The Black-Robed Elder was tied to a tree trunk.
The Abundance Chain coiled around him, glowing green.
He had just awakened.
His eyelids twitched, then opened.
Quan Batian stood before him.
The Destruction Dragon Spear was pressed against his Adam's apple.
Its tip had not gone in.
It hovered one millimeter away.
Quan Batian spoke.
"Who sent you?"
It was not a question.
The Black-Robed Elder sneered.
"Even killing me will be useless."
Quan Batian said nothing.
The spear tip pressed down one more millimeter.
It cut through the skin.
A bead of blood seeped out.
Destruction Dragon Force seeped in through the wound.
It crushed his Soul Power.
The Black-Robed Elder shuddered violently.
His Soul Power scattered.
He could no longer muster any strength.
He gritted his teeth.
Quan Cangtian walked over.
He crouched down.
He met the Black-Robed Elder's gaze.
He spoke.
His voice was calm.
"What you want isn't Heavenly Fire."
"You can't take Heavenly Fire away."
"What you truly want is the gene inside my body."
The Black-Robed Elder's pupils abruptly contracted.
Quan Cangtian saw it.
He did not press further.
Quan Batian lowered the spear tip another millimeter.
A rattling sound came from the Black-Robed Elder's throat.
He spoke.
His voice was hoarse.
"The Pontifex... won't let you off."
After saying that,
he bit down and crushed the poison sac.
Quan Cangtian reacted quickly.
Abundance Power flooded into the Black-Robed Elder's mouth.
He tried to neutralize the poison sac.
But the poison sac also contained Evil Soul Power.
The moment it touched Abundance Power,
it exploded.
Blood poured from the Black-Robed Elder's seven orifices.
He died on the spot.
Quan Cangtian withdrew his hand.
His palm had been scorched with black marks.
A few seconds later,
the marks faded.
His skin healed.
He glanced at his palm.
He said nothing.
Quan Batian withdrew the Destruction Dragon Spear.
He looked at the Black-Robed Elder's corpse.
"The Pontifex."
He spoke softly.
"The Dark Soul Cult has its roots in the Sun Moon Empire."
Quan Cangtian stood up.
"We'll discuss it after we return."
Quan Batian nodded.
He looked toward the depths of the forest.
"Let's go."
The campfire was lit again.
Zixiao sat beside Quan Cangtian.
She reached out.
She turned over his right hand.
She glanced at the healed skin.
Then let go.
She said nothing.
Huo Yuhao sat with his back against a tree trunk.
His Spirit Eye instinctively swept the surroundings.
Tian Meng muttered in his Consciousness Sea.
"Kid, take a break. Your big brother's grandfather is here. Who'd dare come?"
Huo Yuhao did not reply.
But he deactivated his Spirit Eye.
He glanced at Quan Cangtian's back.
Zixiao noticed Huo Yuhao's gaze.
She said nothing.
She laid the Thunder Light Sword across her knees.
Then closed her eyes to rest.
Xiao Xiao was making soup.
The Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron was set over the fire.
The soup boiled.
She filled a bowl.
Then walked over to Quan Cangtian and handed it to him.
Quan Cangtian accepted it.
He took a sip.
Xiao Xiao sat down beside him.
Wang Dong sat some distance away.
The Light Goddess Butterfly flickered faintly behind her.
She was suppressing the unrest of her Martial Soul.
When Heavenly Fire had erupted earlier,
the second soul inside her had trembled as well.
She did not know what it was.
But she was certain of one thing.
The power inside Quan Cangtian
resonated somehow with the thing inside her.
Wang Dong clenched her fist.
The Light Goddess Butterfly's wings withdrew.
Quan Batian stood at the edge of the campfire's glow.
His back was to everyone.
Xiao Xiao spoke.
"That guy was over level eighty. I couldn't even withstand one of his Soul Skills."
Quan Cangtian did not look up.
"You withstood the palm wind of someone at level seventy-five."
Xiao Xiao pursed her lips.
"That's different."
Quan Cangtian set down his bowl.
"How is it different?"
Xiao Xiao could not answer.
She lowered her head.
She stared at the remaining soup in her bowl.
Everyone had fallen asleep.
Quan Cangtian sat alone beside the campfire.
He raised his right hand.
Beneath the black mark on his palm,
was an extremely thin layer of Dark Red Crystal.
It was not an injury.
It was something the Fused Beast Gene had formed beneath his skin.
He tried to dissolve it with Abundance Power.
It would not dissolve.
He suppressed it with Destruction Power.
It stayed down.
The moment he let go, it rebounded.
A thought flashed through his mind.
The energy spilling from Heavenly Fire was becoming increasingly difficult to control.
He lowered his hand.
The Dark Red Crystal receded beneath his skin.
He looked up at the sky.
The night sky above the Star Dou Great Forest was clear.
The stars were as dense as scattered shards of ice.
He stared at his palm for a long time.
The campfire crackled.
Quan Cangtian still sat by the fire.
A voice sounded in his mind.
Flippant, casual, and smiling.
"You can't control it anymore, huh?"
Quan Cangtian's body stiffened.
That voice
belonged to the Envoy of Elation.
The Envoy of Elation continued.
"The signs of awakening came even earlier than I expected."
Quan Cangtian wanted to ask more.
The Envoy of Elation interrupted him.
"Don't worry."
"Once you fall completely unconscious, there will be a way when you wake up."
The voice vanished.
Quan Cangtian sat where he was.
His hand was still raised.
The Dark Red Crystal pulsed faintly beneath his palm.
Zixiao's footsteps came from behind him.
She did not walk in front of him.
She sat down beside him.
The two were separated by the width of a fist.
Lightning flickered at Zixiao's fingertips.
Then went out.
A long time passed.
Zixiao spoke.
"After we get back, I'm going to train harder."
Quan Cangtian turned to look at her.
Zixiao stared at the bonfire.
"Level forty-five isn't enough."
Quan Cangtian said nothing.
Dawn.
Quan Batian called Quan Cangtian away from the others.
The Destruction Dragon Spear was planted in the ground.
The two stood as they spoke.
Quan Batian laid everything out.
"The Dark Soul Cult's roots are in the Sun Moon Empire."
"The Pontifex has an intelligence network spanning the entire continent."
"What came today was only a test."
"Next time, Titled Douluo-level enemies will come."
Quan Cangtian asked,
"Back to the Quan Family?"
Quan Batian shook his head.
"Going back would put us on the defensive."
He paused.
"When others think you're going to run, charge forward."
Quan Cangtian nodded.
Quan Batian laid out the plan.
"Go straight to Tianhun City."
"Do three things."
"First, interrogate the Dark Soul Cult's stronghold in Tianhun City."
"The Token found on the Black-Robed Elder has clues."
"Second, Huo Yuhao needs to stabilize his three Martial Souls."
"Tianhun City has a Body Sect contact point."
"Third, you need to find a way to control Heavenly Fire."
Quan Cangtian nodded.
Quan Batian stopped him.
"Cangtian."
Quan Cangtian turned back.
Quan Batian's expression was unusually serious.
"That thing, Heavenly Fire—you lose some every time you use it."
"That spear strike just now burned away more than Soul Power."
Quan Cangtian nodded.
He knew.
Something inside him had been permanently consumed.
It was not Soul Power.
It was something deeper.
The team packed up the camp.
They prepared to leave.
Huo Yuhao was adapting to his new Soul Skill.
His Spirit Eye flashed with purple light.
Zixiao drew her Thunder Light Sword.
She practiced her swordsmanship.
Xiao Xiao packed away the Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron.
Wang Dong stood in the distance.
The Light Goddess Butterfly flickered in and out behind her.
Quan Cangtian stood at the edge of the camp.
He looked in the direction of Tianhun City.
He raised his right hand.
The Dark Red Crystal pulsed faintly beneath his palm.
In his mind,
the Envoy of Elation's voice still echoed.
"Once you fall completely unconscious, there will be a way when you wake up."
He clenched his fist.
Quan Batian walked at the very front.
The Destruction Dragon Spear was in his hand.
Without looking back,
he stepped toward Tianhun City.
"Let's go."
Quan Cangtian followed.
Zixiao sheathed her sword.
She walked beside Quan Cangtian.
Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong followed.
The gene within Quan Cangtian was awakening.
The Envoy of Elation had said, "Once you fall unconscious, there will be a way when you wake up."
Tianhun City was waiting for them.
The Dark Soul Cult was waiting for them too.
The real battle
had only just begun.
Before you continue