"Let's join forces and deal with this monster first!"
At those words, none of the five Soul Masters in the squad could spare another thought for Nan Zhou and his wife. Moving in unspoken coordination, they swiftly surrounded Nan Zhuliu.
"Zhuliu, run!"
Nan Zhou and Jiang Jingyan lunged at two of them, working together to tear an opening in the encirclement targeting Nan Zhuliu.
Facing the combined assault of the remaining Soul Emperor and two Soul Kings, Nan Zhuliu swung the Prison-Subduing Dragon Spear with a mighty heave. The force of its passage howled shrilly, like a giant dragon roaring.
That strange sensation from earlier welled up in their hearts again. The three attacking Nan Zhuliu suddenly felt that what stood before them was not a human, but a true dragon.
The true dragon swung its body, and its tail swept toward them with tremendous, crushing force.
Boom!
The towering trees around them were instantly leveled by the tremendous force. It was as though someone had lifted the roof off the dim Star Dou Great Forest, letting bright, warm sunlight flood inside.
The two sides parted the instant they clashed, both staggering backward.
The Soul Emperor abruptly raised his head to look at Nan Zhuliu, who planted his spear to halt his rapid retreat. His heart was filled with shock.
The power a mere Soul Elder had unleashed actually surpassed his own as an assault-type Soul Emperor. Even facing their combined attack, Nan Zhuliu had not yielded an inch in presence.
How was he any different from a true dragon in human form?
In a one-on-one fight, even the Soul Emperor could not say for certain whether his superior cultivation would let him suppress Nan Zhuliu.
No wonder that agility-type Soul King had fallen at his hands earlier.
Not just the Soul Emperor-even the other two Soul Kings were now staring at Nan Zhuliu with eyes full of fear.
Monster!
The thought from earlier sprang into their minds once more.
Nan Zhuliu rolled his neck. Beneath the blazing sunlight, an uncanny golden hue rippled through his bright, jet-black eyes as he looked coldly at the three before him. Excitement stirred in his heart, but none of it showed on his face.
He had originally thought that, enhanced by his three Soul Skills and Golden Dragon Body, his overall strength would at most match a top-tier Soul King, while Annihilation and his self-created Soul Skill, Dragon Transformation, would put his offensive power a level higher.
But after that first exchange gave him a clear understanding of his strength, Nan Zhuliu was certain: even a Soul Emperor was someone he could kill.
Perhaps his other physical attributes fell somewhat short of a true Soul Emperor's, but in strength and offensive power, Nan Zhuliu was absolutely unrivaled below the Soul Sage level.
"Kill him! We have to kill this monster!"
Under the effects of his Soul Skill, the burly Soul Emperor grew even taller and more imposing.
The black battle saber in the hands of the Soul King whose Martial Soul it was trembled slightly, emitting a sharp, piercing hum.
White light like drifting clouds surged around the fists of the other Soul King, whose Martial Soul could not be identified.
The Soul King raised his fist. White light swiftly gathered around it, then shot toward Nan Zhuliu like a cannonball.
Nan Zhuliu thrust his dragon spear, and the others instantly seemed to see an invisible true dragon pressing down with a massive claw.
The white light shattered soundlessly, annihilated beneath that sharp claw.
Nan Zhuliu's spear struck like a dragon. Even against the three men's combined assault, he did not fall behind in the slightest.
The three men's expressions grew increasingly grim. Clearly, none of Nan Zhuliu's moves employed any exquisite techniques.
Yet he made them feel as though they were facing an invisible true dragon. Even a simple bite, an outstretched claw, or a sweep of its tail contained terrifying power.
The two Beast Martial Soul Masters, in particular, felt unbearably stifled.
First came the dual suppression at the roots of their Martial Souls and the level of their souls. Every attack felt as though they were carrying a mountain on their backs, leaving them unable to unleash their full strength.
Then there was the enormous gap in cultivation, yet even with several of them joining forces, they actually could not take down a mere three-ring Soul Elder.
For a moment, immense humiliation surged through their hearts, driving their attacks to become increasingly fierce.
Although Nan Zhuliu held his own against three opponents, two fists were hard-pressed to contend with four hands. There were inevitably moments when he was stretched thin.
He kept looking for chances to kill one of them and break the deadlock, but that Soul Emperor was truly troublesome. Several times, he had nearly killed a Soul King, only for the Soul Emperor to stop him by trading injury for injury.
Gradually, they all began to feel the strain.
The three had originally assumed that Nan Zhuliu was in much the same condition.
After all, they were powerhouses at the Soul King level or above, with far greater reserves of Soul Power than a Soul Elder like Nan Zhuliu. What was more, his Soul Rings were all Thousand-Year and Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings, which consumed considerable Soul Power.
Under normal circumstances, a Soul Elder's Soul Power could not sustain a Thousand-Year Soul Ring skill for very long at all.
Yet when they looked up, he was still vigorous and imposing, without the slightest sign of flagging.
How could they know that Annihilation, Nan Zhuliu's third Soul Ring, could not only unleash a Lightning Domain to restrain his enemies, but also convert all the surrounding energy into lightning particles that only he could absorb, allowing him to rapidly recover?
The Soul Emperor gritted his teeth and shouted, "Lu Ting, Xia Ce, forget those two! Deal with this one first!"
Seeing that the three still could not take down a Soul Elder together, the Soul Emperor Xia Ce muttered, "Useless trash," then said to the Soul King Lu Ting, "Xiao Wu, hold those two back."
Hearing this, Nan Zhou and Jiang Jingyan hurriedly tried to stop him, only for Lu Ting, a control-type Soul King, to activate a Soul Skill and block them.
After breaking free of his tangled fight with Nan Zhou and his wife, Xia Ce immediately joined the other three. They unleashed their abilities simultaneously and attacked Nan Zhuliu.
This is trouble...
Although Nan Zhuliu was full of confidence in his strength, he was not confident enough to pit himself head-on against four opponents whose cultivation far exceeded his own.
Glancing at his parents, who would not be able to break free anytime soon, Nan Zhuliu dodged attacks while withdrawing Annihilation. At the same time, he transmitted his voice to them. "Dad, Mom, I'll see you in Shrek City."
Without waiting for his parents to reply, he targeted the Beast Martial Soul King among the four who was suppressed by his Golden Dragon King Bloodline, broke through, and charged into the dim woods of towering trees.
The lightning attribute had just two advantages: tremendous destructive power and great speed.
With the speed advantage of his lightning attribute, Nan Zhuliu darted nimbly through the woods like a streak of golden lightning. With no speed-type Soul Master among them, the others could not catch him in the short term.
"Stop him!"
The Soul King accelerated, pushing his speed to its limit, and then several Soul Rings flashed in succession.
A sense of danger immediately welled up in Nan Zhuliu's heart.
White light suddenly shot from the fist toward Nan Zhuliu at an unbelievable speed, accelerating still further, until it was even somewhat faster than the pursuers.
The white light grew faster and faster, steadily closing the distance to Nan Zhuliu.
Nan Zhuliu leaped into the air, and the white light looked about to strike the large tree behind him.
The next instant, the white light made an uncanny, abrupt turn toward Nan Zhuliu.
At the sight, Nan Zhuliu could not help being startled.
After making several more turns, he was certain that the white light could track him. Judging by its behavior, it seemed determined not to stop until it hit its target.