A Soul King Like a Homeless Dog

"Nether Rat Possession!"

With a low growl, Nian Xunsi instantly possessed the Nether Rat martial soul. Though his body grew considerably taller, his straight back hunched over. His silver hair turned grayish-black, and patterns resembling rat fur emerged across his forehead.

Behind him, the first of the five soul rings belonging to a Soul King lit up. Boundless Soul Power swept across the entire area in an instant.

It placed considerable pressure on the younger ones present.

Using Blue Silver Grass to shield Huo Yuhao's small body, she kept him from suffering the Soul King's indiscriminate Soul Power pressure.

Lin Wan'er nonchalantly announced her identity, signaling the formal start of a battle between Soul Masters.

"Holy Maiden Lin Wan'er of the Heaven Dou Empire. Martial soul: Soraka. Level thirty-seven Soul Elder."

Had anyone else been present, Nian Xunsi naturally would not have wanted to reveal the traits of his martial soul. After all, his martial soul truly was not very pleasant to look at, and it carried somewhat of an Evil Soul Master air about it.

But Lin Wan'er's previous battle with Tang Sect Leader Tang Ya, along with the forces backing her, made him deem it necessary.

He intended to bring the Holy Maiden of the Heaven Soul Sect back to Shrek and leave her to the Inner Courtyard elders' judgment, drawing a perfect end to his soon-to-begin retirement.

Yet Nian Xunsi did not know that this action, which seemed to move even himself and shock Tang Ya and the others, was no more laughable in Lin Wan'er's eyes than a mayfly trying to shake a tree or a mantis trying to stop a cart.

A mere Soul King in his fifties, an insignificant teacher whose name did not even register in Shrek, actually dared to run wild in her Star Dou Great Forest.

If she did not teach him a proper lesson, then once the somewhat intelligent Emperor Willow noticed something amiss and passed the news to the Ferocious Beasts, those joke-loving beasts would mock her for a long time after she returned.

At the thought that the image she had worked so hard to establish in the Star Dou Great Forest might collapse along with the rumors, Lin Wan'er's Soul Power began circulating through her entire body. She gave a cold snort.

The Star Guardian Soraka martial soul returned to its position, while three emerald-green soul rings revolved and flowed around Lin Wan'er.

If Lin Wan'er truly had been an ordinary Soul Elder, then her fate would have been to lose to Nian Xunsi and be brought back to Shrek to await rescue from the Heaven Dou Empire and the Heaven Soul Sect.

But there were many fruits in this world—just not the fruit of "if."

Star Body Barrier!

As Lin Wan'er fully unleashed her aura, a thread of the Goddess of Life's divine power immediately traveled from the base of the Star Guardian Staff into the soil, covering the surrounding ground in a pale-purple barrier patterned with stars.

The Soul King's oppressive aura was neutralized by divine power. Whether Tang Ya, Bei Bei, or Huo Yuhao, they all found that the peerless young girl before them carried an even stronger aura of nature, one that drew their hearts and minds toward her and made them unable to muster even the slightest urge to resist.

"What is that?"

At the same time, Nian Xunsi, who had been preparing to take Lin Wan'er down in a single strike, wore a grave expression.

Perhaps the others were too young and had never experienced the darkest of times, so they could not notice the change in Lin Wan'er's aura.

But Nian Xunsi had once followed an inspection squad in exterminating Evil Soul Masters, and he immediately noticed that Lin Wan'er had killed Soul Masters—and more than one at that.

Countless bones lay concealed beneath the dense aura of life, while killing intent clung to her like a venomous snake.

Nian Xunsi's eyes flickered slightly as his expression changed. He could not understand why the Holy Maiden of the Heaven Dou Empire, only twelve years old, had personally killed so many Soul Masters...

While the Soul King fell into brief silence, Lin Wan'er had already laid down a Heavenly Net, waiting for her prey to slowly walk into it and become nourishment for the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Since you refuse to make the first move, then this Holy Maiden shall first see just how capable a teacher of Shrek's Outer Courtyard truly is."

Lin Wan'er smiled faintly, and her body instantly turned into an afterimage before vanishing.

"A mere child dares to speak so arrogantly before this old man!"

Nian Xunsi came back to his senses and, as though facing a formidable foe, extended his sharp claws to defend against the weapon in Lin Wan'er's hand—an obviously powerful and exceedingly valuable weapon.

The proud Soul King had been deceived by appearances. He naïvely assumed Lin Wan'er was a Beast Soul Master, and that the unknown Soraka was the young girl's martial soul.

He did not realize that Soraka's staff and abilities were one.

Thus, the careless Nian Xunsi's pupils contracted the moment he came into contact with the Star Guardian Staff. Only upon contact did he finally realize something was wrong.

Wrapped around the Star Guardian Staff was precisely the Heterochromatic Soul Ring behind Lin Wan'er, while binding sand that represented Star Power coiled around his vulnerable neck.

Sensing the threat of death, Nian Xunsi instinctively unleashed his fourth soul skill—White Rat Molting, a life-saving technique—and successfully broke free of the restraints.

Taking advantage of that, Lin Wan'er slightly adjusted the raised Star Guardian Staff in her hand. A pale-pink cold gleam flashed, and several wounds from Star Power appeared across Nian Xunsi's chest.

"You actually managed to wound this old man! It seems I underestimated you!"

The two fought at such tremendous speed that the battle far exceeded what ordinary Soul Grandmasters could observe. Thus, when Bei Bei and Tang Ya widened their eyes and looked ahead, they were astonished to discover that Nian Xunsi had actually lost to Lin Wan'er in their first probing exchange!

"Those who insult the Heaven Dou Empire shall be executed before judgment."

As her cold voice fell, a pair of pure-white illusory wings appeared behind Lin Wan'er out of thin air, carrying her into the sky beyond the reach of ordinary close-combat Soul Masters. The Star Guardian Staff gathered a dazzling green radiance.

Then, a meteor falling from the sky arrived as expected, plunging downward as though it possessed a locking function. The dense aura of death made Nian Xunsi's face change drastically, and the fourth soul skill he had just activated lit up once more.

This was his life-saving fourth soul skill. It could be considered a weaker version of an invincible golden body, or perhaps an illusionary clone meant to mislead others.

Lin Wan'er's casual probing had greatly heightened the sense of danger felt by the elderly Nian Xunsi, who was about to retire and live out his remaining years. If he did not evade the bizarre Holy Maiden's soul skill in advance this time, would he not be leaving his old life here? With a mind as filthy as his martial soul, after activating his fourth soul skill, Nian Xunsi even burned a portion of his Soul Power origin in an attempt to escape Lin Wan'er's first soul skill: Meteor Fall.

Unfortunately, Meteor Fall had long since been improved by Lin Wan'er into a tracking-type soul skill. Unless Nian Xunsi left her field of vision and hid himself, the power of the stars would inevitably strike its target.

With nowhere to hide, Nian Xunsi was struck in the back by a streak of light. The burning pain behind him made him grunt, and a trace of red blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

Immediately afterward, an impossible-to-ignore sensation of being stripped away rose from within his body. Nian Xunsi could not help shouting, "You—you're an Evil Soul Master! The Soul Power and life force inside my body are actually draining away! What kind of monster are you?!"

The Soul Power and life force being stripped away lasted only an instant, yet no matter how the Soul King struggled, he could only watch helplessly as the power within his body was peeled away and floated toward Lin Wan'er.

The onlookers all sucked in a breath. Soul skills capable of stripping away Soul Power and life force—aside from Evil Soul Masters, no one else possessed such bizarre power.

Could it be that the Holy Maiden of the Heaven Soul Sect under the Heaven Dou Empire was actually an Evil Soul Master everyone despised? Yet as she watched Lin Wan'er dance through the air, surrounded by butterflies and birds like a Goddess, even Tang Ya, who hated the Heaven Soul Sect to the core, could not bring herself to believe that she was an Evil Soul Master.

"Shrek Outer Courtyard teacher, with your thinning hair and shallow knowledge, the reason a small portion of your life force and Soul Power was stripped away is simply because you were hit by my first soul skill—Meteor Fall."

Enemies struck by the Meteor Fall soul skill would suffer damage from the explosion and be slowed by roughly thirty percent.

At the same time, if those hit did not immediately cover their entire bodies with Soul Power, the lingering meteors would steal the restorative effects within their bodies—commonly known as life force and Soul Power.

During this time, as the user of the first soul ring skill, Lin Wan'er would receive the restorative effects stolen from her target. She could freely give them to allies lacking Soul Power or suffering injuries, or use them to replenish herself, greatly enhancing her endurance.

It could be said that as long as Lin Wan'er stood on the battlefield and was not ambushed and sent off the fighting platform at the first opportunity—

She would become the nightmare of all enemies and a prized treasure in the eyes of allied Soul Masters, a healing Soul Master more deserving of respect than any support-type Soul Master the continent had ever seen.

After all, compared with support-type Soul Masters who lacked even the strength to truss a chicken, needed the careful protection of other Soul Masters, and had little combat ability, Lin Wan'er's own fighting strength was formidable, no weaker than that of an ordinary Assault System Beast Soul Master.

"Impossible! There can absolutely be no soul skill this heaven-defying on the continent. You must be deceiving me!"

Nian Xunsi coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyes red as he refused to believe her one-sided explanation. His unreasonable behavior made Bei Bei, as a normal person, unable to keep from frowning.

A Shrek Outer Courtyard teacher should not be making such a spectacle of himself. He had used the Soul Power of a Soul King to deal with a Soul Elder and lost, yet after failing, he was even unwilling to believe her explanation.

After all, everyone on the continent kept their soul skills secret from outsiders whenever possible and would never reveal even the slightest bit more than necessary.

Yet Lin Wan'er had not only openly defeated the Soul King Nian Xunsi, but had even explained the effects of her first soul skill before them with clear reasoning and evidence. If they still refused to believe her, things would be difficult to resolve.

As one of Shrek's presentable representatives, the deeply honorable Bei Bei stepped forward. He clenched one fist against his chest and solemnly said to Lin Wan'er, who floated in midair:

"I guarantee in the name of a Shrek student that if you can prove the life force and Soul Power you took can be given to others for use, I will immediately take Teacher Nian Xunsi and Tang Ya away from here. I also promise that after returning to Shrek, I will truthfully report everything that happened today and never again slander the Heaven Soul Sect of the Heaven Dou Empire."

"Bei Bei..."

Looking at Bei Bei standing before her, shielding her from the storm, Tang Ya could not help but shed tears of emotion. She then wiped them away, stepped forward to stand beside him, and solemnly declared, "I, Tang Ya, swear in the name of the current Tang Sect Leader that all conflicts and mistakes arising today will be borne by me alone. You may rest assured!"

This flop of an author only just learned that poor trial-reading data could get a book removed from the rankings early, and is trembling in fear. Today is still a combined six-thousand-word update! I wrote one more chapter than everyone else, sob sob, so please give me more follow-up reads! Poor data can get a book axed—I don't want to drop this book.