Alarm and Suspicion

News of the disturbance deep within the Ironheart Mountains quickly reached the City Lord's Mansion.

A somewhat stout middle-aged man with curly brown hair, a high nose bridge, and small eyes frowned as he listened to the butler's report.

Mels, a Soul Emperor, the City Lord of Ironheart City, and Vidal's father.

"You said Vidal happened to go to the Ironheart Mountains to hunt for a Soul Ring?"

"Yes. The young master left not long ago. Judging by the timing, he probably happened to encounter this volcanic eruption." The butler lowered his head, not daring to look at Mels's expression.

"He should be fine. Hunting a Soul Beast just over a thousand years old doesn't require going deep into the mountains." Mels was not overly concerned about Vidal's safety and instead asked,

"Someone saw a red Great Serpent swim out of the volcano? And they could still see it from more than ten kilometers away?

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible... If that were true, just how large would that snake have to be?"

The butler said softly, "Though it is difficult to believe, more than one mercenary has said so. They were also far apart from one another, so it is unlikely that they all hallucinated at the same time."

"I understand. You may leave."

After the butler left, Mels tremblingly took a travel journal left behind by his family's ancestor from the bookshelf and turned to the page concerning the red Great Serpent. It had once been his favorite miscellaneous book in childhood, but now it filled him with a faint sense of fear.

He sat in his chair, rubbing his brow as he muttered to himself, "Such a terrifying thing exists beside Ironheart City... The legend passed down for thousands of years is actually real."

A moment later, Mels rose and returned the book to the shelf. Then he wrote a memorial reporting the Great Serpent's existence to Xue Ye.

Powerful Soul Beasts were also precious resources, provided one could kill them. Otherwise, they were merely threats.

Mels knew that creature was beyond his ability to handle, so he had no desire to covet it.

If the royal family sent someone to deal with it, he would not only eliminate a major threat, but also earn merit for reporting it.

At the Ironheart City Martial Soul Branch Hall, a group of Soul Masters gathered to discuss the red Great Serpent.

"That is definitely a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast!" someone said excitedly.

"The Pope needs one right now. Reporting this would definitely be a great merit."

"Lord Walter, what do you think?" The Hall Master of the Martial Soul Branch Hall respectfully asked the old man seated at the head of the table.

Walter's hair was streaked with gray, and his face bore the marks of time, yet he did not have the frail air of old age. He looked like a handsome old man full of vigor.

"This is your affair. You are the person in charge of the Ironheart City Martial Soul Branch Hall. I have no interest in that kind of monster." Walter waved a hand, seemingly not very interested. "Have you finished what I asked you to do?"

"I have already sent people to Frostleaf City."

"Mm." Walter nodded in satisfaction, an enigmatic smile appearing on his face.

The carriage clattered along the cobblestone road.

Yan Jin lay atop the carriage roof, while Lei Yin sat beside the coachman and watched the scenery to the side.

Several days had passed since the red Great Serpent caused such an uproar, yet people throughout Ironheart City were still talking about it.

It had nothing to do with Amon. After obtaining his Third Soul Ring, he had planned to set off for Northland City. However, because Vidal intended to travel with them, they had been delayed for some time.

"You finally finished packing, Goldie." Yan Jin sat on the carriage roof and casually glanced at the ornate carriage following behind them.

Vidal frowned. "Could you not call me that? It makes me sound like a dog..."

"All right, Goldie."

Vidal: "..."

Fine. He could not beat her, so he would endure it.

"How did things turn out for you?" he asked.

"What else could it be? So far, nothing Amon has wanted to do has ever failed." Yan Jin looked as though it were only natural.

Though he had already guessed as much, Vidal was still deeply shocked when he received confirmation. "The two of you killed that Oni thing together? Then Amon... is already a Soul Ancestor? No, a Soul King?"

The limit of a Fourth Soul Ring was around five thousand years, while that Eyeless Snake had been extremely close to a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast. Therefore, Vidal guessed that Amon was not the level-forty Soul Elder he had initially assumed him to be, but a level-fifty Soul Ancestor who had entered the Soul King realm by absorbing this Soul Ring.

A seventeen- or eighteen-year-old Soul King!

Even those exceptionally gifted geniuses from Spirit Hall who had already made names for themselves were probably no more than that!

Amon shrugged. "No. Right now, I am merely a Soul Elder."

"Huh? A Soul Elder?" Vidal was somewhat stunned. "You're joking... How could a Third Soul Ring possibly absorb one that is over nine thousand years old?"

"I can... My Martial Soul is somewhat special. It can split apart, allowing it to transfer away unnecessary excess energy and prevent my body from being torn apart because it cannot withstand such immense energy." Amon answered with a light smile.

It was foreseeable that they would be spending quite a lot of time with Vidal in the future, so he selectively revealed some secrets that would be difficult to conceal.

Yan Jin curled her lips. She knew Amon was deceiving him again. Although every word from his mouth was true, others would only understand it in an entirely different way.

"You're really only a Soul Elder?" Vidal's voice carried a trace of alarm and doubt.

"Genuine, without a doubt..."

This seemed even more astonishing than him being a Soul King... Who could absorb a Soul Ring nearing ten thousand years upon advancing to Soul Elder?

"Of course, because splitting it wasted quite a bit of energy, the quality of my Soul Ring dropped. It is not actually as terrifying as it sounds. My limit is merely somewhat higher than that of ordinary people." Amon explained.

Amon's current Third Soul Ring was actually around six thousand years old. Though it could not compare to one over nine thousand years old, compared to the ordinary limit of seventeen hundred years, it was already terrifying enough.

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Vidal felt even more confident about passing the qualifiers and representing Northland Academy in the Elite Tournament of Advanced Soul Master Academies.

He asked another question. "How old are you now?"

"Probably a little over seventeen. Nearly eighteen." Amon recalled for a moment, sounding somewhat uncertain.

"What a pity. This is also the last tournament you can participate in. You'll be just over the age limit for the next one. Otherwise, our academy might truly have a chance at winning the championship." Vidal sounded somewhat regretful.

Northland Academy was his alma mater. If it could win such an honor, he would share in its glory.

"We don't need to wait for the next one. We can do it this time..." Yan Jin sat up, her face full of certainty.

Though she did not know how strong their opponents would be, they certainly would not be outrageously overpowered. Otherwise, it would not be a competition for young people and should instead be renamed the Strongest Contest...

There were still three years until the Soul Master Tournament. She figured that both she and Amon could advance another ten levels without any problem.

By then, even their normal Martial Soul Fusion state would possess the strength of a Soul King. Coupled with Amon's absurdly vast total Soul Power, if they summoned the Magma Colossus, they could knock even a Soul Saint flat on that cramped arena!

Looking at Yan Jin's fearless, youthful confidence, Vidal's eyes held a little more amusement.

He did not know what kind of power Amon and Yan Jin could unleash together. He merely took it as drive—a courage unafraid of hardship and daring enough to fight.