At midnight, three li outside Shrek Academy, stood the abandoned Broken Mountain Temple.
The temple had lain abandoned for years. Half a wall had collapsed, and weeds covered the clearing in front.
Farther ahead lay the narrow path everyone had to take back to the academy.
Three outlaw Soul Masters crept over, found a sheltered corner behind a wall, and crouched down to plot.
The man missing an ear crouched in the middle, drawing on the ground with a twig. "According to Yu Xiaogang, Li Hanqiu passes along this path every night.
"Once he steps into our trap, Second Brother attacks from the left, Third Brother from the right, and I'll activate my martial soul avatar and crush him.
"Just a little Soul King-even with a dragon-type martial soul, I don't believe he can survive!"
Scarface drew his saber and scraped his thumb along its edge. "You're right, Big Brother. Once we're done, we can't forget that dragon beast of his.
"Dragon hide, dragon blood, dragon tendons-they're all good stuff. They'll fetch a pretty penny!"
"Heh heh, Second Brother thinks of everything." The one-eared man chuckled.
The tall, thin man nodded silently, steadily polishing his iron claws. "Same here."
Yu Xiaogang huddled at the very back, leaning on his crutch, not daring to breathe too loudly. He stared at the pitch-black entrance to the path, trembling uncontrollably from cold and fear.
"He's here."
Scarface suddenly lowered his voice.
A white figure slowly approached along the path behind the temple.
The handsome young man wore a blue-green outer robe over a moon-white gown, strolling unhurriedly beneath the moonlight.
Who else could it be but Li Hanqiu?
"Attack!"
At Yu Xiaogang's command, the one-eared man sprang up first, lunging at Li Hanqiu's back like a leopard pouncing on prey.
Yet Li Hanqiu never even turned his head. A golden blur lashed through the air beside him.
Crack!
A dragon's tail swept sideways like a golden steel whip.
Before the one-eared man could land, he was already flying sideways. He smashed through half an earthen wall, and dust exploded with a boom.
"What?!"
Scarface and the tall, thin man cried out, their expressions changing at once.
Li Hanqiu stopped, his hands clasped behind his back. He looked up, swept his gaze over the two men in front of the temple, then turned to Yu Xiaogang, who was cowering at the rear.
"What a coincidence, gentlemen. What business brings you looking for me so late at night?"
Yu Xiaogang went cold all over.
He hadn't even seen how the one-eared man had been sent flying-and that man was a Soul Saint!
"L-Li Hanqiu!" he shrieked.
Just then, the one-eared man who had been whipped away suddenly sprang up and joined the other two outlaw Soul Masters as they closed in.
The three formed a triangle around Li Hanqiu.
The one-eared Soul Saint crawled out of the earthen wall and wiped the blood from his face. Scarface stood on the left, the tall, thin man on the right.
All three unleashed their full soul power, soul rings rising beneath their feet one after another.
The tall, thin man was a Six-Ring Soul Emperor.
Scarface was a Six-Ring Soul Emperor.
The one-eared man was a Seven-Ring Soul Sage!
One Soul Saint and two Soul Emperors.
At last, Li Hanqiu's eyelids stirred.
"One Soul Saint and two Soul Emperors," he said. "With cultivation like that, you'd be honored guests in any sect.
"Yet you've sunk to being someone else's blades. The three of you have certainly made something of yourselves."
Scarface spat bloody saliva. "Cut the crap! I've killed more people than eighteen generations of your ancestors combined. Today, Grandpa's sending you on your way!"
With that, he was about to charge.
"Second Brother, wait!"
The one-eared Soul Saint suddenly shouted from the rear.
He pointed at Li Hanqiu, his expression grave. "Li Hanqiu! What exactly is your true cultivation level?
"That attack just now wasn't anything a Soul King could deliver!"
Although the one-eared Soul Saint had underestimated Li Hanqiu during his sneak attack, he had still been sent flying by a single sweep of a tail.
No matter how he looked at it, Li Hanqiu's strength was nothing like a Soul King's!
Li Hanqiu smiled, then slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, soul rings rose beneath his feet, one after another.
Purple, purple, purple, black, black...
The three outlaws stared with wide eyes, but before they could finish marveling-
A sixth soul ring beneath Li Hanqiu's waist slowly lit up.
A sixth ring of the deepest black.
It was clearly a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, yet it looked like a black fissure set into the air, seeping an aura that sent chills into the cracks between their bones.
This soul ring had been bestowed by the system reward, "One in Ten Thousand Soul Rings."
It had been selected from countless soul rings as the best match for Li Hanqiu, based on age, attributes, and bloodline.
Thus, not only was it eighty-nine thousand years old, its attributes were also exceptionally compatible with Li Hanqiu.
"A soul ring configuration like that..." Scarface's throat suddenly went too dry for words.
"They're all thousand-year and ten-thousand-year soul rings... How could soul rings like these exist!"
Yu Xiaogang stood rooted to the spot, his crutch falling to the ground with a clack.
"A Soul Emperor... Y-you, when did you become a Soul Emperor?! You've been hiding it all along! All along!"
Yu Xiaogang finally understood and blurted out:
"No wonder Zhao Wuji couldn't beat you! You hid your cultivation! You were already a Soul Emperor!"
At those words, the faces of all three outlaw Soul Masters changed.
The one-eared Soul Saint whipped his head around, seized Yu Xiaogang by the collar, and hauled him up.
"Who did you say? Zhao Wuji? The Immovable Wisdom King, Zhao Wuji?"
"He, he..." Yu Xiaogang stammered in terror.
"You're saying this brat defeated the Immovable Wisdom King?!"
Yu Xiaogang dared neither nod nor shake his head.
"Big Brother, what do we do?" Scarface leaned close to the one-eared man, cold sweat trickling down his scar.
The one-eared Soul Saint slammed Yu Xiaogang viciously onto the ground.
"Goddammit." He gritted his teeth, his face twisting savagely.
"Back when I was making my way through the Soul Master World, I fought Zhao Wuji. That bastard's bear hide was hard and thick. Someone who could beat Zhao Wuji..."
He raised his head and looked at Li Hanqiu, stressing every word.
"I really might not be able to take him."
"Then... are we still fighting?" the tall, thin man asked, screwing up his courage.
"Fight!"
The one-eared Soul Saint gave a low roar, and all seven soul rings blazed at once.
"I'll hold him from the front! You two flank him! Kill this brat!"
At their eldest brother's command, the second and third brothers exchanged a glance and moved together.
The two Soul Emperors, Scarface and the tall, thin man, shot toward Li Hanqiu's flanks like arrows loosed from a bow.
The one-eared Soul Saint was even fiercer. His soul power condensed into the phantom of a gray-brown poison scorpion, its feet planted on the earth. Taking three strides in two, he charged straight at Li Hanqiu to crush him.
Li Hanqiu looked utterly unconcerned. He raised a hand and pressed his left shoulder.
"Fourth Soul Skill, Holy Radiance Dragon Armor."
In the next instant, translucent golden armor plates formed out of thin air over Li Hanqiu's shoulders, chest, and back.
The plates lit up with a hum, joining in an instant into a suit of luminous, dragon-patterned armor.
"This is..."
As Li Hanqiu activated Holy Radiance Dragon Armor, something seemed to occur to him, and his expression grew distant for a moment.
He could be heard murmuring:
"Since Dragon Armor and Martial Soul Avatar Armor are both defensive armor abilities, why can't the two be combined?"
"All I need to do when circulating my soul power is this, then this..."
Li Hanqiu sank into thought, stroking his chin.
He had actually made a breakthrough on the spot, right in the middle of battle.
Martial Soul Avatar Armor, which had troubled Li Hanqiu for months and yielded no results despite his practice, had finally offered him a spark of inspiration during combat.
The one-eared Soul Saint had already charged within reach of Li Hanqiu. Seeing his indifferent expression and lowered head, refusing even to look him in the eye-
Rage instantly surged through him!
Fine, so you have a dragon-type martial soul. So you once defeated Zhao Wuji.
At the end of the day, you're still just a Soul Emperor, yet you dare look down on me like this!
The one-eared Soul Saint gritted his teeth and roared. Behind him, the stinger of his poison scorpion martial soul lashed out with a sharp whistle through the air.
The venomous stinger shot straight toward Li Hanqiu's neck in a sudden strike!
But-clang!
The one-eared Soul Saint's heart chilled.
Li Hanqiu blocked with one arm, the dragon-patterned armor covering it shining brilliantly.
His prized Poison Scorpion Sting had accomplished absolutely nothing!
Holy Light Ao let out a dragon's roar. Lightning blazed in the dragon's mouth, and golden thunderbolts became a long tongue that lashed toward the one-eared Soul Saint.
Faced with this, he could only retreat, deftly dodging back to his two younger brothers.
The golden lightning tore through the night sky and plunged deep into the dense forest.
After a brief buzzing in the air, a deafening explosion erupted.
Great swathes of towering trees snapped at the sound. Charred splinters and flying dirt blasted in every direction.
Rolling waves of heat swept outward, carrying the acrid stench of scorched wood.
The entire forest shook violently, birds and beasts scattering in panic.
A long silence followed...
The three outlaws had already lost all will to fight.
What a joke. A casual strike from the other side was even more badass than their boss after activating his martial soul avatar.
What the hell were they supposed to fight with?!
Li Hanqiu stroked Holy Light Ao's scales, then looked calmly at the three men.
"Though the three of you have committed countless evils, you did help me master a secret art. I'm in a fairly good mood today..."
Before Li Hanqiu finished, delight spread across the three outlaws' faces. Thinking he intended to spare them, they all broke into oily, sleazy smiles.
But a moment later, Li Hanqiu's tone changed, and he declared sharply, "Then I'll make it quick for you, and give you an easy death."
"Let me show you my sixth soul skill, Holy Dragon Judgment."
Before you continue