Kong Deming's Shock

Meanwhile, Poison Spider, the last remaining Soul Elder assassin,

also set his sights squarely on Xu He.

"First Prince, your life is mine!"

His Martial Soul was the Poison-Pattern Spider. His attacks were vicious and treacherous, his methods the most venomous of all.

The Yellow Soul Ring beneath his feet flickered, his movements elusive.

His cold gaze locked onto Xu He, who was raising his cannons to aim, and a wicked smile curled his lips.

"Have a good taste of my Soul-Devouring Poison!"

"Second Soul Skill: Spider Silk Binding!"

Thick, pitch-black poisonous spider silk suddenly sprayed from his mouth.

It crisscrossed through the air, carrying a fiercely corrosive poison as it blanketed the sky and descended.

He intended to corrode and melt Xu He outright.

This was Xu He's first head-on battle against a Soul Elder.

He drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the tension and unease in his heart.

Just as the poisonous threads closed in, a ring of luminous white Soul Tool patterns suddenly lit up on his boots.

His figure flashed away, his speed explosively doubling.

Like a breeze sweeping past a shadow, he escaped the vast poisonous web by the narrowest margin.

"Level 3 Soul Tool Shoes!"

A flicker of surprise crossed Poison Spider's eyes, only to be replaced by intense greed.

"As expected of a direct descendant of the imperial family!"

"A Level 3 Soul Tool that a Soul Grandmaster can use must be anything but ordinary!"

Although Soul Tools were widespread in the Sun Moon Empire, most remained in the hands of the nobility.

Low-ranking assassins like them had no right to possess any.

Let alone specially made, top-quality equipment like this.

Xu He ignored him.

The instant his feet touched the ground, he raised both hands.

Two Level 2 Soul Cannons locked onto Poison Spider simultaneously, faint light gathering at their muzzles.

Without hesitation, he pulled the triggers in rapid succession.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Six concentrated beams of Soul Power tore through the air.

They were blindingly fast.

They shot toward his chest and both possible escape routes, sealing off every retreat.

Poison Spider's expression shifted slightly. His feet moved rapidly as he dodged the beams one after another.

"Heh, First Prince, stop wasting your strength.

Your reactions are too slow. You can't hit me at all.

That's the gap between our levels!

Once the Soul Power in those Level 3 Soul Tool Shoes runs out, your time to die will come!"

Poison Spider grinned savagely, closing in fast as he dodged.

A poison-coated dagger quietly appeared in his palm, its killing intent concealed.

Xu He's expression remained unchanged, and his shooting never stopped.

Although they were only Level 2 Soul Cannons, using two at once still consumed an enormous amount of his Soul Power.

Every shot depleted another portion of it.

Yet he kept a relentless grip on his opponent's rhythm, deliberately luring him in.

Finally, the instant Poison Spider closed in on his left, Xu He suddenly shouted:

"Now!"

"What?"

Poison Spider's heart jolted. A bone-piercing chill surged up his back, and he instantly realized something was wrong.

"Trying to dodge? Too late!"

On the other side, a sharp gleam flashed in Yan Feng's eyes as he held Earth Turtle at bay.

Seizing that fleeting opening, he made the Soul Ring beneath his feet flare brightly.

He opened his mouth and violently exhaled. "Second Soul Skill: Dragon Breath!"

A stream of deep-blue dragon flame, mingled with bitter cold and dark, sinister power, suddenly erupted.

Its chill pierced the bones, its murderous ferocity reaching the heavens.

It cut across the battlefield, striking precisely at Poison Spider's exposed back!

Thud!

The Dragon Breath slammed into his flesh. Bone-chilling sinister power instantly invaded his meridians, freezing the circulation of his Soul Power.

Poison Spider shuddered violently, his body stiffening for an instant.

Like a kite with its string cut, he was hurled forward.

At that very moment, a cold glint of sword light suddenly swept past.

"Annihilation—Slash!"

The sword light flashed and vanished, cutting precisely across Poison Spider's neck.

Poison Spider's eyes bulged, his face filled with defiance. His head separated from his body, and he died on the spot.

He never even managed a scream.

"Spider!"

The sight utterly enraged Earth Turtle as he fought.

Shock and fury struck him, shaking him to his core.

He could scarcely believe that a Soul Elder of his standing had not only failed to finish off a Soul Grandmaster after all this time,

but that his opponent had even spared attention to support his teammates and instantly kill his companion!

"You're asking for death!"

Killing intent surged in Earth Turtle's eyes, and the third Soul Ring beneath his feet suddenly blazed with dazzling light.

All his vast, heavy earth-type Soul Power gathered in his Twin Fists.

The power of rock and earth surged and roared.

"Third Soul Skill: Rock-Splitting Heavy Fist!"

An overwhelmingly tyrannical punch crashed out, carrying the might to shatter mountains and split stone.

He was determined to hammer Yan Feng to death with a single blow.

"Shit, this guy's gone berserk!"

Yan Feng's heart tightened, and he immediately pulled back.

At the same time, two Soul Guidance Cannon Shells from Xu He followed close behind.

They skimmed past his neck and shot toward Earth Turtle.

Yet Earth Turtle paid no attention to these Level 2 Soul Guidance Cannon Shells.

In his view, his rock armor was more than enough to withstand both attacks.

First, he would kill the brat who had humiliated him.

But just as his fist was about to reach Yan Feng,

a strange numbness suddenly swept through his entire body.

The Meridians in his limbs instantly grew sluggish, and his immense Soul Power abruptly cut off.

"What's going on?!"

Earth Turtle's pupils contracted, horror filling his face as he instantly realized he had fallen into a trap.

What Xu He had just fired were not ordinary offensive Soul Cannon shots at all.

They were specially made Level 2 Anesthetic Soul Guidance Rays!

Their seemingly weak Soul Power impacts concealed a potent nerve-numbing toxin.

Against someone at the same cultivation level, they could induce paralysis for over five seconds.

Even a Soul Elder could be paralyzed for one second.

But that brief instant of paralysis was enough to decide victory and defeat!

A cold gleam flashed in Yan Feng's eyes, and he grinned.

"You bumpkin, you fell for it again!"

He seized the perfect opening and drove power into his right arm.

The Level 3 Soul Tool Gauntlet he wore instantly sprang open.

Four sharp alloy claws extended.

Their cold gleam was piercing.

The terrifying explosive force of his Dragon Transformation enhancement and the cigar's strength boost erupted in full.

The claws swept past like streaks of light, slicing precisely across Earth Turtle's neck.

Slash!

A thin but fatal line of blood appeared.

The killing intent in the Thick-Rock Turtle Soul Elder's eyes instantly collapsed, and his life was utterly extinguished.

His massive body crashed to the ground.

From the moment the three Soul Elders launched their all-out assault to the moment all of them fell, barely more than ten breaths had passed.

The battlefield, which had just brimmed with murderous intent and deadly peril, instantly fell deathly silent.

Only the scar-faced man remained in the distance, his face blank with shock.

"They're dead!"

The scar-faced man's pupils contracted violently, and towering waves surged through his heart.

"How is this possible?"

He had always believed Xu Yan alone was the greatest threat, the hardest to handle, while the other three were nothing to fear.

Yet before his eyes, Ji Juechen had instantly killed a Soul Elder.

Yan Feng and Xu He had worked in perfect harmony, crushing opponents above their level.

Such combat strength and tactical coordination completely overturned everything he knew!

That was a Soul Elder, yet he had been slain by a mere Soul Grandmaster!

Just as the scar-faced man's mind reeled and his composure crumbled,

a piercing scream suddenly rang out from the billowing dust in the distance.

An instant later, it cut off.

The scar-faced man's eyelids twitched, and a sense of foreboding surged into his heart.

As though to confirm his premonition,

a cool, indifferent voice, devoid of any emotion, slowly emerged from deep within the dust.

It reached everyone's ears clearly.

"Playing with fire in front of me? Who gave you that confidence? Liang Jingru?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Xu He and the other two immediately grew excited.

"I knew it! Brother Yan is the fucking best!"

Yan Feng retracted his gauntlet and grinned.

Rustle, rustle—

The dust filling the air slowly parted and dispersed.

A tall, straight-backed youth walked out at an unhurried pace.

His clothes were tattered, and lingering scorching heat still clung to him.

He was covered in blood and looked utterly bedraggled.

His left hand hung casually at his side, holding a completely blackened corpse as lightly as though it weighed nothing. Its flesh had carbonized, its face burned beyond recognition.

The corpse's mouth gaped open, wisps of black smoke rising from its entire body.

It had clearly been burned through by extreme heat.

Its death had been utterly gruesome.

It was none other than the final Soul Elder previously ordered to investigate Xu Yan's condition.

Snake King.

In a single brief encounter, a Soul Elder had died at the hands of a Soul Grandmaster.

And he had been burned to charcoal with bare hands.

The sight was horrifying enough.

Yet what struck the scar-faced man even more sharply was Xu Yan's right arm.

The skin and flesh along his entire right arm had burst apart, leaving a mangled, bloody mess.

Stark white bone lay exposed.

Bright-red blood dripped steadily from his fingertips onto the ground, a shocking sight.

It was clearly a grievous injury that threatened to leave the arm crippled.

Yet at that moment, a dim, jade-green flame emerged from the gaps between his bones.

It enveloped his entire arm.

Fresh flesh, Meridians, and muscle rapidly grew over the previously exposed bones.

The torn flesh healed, scabbed over, and shed its scabs at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In just a few short breaths.

His right arm, its muscles and bones exposed just moments ago and on the verge of being crippled, had completely recovered.

His skin was unblemished, the contours firm and powerful.

It was as though that grievous injury had never existed.

"You!"

The scarred man's pupils contracted sharply, his eyes widening.

His scalp prickled, and a chill swept through his entire body.

He had already witnessed Xu Yan's ability to heal himself.

But that had only been a broken bone.

Now, this heaven-defying speed of regrowing flesh over bare bones and restoring a ruined limb had gone beyond all reason.

It was horrifying!

Xu Yan gently moved his fully restored right arm.

He flexed his fingers, strength filling them, without the slightest discomfort.

He raised his eyes to the scarred man's ashen face.

An unrestrained, arrogant smile curled his lips:

"So this is a Soul Ancestor's strength? Doesn't seem all that impressive."

At that taunt, veins bulged on the scarred man's forehead, and his face twisted.

At that same moment, in the imperial palace's Worship Hall.

"What kind of healing speed is that?!"

A cry filled with shock suddenly rang out.

Yun Jin shot to her feet, staring fixedly at Xu Yan's rapidly recovering right arm on the light screen, disbelief written all over her face.

"Even a top-tier healing-type Titled Douluo couldn't possibly heal that fast, could they?!"

Ye Yulin stared blankly and muttered to himself, utterly stripped of his usual confidence.

In the seat of honor, Kong Deming's gaze burned sharp as a torch.

His eyes remained locked on that cluster of emerald flames, his expression deeply solemn.

"If I'm not mistaken, that wisp of green flame should be a manifestation of life force condensed to the utmost purity."

He murmured in a low voice, forcibly suppressing his shock:

"Where on earth did this boy obtain such a supreme treasure of life?

He's even fused it completely into his own flesh and blood, wielding it at will.

Healing his body, reversing grievous injuries!"

At this point, a thought suddenly stirred in Kong Deming's mind.

With such vast life force sustaining him, did Xu Yan's Martial Soul defect even still exist?

At that thought, a sharp gleam flashed in Kong Deming's eyes, and he abruptly rose.

Under everyone's shocked gazes, his figure suddenly vanished.

He could no longer sit still.

[PS: My new book is still getting started. I'm begging all you handsome, wealthy big shots to lend me a little support.

Toss me a few recommendation votes and monthly votes so I can get a taste.

If that's too much, even just keeping up with the latest chapters would do. I bow to you all in thanks!]