Riding the Wind, Killing with Every Step

At that moment, the female team member was heading toward Cao Xin.

Her steps were light and silent, making almost no sound as she trod across the layer of fallen leaves.

This was because her martial soul, the Devouring Moon Wolf, granted her agility and stealth abilities far beyond those of ordinary people.

Five soul rings emerged around her.

Two yellow, two purple, and one black.

At the same time, grayish-white fur sprouted from her arms and the sides of her neck, while her pupils became emerald-green slits. She had already entered the state of Martial Soul Possession.

Then, countless leaves suddenly swept toward her on the breeze.

The leaves were dense and swift, wrapping around her amid a rustling sound.

The female team member froze slightly. Her vision was obscured by the fluttering leaves, and she instinctively raised a hand before her eyes.

The next moment...

A sword gleam appeared amid the leaves.

Wrapped in deep cold, a longsword silently pierced out from the sea of leaves like a soundless bolt of thunder.

Deep Winter Sword Intent.

Where the sword tip passed, the world instantly dimmed.

The sunlight that had filtered through the canopy seemed to have been blocked by something invisible.

The entire area suddenly darkened.

Countless flakes of ice and snow danced through the air. The leaves that had been ordinary fallen leaves moments ago were covered in frost the instant they touched the Sword Intent, turning into crystalline shards that spun, collided, shattered, and reflected scattered glimmers of cold light.

An intent of utter stillness enveloped everything.

The female team member revealed a horrified expression.

Her emerald slit pupils abruptly widened, and the ease on her face was replaced by terror the instant the sword gleam appeared.

She did not even have time to make a defensive move before the sword pierced through her heart.

The Power of Deathly Silence erupted.

The life faded from the female team member's eyes. Her emerald pupils rapidly lost focus, and the light in her gaze vanished like a candle flame blown out by the wind.

She did not even manage a scream before her body crumpled to the ground. The grayish-white wolf fur quickly receded, restoring her human appearance.

Just one strike.

A Five-Ring Soul King had died just like that.

Cao Xin sheathed his sword and stood still, calmly looking at the corpse on the ground without any extra expression on his face.

He turned to look in the direction of the six team members...

The breeze once more swept up countless leaves, shrouding his figure again.

And Cao Xin vanished once more.

Leaving behind only a deathly silent clearing in the forest.

At that moment, five minutes had passed.

Seeing that the female team member had yet to return, the six-person squad was somewhat surprised.

Someone could not help muttering in a low voice.

"Strange. Why hasn't Sister Qing come back yet?"

Logically speaking, dealing with a seven-year-old child should have taken only a few breaths with her strength as a Five-Ring Soul King.

No matter how slow she was, it should not have taken this long.

The vice-captain leaned lazily against a tree trunk, his tone carrying hints of mockery and disdain.

"She can't even take down a seven-year-old kid right away? Changqing is really getting worse with age."

He had never gotten along with the female team member, Changqing. Now that he had the chance, he naturally had to take a few verbal jabs at her.

As soon as he said that, the other team members fell silent.

They all knew about the open and covert rivalry between the vice-captain and Changqing.

Back then, the vice-captain and the female team member had possessed roughly the same cultivation, both being Five-Ring Soul Kings.

But the vice-captain had encountered some opportunities...

So he had broken through to become a Six-Ring Soul Emperor earlier.

That was how he had become the squad's vice-captain.

Meanwhile, Changqing could only remain an ordinary team member.

However, she had always been unconvinced, believing that the vice-captain had become vice-captain purely through luck.

At that moment, the captain said calmly.

"Let's go take a look."

The vice-captain said nothing and nodded slightly.

The six of them planned to check the situation. They rose from their hiding places and moved in Cao Xin's direction.

But then, one of the team members realized something. His footsteps halted, and his face suddenly turned ugly.

"Something's wrong."

"We're only a few hundred meters away from that kid."

"If there'd been a fight or an accident, shouldn't we have noticed it?"

In an instant, the captain and vice-captain's expressions changed drastically.

They turned their heads almost at the same time, their gazes colliding for an instant.

Damn it!

They had actually forgotten that.

If Changqing had truly made a move, the fluctuations of Soul Power within a few hundred meters, the sounds of a martial soul being unleashed, or even the aftermath of battle could not possibly have left no trace.

Yet during all that time, they had sensed nothing. Everything had been as silent as stagnant water.

The next second, a fierce gale rose.

Violent winds surged in from every direction, sweeping up fallen leaves and broken branches from the ground and forming vortexes.

They filled the sky, blocking their vision.

The captain reacted swiftly as well and shouted sternly.

"Stay alert!"

But the next moment, the surroundings changed.

The fierce gale abruptly vanished, replaced by an incomparably dense darkness.

Heavy snow filled the sky. White snowflakes silently drifted through the darkness, obscuring the sky and canopy and plunging the surroundings into pitch-black darkness.

Only the Soul Power glow radiating from the six of them barely illuminated the darkness.

But it seemed that some mysterious power existed within that darkness.

Their light began to be devoured by the darkness until it completely vanished.

All six of them were plunged into darkness so complete that they could not even see one another.

"Thud."

The sound of something piercing flesh rang out.

The next moment, the sound of a body falling followed.

The squad members all revealed horrified expressions.

And within that darkness...

Cao Xin's gaze remained calm.

He moved through the darkness like a shadow.

The Ruthless Sword in his hand emitted no light, yet it accurately reaped target after target.

Seven down to three.

He silently counted in his heart.

The first sword had taken care of one, the second sword had taken care of another, and with the female team member from the start included, only four people were still standing.

[Self] needed time to alter the environment.

Thus, the longer he remained in one place...

The more thoroughly he could transform the surrounding world.

And he had remained in this forest for several days.

Every moment, he used [Self] to seep his will into every inch of the world around him.

If, a few days ago at Shrek Inner Academy, he could only rely on [Self] to injure a Seven-Ring Soul Sage...

Then within this area spanning several hundred meters, where the world had now been thoroughly steeped in his intent...

Even a Soul Sage would have no outcome but death.

Then, Cao Xin thrust out two swords in succession.

His movements were swift and silent. Every strike precisely found its target's location—the sword tip pierced in, pulled out, turned, and pierced again...

It flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water.

Two more bodies hit the ground.

Thus, within that darkness...

Only the captain and vice-captain remained.

The two stood back-to-back with their martial souls fully unleashed.

But at that moment, they were on the verge of collapse.

Even when they used area-of-effect soul skills to blast the surrounding trees and ground into a mess of holes...

They still could not force the hidden enemy out.

Instead, their teammates died one after another.