Northern Star Luo Empire, on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Little brother, are you here to get a Soul Ring all by yourself?"
Qi Xuan had barely entered the Star Dou Great Forest when several smiling people gathered around him and greeted him.
The man leading them sized Qi Xuan up. He looked about eleven or twelve, with a fair complexion. His clothes seemed unremarkable, but their fine workmanship meant they were worth a pretty penny.
What was more, he actually wore a jade-colored bracelet on his right wrist. That was clearly an expensive Storage Soul Tool!
One glance told him this was some rich family's young master who had slipped out alone, most likely to get his first Soul Ring.
At that thought, the man broke into a hearty smile. "Little brother, my name's Yu Lian. Just call me Brother Yu. It's not very safe for you to be out here alone. Why don't we travel together and look out for each other? What do you say?"
Seeing how the men had subtly surrounded him, Qi Xuan nodded his agreement.
Yu Lian chatted casually with Qi Xuan. "Say, little brother, the Star Dou Great Forest isn't safe. How could your family let you come out here alone?"
Qi Xuan played along perfectly. "I snuck out myself. They keep going on about how dangerous it is, but I don't believe them."
Hearing that, Yu Lian secretly signaled behind his back, and the others closed in around Qi Xuan.
Qi Xuan acted as though he had seen nothing.
Once they reached a secluded spot, Yu Lian stopped. Soul Power erupted from him, and two Soul Rings appeared, one white and one yellow. Hair sprouted all over his body, sharp claws grew from his fingers, and his face transformed into a vicious wolf's head.
He was actually a rank-twenty Soul Grandmaster!
The others behind him released their Martial Souls as well. Though their ranks were only in the teens, every last one of them had a wolf-type Martial Soul.
Yu Lian's voice grew low. "We only want your money, not your life. Hand over everything you've got, and we'll spare you."
"You're only a rank-ten Soul Master." A cold gleam flashed across his claws. "Don't throw your life away for nothing!"
After years of highway robbery, Yu Lian was quite confident in his strength. His second-ring Soul Skill was an enhancement skill that strengthened every wolf-type Soul Master within range, which was why his entire team had wolf-type Martial Souls.
At full strength, they could even escape unscathed from a rank-thirty Soul Elder.
"Whew..." Qi Xuan slowly exhaled. "Finally couldn't hold yourselves back?"
Qi Xuan's composure sent a tremor through Yu Lian's heart. Casting all caution aside, he lunged forward, his claws slashing viciously straight at Qi Xuan's face.
A fist appeared before him.
A fist flickering with lightning.
So fast.
That was Yu Lian's only thought. Qi Xuan had clearly been standing in the middle of their encirclement just a moment ago, without even releasing his Martial Soul. How had he appeared right in front of him in an instant?
Fist met claw.
"Aaargh!"
Yu Lian let out an agonized scream. His wolf claws had actually been smashed head-on, broken inch by inch. The excruciating pain left him howling uncontrollably.
Qi Xuan's assault was not over. A fierce burst of lightning immediately erupted over Yu Lian's shattered claws.
The power of lightning paralyzed his entire body, leaving him unable to move. The fur on his hand was scorched black, and a burnt smell wafted from it.
"Judging by how practiced your gang is, this can't be your first time doing this. In that case, I'll just consider this delivering justice on Heaven's behalf." Soul Rings drifted out around Qi Xuan. "I am here to find a Soul Ring. Just not my first."
Terror filled the eyes of Yu Lian and his men as they muttered, "Impossible. This is impossible."
Because the two Soul Rings revolving around Qi Xuan were both purple!
Fine arcs of electricity burst through the air, and a scorching wave of air struck Yu Lian's face. Instinctively, he tried to activate his second Soul Skill to strengthen his companions, but his paralyzed body could not even curl a finger.
Under that immense pressure, the other members of Yu Lian's gang fled like madmen back the way they had come, leaving the immobile Yu Lian behind.
Watching them scatter and flee, Qi Xuan lit up his first purple Soul Ring.
"First Soul Skill, Five Thunders Orthodox Method-Crimson Palace Thunder!"
Boom!
Several fierce streams of lightning surged from Qi Xuan's fingertips, chasing straight after the fleeing men.
With a gap of more than ten ranks and the formidable power of a thousand-year Soul Skill, the men struck by Crimson Palace Thunder did not even make a sound before collapsing, charred black and no longer breathing.
As for Yu Lian, he merely lasted a few seconds longer.
"These guys were so broke." After wiping out Yu Lian's gang, Qi Xuan began looting their corpses without the slightest qualm. In the end, he found only twenty Gold Soul Coins.
No wonder. With their strength, fleeing was their only option whenever they encountered a sizable team of Soul Masters, so they had simply set their sights on lone travelers.
As a transmigrator, his timing had been less than ideal. He had arrived right in the Douluo II era, when God-King Tang's control over the Douluo Continent was at its strongest.
He had read the book more than a decade ago, and the details had grown somewhat hazy.
Fortunately, books like this had one particular trait: the earlier the plot point, the more familiar it was.
So he worked out the timing and came to the Star Dou Great Forest, ready to snatch Huo Yuhao's opportunity out from under him.
With that kid's talent, he might actually live a much better life without God-King Tang.
It wasn't Wang Dong who ruined you. It was her dad! (Sad.)
As for Qi Xuan himself, he merely had perfectly ordinary innate full Soul Power.
Qi Xuan, Martial Soul: Elemental Thunder, innate full Soul Power, rank-thirty power attack system Soul Grandmaster (third Soul Ring not yet obtained).
As one of the most unstable elements, lightning often caused backlash against Soul Masters themselves because of its explosive power.
If you didn't believe it, you could ask the people of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect. Which of them hadn't electrocuted themselves?
Ordinary pure-element Soul Masters primarily relied on their control over their element, so their physiques tended to be weaker.
But to Qi Xuan's pleasant surprise, years of tempering his body with lightning had also brought a terrifying improvement in his physical strength. In a head-on clash, he would not lose to any power attack system Battle Soul Master of the same rank.
That was also why he had been able to hunt down an Electric Mouse with a thousand years of cultivation and absorb its Soul Ring as his very first.
He had originally expected to gain a skill like One Hundred Thousand Volts, but what he received instead was a thunder method. That had caught him somewhat off guard.
The mighty hand of Heaven must have been at work.
Since I'm here, I might as well settle in.
Since he had transmigrated to this point in time, he was determined to change this damned plot and make this world of godlike freaks brawling with one another a little more normal.
And while he was at it, he would see whether God-King Tang could still be saved.
He was at least vaguely human during Douluo I. How did he end up like this afterward?
How can anyone make the Douluo Continent a better place with this vermin around?
Now, then, there was only one question: why hadn't Huo Yuhao arrived yet?
Surely he hasn't already finished his storyline with Brother Sky Dream in this little stretch of time?
Just as Qi Xuan was wandering aimlessly, the aroma of grilled fish reached his nose.
Before you continue