames.

"An afterimage? Was what I struck just an afterimage? How is that possible?"

"Your speed is too slow!"

Lin Yan's voice sounded from behind him, confirming every suspicion in his mind.

That was right!

What the Soul Emperor had struck was indeed only an afterimage. With the [Omniscient Domain] skill of his External Soul Bone, Lin Yan did not need to turn around to know what was happening behind him.

The instant the Soul Emperor lunged forward—even the instant his foot shifted—Lin Yan had already devised his response.

Lin Yan drew out his longsword, its tip angled toward the ground.

The Soul Emperor turned around and met those indifferent golden eyes.

For some reason, the Soul Emperor felt as though he was being judged for every sin he had committed. Instinctively, fear rose within him toward Lin Yan, and he wanted to repent.

"No!"

"Don't kill me. I confess! I know I was wrong! I... I won't dare do it again."

Looking at Lin Yan standing high above him and gazing down upon everything, the Soul Emperor was so frightened that he dropped to his knees with a thud. Like a petty thief caught by an official, he continuously kowtowed before an insurmountable gulf, begging for forgiveness.

Yet after taking it all in, Lin Yan merely replied calmly.

"Heavenly law tolerates no blemish."

"The unrighteous shall be consumed by flames!"

The next second, he slashed out with his sword!

The Soul Emperor was beheaded, his body falling to the ground with a crash.

The surrounding flames gradually died out, finally revealing the hellish scene in its entirety.

At that moment, the air was thick with scorching heat and the stench of burning. Aside from the Soul Emperor's corpse at Lin Yan's feet, there were more than a dozen charred, blackened bodies around them.

Surprisingly, there was no smell of roasted meat in the air. After all, they had already been carbonized...

Dai Mubai looked at the miserable scene before him, watching the ambush he had carefully prepared collapse in an instant. Even though he had mentally prepared himself, he was now too terrified to move.

Seeing this, Lin Yan walked toward him expressionlessly.

One step, two steps, three steps...

With every step he took, a small cloud of dust rose from the ashes on the ground, and Dai Mubai's heart twitched along with it.

"Y-you... don't come any closer."