The Evil Soul Master, Dark Hummingbird!

Little Red surged forward at full speed, firing everything it had.

The two Mechas clashed in the training arena.

Red and black blurs crossed and collided, every impact making the ground tremble.

The disciples watched, enthralled.

A Black-rank Mecha was holding its own against a god-rank Mecha? It made no sense to them.

Ten minutes later, both Mechas stopped at once.

Little Red stood in the center of the arena, its frame intact.

The Black-rank Mecha stood opposite it, sparks crackling across its body and several cracks running through its armor.

It looked as though Chen Xing had lost.

But when Mu Ye jumped out of the cockpit, his expression was complicated.

He walked up to Chen Xing's Mecha, looked up at the Black-rank machine that was nearly falling apart, and fell silent for several seconds. Then he said, "I concede."

The arena went silent.

The disciples could hardly believe their ears.

"Whoa, what did the sect master just say?"

"C-concede?! Did I hear that right?!"

Mu Ye waved for the disciples to quiet down and said:

"In terms of combat power, Little Red would have won without a doubt. But in terms of technique, I lost. A Black-rank Mecha lasted ten minutes against me. Do you know what that means?"

The disciples looked at one another.

Mu Ye turned to face them all and raised his voice:

"It means this kid got nearly god-rank performance out of a Black-rank Mecha!"

The arena erupted.

"Holy shit, our junior is incredible!"

"Our junior is incredible!"

Chen Xing jumped out of the cockpit and dusted off his hands.

Mu Ye strode over, slapped him on the shoulder, and said:

"That's my boy! Just what I'd expect from a student of mine!"

The slap made Chen Xing wince.

"Easy, Teacher..."

Mu Ye ignored him. Leaning closer, he asked in a low voice:

"Come on. How did you do it?"

Chen Xing glanced at him, then held out a hand and rubbed his fingers together, flashing a mercenary grin.

Mu Ye paused, then laughed and cursed:

"You greedy little brat!"

He pulled something from his Storage Ring and tossed it over.

Chen Xing caught it and looked down. It was another Storage Ring.

He checked inside and found more than a dozen jade tablets lined up neatly, each engraved with a different pattern.

Mu Ye planted his hands on his hips and lifted his chin.

"Summoning Talismans. Crush one, and I'll come straight away. If you run into trouble you can't handle, don't try to tough it out. Just call me."

Chen Xing tucked the Storage Ring into his clothes without another word.

"Thanks, old man."

Mu Ye's eyes widened.

"What did you call me?"

Chen Xing kept a straight face.

"Teacher. I said Teacher."

"You'd better have."

Old man?

The disciples nearby stared in disbelief.

How could their junior speak so casually to the sect master? It was almost downright disrespectful.

Tang Wulin stood in the crowd with a proud smile on his face.

My brother is incredible.

"Bro! You were amazing back there!"

Chen Xing smiled. "I did all right."

"What do you mean, all right? That was Black-rank against god-rank!"

Chen Xing changed the subject.

"Come on. Let's go home for dinner."

Tang Wulin paused.

"Huh? Didn't Teacher Zhen Hua say we were eating at the association tonight?"

"I said we're going home."

He patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder and said:

"Don't you want to see Mom and Dad?"

Tang Wulin brightened even more.

"Let's go, then!"

The brothers walked side by side through the Body Sect's gates.

A cool evening breeze blew past them.

Chen Xing was in a good mood.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed, and his gaze flicked behind them.

"Wulin, go on ahead."

Tang Wulin stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't ask. Go home and wait for me to eat."

Tang Wulin looked at him but asked nothing more. He nodded and hurried toward home.

Chen Xing stayed where he was until Tang Wulin disappeared around the corner. Then he turned into a narrow alley.

The alley was quiet. Dim yellow streetlights shone on fallen leaves scattered across the ground.

Chen Xing walked a few steps and stopped.

"Come out. You've been following us the whole way."

Several seconds passed in silence.

A dark figure emerged from beside the wall at the alley entrance.

The man wore black and was not especially tall.

His face was hidden in the shadow of his hood, but his eyes gleamed with frightening intensity.

Chen Xing looked him up and down.

He didn't recognize him.

But the aura coming from the man was all too familiar.

An Evil Soul Master.

"Good instincts, kid. No wonder Zhen Hua took you as his student."

Chen Xing's heart sank.

Was he after Zhen Hua?

He kept his expression calm and took half a step back.

"Who are you?"

The man didn't answer. He merely stepped forward.

With that single step, a crushing pressure rolled off him.

Chen Xing's face changed. The pressure coming from this man felt hundreds of times stronger than what he had sensed from Black Crow on the train.

He called out in his mind:

Pam Pam, analyze his Soul Power Level.

Scanning, Pam... Target Soul Power Level: ninety-six, Pam.

Level ninety-six.

A Super Douluo.

Chen Xing's mind raced.

The man hadn't attacked outright, which meant this wasn't a convenient place to do it.

But that was all it meant.

If Chen Xing refused to cooperate, the man could make it convenient whenever he wanted.

Chen Xing had no intention of waiting helplessly, though. So what if the man was a Super Douluo? He had the Stellaron.

He had the Starfarer.

If he could teach Di Tian a lesson, why should he fear this man?

But they were in the city, and using the Starfarer here would be difficult.

Run first.

With that thought, Chen Xing swept a hand over his Storage Ring and pulled out a device.

A Level Six Flying Soul Tool.

Zhen Hua had given it to him. He hadn't expected to need it today.

He slammed the switch.

A burst of thrust erupted behind him, launching him forward in an instant.

The black-clad man's eyes narrowed.

"Trying to run?"

His body blurred, and he shot after Chen Xing like a dark streak.

"Fifth soul skill: Gale Cannon!"

The man's voice came from behind him.

The next instant, Chen Xing felt a terrifying blast of air erupt at his back.

In the blink of an eye, he found the man blocking his path.

Clenching his teeth, Chen Xing wrenched the Flying Soul Tool into a sharp turn and kept flying.

But he knew he couldn't keep this up for long.

The Flying Soul Tool's energy was limited, and the man was far faster than he was.

He needed another plan.

Chen Xing glanced down.

He had already flown beyond the residential district. An open stretch of ground lay below.

I can summon the Mecha here.

Without hesitation, he dived straight down.

The instant he landed, he swept a hand over his Storage Ring.

Golden light burst forth.

A jet-black Mecha crashed onto the open ground.

It was the Secret-Art Tactical Mecha he had built at the Body Sect.

"A Black-rank Mecha?"

The black-clad man sounded surprised.

"Zhen Hua's student has some resources after all."

Chen Xing's voice came from inside the Mecha.

"Who exactly are you in the Holy Spirit Cult?"

The man laughed but did not answer.

Chen Xing had no time to wait for an answer or press him further.

He knew the man was an Evil Soul Master and that he was after Zhen Hua. That was enough.

He could worry about the man's identity later.

The black-clad man stepped forward.

"Kid, I'd planned to take you quietly."

"But now that you've made such a scene, I'll have to finish this quickly!"