A Soul King, of All Things

Sean swept his gaze over the arrows scattered beside the carriages and across the road. His expression abruptly changed, and he could not help cursing under his breath. "Damn it, those look like military crossbow bolts!"

Up ahead, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's convoy was in no better a situation, though at least there had been no casualties yet.

When the first volley of arrows fell, several flashes of Soul Power had lit up almost simultaneously within the convoy. Several heavy, shield-shaped Martial Souls rose beside the carriages, joining together one after another into a semicircular defensive line that firmly protected the passenger carriages in the center.

The arrows struck the shields formed from Soul Power with a dense clatter of metal. Shattered arrowheads and broken shafts pattered across the ground, stopped outside the defensive line.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had a fixed system for its merchant convoy escorts, assigning Soul Master teams of differing strength according to the convoy's size and the value of its cargo.

Although this convoy did not carry a particularly large shipment, its escort was quite substantial: a Soul Ancestor escort captain, two Soul Elders, and twenty Soul Grandmasters who worked seamlessly together and were well versed in offensive and defensive formations.

Before the second volley could fall, the twelve defensive Soul Grandmasters had already formed a ring where they stood. Several tower shields condensed from Soul Power joined edge to edge like a translucent metal wall, enclosing the most important carriages.

Ning Cheng and Song Yuan stepped down from their carriage, steadying themselves against its door. Standing behind the defensive line, they looked up toward the dense woods on the slopes to either side, their gazes darkening. "Who goes there? You dare rob even a convoy of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

"Heh heh heh heh... the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? What an illustrious name!"

A sinister laugh drifted out of the pine grove on the slope, from within the forest's shadows. A hunched old man in black robes slowly emerged, followed by five or six burly men with formidable presences. Their builds were imposing and their faces varied, but their strides and positioning made it clear they were no disorganized rabble.

Farther behind them were some fifty or sixty bandits in assorted clothing, carrying weapons of every description: sabers, swords, clubs, and even iron pitchforks. They stood loosely scattered on either side, but every gaze was fixed on those below.

"Out here in this wilderness, if we kill you all, who'll know we did it?"

There were no further pleasantries.

The old man at their head slammed his short staff against the ground. A ripple of dark green Soul Power spread from its base, surging into a visible halo beneath his feet.

Immediately afterward, the enormous phantom of a Bone-Eroding Poison Scorpion slowly manifested behind him.

The scorpion was dark green all over, with massive pincers and a hooked tail stinger. A dense layer of dark markings covered its carapace.

As the phantom solidified, the black-robed old man's body underwent an obvious transformation as well. His back hunched slightly, and two hard protrusions rose at his shoulder blades. A thin layer of dark green, scale-like patterns appeared across his skin. His arms thickened and became covered in tiny, densely packed bumps, while his fingernails lengthened and hardened, their tips turning dark black with a faint metallic sheen.

Beneath his feet, five Soul Rings-white, yellow, purple, purple, and black-lit up one after another. As the rings unfurled, the oppressive might of a Soul King spread outward, seemingly stilling even the mountain wind for an instant.

"Shi Kusou, so it's you!" Ning Cheng frowned, immediately recognizing the old man.

The man's vicious reputation was widespread. He had spent years plundering small border towns, but he was exceedingly wary, fleeing a thousand miles at the slightest sign of trouble. Only that had allowed him to survive the various factions' attempts to hunt him down.

As far as Ning Cheng knew, however, the old bastard had vanished without a trace three or four years ago. Everyone had assumed he had either died in some forgotten corner or retired into seclusion.

Yet here he was today, leading so many men to rob the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's convoy. Ning Cheng would never believe that no one was directing him from behind the scenes. But now was not the time to investigate that. They had to weather the assault before them first before they could think about anything else.

"A-Yuan," Ning Cheng said, turning toward the woman beside him.

Song Yuan nodded. She stepped forward to the very front of the convoy's defensive line, planting her feet lightly. The phantom of a Blazing Frenzied Ape abruptly manifested behind her. The enormous ape was covered in short, scarlet fur, with broad shoulders and a wide back, thick arms reaching past its knees, and two faintly flickering flames burning in its eyes.

The instant Martial Soul Possession took effect, Song Yuan's body rapidly transformed as well. Her entire frame abruptly swelled, and a fine layer of pale red fur appeared across her skin. Four Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, purple, and purple-emerged in succession.

She was a rank forty-seven power-attack Soul Ancestor!

Ning Cheng was not idle either. The moment Song Yuan charged out, he raised his hand and gathered his power. Dazzling, glazed golden light bloomed from his palm, and an exquisite, translucent Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda floated before him. Its seven stories shimmered with flowing colors, magnificent beyond compare.

"Seven treasures turn, and glazed tile emerges!"

"First: Strength!"

"Second: Speed!"

"Third: Soul!"

As his three Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, and purple-lit up in succession, three pure beams of divine glazed light shone from the pagoda one after another and streamed into Song Yuan's body.

Song Yuan's already formidable presence surged to another level in that instant. The scarlet fluctuations of Soul Power surrounding her became more solid and blazing, and the pressure she radiated was now scarcely inferior to that of Shi Kusou, the Soul King facing her.

The team's other Soul Elder stepped forward as well, summoning a pitch-black Mighty Tiger Saber. His Soul Rings lit up around him, and the blade gleamed with an icy light, tiger-roaring Soul Power coiling around it. He advanced a step to stand beside Song Yuan, ready for battle.

"Heh heh heh." At the sight, Shi Kusou sneered and waved his hand. "Attack. Leave no one alive."

As his words fell, all six burly men behind him activated Martial Soul Possession at once. Lights of Soul Power in various colors shot skyward, and their oppressive presence instantly blanketed the battlefield.

What made their hearts sink into despair was that fully five of those six men were genuine Soul Elders, while the remaining man was a Soul Ancestor of considerable cultivation!

"Young Master Little Lin, what do we do now?" In the convoy behind them, Sean's face had gone rather pale. One Soul King, one Soul Ancestor, and five Soul Elders-these bandits had clearly come prepared. Even if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Soul Ancestor could hold Shi Kusou off with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support, the rest of the convoy would struggle to hold on.

Su Lin's expression was equally grim. He had only wanted to get on with his journey, so why had he run into such a wretched mess?

"Uncle Sean, Xiao Wu, neither of you leave my side," Su Lin immediately instructed.

His thinking was clear. There was certainly no escaping now. Rather than wait for these men to finish off their side's strongest remaining fighters and then turn their attention to dealing with them, they might as well join forces with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and fight these bastards!