The Marquis Household

He left the Corrupt Scale Black Tortoise's lair.

The moment he emerged, Jiang Che sensed something wrong. The woods were too quiet.

The insects had stopped chirping, and the birds were gone too.

Jiang Che took a step back, tightening his grip on his longsword.

"Pretty quick to react, aren't you?"

A voice drifted down from the treetop to his right.

Jiang Che turned and saw a thin man crouching on a thick branch.

The man jumped down from the tree. Behind him, two others emerged from either side of the woods: a broad-backed, thick-waisted man carrying an iron hammer, and a short man holding a shortsword in each hand.

The thin man who had jumped down stood closest. Two Soul Rings appeared around him, one white and one yellow.

The burly man carrying the hammer also had two rings, one white and one yellow.

As for the short man, three Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet, two yellow and one purple. He was a Soul Elder.

The shortswords in the short man's hands gave a crisp metallic clink. "Hand it over?"

"Hand what over?" Jiang Che asked.

"Don't play dumb. We heard you fighting a Soul Beast down there. Be good and hand it over. We've been lying in wait for you for ages," the short man said.

In the wilderness, the most terrifying thing was often not Soul Beasts but the human heart. In a world like the Douluo Continent, where strength reigned supreme, the wilds were even less bound by morality and law. Betrayal and ambush killings were perfectly commonplace there.

"Why waste words on him? Just kill him and take his stuff. This is the Soul Beast Forest. If we kill him, no one will know we did it." The big man clearly wasn't the reasonable sort. Without another word, he charged at Jiang Che to seize the treasure.

Jiang Che moved too.

His Blue Silver Longsword swept upward from below, sending a Water Blade slicing along the ground.

The big man raised his hammer to block. The Water Blade struck it, splitting the webbing of his hand with the impact and sending him toppling backward.

Jiang Che spun and swung his sword, scattering five Water Blades in a fan. Two cut off the short man's routes, while three slashed toward the burly man.

The big man swung his hammer into the ground. "Second Soul Skill, Rock Bulwark!"

Rock heaved upward, blocking two Water Blades. The third sliced across his left arm, tearing his sleeve and laying open his flesh.

"Third Soul Skill, Sharp Shadow!" The short man's figure flashed, becoming two blurred silhouettes as he evaded the Water Blades.

The three repositioned themselves: the burly man pressed forward, the thin man roamed the flank, and the short man held the center at the rear-a standard hunting formation.

The corners of Jiang Che's mouth lifted slightly. Seven Blue Silver Vines rapidly sprouted beneath the three men.

The short Soul Elder reacted fastest, darting aside to evade the seven vines' deadly assault.

The burly man and the thin man weren't so lucky.

The seven Blue Silver Vines swiftly wrapped around them.

"Star Wheel Rotation!"

After he absorbed his Second Soul Ring, Star Wheel Rotation had grown stronger too.

With advance preparation, he could even kill a Thousand-Year Soul Beast in an instant!

The short man retreated three steps and looked up at the blood seeping from the Blue Silver Vines. His companions' screams from within gradually grew weaker.

[Ding-!]

[Killed a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster. Gained 5 skill points.]

[Killed a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster. Gained 5 skill points.]

[Current skill points: 695]

"Your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass?!"

Jiang Che gave him no chance to catch his breath. His Blue Silver Longsword slashed diagonally, sending a Water Blade at the short man's waist.

The short man raised his swords to block. The collision of metal produced an ear-piercing screech, and the impact drove him backward, his feet plowing two deep furrows.

"You..." The short man looked up to speak, but Jiang Che was already in front of him.

The longsword swept upward from below.

The short man hastily twisted aside. The instant his shortswords parried the blade, a powerful force struck his chest through them.

With a dull thud, the short man flew backward, his back slamming hard into a tree.

It hadn't been the longsword's own force that had sent the short man flying. Jiang Che had used his Qi Condensation Shield to strike his chest.

"Damn it!"

The short man flipped and landed, his shortswords spinning into silver wheels in his hands. "Second Soul Skill, Twin Wheel Slash!"

Two silver arcs crossed as they swept toward Jiang Che, moving so fast that their paths were almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.

Jiang Che ignored the two silver arcs and charged straight at the short man.

The silver arcs struck three inches in front of him as though hitting an invisible wall, producing a muffled hum. A ring of energy rippled through the air, then vanished in an instant.

Qi Condensation Shield.

The short man froze for a moment.

Jiang Che closed in, holding his blade level as a Water Blade swept horizontally toward him.

The short man gritted his teeth and dodged left. The Water Blade grazed his right arm, shredding his sleeve inch by inch and leaving several fine bloody cuts on the exposed arm.

"Who exactly are you?!" The short man's voice began to tighten. He held both swords before him, his movements no longer as nimble as before, but somewhat sluggish instead.

Jiang Che didn't answer.

He took another three strides and delivered three consecutive slashes with his Blue Silver Longsword.

The short man raised his swords to block again. His short blades hummed from the impacts, the flesh between his thumbs and forefingers already split, blood running down the sword hilts.

"Stop! Stop!" the short man suddenly shouted, leaping twenty feet backward. "Do you know who I work for? I'm a hunter hired by the Feilun Marquis Household!"

Jiang Che's blade paused in midair.

Seeing his movement halt, the short man immediately perked up and spoke rapidly. "The people from the Marquis’s Residence are only a hundred li away. We were ordered to hunt Soul Beasts for their flesh and blood to nourish the young lady's Soul Power! If you kill me and the Marquis’s Residence investigates, you won't escape."

As he spoke, he took another step back.

"The Feilun Marquis Household?" Jiang Che lowered his sword a little.

"That's right!"

Seeing that he seemed wary, the short man's voice grew firmer. "You've heard of us, haven't you? Aside from the Li Family, the Marquis’s Residence is the greatest power in Vast Sea City, with over a hundred Soul Masters under its command! Kill one of the Marquis’s Residence's people, and you won't escape even to the ends of the earth! Let me go, and I can pretend nothing happened today."

"And I'm not afraid to tell you: the daughter of the brother of my uncle's sister's best friend is the marquis's most favored concubine."

Jiang Che looked at him, the corners of his mouth curving slightly.

"Are you finished?"

"Do you think I'm stupid, or are you?"

The expression on the short man's face froze.

The Blue Silver Longsword swept out.

Water Blade Line.

Horrified, the short man raised his swords. "Third Soul Skill..."

Blue Silver Vines sprouted beneath his feet, coiled around his ankle, and yanked.

The short man staggered. He didn't fall, but it still stopped him from using his Third Soul Skill.

The Water Blade had already arrived.

The instant his shortswords blocked the Water Blade, the short man heard his own wrist bones crack.

The force was greater than he could have imagined. It knocked both his hands aside, and the Water Blade struck his chest without losing momentum.

He flew like a kite with its string cut, crashing into a thicket ten paces away. The clothing and armor over his chest shattered, exposing a hideous wound beneath, and blood rapidly spread.

"You... you really dared..." Clinging to his last breath, the short man raised his head, his face full of disbelief.

Jiang Che walked up to him and set his longsword against his throat.

"You're right. A mere Soul Grandmaster like me really wouldn't dare offend the Marquis’s Residence." Jiang Che looked down at him. "But do you remember something your companion said?"

"This is the Soul Beast Forest. The dead can't lodge complaints. Within half an hour of my leaving, Soul Beasts will have eaten your bodies."

"And one more thing. Aren't you putting yourself a little too high? You're nothing but a hired thug for the Marquis’s Residence."

The blade swept across.

The short man's eyes lost their focus completely.

Even as he died, he couldn't understand how the young boy before him could possibly be so strong!

[Ding-!]

[Killed a Three-Ring Soul Elder; gained 10 skill points.]

[Current skill points: 705]

He crouched and searched the body, pulling a leather pouch from inside the short man's clothes. A few Silver Soul Coins clinked inside.

Jiang Che put the items away and looked again at the three hunters' bodies. The Feilun Marquis Household.

He had indeed heard of the Marquis’s Residence. The Li Family had been suppressing it for the past few years.