Seeing the white light gain speed while his own had already reached its limit, Nan Zhuliu knew he would soon be caught. With no other choice, he turned, lightning pouring from his eyes.
In that brief pause, the battle-saber Soul King, the fastest among them, abruptly accelerated and attacked from the side.
Nan Zhuliu spun aside, his Prison-Subduing Dragon Spear colliding with the saber as it scraped past, almost flush against his body.
With a ringing clang, the battle-saber Soul King was immediately sent flying by the astonishing force transmitted from the Prison-Subduing Dragon Spear into his saber.
Then Soul Emperor Xia Ce slammed a palm into the Prison-Subduing Dragon Spear, which Nan Zhuliu had swung across his body to guard himself.
Nan Zhuliu retreated a considerable distance before coming to a stop.
His blood churned. Nan Zhuliu raised a hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, smearing his Golden Dragon Claw crimson. He could not help grinning as he addressed the men surrounding him from different directions, half in admiration and half in mockery. "As expected of a mighty Soul Emperor. You actually managed to wound me this badly."
A cruel smile rose on Xia Ce's fleshy, vicious-looking face. "Boy, I admit you're strong. With just three rings, you can unleash power on par with mine. But only those who survive deserve to be called strong, and today is the day you die."
Nan Zhuliu chuckled, the corners of his mouth curling into a sinister smile. "Is that so?"
As his words fell, dazzling light suddenly erupted from his body, myriad bolts of lightning enveloping him.
Seeing this, Xia Ce and the others immediately stared in disbelief. "How is that possible! After all this time, how do you still have so much Soul Power left?"
Bathed in lightning, Nan Zhuliu abruptly raised his spear and charged at the battle-saber Soul King. "Die!"
Although unleashing Annihilation once consumed a third of his Soul Power, he could also continually restore his condition by reclaiming the Lightning Domain or absorbing the converted lightning particles.
Even though, overall, Nan Zhuliu had been "spending more than he earned" up to this point, this still greatly slowed the depletion of his Soul Power.
So even with less than fifty percent of his total Soul Power remaining, he still had more than enough to deal with these men.
The Prison-Subduing Dragon Spear thrust out, the cold gleam flickering at its tip making their eyes sting.
He was simply too fast. Like a golden bolt of heavenly lightning cleaving through endless darkness, he was upon his target in an instant.
Even though Xia Ce and the other Soul Emperor reacted, the restrictions of the complex terrain left them unable to intervene in time to save him.
Squelch-
The sound of flesh being pierced.
The battle-saber Soul King's body swayed a few times. Then, with a thud, a headless corpse fell to its knees before Nan Zhuliu, fresh blood continually spurting like a fountain from the smooth wound.
A headless corpse knelt before Nan Zhuliu. With a casual flick of his hand, a bloody head tumbled across the ground to Xia Ce.
Though the light was dim inside the Star Dou Great Forest, how could Xia Ce and his two companions possibly fail to see this with their cultivation?
"Third brother!"
Xia Ce's eyes bulged as though their corners would split.
"I forgot to tell you. From beginning to end, I never once intended to run."
Nan Zhuliu was strong, but at his core he was still only a three-ring Soul Elder. Two fists could hardly contend with four hands, so there were only two ways to break the deadlock: flee, or rely on his formidable individual strength to defeat them one by one.
Their original location offered no opportunity for the latter, so the dense forest's complex terrain became the ideal setting for his counterattack.
In woods with such complex terrain, their first thought, in order to hunt Nan Zhuliu more effectively, would inevitably be to spread out and surround him, gradually tightening the circle until they encircled him again.
But that also left them unable to reinforce one another in time, and that would be when Nan Zhuliu began his hunt.
Nan Zhuliu said coldly, "If you want to kill me, you'd better first prepare yourselves to be killed by me instead."
"Perfect. I'll use you to hone my newly refined Dragon Transformation."
As Nan Zhuliu darted forward, both his Soul Power and his blood surged to their limits. The two entirely different forces merged into one, like ten thousand galloping horses.
The faintly visible lightning particles around him instantly blazed with lightning and linked with the others. Just like that, a Prison-Subduing Dragon, formed from countless connected, condensed lightning particles and only beginning to take shape, appeared before them.
Previously, Nan Zhuliu's ideas about Dragon Transformation had gone no further than incorporating its intent into each move and stance.
But after obtaining and unleashing the Soul Skill Annihilation and experiencing its wonders, inspiration had suddenly struck him. Instinctively, he integrated Annihilation with Dragon Transformation, the self-created Soul Skill that embodied all his insights into his Martial Soul, Soul Power, spiritual power, and blood, taking the firmest first step-
Better a dragon in the flesh than its likeness.
The Prison-Subduing Dragon formed of lightning roared and lunged savagely at the three men.
Lightning thundered. Wreathed in dense lightning, the Prison-Subduing Dragon swept past, its sharp claws slashing with fierce force.
With a squelch, the remaining Soul King's body was instantly shredded.
At the sight, an inexplicable surge of terror swept through the two Soul Emperors.
Warm liquid splashed onto Nan Zhuliu's face.
The smell of blood left him faintly excited.
In the blink of an eye, two of the four were dead, leaving only the two Soul Emperors with the highest cultivation, who were also the most troublesome to deal with.
Both possessed strong offense and defense. Even with Nan Zhuliu's Golden Dragon King bloodline suppressing them and preventing them from displaying their full strength, and with Xia Ce still wounded from Nan Zhou's earlier surprise attack, they remained quite difficult to handle.
Yet even so, against Nan Zhuliu, whose Soul Power and blood power had risen to their limits and whose every strike equaled a Soul Emperor's all-out blow, defeating them was only a matter of time.
"We know we were wrong! We're willing to offer the ten-thousand-year Soul Bone we just obtained in exchange for your mercy, my lord. Please spare us!"
Feeling Nan Zhuliu's attacks grow increasingly frenzied, the two men pleaded desperately, their scalps prickling.
Nan Zhuliu ignored them. Just as they had said earlier, the best way to avoid trouble was to strangle its first sprouts in the cradle.
As for that Soul Bone, he could get it just the same once he killed them.
Under Nan Zhuliu's near-mad onslaught, trading wounds for wounds, at last, amid the two Soul Emperors' agonized wails, came a ripping sound-
Their tall bodies were forcibly torn down the middle by tremendous strength, split in two like rag dolls.
Their wails cut off abruptly, and the fierce battle that had raged for so long finally ceased.
At that moment, the heavy stench of blood filled the air. Mangled remains littered the ground, and blood gurgled along like a small river.
Having only just managed to kill all four with his Soul Power and spiritual power almost utterly exhausted, Nan Zhuliu was now bleeding from nearly every part of his body as well.
Yet as though he could not feel the pain, he suddenly threw back his head and let out a long howl, as if venting all his pent-up anger. The dragon's cry brimmed with exhilaration.
Especially under the stimulation of the bloody smell in the air, he even seemed to grow faintly more excited.