Two years were enough for many names to disappear from wanted notices.
They were also enough to make Bai Jin's name the three words Evil Soul Masters least wanted to see.
In the northern reaches of the continent, a blizzard buried an abandoned mine.
Two Soul Douluos stood before the mine shaft. One possessed the Cold Corpse Martial Soul, his skin covered in gray-white ice armor; behind the other hung a Bone Bell. Each time the Bell Chime rang, a corpse controlled by Soul Power clawed its way out of the snow.
Dozens of miners lay at their feet. More were trapped underground.
Bai Jin came through the blizzard with a bag of freshly bought roasted chestnuts in his hand.
"Spirit Hall?" the Cold Corpse Soul Douluo asked, staring at his blindfold.
"On vacation. Just passing through." Bai Jin peeled a chestnut. "While I'm here, are the people in the mine still alive?"
The Bone Bell gave a muffled toll.
The ground exploded, and more than a dozen corpses lunged at Bai Jin. Their finger bones had been forged into sharp blades coated with frost, leaving white streaks as they sliced through the air.
Bai Jin kept walking.
Every bone blade stopped short of his body. A chestnut shell slipped from his fingers, fell through a gap beside a corpse's feet, and landed softly in the snow.
"Looks like some are still alive."
He could hear faint heartbeats deep in the mine.
The Cold Corpse Soul Douluo abruptly unleashed his Martial Soul Avatar, swelling to four meters tall. His massive fist slammed into the ground. Ice raced across the snow, trying to freeze space itself along with it.
Bai Jin lifted his foot.
And brought it down.
Dark-red repulsive force spread outward along the ground. The ice buckled inch by