"Fourth Soul Skill-"
"Coiling Dragon Shield!"
Dragon Duke Meng Shu, who had been fleeing moments earlier, was forced to stop and swing his Dragon-Headed Staff.
As the purple fourth Soul Ring beneath his feet flashed, the phantom of a flood dragon seemed to fly out of the dragon's head, swiftly coiling in front of the Dragon-Headed Staff to form a shield for a single target.
It intercepted the Holy Light Cannonball.
"Paltry tricks!"
"Boy, with just these tricks, you dare challenge me, a mighty Soul Dou... Holy shit!"
Before Dragon Duke Meng Shu could finish speaking,
he suddenly saw dozens of attacks identical to that Holy Light Cannonball hurtling toward him from over a hundred meters away, like sweet rain descending from heaven.
Boom-!
Boom, boom-!!
The massive, relentless energy blasts reduced everything within dozens of meters of Dragon Duke Meng Shu to rubble.
Mist billowed everywhere, obscuring everyone's vision.
Even the surrounding ancient trees, over ten meters tall, were mostly hidden by the mist from the explosions.
Everyone from Shrek gaped at the sight.
Yet before they could say anything, they discovered that Yang Jian had already vanished from where he stood.
If Xiaotian hadn't still been firing Holy Light Cannonballs in midair, they might have suspected that this Soul Skill had little to do with Yang Jian at all.
"Tsk!"
"Found you."
Meanwhile,
having used Snow-Treading Without a Trace, Yang Jian reached the edge of the mist and spotted Dragon Duke Meng Shu, whose ability to fight had already been considerably diminished, with his keen eyesight.
A faint smile immediately curled his lips as he called inwardly, Ultimate Flame!
A flame tinged with black suddenly rose from his palm. He then directed it onto Dragon Duke Meng Shu.
"Aah-!"
"Aaaah-!!"
In an instant,
Dragon Duke Meng Shu's agonized howls rang out.
He rolled frantically across the ground, trying to smother some of the flames on his body with sand and dirt.
But his efforts were doomed to be futile.
That was because the Ultimate Flame Yang Jian wielded used his own Soul Power as fuel.
As long as his Soul Power lasted, the flames would never die.
They could burn all things.
"Hello. We meet again."
Yang Jian stood where he was and chuckled.
Even with victory firmly in his grasp, he still refused to put himself in danger.
The only reason he spoke like this and kept Dragon Duke Meng Shu alive was to farm a few more emotion rewards.
"You, you... Aah-!"
"You're Yang Jian?!"
Dragon Duke Meng Shu shouted.
[Ding! Meng Shu detected. His desire to survive is the dominant emotion. Reward: the ages of all current Soul Rings increase by 1,000 years.]
Just as expected.
With someone like him, the emotion rewards only got a little better when he was about to die.
"Please... please!"
"Please, spare me! I know I was wrong! Aah-!"
"I'll do anything you want! Cultivation resources, money, women... yes! Women!"
"I can give you my granddaughter as a concubine! Aah-! Just let me go!"
"Aaaah-!!!"
Dragon Duke Meng Shu rolled back and forth in agony as he begged toward the black mist, so thick he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
"If you were prepared to kill someone else, then you should have been prepared for them to kill you instead."
"The weak are meat for the strong. That's how it works, isn't it?"
"It's just a shame your precious granddaughter isn't here to hear you."
Yang Jian sighed softly.
He truly thought it was a shame.
If Meng Yiran had been here to hear those words from the grandfather she respected so much, surely she would have contributed plenty of emotion rewards?
"Aah-!"
"Aaaah-!!"
"Even as a ghost, I won't let you off, Yang Jian-!!!"
[Ding! Meng Shu detected. Fear, the desire to survive, anger, regret, remorse, and other negative emotions are flashing past like flowers viewed from horseback. Reward: one Persona Mask.] [Persona Mask: wear it on your face to imitate any human. The closer the imitation, the greater the strength you can wield, up to the equivalent of a level 85 Soul Douluo. Duration depends on your own Soul Power reserves. Consumption is extremely high.]
"Hmm?"
"A Persona Mask?"
"Now this is something good."
Seeing such a generous reward, Yang Jian immediately took out the Persona Mask.
He held it before his eyes and examined it.
Who would have thought that what appeared to be nothing more than a piece of silk cloth glowing in black and white
could possess such power?
Yang Jian had lived two lives, and from childhood in his previous life, he had read and watched countless tales of the supernatural and the bizarre.
Naturally, those powerful figures remained fresh in his memory.
Never mind anyone else-there was Erlang Shen of Guanjiangkou, Yang Jian, whose name sounded exactly like his own, who obeyed military orders but refused summons to court.
He often imitated him.
Of course,
even if Yang Jian had never imitated Erlang Shen, as long as he had seen what he looked like, he could still make a passable attempt.
He didn't need much resemblance. Even the slightest similarity in appearance would be enough to meet the requirement for wielding the Persona Mask's maximum strength.
"It's only the strength of a level 85 Soul Douluo. How much would I really need to resemble Erlang Shen for that?"
With a faint smile, Yang Jian put the Persona Mask into the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Jade Belt.
With this Persona Mask, he practically had a life-saving trump card he could use at any time.
In the days ahead,
as long as he didn't run into a Titled Douluo, Yang Jian felt confident that protecting himself wouldn't be a problem.
Even if he really encountered a Titled Douluo, he might not be able to win, but he would still have a chance to escape.
"Woof, woof, woof-"
"Big brother, big brother, why did you run so fast? I couldn't even keep up!"
"Boss, are you all right?"
As Xiaotian bounded toward him first, Yang Jian also saw Ning Rongrong and the others following behind.
Now that Yang Jian had time to spare, Ning Rongrong no longer dared to call him things like "hubby" outright.
She looked every bit the well-behaved girl.
"What could possibly happen to me?"
Yang Jian smiled and waved a hand.
He still wore that same unconcerned expression.
Seeing this, everyone breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Is Meng Shu dead?"
Flender asked.
"There."
Yang Jian replied softly and shifted half a step aside.
Only then did everyone get a clear look at Dragon Duke Meng Shu, who had been throwing his weight around before them earlier. He had already been injured beyond recognition.
They could still vaguely recognize him only because they had seen him so recently.
Anyone who hadn't seen him in a long time would probably have struggled to identify him.
"That'll teach you to bark at us, you beast!"
Zhao Wuji walked up to Dragon Duke Meng Shu and planted his foot directly on the thoroughly cooked corpse, grinding it hard before finally feeling some relief. He looked at Yang Jian. "Hahaha... satisfying! So satisfying!"
"Well done, kid!"
"You rascal, I'm starting to have trouble figuring out just how strong you are."
"Back then, all I did was break out and escape from sixteen Soul Emperors from Spirit Hall, and that earned me the nickname Immovable Wisdom King."
"Now you've killed a Soul Douluo with the strength of a Soul Ancestor. If word of this gets out, it'll probably shake the entire soul master world to its core!"
"Hahahahaha..."
Zhao Wuji laughed heartily.
He had always been a man who repaid kindness and settled grudges without hesitation, and he already admired Yang Jian's temperament.
Now he had seen Yang Jian stand up for the academy's students and even kill a Soul Douluo.
As the academy's vice dean, the pride he felt was naturally beyond compare.
[Ding! Zhao Wuji detected in an extremely joyful mood. Reward: current overall strength increases by 10%.]
"What happened to the Dragon Duke?"
As everyone joked around, Yu Xiaogang finally arrived with Tang San and Xiao Wu in tow.
Before you continue