A Grand Vow

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle-

Amid the golden flames filling the sky, wisps of blood-red light rapidly caught fire, teetering on the brink of destruction.

The shotgun's rounds had been specially prepared for hunting Evil Soul Masters. Their combined light and fire attributes dealt extra damage to them.

"Aah-it hurts! It hurts so much! I'm burning alive! Aah-"

Li Qing screamed incessantly.

His Left Arm Soul Bone was not particularly old and came with severe limitations. If the blood-red light burned away completely, he would vanish from the world without even leaving ashes behind.

Those fragile wisps clearly could not cross the area covered by Solar Storm. Forcing their way through would only get them incinerated as they fled.

Li Qing had no choice but to cancel his Soul Bone Skill.

The few surviving wisps collided, gathering into a human shape.

The figure, covered in golden flames, fell from the sky. He raised a stolen soul-powered energy shield to block the golden fire raining down, then rolled across the ground, trying to crawl out of its range.

His entire body was charred and shriveled, like a length of rotten wood, utterly unlike the young man brimming with vitality he had been before.

His first Soul Ring lit up.

A solid blood-red figure sprang from Li Qing's body, only for the golden flames filling the sky to cling to it like maggots burrowing into bone.

Amid the incessant sizzling, the blood-red figure rushed out of Solar Storm's range just before it could burn away completely.

His second Soul Ring lit up.

Space rippled.

Li Qing, rolling across the ground, switched places with the Blood Shadow Clone that had escaped, breaking free of Solar Storm's scorching heat.

Bang!

Before Li Qing could feel any relief at surviving, a gunshot rang out like a funeral bell.

"First ring, blood clone; second ring, Blood Shadow Swap; third ring, Blood Shadow Blast... the Iron Dragon Duke made all your Soul Skill information public. Preparing counters wasn't difficult."

This time, the Tinplate Puppet holding the shotgun had loaded a slug, aiming for a one-shot kill.

Soul-powered shields excelled at defending against energy attacks but were weaker against physical ones.

The slug-firing shotgun in Jiang Dongjun's hands could be considered a miniature fixed-ammunition Soul Tool. Its projectile dealt solid, physical damage.

The slug, as large as an eyeball, struck the soul-powered shield raised in front of Li Qing. It paused for only an instant before punching straight through.

Li Qing reacted, but only had time to duck slightly. The slug meant for his heart struck his left shoulder instead, severing his arm at the shoulder and sending it flying into the air.

"Li Qing!"

"Time to be on your way!"

The Tinplate Puppet pitched forward as though its bones had vanished. A beam of golden light shot from behind it, its sword energy surging like a dragon.

Flying Sword! Flying Sword! Flying Sword!

Whoosh-

Li Qing stared blankly, letting the golden light rapidly swell before his eyes, as though he had already accepted his defeat and death.

In truth, Jiang Dongjun's low shout had already dragged him into a clash on the mental plane.

Memories of his life flashed before his eyes like scenes in a revolving lantern.

-A brother and sister who had awakened shadow Martial Souls were brought into the Duke's Mansion to be trained, believing wealth and glory were within reach;

-The duke's promiscuous illegitimate daughter, relying on her status, repeatedly humiliated him, her fiancé in name;

-His graceful young sister became an object of desire. From refusing an arranged marriage to taking her own life in humiliation, she taught him that the food nobles bestowed was not so easily earned;

-The lake water on a winter night was cold enough to pierce bone. He lurked beneath it for hours, hunting down every abuser. His shadow devoured the sinners' blood and came alive. Li Qing had died; what lived on was a bloodsucking monster ruled by hatred;

Revenge was, of course, just.

After learning what had happened, Jiang Dongjun had applauded it too.

But afterward, an unrestrained demon had been let out of its cage.

-The moonlight was cold, mingling with screams that tore through the night. That was the first time he massacred a village, turning his blade on the innocent and weak solely to cultivate.

-The innocent villagers' hot blood splashed across his face. A pool formed from the entire village's flesh and blood reeked pungently. The fullness as blood energy poured into his body, the increase in his Soul Rings' ages, made him forget every discomfort. Gradually, even the figure buried deep in his memories, the one who haunted his soul and dreams, began to blur;

Slaughter, devouring, refining, revenge...

Until today.

Yet that blurred figure in his memories gradually grew clear again.

Li Qing had deliberately forgotten her, unable to bear letting her see the ugly creature he had become.

"Xiao Meng? Xiao Meng! Is that you? Have... have you come to take me away?"

Tears filled Li Qing's eyes. Trembling, he reached out, feeling ahead of him.

Golden light pierced his chest.

In his final flicker of life, shock and release mingled on Li Qing's face as he murmured.

"I... I was wrong. I shouldn't have... they... they were innocent..."

"Burn me... ashes, bracelet... bury us together..."

With that, he fell backward and lay still.

The golden light that had passed through his chest faded, revealing a golden sword within. Its tip was embedded in the ground, humming and trembling.

Over twenty crystalline thoughts rose from the blade, turning into a phantom boy who landed beside it.

"Li Qing, seven villages, over a thousand people, old and young alike-all innocent!"

"Even the Evil Soul Masters backed by the Holy Spirit Cult probably weren't as insane as you. However great the injustice you suffered, after committing such a bloody string of massacres, heaven itself would not tolerate me sparing you!"

"What a pity. If you'd only slaughtered the Iron Dragon Duke's lineage and left those innocent villagers alone, I would absolutely have asked someone to protect you and nurture you..."

Jiang Dongjun, in his yin spirit form, shook his head and stopped offering hindsight.

"Strip away fortune."

"Reap merit."

From a perspective beyond perception, an invisible force rose from the dead Li Qing and was completely absorbed by Jiang Dongjun.

More precisely, it was absorbed by a faint, hazy gleam hidden deep within Jiang Dongjun's soul.

That was the cheat he had brought with him.

Jiang Dongjun began cleaning up the battlefield.

First, he removed the Thousand-Year Soul Bone from Li Qing's left arm and took the few Soul Tools Li Qing had stolen, including his storage bracelet. He found an urn inside it and added Li Qing's cremated ashes, fulfilling his wish to be buried with his sister.

Looking at the newly raised mound, Jiang Dongjun solemnly promised in his yin spirit form:

"I investigated before coming here. The Iron Dragon Duke's lineage, which caused your suffering, really is rotten. But I'm not strong enough yet, and my dad is only a high-ranking Soul King. Facing the Iron Dragon Lineage, which has a Soul Douluo, would be like smashing an egg against a rock.

Wait until I have seven rings, and I'll settle accounts with the Iron Dragon Lineage for you.

I'll take your storage bracelet and Thousand-Year Soul Bone as my commission fee.

I'm not like a certain scumbag with a special fondness for noble titles. I'll sweep the entire 'noble' class into history's garbage heap. Though on the Douluo Continent, where the world's rules make bloodline supremacy so deeply entrenched, true equality for everyone will probably be difficult...

But I'll try my best to build a relatively equal world.

My only wish is for everyone to soar like a dragon!"

It was not that Jiang Dongjun had grown conceited. This was simply a world where everyone competed to be less rotten. As long as he gained the combat strength of a Limit Douluo, and God King Tang did not descend like a deus ex machina to meddle in the continent's affairs, he was confident he could lead the Douluo Continent onto the right path.

Slay the old bastards, discipline the middle generation, educate the new;

Unify the continent, end imperial rule, abolish the nobility, and forcibly distribute power through a parliamentary system and "democracy";

Advance a revolution in soul guidance technology, develop productive capacity, explore new continents;

Advance a revolution in Soul Spirit technology, develop artificial Soul Spirits, preserve the health of the Douluo Continent's ecological chain, and push Douluo Star toward becoming a demigod realm, then even a Divine Realm;

Was any of that so difficult?

None of it was.

At the very least, Huo Yuhao could have done all of it. But had he?

He had rushed to godhood in his twenties, treating his former brothers-in-arms like NPCs he could not even be bothered to acknowledge. He had abandoned the Douluo Continent's wreckage, with everything waiting to be rebuilt, and gone off to find Princess Tang as though possessed. Who had he done right by?

What a freak!

Thin red arcs flickered within the twenty-odd diamond-clear thoughts, like anger pent up in his heart. His Spiritual Power swept up the storage ring and bracelet, then rose into the air and departed.

Outside the Dusky Glow Mountains, a carriage stood on the main road.

An inexplicable chill wind swept past. Goosebumps rose on the coachman's skin, and he rubbed the arms exposed beneath his short-sleeved shirt. He looked up at the sun, which had just emerged from the clouds, thoroughly puzzled. Unable to work out why, he could only mutter, "Damned weather."

"Old Li, turn back. We're returning to Shrek City."

The sudden instruction from inside the carriage startled the middle-aged coachman, who hurriedly answered.

"Right you are, boss! Off home we go!"

The coachman pulled the reins, lightly flicked his whip against the two Hornscale Horses, and deftly turned the carriage around, heading back the way they had come.

Inside the carriage.

Clack, clack.

Two Storage Soul Tools landed on the little low table, announcing Jiang Dongjun's victorious return.

Over twenty thoughts entered the handsome boy lying beside the table. His yin spirit fully returned to its place, and the boy opened his clear eyes. Rubbing his temples and the spot between his brows, he rose and stretched his body.

Opposite him sat a tall, imposing, unkempt middle-aged man whose features bore a seventy-percent resemblance to Jiang Dongjun's youthful face. A hairband across his forehead held back his bristling short hair, and he radiated authority without needing to show anger.

He wore work clothes covered in pockets and traces of oil that would not wash out. A faint metallic smell clung to him. He looked like a homebody engineer obsessed with technology, which made him seem considerably more approachable.

He was the father who had brought Jiang Dongjun into the world and raised him in this life.

Jiang Ming, thirty-nine years old, a rank fifty-eight Soul King.

His parents in this life were both meticulous planners. They had only conceived him after turning thirty, once their cultivation speed had slowed completely.

Moreover, throughout the thirty-odd years before his birth, neither parent had ever taken medicine to increase their cultivation, fearing it might damage his innate potential.

Jiang Ming did not rush to inspect Li Qing's storage bracelet. Instead, he picked up his son's storage ring first and took out the Soul Tools one by one.

A Tinplate Puppet sitting cross-legged, the High-Crowned Fox-Eared Hat, a firearm, a golden sword, and the Tiger-Emblem Pendant.

Jiang Ming checked the charge of each internal Milk Bottle in turn, then replenished them all with his own Soul Power.

Finding that the hat, firearm, and golden sword had consumed the most Soul Power, Jiang Ming raised an eyebrow and said meaningfully:

"The soul puppet actually used the least?"

"I thought a brat like you, with new equipment in hand, would itch to try it out and use your yin spirit to control it for a proper close-quarters fight with Blood Ghost Li Qing."