The Imperial City's Old Canal

The entrance to the Old Canal was hidden beneath an abandoned stone bridge.

Rainwater fell through the bridge arch into the darkness, carrying a damp, rotten smell. Moss covered the stone walls, and a few battered Soul Guidance Lamps flickered, revealing tiny ripples across the water.

The distant sounds of feasting and music drifted from the Imperial City. A thin veil of night separated them from the cold rush of water beneath the bridge, as though they belonged to two entirely different worlds.

Bai Jin stood at the entrance and raised a hand to point.

"Dai Mubai, take the lead. Xiao Wu, stay with Tang San. Zhu Zhuqing, watch the passage on the right. Rongrong, Oscar, Fatty, guard the outside. Don't let anyone slip out through the water."

Ma Hongjun protested, "Why am I stuck outside again?"

"Because it's too narrow in there." Bai Jin glanced at him. "One blast of fire from you, and we'll all be cooked."

Oscar immediately said, "I support our teacher's wise decision."

Ma Hongjun said, "Shut up."

Dai Mubai entered the Old Canal first. His White Tiger Martial Soul possessed him, and his golden beast eyes lit up in the darkness. Tang San released his Blue Silver Grass, sending fine vines gliding along the water like countless silent feelers.

He soon frowned.

"There are Soul Power threads under the water."

Bai Jin nodded. "Dismantle them."

Tang San did not act at once. Instead, he sent his Blue Silver Grass tracing the Soul Power threads back to their source. A moment later, several Dark Red Array Runes appeared deep within the stone wall, like cracks soaked in blood.

"It isn't an array for killing," Tang San said quietly. "It draws energy, pulling the Killing Intent in the Old Canal in one direction."

"The Old Sacrificial Treasury." Zhu Zhuqing emerged from the shadows on the right. "Someone's over there."

The moment she finished speaking, the water exploded.

Three Evil Soul Masters wearing White Ghost Masks burst from beneath the water. Their Soul Rings flared as their blades slashed along the waterline toward Dai Mubai. With a low growl, Dai Mubai raised his White Tiger Protection Barrier and took the first wave of attacks head-on.

"Come on!"

He drove a fist forward. Tiger claws tore through the rainlike spray and hurled the one in front back into the water.

Tang San did not rush to attack.

He remembered Bai Jin's lesson. Read the field first.

The Blue Silver Grass split into three streams. One bound the underwater runes, another guarded Xiao Wu's landing spot, and the last swept behind Dai Mubai's waist, blocking a Bone Spike launched in a sneak attack.

Xiao Wu leaped off the vines, her body bending in a supple arc midair. She clamped her legs around a Soul Ancestor's neck and twisted with the momentum. He crashed into the stone wall, shattering half his mask.

Zhu Zhuqing made no sound.

She struck from the shadows. Her Netherworld Hundred Claws flashed, severing the tendons in the hand of the Evil Soul Master preparing to detonate the runes on the right. When she landed, her toes touched a dry stone platform without raising so much as a splash.

Bai Jin followed leisurely at the rear.

He did not attack. Now and then, he merely lifted a finger and stopped a Hidden Weapon flying toward the children or his companions. Those killing blows hung three inches before him like mosquitoes pinched by the neck.

A little boy tied beside a stone pillar suddenly began to cry.

The instant his cry rang out, a gray shadow shot from beneath the water, Short Blade aimed straight at the child's throat. Tang San's pupils contracted. His Blue Silver Grass lashed out, but the underwater runes dragged it half a beat behind.

Xiao Wu was faster.

With a push of her toes, she skimmed across the water, knocked the gray shadow aside with her shoulder, and swept the child into her arms. The Short Blade grazed her arm, leaving a shallow line of blood.

Tang San's eyes turned cold at once.

But Bai Jin's voice sounded behind him. "Catch them first."

Tang San forced down his urge to kill and redirected his Blue Silver Grass to support Xiao Wu's landing. She returned to the stone platform with the child in her arms and winked at him to show she was all right.

Only then did Tang San raise his hand and use Entanglement to drag the gray shadow from the water.

Bai Jin smiled. "That was more like it."

Dai Mubai fought with growing ease.

The past few days of training had taught him that the Power Attack System was not about charging blindly forward. It meant holding the most dangerous position to win those behind him even half a breath. When he fired his White Tiger Fierce Light Wave, he deliberately angled it away from the center of the array, driving the Evil Soul Masters clear of Tang San's path to dismantle it.

"Little San!"

"Got it."

Tang San crouched and pressed his fingertips against the Dark Red Array Runes. He circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill, guiding his Blue Silver Grass into the gaps between the runes and prying open the Soul Power nodes one by one.

The runes suddenly lit up.

A low roar came from deep within the Old Canal. It sounded like a beast, or like many people gasping at once.

Outside, Ning Rongrong heard the disturbance, and her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda immediately rose into view.

"First: Strength! Second: Speed!"

Two beams of light fell into the canal entrance.

Oscar tossed a Recovery Big Sausage to Ma Hongjun. "Fatty, the left!"

"Watch me!"

Ma Hongjun opened his mouth and unleashed his Phoenix Fire Line. Flames swept along the damp stone wall, precisely burning through several strands of Blood-Colored Spider Silk creeping from the hidden passage. In the past, that breath of fire would have scattered everywhere. Now he kept it firmly within three feet.

Ning Rongrong's boosts followed.

Rather than hurling out all her light at once as she had in the Soul Fighting Arena, she first gave Ma Hongjun speed to dodge the hooks beneath the water, then gave Dai Mubai strength, and finally sent a thread of Soul Power to Tang San. The three beams were not dazzling, but each landed exactly where it was needed.

Oscar stared. "Rongrong, you really look like a support Soul Master now."

Ning Rongrong gritted her teeth. "Say one more word, and I'll make you look like a punching bag."

Oscar shut up, though his hands worked even faster at making sausages.

Oscar's eyes widened. "Not bad, Fatty!"

Ma Hongjun panted, his face full of pride. "This Fatty knows how to improve too!"

He had barely finished speaking when the Soul Power within him suddenly surged.

Level twenty-nine.

Even Ma Hongjun froze.

Bai Jin's voice floated out of the canal. "Don't just stand there. Breaking through doesn't mean you won't get beaten."

Ma Hongjun snapped back to attention. "Got it!"

Deep in the Old Canal, Zhu Zhuqing also paused after cutting down three hidden sentries in succession. Soul Power threaded through her limbs like cold wire, and the bottleneck that had held her back for so long quietly gave way.

Level twenty-eight.

She showed no joy. She merely looked up at the stone Gate farther in.

Beyond it stood the half-collapsed Old Sacrificial Treasury.

Worn Heaven Dou Ancient Insignia markings were carved into the stone Gate, and dark red light seeped through its cracks. Several children were bound before it, black tags hanging from their bodies. Their faces were pale.

Tang San's gaze darkened.

"They aren't trying to open a Gate in the Imperial City."

Bai Jin walked up to the stone Gate.

"They're using the Imperial City's old Killing Intent to mark a route."

"Where to?"

Bai Jin looked at the Killing Intent pouring through the Gate's cracks. The smile faded from his lips.

"Slaughter City."

The water suddenly flowed backward.

Deep behind the stone Gate, a larger broken black tablet slowly rose. A white ghostly face surfaced on it, and its eyes began to open, little by little.

Bai Jin raised a hand and held all the students behind him back.

"That's enough for today."

Dai Mubai frowned. "It isn't over."

"Which is why you need to step back." Azure Blue light flared in Bai Jin's eyes. "Training is training, and throwing your lives away is something else. Don't confuse the two."

The broken black tablet let out a piercing hum.

Every Soul Guidance Lamp in the Old Canal went out at once.

Darkness swallowed the sound of the water.

Bai Jin stood at the very front, his Silver Hair stirring in a windless air. His voice was as calm as if he were taking attendance in class.

"Remember this smell."

"Seven days from now, it will open again."