Victory in a Single Battle

"Oh no!"

Han Zheng's heart lurched as he charged forward. It was already impossible to stop, so he could only grit his teeth and press on. His third Soul Ring lit up again, and the black Spider Web spread once more.

But as the saying went, an enhanced little rat was no ordinary little rat anymore. Pikachu raised its tail high, the tuft of white fur at its tip completely shrouded in golden electricity. A golden electric arc sprang from the tip, expanding into a powerful current as thick as a bucket in barely half a breath.

The black poison gas was ionized and broken down the instant it touched the lightning wall. Han Zheng's eyes nearly split at the corners. He crossed his arms before his face to block the scorching blast of air, while the Soul Power barrier around him shook violently under the lightning's aftershocks. His feet plowed two shallow furrows backward through the ground.

"Damn it! I..."

Han Zheng cursed under his breath, but before he could finish, he discovered to his shock that Pikachu had vanished from Su Lin's shoulder. A scorching presence came from behind him instead!

So fast!

Han Zheng instinctively twisted sideways and turned his head, sweeping his right arm upward and gathering a dark green Soul Power barrier to block. But Pikachu gave him no chance to defend himself. The instant it closed in, it flicked its tail, and a golden pillar of lightning as thick as an adult's arm blasted from its tip, shattering the Soul Power barrier and striking him square in the chest.

That single blow left Han Zheng rigid from head to toe. His body convulsed violently, and his Soul Power instantly fell into chaos and collapsed.

But it was not over yet. After landing, Pikachu braced its forelegs and changed direction in the blink of an eye. After gathering power for three seconds, dazzling white light pierced straight into the clouds.

Crack!!

An explosive report shook the mountains and wilderness.

Like a cannonball struck by thunder, Han Zheng slammed sideways into the mountainside and immediately lost all signs of life.

"Good riddance!" Ning Cheng laughed heartily. Even Song Yuan, still locked in combat, looked delighted. Only Shi Kusou wore an expression as ugly as if his mother had died.

Glancing around at his subordinates, who were either being held up by Soul Elders or fighting fiercely against the Soul Grandmasters, Shi Kusou's expression hardened with bitter resolve. The thought of retreating had already taken root in his mind.

He had no intention of throwing his life away here for a single mission.

"Come help me! He's trying to run!" Sensing Shi Kusou holding back his strength, Song Yuan immediately shouted to Pikachu.

"Pikachu!" Su Lin, who had already entered the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's convoy under Xiao Wu and Sean's protection, immediately spoke as well. "Pikachu, go help him."

Pikachu pushed off the ground with all four limbs and activated Lightning Sucker Punch. Lightning erupted around it, turning it into a golden lightning dragon that streaked across the sky toward Shi Kusou.

As it crossed the battlefield, the violent rush of air even knocked several bandits fighting the guards along its path straight to the ground.

Shocked and furious, Shi Kusou lost his composure completely. He frantically mobilized all his Soul Power, and a deep black Soul Ring abruptly rose.

Ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts possessed greatly awakened intelligence and felt intense resentment toward the enemies who killed them to take their Soul Rings, interfering with a Soul Master's normal absorption of the ring on the Martial Soul level. This was also why the amplification provided by a ten thousand year Soul Ring was beyond comparison with that of a thousand-year Soul Ring.

Dark green poisonous mist swept across the surrounding wilderness, and countless phantom venomous scorpions surged forth, their corrosive power terrifying in the extreme. Had this happened just moments earlier, Song Yuan would have had no choice but to dodge this move carefully. But now, with a powerful teammate present and knowing that Shi Kusou wanted to retreat, how could she pass up this chance to beat a drowning dog?

Her flame-wreathed arms hammered down in succession, sending waves of heat rolling out. As one side waned and the other waxed, Shi Kusou actually began to show signs of being suppressed.

"I surrender! I surrender!"

Shi Kusou immediately roared, but neither Song Yuan nor Su Lin intended to spare him.

A streak of lightning came whistling over, descending at the same time as the giant flaming ape that had leaped high into the air.

Lightning and fire intertwined, and the explosion shook the heavens!

Dust and smoke billowed upward. Once the fierce winds died away, all that remained was a mangled, aged corpse sprawled on the ground.

"We won."

Ning Cheng let out a long breath of relief. The tension in his shoulders and back receded like the tide the instant the battle ended, leaving only exhaustion welling up from deep within his marrow.

Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was hailed as the continent's foremost support Martial Soul, he was only a three-ring Soul Elder. Maintaining multiple enhancements on both Song Yuan and Pikachu simultaneously consumed his mental power at such intensity that he had been operating almost at the very edge of his limits.

Now that the battle was over, the once-resplendent Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda rapidly dimmed, and Ning Cheng's face grew visibly pale. He immediately dismissed his Martial Soul, then dropped onto the carriage's overhanging roof and panted in short breaths.

With the two most troublesome opponents, Shi Kusou and Han Zheng, dead, cleaning up the rest became much easier. Whether they had enhancements no longer mattered to Song Yuan and Pikachu. They immediately charged into the crowd from either side, and in next to no time, all that remained on the main road were bandit corpses strewn every which way and scattered weapons.

There was no need to leave anyone alive.

For an ambush of this scale, the force directing it from behind the scenes could not possibly have left clues among the rank-and-file bandits. Those small fry knew nothing beyond taking money to risk their lives.

As for Shi Kusou, the only one who might have known anything, they dared not spare him either. Whether they kept a Soul King-level Poison-type Soul Master bound within their party or released him to do as he pleased, the risk was simply too great.

With the battle over, Song Yuan released her Martial Soul Possession. The blazing red fur receded from her shoulders, back, and limbs, and she became the gentle, sweet young woman from before once more. She then hurried to the carriage and reached out to support the depleted Ning Cheng, and the two came to Su Lin's carriage together.

"I am Ning Cheng of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and this is my fiancée, Song Yuan. Thank you for lending us a hand just now, young brother," Ning Cheng said with heartfelt gratitude.

"No need to be so formal, Brother Ning." Su Lin gently scooped up the somewhat weary Pikachu, briefly introduced himself, and shook his head with a smile. "I was only protecting myself. These bandits ambushed your convoy. They certainly wouldn't have spared us afterward, following along the road behind you."

"You can't put it that way, Brother Su. You saved the lives of our entire convoy," Song Yuan countered earnestly. Then her gaze fell on Pikachu in Su Lin's arms, and she could not help growing curious. "Speaking of which, how did you raise this Soul Beast of yours? It's actually so powerful. This is my first time seeing such an outrageous Lightning Rat."

"Ahem, ahem, A-Yuan." The moment she said it, Ning Cheng hurriedly cleared his throat beside her and interrupted.

Asking directly about someone else's capabilities and Soul Beast rearing methods like this was considered quite offensive among Soul Masters.