Foreseeing the Future

The Eyeless Snake had no eyes. It relied on Soul Power detection to perceive the outside world.

There had originally been two worlds in its mind: one was the present scene, and the other was the scene one second later.

When others were affected by "Deception," their thoughts slowed, and the information they received in their minds lagged by a beat. It could be called "the scene of the past."

But for the Eyeless Snake, the effect of dulled thinking was for the "future scene" and the "present scene" to overlap.

It could still respond effectively to changes in its surroundings, but it was no longer as nimble as before.

After Yan Jin approached the Eyeless Snake, the fluctuations of Soul Power around her suddenly rose by a great deal. She went from being a Soul Grandmaster to the level of a Soul Elder, at around level thirty-eight or thirty-nine.

This was thanks to Amon's "assistance."

The Worms of Time could parasitize other people's bodies and Martial Souls. If Amon was willing and the parasitized person was willing to cooperate, this became a Martial Soul Fusion!

Martial Soul Fusion was originally a special skill with enormous consumption, but Yan Jin had many level-twenty Worms of Time within her body. They continuously supplied Soul Power and bore that massive cost.

As her Soul Power Level increased, her Magma Martial Soul became even hotter and more lethal.

The enhanced Yan Jin was already capable of fighting a Soul Ancestor.

The Eyeless Snake's strength largely came from its ability to "foresee the future." After being weakened by Amon's "Deception," it looked no different on the surface, but its combat strength had actually plummeted.

"Great Eruption!"

This attack from Yan Jin was more powerful than any of her previous ones, startling even herself.

After freezing for a moment, she burst into laughter. "Hahaha, that guy Amon had a method like this, yet he didn't use it sooner."

The Eyeless Snake dodged the magma, opened its mouth wide, and bit at Yan Jin.

She immediately created a massive clump of magma in front of herself and rapidly retreated. Her Second Soul Skill, Soul Power Ejection, could affect not only her Martial Soul, but herself as well.

Whenever the Eyeless Snake's pitch-black jaws were about to bite her, she would use an ejection to evade.

After biting into magma several times and getting its mouth covered in blisters from the heat, the Eyeless Snake gave up on swallowing Yan Jin.

With a pale white glow, the soil around the Eyeless Snake suddenly became exceptionally soft, like dough.

It rolled over on the ground and coated itself in a layer of soil. Then, filled with Soul Power, that layer hardened and formed a thick suit of armor.

The originally slender white snake became a brown Great Serpent as thick as a python.

The magma bombarded the armor, yet it only broke a small hole in it, which quickly repaired itself.

"Tch..." Yan Jin dodged a sweep of the snake's tail, her expression turning grim.

Even weakened and made clumsy, the Eyeless Snake was still not something she could handle.

Lightning flashed as Lei Yin, who had likewise undergone a Martial Soul Fusion with Amon's Worms of Time, condensed a lightning spear and hurled it at the Great Serpent's head.

The lightning spear exploded, but the effect was not very good.

The Eyeless Snake merely shook its head before recovering.

Watching the two of them, Vidal was dumbfounded.

He thought to himself that if he clung to these two—no, three—powerful backers, winning the Soul Master Tournament might not be hopeless after all.

There were still three years until the next tournament. What level could these monsters reach in three years? Yan Jin and Lei Yin were at the age when both their bodies and Soul Power were growing rapidly.

As for Amon, nothing was clear yet, but Vidal firmly believed that he was anything but ordinary.

"What are you all standing around for? Go help them!" Vidal shouted at Vega and the others.

"Oh... yes."

The mercenaries had seen even less than Vidal. Thus, after witnessing two children, Yan Jin and Lei Yin, unleash combat strength no weaker than that of Soul Ancestors, they were even more shaken than he was.

However, with the two of them serving as the main force holding the Eyeless Snake back from the front, their fear of it was no longer as great. They all stepped forward.

Under the siege of more than twenty Soul Masters, the Eyeless Snake's Soul Power was consumed at an accelerated rate, and it was faintly beginning to struggle to maintain its mud armor.

"An opening! Thunder Dragon!" Lei Yin seized the instant Vega's slash broke through the mud armor, gathering Soul Power to create a five- or six-meter-long giant lightning dragon.

The Thunder Dragon reached its target the instant it left his hand.

Boom!

Thunder roared as dirt flew everywhere.

A bloody wound appeared on the Eyeless Snake's body.

It suddenly changed direction and charged into the forest without looking back.

Other than Yan Jin, who created a wall of lava to stop it briefly, the other mercenaries did not interfere much and let it leave.

When they saw the Eyeless Snake disappear into the forest, they all let out a sigh of relief.

The mercenaries had no intention of fighting this Soul Beast to the death. All they wanted now was to leave.

"What... were you doing just now?" Yan Jin's face was full of anger as she blamed the mercenaries for not giving their all.

Vega said apologetically, "You saw it too. Our siege just now was not without losses. Two of my brothers were seriously injured by it. Besides, our original target was only a five-thousand-year Eyeless Snake. That one was clearly far beyond that."

He only adopted such an attitude because of Yan Jin's strength.

Most mercenaries did not have good tempers. If another employer spoke to them so rudely, they might very well suffer an "accident."

"Hmph, don't even think about getting the full payment if this is how you act." Vidal snorted and chose to stand with Yan Jin.

A vicious glint flashed through Vega's eyes before quickly fading. He forced a smile and said, "Young Master Vidal, we have not violated our agreement. We helped you hunt the Wind-Walking Tiger, and we did our best to accompany you in hunting the Eyeless Snake. If this Eyeless Snake had truly been five thousand years old as you said, it definitely would not have escaped just now... shouldn't the responsibility for incorrect information fall on us, should it?"

After he said that, Vidal turned his gaze toward Norbert. The latter's face was ashen, yet he could not utter a single word in rebuttal.

Misjudging a Soul Beast's age by such a huge margin was clearly a major mistake that could not be brushed aside.

"Since you don't intend to continue, then leave." Amon adjusted his Monocle and said with a light smile.

Vidal frowned and asked, "Don't tell me you still want to continue hunting that Eyeless Snake?"

"Since we've already encountered it, how could I possibly give up?" Amon nodded.

"But you saw what happened just now. That Soul Beast is simply too powerful." Vidal wanted to dissuade him.

"I have a certain degree of confidence. Thank you for your assistance this time. Our agreement remains valid." Amon smiled at him.

After hesitating for a moment, Vidal still could not bring himself to decide to go with them. "Then be careful. We'll withdraw first."

"Be careful on the road."

After they left, Yan Jin muttered, "What cowards."

Lei Yin shook his head. "If I didn't trust Mr. Amon, I would probably have made the same decision as them."

"Oh, is that so? Then so would I."