Brothers, unleash your martial souls!

Yu Xiaogang answered through gritted teeth.

Immediately afterward.

To be safe, he added, "Put it in writing right now!"

"Sure. That would be best."

Soon.

The two began haggling over the written agreement, refining its terms.

Yu Xiaogang, in particular, believed he had Yang Jian firmly in his grasp. To get things started sooner, he pretended to fall for Yang Jian's tricks and conceded on some unfavorable terms.

After all, in his eyes, Yang Jian's death was already nailed to the board.

There was simply no possibility of losing.

Since that was the case, conceding on the terms for his own defeat in exchange for greater gains was certainly worthwhile.

"All done."

"Fatty, Rongrong, keep an eye on the Fart God for me. If he tries to wriggle out of it and run away later, I'll have to waste energy catching him."

With the agreement in hand, that mischievous grin reappeared on Yang Jian's face, making everyone who had intended to stop him freeze instinctively.

And while they were still stunned.

Yang Jian had already circulated his soul power, drawing on the black Soul Ring hovering over the Three-Headed Flood Dragon Wolf King's corpse.

By the time everyone reacted, he had already begun absorbing the Soul Ring.

"Hahahahaha..."

Yu Xiaogang couldn't help bursting into laughter.

His only concern had been that Flender might intervene and stop Yang Jian from absorbing the Soul Ring. Once enough time passed and the Soul Ring dissipated, their wager would simply come to nothing.

He hadn't expected Yang Jian to have such guts, actually beginning the absorption the moment he said he would.

Without even the slightest hesitation.

The thought that he would soon obtain that sixty-thousand-year Head Soul Bone-and one from a leader-class Three-Headed Flood Dragon Wolf King at that.

Filled Yu Xiaogang with such excitement that he couldn't stop laughing.

"Xiaogang!"

"You've gone too far this time!"

Clutching his copy of the freshly written agreement, which everyone had received, Flender's face filled with anger.

He did consider Yu Xiaogang his brother, but that didn't mean he was willing to watch Yang Jian march to his death.

Especially when his good brother's provocation had driven Yang Jian to do it.

"Flender, fortune and calamity have no gates; people summon them upon themselves."

"Even if I didn't punish him today, someone else would once he left Shrek."

"When that happens, he might not even be left with an intact corpse!"

Yu Xiaogang merely sneered, then turned away from Flender and closed his eyes to rest.

Seeing this, Tang San and Xiao Wu naturally took their places on either side of Yu Xiaogang to guard him.

Although Zhao Wuji found Yu Xiaogang's behavior distasteful, he refrained from rebuking him out of consideration for his status as Flender's sworn brother.

He simply put away his copy of the agreement, then sat beside Yang Jian and watched him intently.

He only hoped that if something went wrong later, he would be able to help.

Seeing what sort of person his sworn brother had become after all these years, Flender said nothing more.

Like Zhao Wuji, he put away his own copy of the agreement and sat on Yang Jian's other side.

Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, and Oscar took their seats a short distance away of their own accord, surrounding Yang Jian protectively.

From a distance, only Yu Xiaogang, Tang San, and Xiao Wu stood outside the circle around Yang Jian.

"Awooo-!!!!!"

Meanwhile.

As everyone spoke, Yang Jian had already shattered the third soul attack left behind by the Three-Headed Flood Dragon Wolf King within his sea of consciousness.

Sure enough, improving my mental strength and learning the eye technique, Tsukuyomi, made all the difference. Otherwise, I really might have fallen into this damned thing's trap.

Yang Jian thought to himself.

Without the increase in mental strength that came from learning the eye technique, Tsukuyomi, dealing with the Three-Headed Flood Dragon Wolf King's soul power would have been quite troublesome.

But troublesome as it might have been, it wasn't without a solution.

Still.

Things were better this way. He could wipe out the lingering soul power of a tens-of-thousands-of-years-old soul beast as casually as chatting and laughing.

That meant that once he reached level fifty, he could look for soul beasts over seventy thousand years old.

In that case, truly absorbing a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring at level sixty wasn't impossible either.

The system's rewards have already stacked my soul power up to level 46. In theory, absorbing this Soul Ring should raise it by at least another level.

That would make it 47...

Sure enough, farming system rewards is the way to go.

Back then, I slogged away at cultivation on my own and only gained four levels of soul power in three years... heh.

At the thought of that.

Yang Jian smiled helplessly.

If not for that, he wouldn't have needed to invent a story to fool Flender, claiming that his long accumulation was finally bearing fruit.

"Awooo-!!!!!"

While Yang Jian was lost in thought.

Another attack came from the Three-Headed Flood Dragon Wolf King's lingering soul within his sea of consciousness.

It instantly interrupted his thoughts.

Why are you still howling?

Yang Jian was rather speechless.

By all rights, after so many attacks, it should have been over already.

What he didn't know was that the Three-Headed Flood Dragon Wolf King had always excelled in mental strength.

And before its death, he had controlled it with his own mental strength.

Of course its resentment surged to the heavens.

Naturally, it wouldn't dissipate so easily.

There was nothing he could do. Since the Three-Headed Flood Dragon Wolf King's lingering soul wasn't as easy to deal with as he had imagined.

Yang Jian could only patiently wear it down.

However.

Just then.

Seeing that night had fallen and Yang Jian still hadn't emerged from cultivation, Yu Xiaogang's delight became impossible to conceal.

However.

Upon seeing the displeasure on Flender's face, he could only force himself to put on a sorrowful expression.

"I'm sorry, Flender."

"I never imagined Yang Jian really wouldn't be able to pull through."

"Yu Xiaogang, you damned bastard! Stop shedding a cat's crocodile tears over a dead mouse!"

Already tormented with worry, Ma Hongjun saw that Yu Xiaogang actually had the gall to say such a thing.

The anger he had been suppressing instantly erupted.

A yellow hundred-year soul ring flashed beneath his feet.

Wisps of evil fire seemed to rise around him.

"Teacher!"

Seeing this, Tang San immediately shielded Yu Xiaogang behind him.

Two yellow Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet, circling him, while Blue Silver Grass sprouted from his right palm. His left hand, hidden behind his back, prepared for the worst.

If things truly reached that point, there would be no need to keep the Clear Sky Hammer in his left hand hidden.

"What are you trying to do?!"

Seeing Tang San ready for battle, Xiao Wu immediately summoned her martial soul as well.

"What are you trying to do?!"

Dai Mubai's gaze hardened. With a bellyful of anger he had long had nowhere to vent, he roared, "Brothers, unleash your martial souls!"

As his words fell.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's radiance instantly spread through their surroundings, driving away the darkness.

Then the Ghost Soul Cat martial soul abruptly manifested behind Zhu Zhuqing.

Along with a Big Sausage.