Instantly killing a Soul Ancestor and a Soul King

"Bang!"

A gunshot suddenly erupted in the silent underground tunnel.

A spray of red and white followed.

Wet and glaring.

A Class 6 fixed-shell Soul Cannon was terrifyingly powerful to begin with.

All the more so when fired at such close range.

Even though the Patrol Team captain had used a defensive soul skill, he could not withstand it.

His head burst apart, killing him on the spot.

"This—is the price of your contempt."

Xu Yan lowered his head, gazing down at the headless corpse about to fall, his expression indifferent.

Warm blood mixed with murky rainwater splattered across the faces of everyone behind it.

The stunned group abruptly snapped back to their senses.

But the instant they saw what lay before them, their eyes filled once more with utter disbelief and horror.

They stared blankly at the headless corpse crashing down ahead of them, sending water splashing.

And at the boy standing in place, his gaze icy, his face covered in blood, staring straight at them.

They swallowed instinctively.

"The... the captain's dead!"

The three ordinary Patrol Soldiers' pupils contracted sharply, their bodies stiffening.

The assassins from the Aodu Chamber of Commerce stared wide-eyed, shaken to their cores.

"How is that possible?! A mighty Soul King had his head blown off by a Soul Grandmaster with a single shot.

He didn't even have a chance to fight back?!"

"Holy shit! Yan, you're fucking awesome! You killed a Soul King instantly!"

At the sight, Yan Feng's face lit up with wild delight.

He had thought they were finished today.

Never had he expected Xu Yan to have this trump card.

Beside him, Xu He glanced at the crimson pistol, something stirring in his mind.

"That must be the Class 6 fixed-shell soul pistol Teacher Xuan developed recently!

I think it's called the Blazing Sun. I never thought it would be so powerful!"

The remaining assassins stared at the barrel, still trailing wisps of black smoke, chills rising in their hearts and terror filling their eyes.

Several gathered beside the middle-aged man in black and anxiously sought instructions in hushed voices.

"Boss, what do we do now? That's a Class 6 fixed-shell Soul Cannon! One shot, one kill—we can't block that kind of power!"

"This brat's too much trouble! We're only Soul Ancestors. We can't stand up to him.

How about... we retreat?"

Although these assassins belonged to the Aodu Chamber of Commerce, ultimately, they were all in it for money.

They would never fight to the death.

Seeing the situation reverse, their first thought was to retreat.

"Why are you panicking? We're not retreating!"

The middle-aged man in black remained composed, his eyes fixed on Xu Yan's slightly lowered right arm.

A cold smile curled his lips.

"A Class 6 fixed-shell Soul Cannon may be terrifyingly powerful, but its recoil is considerable, too.

Far greater than an ordinary Soul Cannon's."

He raised his head, met Xu Yan's eyes, and said coolly:

"Second Prince, unless I'm mistaken, that right arm of yours has already been crippled by the recoil, hasn't it?"

At those words, every gaze instantly focused on Xu Yan's right arm.

Only then did they notice that Xu Yan's right arm was trembling faintly.

Even though he was doing his utmost to control it, he could not conceal the abnormality.

With a Soul Ancestor's perception, they could spot the telltale signs at a glance.

"So that's it!"

"I was wondering why he hadn't moved since firing. Turns out he can't shoot again!"

Their taut nerves abruptly relaxed, replaced by intense excitement and greed.

A lightweight Class 6 fixed-shell Soul Cannon was worth a fortune.

If they could seize it, they could all live in luxury for years!

And given the identity of the person before them, his Storage Soul Tool Ring might contain even more valuable treasures.

Some were already itching to act.

Seeing this, a trace of murderous intent flashed through the black-robed middle-aged man's eyes.

An entire pack of ungrateful wolves that would never be tamed.

Xu Yan quietly took it all in.

"Yan!"

Yan Feng and the other two paled and were about to step forward to help.

Xu Yan raised a hand to stop them.

A flicker of agonizing pain crossed his face from time to time, but his gaze remained calm.

He looked straight at the middle-aged man in black.

"If you want to know whether my arm's broken, you're welcome to come and test it yourself.

Or send one of your men to die in your place first."

The middle-aged man in black's expression darkened.

Without giving anyone else a chance to speak, he snapped:

"Such a sharp tongue! You're at death's door and still trying to sow discord.

Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish!"

What a joke. They were all Soul Ancestors.

He was only a little stronger than the others.

If he let someone else act now, wouldn't he be handing them the first move for nothing?

The three-foot curved saber in the black-robed middle-aged man's hand suddenly shone with an icy gleam.

Faint wolf howls echoed from its blade, savage ferocity spilling out.

He... could not wait any longer!

The Demon Wolf Blade!

Xu Yan instantly recognized the martial soul.

He had seen it in the Royal Library.

Although it was a Tool Martial Soul, it inherently possessed the wind attribute.

It could greatly enhance a Soul Master's speed.

"Second Prince, today your Soul Cannon, your storage ring, and everything on you will belong to me!"

Before his words had faded, the middle-aged man's figure abruptly blurred.

With tremendous speed, he swept before Xu Yan in an instant.

The blade flashed coldly, heading straight for his neck!

"Yan, watch out!" Yan Feng's expression changed drastically as he cried out.

The other assassins sneered, already certain that Xu Yan was doomed.

At the same time, each secretly began gathering soul power, ready to reap the spoils.

So fast!

A bone-piercing chill swept across his neck, and Xu Yan's pupils narrowed slightly.

An overwhelming sense of danger instinctively surged through his body.

"Die, brat!"

The curved saber arrived in a flash!

The middle-aged man wore a savage grin, certain he would take Xu Yan's head.

He had even begun considering his escape route afterward.

He failed entirely to notice Xu Yan's right arm shifting slightly.

At that hairbreadth moment—

A pitch-black gun muzzle suddenly rose.

It pressed against the middle-aged man's forehead.

Or rather, the middle-aged man had run into the muzzle himself.

"Sorry, but you're the one who's dying."

Xu Yan's voice was indifferent, utterly calm.

"How... is that possible?!"

The middle-aged man's smile froze, his pupils contracting sharply.

An intense chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

The blood throughout his body nearly froze.

But in the next instant, his expression turned vicious.

He forcibly suppressed his panic.

It had to be said that this assassin's combat instincts far surpassed the Patrol Team captain's.

He went from panic to clarity, adjusting in less than a second.

"Bastard, you're the one who's dying!"

The black-robed man roared, his third and fourth soul rings flashing beneath his feet in succession.

The light of the Demon Wolf Blade in his hand surged again.

His slash abruptly accelerated!

At the same time, he stared fixedly at Xu Yan's finger on the trigger, his nerves stretched taut.

Just a little faster! he roared inwardly.

Time seemed to slow abruptly.

In a daze, childhood images flashed through his mind.

A scene of his parents playing with him, toy guns in hand, flickered past...

No!

The black-robed middle-aged man's heart jolted.

The next second—

Bang!

A violent blast echoed through the tunnel.

The middle-aged man's head exploded instantly.

Like a shattered watermelon, it sprayed blood everywhere.

At the same moment, clang!

The clear ring of metal striking metal sounded.

A longsword was positioned precisely across Xu Yan's neck, firmly blocking the remaining momentum of the saber.

Xu Yan seemed to have expected this all along.

His gaze calm, he looked down at the second headless corpse.

"This... is the price of your greed."

Dead silence fell over the scene!

"The... the boss is dead too!"

"Impossible! His right arm was clearly badly injured! How could he fire the Soul Cannon again?!"

The three remaining Aodu Chamber of Commerce assassins looked horrified, shaken to their cores.

"That brat was fine all along. The way he acted before was obviously bait to lure the boss in."

An even deeper chill gripped the three Patrol Soldiers' hearts, and they now wanted nothing but to retreat.

The threat of a Class 6 fixed-shell Soul Cannon was simply too terrifying.

Even if they all rushed him together, they had no chance of winning.

They would only throw their lives away.

"So that's it!"

Beside them, understanding dawned on Yan Feng. He looked at Ji Juechen and said:

"I was wondering why you weren't worried at all.

I almost forgot—Yan absorbed gold of life.

His vitality far surpasses an ordinary person's.

And with the Flame of Life, his recovery rivals a healing-type Soul Master's."

With a cigar between his lips, Ji Juechen withdrew his sword and stood still, saying calmly:

"If you could think calmly when something happened, you wouldn't forget any of that."

Then he nodded to Xu He. "Thank you. Without your strength boost, I probably couldn't have blocked his blade's attack."

A high-ranking Soul Ancestor's all-out strike was far beyond what he, a newly advanced Soul Elder, could withstand.

Before the fight, he had asked Xu He for a large strength-boosting cigar.

Xu He shook his head. "As long as I could help."

Elsewhere.

Xu Yan's expression remained calm as he swept his gaze over the Patrol Team and the Assassin Group.

"You have three breaths. Get lost."

His tone was mild, yet carried an unquestionable pressure:

"Otherwise, you'll end up just like them."

"Or you can try stalling until your reinforcements arrive.

"Oh, right... before you leave, kindly leave behind your Storage Soul Tool Rings and the Soul Cannons you're carrying."

As he spoke, a tuft of emerald-green flame suddenly sprang up from his dangling right arm.

In an instant, it enveloped his entire arm.

He slowly raised his injured right arm, which had been trembling moments before.

The pitch-black muzzle pointed at them once again.

At that moment, everyone's heart abruptly stopped.

[PS: My new book is still in its launch period. Please, all you handsome, wealthy big shots, lend me your 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!]