Feel Despair

Tap, tap, tap.

Qian Chongling walked up to Wang Liao and looked down at him, crumpled on the floor. Expressionless, he said, "I wonder how long you can hold out?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Chongling lightly clenched his right hand in midair!

There was a crack! In that instant, an immense, invisible force snapped Wang Liao's limb joints backward through 180 degrees. Pale bone splinters and scarlet blood painted a sinister picture.

Yet strangely, despite such devastating injuries, Wang Liao merely turned pale and broke out in a cold sweat. He did not make a sound.

This was not because Wang Liao had extraordinary endurance. Qian Chongling simply disliked hearing the noises these scum made.

Next, Qian Chongling snapped his fingers. A wave of cold swept through the room, sending the temperature plummeting. A faint mist seemed to coat the table and chairs, and the unconscious little girl's tiny body shivered.

Seeing this, Qian Chongling frowned. He took a thick fleece garment from his Soul Tool and, with a wave of one hand, dropped it directly over the little girl.

At the same time, an ice-blue longsword radiating a deep chill appeared in midair. Then it shattered with a crash, turning into millions of ice slivers as fine as strands of hair, suspended in the air.

The ice slivers slowly drifted down like snowflakes, tracing beautiful, enchanting arcs through the air before landing on Wang Liao's clothes.

A flicker of confusion crossed Wang Liao's eyes. Only when the slender ice slivers sliced through his clothes and cut into his skin did he understand what Qian Chongling intended to do.

Only now did Wang Liao understand that the words "grind its flesh and blood to pieces, inch by inch" had been no empty threat.

An ice sliver swept across his body, slicing off a piece of flesh as thin as a cicada's wing. Soon came the hundredth slice, the thousandth, the ten-thousandth...

The north wind howled. Three agile figures raced along before stopping atop Tiger Leap Mountain. The moonlight revealed their faces: two men and one woman.

"The footprints disappear here," said the woman in the lead, a beautiful, blue-haired, middle-aged woman wearing an exquisite, close-fitting blue dress.

"We've been chasing him for days and searched everywhere around here, but there's still no sign of Blood Shadow King Wang Liao," said the tall, imposing middle-aged man behind her, dressed in fitted red clothes.

"He killed people from our Four Elements Academy. Even if he flees to the ends of the earth, he must die!" The last was a lean, lanky middle-aged man dressed in green.

"Enough. Feng Jinghong, sniff around and see if there's any trace of Wang Liao's scent nearby," the beautiful middle-aged woman told the man in green.

"Shui Rou, my Martial Soul is a gale demon wolf, not a dog. Why don't you have Huo Xu do it?" Feng Jinghong protested to the beautiful middle-aged woman, Shui Rou.

"My Single-Horned Fire Dragon's sense of smell isn't as keen as your gale demon wolf's. Sorry for the trouble, Brother Feng," Huo Xu said with a smile, dressed entirely in red.

"I'll do my best. Gale demon wolf possession!"

With a sharp cry from Feng Jinghong, a sturdy, blue-green figure appeared behind him. Seven Soul Rings emerged-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, black. He was unmistakably a seven-ring Soul Saint.

As Martial Soul Possession took effect, Feng Jinghong's body changed as well. His long black hair looked as though it had been slicked with green hair gel. His hands grew longer, and his ten fingers turned into wolf claws that gleamed coldly. Now, Feng Jinghong resembled a werewolf standing upright.

He sniffed around, then shook his head helplessly after a while. "The wind is too strong. Other than a faint smell of blood, I can't pick up anything!"

Hearing this, Huo Xu grew irritated. "This weather really is unpleasant."

A Martial Soul and its wielder were intimately connected. Just as cats liked fish and owls favored the night, Huo Xu's fire-attribute Martial Soul meant he was bound to dislike cold weather.

Just then, Shui Rou asked gravely, "Where is the smell of blood coming from?"

"From the village below," Feng Jinghong said.

At his words, Shui Rou leaped down, telling the two men, "Follow me. I'll explain on the way!"

Huo Xu and Feng Jinghong exchanged a glance. The three had known one another for years, so there was no need for questions. Both followed Shui Rou at once.

Along the way, Shui Rou began to explain. "There's a smell of blood. Don't you find that strange?"

Huo Xu asked, puzzled, "What's strange about that? Whether they're ordinary people or Soul Masters, everyone kills chickens and slaughters sheep from time to time. Even a bump or scrape can leave someone bleeding. A smell of blood is normal!"

Shui Rou shook her head. "Under the conditions you're describing, a faint smell of blood is normal when there's no strong wind. But what's the weather like today? Remember, wind disperses scents."

At her words, Huo Xu's and Feng Jinghong's pupils contracted. In disbelief, Feng Jinghong said, "You mean..."

"If you can still detect a faint smell of blood in such a strong wind, wouldn't that smell be several times, or even dozens of times, stronger without the wind? That means the village ahead has very likely suffered heavy casualties!"

"I hope we're still in time," Shui Rou said.

Now that Shui Rou and the others knew the Evil Soul Master Blood Shadow King Wang Liao was very likely in Tiger Leap Village ahead, they unleashed their Soul Power at full strength. Guided by Feng Jinghong's sense of smell, they reached the door of a small house in the northwestern part of Tiger Leap Village within a few breaths.

"This is the place," Feng Jinghong told the other two.

Bang!

The three exchanged glances. As a power attack system Soul Master, Huo Xu took the lead, kicking open the house's front door and entering first. The other two covered him, then followed him inside when they saw nothing amiss.

Naturally, Qian Chongling heard the door being kicked open. He turned to look, and three figures came into view: one woman and two men.

Huo Xu, the first to enter, was wreathed in flames, with a fiery-red horn on his forehead. Seven Soul Rings surrounded him-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, black. He was unmistakably a rank seventy-seven Soul Saint.

Feng Jinghong followed, looking at first glance like a blue-green werewolf. He, too, had seven Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, black-and was a Soul Saint, though one rank below Huo Xu, at rank seventy-six.

Shui Rou, who entered last, had changed little. Several ice-blue scales lined the sides of her still-charming face, and a pair of ice-blue wings spread behind her. Her Martial Soul was the Ice Prism Bird. Despite being a woman, Shui Rou was the strongest of the three, possessing eight Soul Rings as a rank eighty-one Soul Douluo.

The three stared at the room's three occupants as though facing a formidable enemy: the old man standing with his hands behind his back, the tiny unconscious figure covered with a fleece garment, and, finally, an unidentified mass that no longer resembled a human being.

Unlike what they had expected, it seemed Blood Shadow King Wang Liao had already been slain. Yet the methods used made it look somewhat like internal strife, for they found them rather cruel.

Silence settled over the room. As their leader, Shui Rou steeled herself and spoke first. "I am Shui Rou, vice dean of Skywater Academy. These two are the deans of instruction from Blazing Fire Academy and Godwind Academy. May I ask who you are, Senior?"

Originally, Qian Chongling had no intention of acknowledging these three people who had spoiled his fun. But when he heard the words "vice dean of Skywater Academy," his eyes lit up.