The Southwest Branch Hall Bishop Questions the Report

The four team members behind him were in even worse shape. Every one of them was drenched in sweat and pale as a sheet; some had even wet themselves.

They were veterans of the Spirit Hunting Guild. Every one of them had seen blood and killed Spirit Beasts. They had thought themselves plenty brave.

But what they had witnessed today had scared them out of their wits.

"C-Captain, what do we say when we get back?" the skinny team member asked Zhao Lie in a weak voice.

Zhao Lie gave a bitter laugh. "We tell the truth."

"But... who would believe us?"

"Whether they believe us is their business." Zhao Lie braced a hand against the ground and struggled to his feet. "But I'll say this now: if anyone tries to cause that boy trouble, I'll be the first to run. And I'll run far."

He turned to his team. "Because I know going up against him would be throwing my life away."

A level sixty-two Soul Emperor had admitted, in his own words, that challenging the boy would be suicide.

The weight of that admission silenced the team once more.

They had witnessed it too. They knew Zhao Lie was not joking.

Three days later.

Spirit Hall, Southwest Branch Hall.

Inside the main hall.

Bishop Barak sat in the seat of honor. Broad-shouldered and stern-faced, he wore a white robe trimmed in gold, with a Six-Winged Angel emblem on his chest.

He stared at a confidential report that had just arrived, his face darkening.

A level seventy-three Soul Sage!

Barak Christ was the highest-ranking official at Spirit Hall's Southwest Branch Hall.

A black-clad deacon knelt on one knee before him, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He scarcely dared to breathe.

"What did you say?" Barak demanded in a low, furious voice. "A boy driving a handcart killed a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest? And gained his second Spirit Ring from it?"

"Y-yes, Bishop." The deacon kept his head bowed, not daring to meet Barak's eyes. "The report came from the Spirit Hunting Guild. They've confirmed it. Captain Zhao Lie led a team to follow the boy, and they witnessed the whole thing. They said the boy drove his handcart straight into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Three-Headed Crimson Demon Hound and killed it, then absorbed its Spirit Ring. Afterward, he even loaded the body onto the cart..."

Bang!

Barak slammed his palm onto the table. "Absurd!"

The thick tabletop, made of thousand-year iron birch, cracked beneath his hand. Fractures spread across it, while teacups and documents shook loose and scattered over the floor.

"What? A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring as his second Spirit Ring?! Do you take me for a three-year-old?!"

Barak shot to his feet and glared at the deacon. "I've served Spirit Hall for thirty years and seen countless geniuses. Never once have I heard of anyone absorbing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring as their second!"

"Forget a hundred thousand years. Even a ten-thousand-year ring would be unheard of!"

"And another thing! How could a boy possibly defeat a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Hmph!"

Barak was furious.

He strode to his bookshelf, pulled out a heavy volume, and tossed it back onto the table with a thud.

Gold letters stamped across its cover read Continent Soul Beast Distribution and Rank Guide.

Barak returned, opened the book to a page, and read aloud. "According to Spirit Hall's records through the ages, there are only a few dozen Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts on the entire continent."

"Ten are in the Star Dou Great Forest, five in the Extreme North, and eight near Sea God Island. The few remaining ones are scattered across the great forbidden regions!"

He shut the book. "And you expect me to believe one boy faced a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast alone? Can a single Soul Master kill such a beast?!"

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast has strength comparable to a Titled Douluo! Before a Titled Douluo, that boy wouldn't even count as an ant!"

Not a sound came from the hall.

Everyone kept their heads down, afraid to meet Barak's eyes.

They agreed with him. Yet the report had come in.

Even if none of them believed it, they could not simply dismiss it.

Barak suppressed his anger and looked back at the deacon. "Guards! Drag this rumor-monger out and give him twenty lashes!"

"Bishop! I've been wronged! Everything I said is true!" The deacon jerked his head up, his face deathly pale, and knocked his forehead against the floor as he begged. "Bishop, I swear every word is true! The report really came from the Spirit Hunting Guild! I didn't make it up! I'd never invent something like this!"

"Drag him out!" Barak waved a hand, unmoved.

Two guards stepped forward, seized the deacon, and hauled him away.

Soon, his screams echoed in from outside.

After twenty lashes, the deacon lay on the ground, blood and urine staining his clothes. He could barely move, and his cries had dwindled to faint moans.

Just then, an urgent shout came from outside.

"Report!"

A messenger, drenched in sweat, stumbled into the hall.

At the sight of Bishop Barak, he immediately dropped to one knee. "Bishop! Three men have arrived outside the city! They're hunters from the Spirit Hunting Guild. They say they have important information to report to you in person!"

Barak frowned. "People from the Spirit Hunting Guild? Fine. Let them in."

A moment later, three middle-aged men entered the hall.

The broad-shouldered man leading them had a prominent scar across his left cheek. It was Zhao Lie.

Barak recognized him.

He was the vice president of the Soul Hunting Guild Southwest Branch, a level sixty-two Soul Emperor.

Zhao Lie was also a man of some renown in the southwest.

"Captain Zhao Lie, what brings you here?" Barak asked with a slight smile, gesturing for Zhao Lie and his companions to sit.

Zhao Lie cupped his fists in salute. "Bishop Barak! I've come to report something urgent!"

"It concerns a boy driving a handcart and the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast he killed in the Star Dou Great Forest."

Barak's expression changed. "You know about that too?"

"I don't just know about it. I saw it with my own eyes," Zhao Lie said, enunciating every word.

The air in the hall seemed to freeze.

Everyone held their breath.

Barak's pupils contracted.

He stared into Zhao Lie's eyes, searching for some sign of a lie.

But Zhao Lie met his gaze steadily, without the slightest hint of evasion.

"You saw it with your own eyes?" Barak asked hoarsely, still staring at him.