Zhang Lexuan

During his time wandering, Huo Yuhao had discovered what made the White Tiger Dagger so powerful.

One aspect was its sharpness, so he would use it whether he was preparing ingredients or fighting at close quarters.

More importantly, the White Tiger Dagger could absorb Soul Power impact skills and release them with his next slash.

And so, the following scene unfolded.

Just as the sword energy was about to reach Huo Yuhao, it abruptly vanished.

"..."

"What was that, Second Brother? That move of yours was a bit hollow."

"What nonsense are you spouting! It's obviously a problem with the weapon in his hand!"

"You still have time to bicker?"

Huo Yuhao sneered. By then, he had already charged up to them. With a slashing thrust, he released the energy in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, they were covered in bloody wounds and crashed heavily to the ground.

"A bunch of useless trash!"

Lu Renjia, who had been hoping his lackeys would finish quickly and come help him, nearly fainted with anger. How had they been the ones finished off first?

And why was this Jiang Nannan fighting so fiercely? He was already beginning to find his strength falling short of his intentions.

All or nothing!

Lu Renjia pulled out an Explosive Soul Pill he had acquired. It could boost his Soul Power for a short time. He refused to believe he still couldn't win!

After swallowing the pill, Lu Renjia let out a furious howl, and then-he suddenly felt the world spinning. His head hurt, and he could barely hear the sounds around him.

This was precisely the Spirit Shock Huo Yuhao had unleashed. Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Nannan closed in and drove a vicious elbow straight into Lu Renjia's throat.

"..."

Unable to utter even his last words, Lu Renjia fell to the ground and never rose again.

The two delivered finishing blows to each of them and checked their condition before finally relaxing.

"That was close. Yuhao, thank goodness you were here!"

"Not at all. Besides, Sister Nan Nan, your strength was completely different from usual."

"You're one to talk. Don't you have that dagger too...?"

While they were chatting, something suddenly whistled through the air.

"Sister Nan Nan, watch out!"

Huo Yuhao lunged forward, tackling Jiang Nannan and pinning her beneath him.

Several crossbow bolts coated in snake venom swept straight over them.

Seeing that his strike had failed, the attacker prepared to leave at once.

But how could Huo Yuhao give him that chance? Had he not retained a sliver of vigilance, Sister Nan Nan would probably have been struck by a bolt by now.

Anger surged in his heart. A dark purple light shone from Huo Yuhao's left eye, and a Spirit Shock carrying the attribute of destruction shot out instantly.

The person in the distance gave a muffled grunt and fell from the tree.

Pinned beneath him, Jiang Nannan had not seen the change in Huo Yuhao's eye, but she had clearly sensed that Soul Power.

"Little Yuhao, you..."

"Sister Nan Nan, that was a kind of mutation in my Martial Soul. Please don't tell anyone, all right?"

Huo Yuhao's legs were a little numb. It seemed he had released too much at once just now, leaving him struggling to get up, so he lay limply on top of Jiang Nannan.

"Of course I won't tell anyone, but on one condition: you'll have to bribe me properly."

Smiling at the earnest-faced Huo Yuhao, Jiang Nannan found him very amusing. She stroked his head before slowly getting up.

Up close, the corpse was revealed to be none other than Chen Wen, who had provoked Huo Yuhao and Jiang Nannan earlier.

As bad luck would have it, Chen Wen had only intended to kill them to silence them, so he had bought crossbow bolts on the black market, coated them in snake venom, and waited.

But when the others still failed to return, Chen Wen sensed something was wrong and slipped into the woods to investigate. By the time he arrived, he found that those men had already been dealt with.

The anger in Chen Wen's heart rose further, and in a fit of rage, he decided to eliminate one of them first.

What Chen Wen had not expected was that he had already entered Huo Yuhao's detection range, nor had he anticipated how outrageously powerful Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul attack would be.

First, he faltered slightly. Then he felt his mind being steadily eroded, until he finally lost consciousness altogether.

Jiang Nannan said, "Let's put all the bodies together and burn them, so we don't attract trouble."

The world of Soul Masters was just that cruel. If they were not ruthless now, they would be the ones to suffer. She just didn't know whether little Yuhao could accept it.

After cleaning up the scene, Jiang Nannan stole a glance at Huo Yuhao and found him standing where the bodies had been, looking at something she couldn't make out.

"Sister Nan Nan, this man had so many Gold Soul Coins! They'll be enough for you and your mother to live on for a long time!"

"..."

"Little Yuhao, was this your first time killing someone?"

"No. On my way here before, I ran into bandits and the like robbing people along the road. Although I felt sick at first, I learned to relax afterward."

"I see..."

Looking at Huo Yuhao, whose legs were still trembling a little, Jiang Nannan turned around.

"Come on, I'll carry you back. Consider it your reward for saving your big sister."

"But I-"

"Stop trying to act tough."

As she spoke, Jiang Nannan hoisted Huo Yuhao onto her back.

Although Huo Yuhao had been taking in energy lately, his childhood malnutrition could not be made up for in a day or two, leaving him still very small and thin. As a result, Jiang Nannan felt as though she were carrying a little child.

Huo Yuhao lay carefully on Jiang Nannan's back, his face red, but he did not struggle.

On the way, there were no words of comfort and no idle chatter. The entire forest seemed to hold nothing but the slowly rising and falling sound of the wind and Jiang Nannan's footsteps, one after another.

On that silent journey home, all that remained was the unspoken understanding between them, quietly growing warmer.

"You're saying my son has simply disappeared over the past few days? You can't even find a trace of him?"

A few days earlier, Chen Shu had discovered that his son was nowhere to be seen.

Their family had served the Xuanming Sect for four consecutive generations. Just who would dare lay hands on his precious son?

"Yes. We followed Young Master Chen's movements over the past few days and questioned everyone along the way, but no one knew anything."

"Master, do you think an Evil Soul Master might have appeared? I heard several people have gone missing from some small towns over the past few days too."

"An Evil Soul Master? Never mind that our Xuanming Sect has forces stationed here, this place isn't too far from Shrek City. Are those Evil Soul Masters all mad?"

"But aren't Evil Soul Masters precisely a bunch of madmen?"

"...Forget it. Report the news that there may be an Evil Soul Master. I only hope my son can still..."

"Yes!"

The servant stepped outside and let out a long breath.

Finally managed to fob him off. All that's left is to report the news. Honestly, who knows where that Chen Wen could be now?

As for being abducted and killed-please, even when beating a dog, you have to consider its master, all right?

At Shrek, a woman was reading the latest news about Evil Soul Masters.

She was tall, with long, jet-black hair cascading like a waterfall to her waist. Her hair was smooth and lustrous, her skin white as jade, and her features exquisite, with a natural air as clear and gentle as moonlight.

She was none other than Zhang Lexuan, the senior sister of the Shrek Inner Court.

According to the news, there seemed to be traces of Evil Soul Masters in a town not far from there.

As it happened, she was about to break through to rank eighty. Once she had dealt with this matter, she would go hunt for her Eighth Soul Ring.

"Let Xuan Zi know that I'm going to investigate this matter. Judging by what's been shown so far, I won't need help."

"All right. Have a safe trip, Senior Sister."