The Sand Wolf Gang Is Shaken!

"Looks like I needed more practice when I got back," Huang Yun muttered to himself.

Tie Shan and Liu Ying returned after gathering the spoils as well.

Tie Shan plopped down across from the campfire. The way he looked at Huang Yun had completely changed. He had called him little brother earlier, but now his eyes were filled with respect.

"Boss." Tie Shan rubbed his hands together. "The moment you unleashed that Thundercloud, my legs went weak. What kind of power was that? And that last move of yours—you flashed right through them, and I couldn't even see how you moved."

Huang Yun replied casually, "As long as you're fast enough."

Tie Shan wanted to ask more, but Liu Ying stopped him with a look.

Liu Ying simply sat down quietly and added a piece of firewood to the flames. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Those people from earlier belonged to the well-known Sand Wolf Gang nearby. Their leader was Iron Baldy, the Sand Wolf Gang's third-in-command. The Sand Wolf Gang has considerable influence in the Nether Wasteland. Their gang leader is a Soul Saint, and he has several Soul Emperors under him. Sooner or later, they'll find out about what happened tonight."

Tie Shan's expression changed. He clearly knew the Sand Wolf Gang's reputation.

Huang Yun merely raised an eyebrow, showing little reaction.

So what if they had a Soul Saint? At worst, he could just run.

As for these people, they could be sacrifices to the heavens. They had only met by chance, after all.

At worst, once he grew strong enough, he would come back and kill those bastards to avenge them.

He stuffed the last piece of dried meat into his mouth, clapped his hands, and stood up.

"We'll deal with it when they find us. Sleep. We still have a journey tomorrow."

Deep within the Nether Wasteland, at the Sand Wolf Gang headquarters.

At daybreak, the gang leader, Sha Tongtian, was drinking tea in the council hall.

He was a man in his fifties. He was not especially burly, but he was lean and sturdy. His cheekbones were high, his triangular eyes half-lidded, and his fingers tapped steadily against the rim of his teacup.

After serving as the Sand Wolf Gang's leader for more than a decade, every force large or small in the Nether Wasteland had to show him some respect. Life had been going rather smoothly for him.

However, that peace was quickly shattered.

A hurried set of footsteps sounded outside. A minor leader stumbled and crawled into the council hall, his face deathly pale and his lips trembling as he cried, "Gang Leader! The third-in-command... the third-in-command's Soul Tablet has shattered!"

The teacup in Sha Tongtian's hand froze.

He lifted his head. His triangular eyes snapped open, and his sharp gaze stabbed into the minor leader's face like a blade. "When did it happen?"

"J-Just half an hour ago. The brothers at the Soul Guardian Hall discovered that the third-in-command's Soul Tablet had cracked. Now there are only a few fragments left. The Soul Tablets of the other ten Soul Kings have all shattered too!"

The other leaders in the council hall changed expression upon hearing this.

The second-in-command, Iron Wolf, abruptly rose to his feet. He was a tall, thin man, with a knife scar running from his left eyebrow to his chin. He looked like someone not to be trifled with.

He said in a low voice, "Third Brother took men to rob Old Chen's merchant caravan last night. That caravan only had three Soul King guards. Third Brother was a Soul Emperor. How could something have happened to him?"

Sha Tongtian said nothing, but he set down his teacup and stood.

"Let's go take a look."

Inside the Soul Guardian Hall, the Soul Tablet of Iron Baldy, the third-in-command, had shattered into several pieces scattered across the shelf. The Soul Power fluctuations on it had completely dissipated.

Sha Tongtian picked up a fragment and examined it at his fingertips, his face darkening to a terrifying degree.

A shattered Soul Tablet meant the person was dead. Even their martial soul and soul rings had dispersed. It was complete death.

This was something made by a member with a special martial soul, capable of monitoring a person's vital signs.

The world was vast, and all manner of strange things existed.

This was a genuine world.

"Who has detailed intelligence on Old Chen's merchant caravan?" Sha Tongtian turned and swept his gaze over the others.

A minor leader in charge of intelligence hurriedly stepped forward. "Reporting to the Gang Leader, the caravan is led by a man surnamed Chen. He travels the route from Blackstone City to Black Wind Valley year-round, trading medicinal herbs and ores. This time, they recruited a new guard in Blackstone City. Rumor has it that he's a masked Agility Attack Soul King, though his rank is unknown. He accepted the mission at Heroes' Hall in Blackstone City five days ago."

"An Agility Attack Soul King?" Iron Wolf frowned. "Could an Agility Attack Soul King kill Third Brother? Third Brother took ten Soul Kings with him. Even if they couldn't win, they should have been able to escape. How could not a single one get away?"

"Has anyone been sent to inspect the scene?"

"Men have already been sent. They left before dawn and should be back soon."

Sha Tongtian said nothing more. He returned to the council hall and sat down, his fingers resuming their tapping against the table.

No one else dared to speak. The council hall was so quiet that only the tapping and breathing could be heard.

About an hour later, the men who had been sent out returned.

The man who arrived was also a minor leader. His face was covered in windblown dust, clearly showing that he had rushed all the way back.

He entered and dropped to one knee, his voice urgent. "Gang Leader, the brothers have inspected the scene. The third-in-command and all ten brothers are dead. The bodies are all there. There's residual Soul Power at the scene—lightning attribute. It covered a vast area. At least five hundred meters in every direction bore scorch marks from electrical arcs."

"Lightning attribute?" Iron Wolf's frown deepened.

"Yes, and the traces at the scene were extremely clean. There were no signs of a prolonged fight. It was as if..."

The minor leader hesitated, but still said it. "It was as if they were all taken down in an extremely short time. The third-in-command had a piercing wound through his body, from his back through his chest. The area around it was covered in blackened scorch marks left by electrical arcs. There was also a huge crater in the ground caused by a heavy weapon. It should have been made by the third-in-command's Earth-Splitting Hammer, but he only struck once. There was no follow-up."

"Third Brother's Rock Armor Technique was pierced straight through?" Iron Wolf's face tightened.

"Yes, Second-in-Command. Fragments of the Rock Armor Technique were still attached to the corpse's surface, but the hole in the middle was neat, as if something had drilled through it in an instant."

Sha Tongtian's tapping stopped.

He narrowed his eyes and thought for a while before asking, "Eleven people died. How many casualties did the enemy suffer?"

The minor leader lowered his head, his voice growing softer and softer. "At the scene... we found no enemy corpses. The enemy... should have suffered zero deaths. But they must have been injured, considering how large the battle was."

The council hall fell deathly silent.

Iron Wolf gripped the armrest of his chair, his knuckles turning white. "Lightning attribute, extreme speed, capable of instantly killing ten Soul Kings and a Soul Emperor without suffering any casualties... This definitely wasn't an ordinary Agility Attack Soul King. At the very least, he possessed the combat power of a Soul Saint, and a lightning-attribute, speed-type Soul Saint at that."

An elder-like old man spoke up. "A Soul Saint, and one with a lightning attribute at that... Could someone so powerful be from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the Upper Three Clans?"

"Impossible." Sha Tongtian shook his head. "The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan wouldn't take an escort mission like this. Their disciples display their clan identities whenever they travel, and they wouldn't wear masks and hide their faces. Their people are even prouder than we are!"

"Then could he be an independent cultivator?"

"An independent Soul Saint wouldn't be that young. There were no old injuries visible on Third Brother's corpse. The enemy's attacks were highly precise. He didn't seem like some hardened veteran who had fought and killed for years. He seemed more like an exceptionally gifted young man."

Sha Tongtian stood, clasped his hands behind his back, and paced twice across the hall. Then he suddenly stopped and asked, "Can we find out that kid's background?"