Tang Wulin found his seat by the window.
He sat down and watched the platform slowly recede outside.
The train had set off.
It picked up speed, and the buildings, streets, and city walls flashed past the window in turn, eventually becoming a blur of color.
A hundred-year-old Ice Crystal Fruit. A hundred-year-old Scarlet Flame Fruit. The blood of a hundred-year-old dragon-type Soul Beast.
He silently counted off those things in his mind, then closed his eyes and began to meditate, unwilling to give up even the smallest opportunity to cultivate.
The Soul Guidance Train carriage was quiet.
He was alone in his row. Most of the people in the rows in front and behind him were ordinary travelers, including couples with children.
The strips of Soul Power light at the carriage connections gave off a faint hum, low and steady, like some kind of hypnotic white noise.
One circuit, two circuits, three circuits.
Soul Power flowed steadily through his meridians, and Tang Wulin could feel the total amount in his dantian slowly growing.
He immersed himself in the rhythm, unaware of how much time had passed.
Suddenly, a piercing cry rang out in the carriage.
Tang Wulin snapped his eyes open. Night had already fallen.
Passengers several rows ahead stood up one after another. Some peered toward the back of the carriage, while others pulled out Soul Guidance communicators.
A woman shouted, "Someone's fainted! Quick, get an attendant!"
Tang Wulin stood up and rose on his toes to look ahead.
A crowd had gathered in the middle of the carriage. He could vaguely make out a person lying motionless on the floor, their face pale.
An attendant hurried over from the front of the carriage and crouched down to check. The attendant's expression changed abruptly.
"Everyone, return to your seats. Do not move around!"
The attendant's voice was strained. "The train is about to enter a state of emergency."
Before the attendant could finish, the door at the back of the carriage was slammed open.
A woman rushed in.
She looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, tall and slender, dressed in a fitted dark red gown that fell to her ankles.
Her skin was so pale it was almost translucent, and her long black hair spilled over her shoulders. Her lips were scarlet, and traces of blood still clung to the corners of her mouth.
The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, revealing two sharp fangs.
Tang Wulin's pupils contracted.
An Evil Soul Master.
When he read Douluo Continent in his previous life, beings like her had left a deep impression on him.
In this life, he had also learned quite a bit about them after studying Soul Master knowledge.
Evil Soul Masters were fallen Soul Masters who raised their own cultivation by sucking the blood essence of others and devouring their Soul Power. Their methods were cruel, and the Federation had always shown them zero tolerance.
But Evil Soul Masters were often quite powerful, and their movements were mysterious, making them difficult to catch.
The female Evil Soul Master's Soul Ring Configuration was clear: three Soul Rings, one white and two yellow.
She was a three-ring Soul Elder.
The passengers in the carriage erupted into chaos. Screams and cries mingled as some people ran toward the front of the carriage, while others cowered and trembled beneath their seats.
The female Evil Soul Master sneered and raised her right hand. Dark red Soul Power poured from her palm and gathered into a barrier in front of her, blocking the passage toward the front of the carriage.
"Don't move." Her voice had a lazy rasp to it. "Whoever moves dies."
Her gaze swept across the carriage and finally settled on the row by the window.
Tang Wulin followed her gaze, and his heart skipped a beat.
It was a little girl, about his age, around eight years old.
She wore a clean, light blue dress, her hair tied into two little buns, and she still had baby fat on her face,
but her face was deathly pale now, her eyes wide, her body trembling slightly with fear.
Her Soul Power fluctuations were very weak. Tang Wulin made a rough assessment and found her to be around level fifteen.
A One-Ring Soul Master showed decent talent for an eight-year-old, but against a three-ring Evil Soul Master, she was a full two major realms behind.
The female Evil Soul Master walked toward the little girl.
"Your Soul Power Level isn't bad." She licked the blood from the corner of her mouth, her dark red eyes full of greed.
"Your blood essence must be much tastier than that of those ordinary people without Soul Power."
The little girl tried to run, but her legs gave way, and she fell back into her seat as soon as she stood up.
The female Evil Soul Master reached for her, the long nails on her fingers gleaming black.
"Stop."
Tang Wulin's voice was not loud, but it was particularly clear in the chaotic carriage.
The female Evil Soul Master turned and saw him.
An eight-year-old boy stood beside his seat, his right hand loosely clenched, his expression calmer than a child his age should have worn.
"Another one here to throw his life away?" The female Evil Soul Master scoffed.
"Sit down, brat, unless you want to die."
The attendant poked their head out from the front of the carriage, voice trembling. "Child, come back! Don't throw your life away! I've already told the conductor. Security will be here to deal with her soon. They're Soul Masters. Only Soul Masters can deal with Soul Masters!"
The female Evil Soul Master laughed at that too. Her laughter was clear and bright, yet it made one's skin crawl.
"By the time the Soul Masters get here, I'll have finished drinking the blood and jumped off the train."
Before she had finished speaking, a layer of dark red light suddenly rose around her.
Martial Soul Possession.
Her figure became even more slender, her back arched, and two bulges rose at her shoulder blades. Then, with a swish, a pair of dark red bat wings unfurled from her back.
Her ears grew longer and pointed, her nails became longer and blacker, and the fangs at the corners of her mouth were fully exposed.
Blood Bat.
She gripped the little girl's shoulder, her nails piercing the girl's skin. The girl let out a scream of pain.
The female Evil Soul Master lowered her head and leaned toward the girl's neck, her scarlet lips parting slightly.
"Let go of my sister!"
Tang Wulin shouted and charged out.
He did not hesitate or pause.
The footwork of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track left three afterimages in the narrow carriage aisle.
The female Evil Soul Master did not even lift her head. In her eyes, no matter how an eight-year-old child jumped around, he could not stir up any waves.
But she soon sensed that something was wrong.
Soul Power fluctuations erupted from the boy.
Tang Wulin's body changed as he ran.
His figure became more slender and light, the lines of his legs smooth and powerful. With a swish, a pair of long rabbit ears covered in pink fur sprang up through his hair.
His eyes turned bright pink.
Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul Possession.
Two yellow Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet and circled around him.
The female Evil Soul Master finally raised her head, a flicker of surprise passing through her dark red eyes.
Two Soul Rings? An eight-year-old child actually has two Soul Rings?
Now that's even tastier nourishment than this little girl!
Just then, Tang Wulin's Second Soul Ring lit up.
Second Soul Skill, Charm.
His eyes grew pinker,
and a powerful surge of Spiritual Power condensed into an invisible shock wave that stabbed straight into the female Evil Soul Master's brain.
The female Evil Soul Master froze.
Her dark red eyes suddenly lost focus, her bat wings stopped beating, and she looked as though someone had pressed a pause button.
She was a three-ring Soul Elder, after all, and her Spiritual Power was not weak, but it still fell a little short compared to Tang Wulin's.
Charm held her under its control for two full seconds.
But two seconds were enough for Tang Wulin to do a great deal.