The fat teacher looked up and glanced at Qian Chen, finding the student utterly unfamiliar. Mu En had long since issued a gag order, so he knew nothing of Qian Chen's existence. He immediately frowned and said, "You're taking them all? Can you kill all these Evil Soul Masters? Who do you think you are? Who's your teacher? Kids these days are far too rash."
Qian Chen was just as direct. Raising his chin, he said, "My name is Qian Chen. My teacher is Dragon God Douluo Mu En."
Upon hearing this, the fat teacher nearly lost his balance and slid right off his chair.
The outer courtyard students might not know who Mu En was, but most teachers did. Especially for someone like him, who managed a vital department of the Inspection Corps, how could he not have heard of Mu En's illustrious name?
"Qian Chen, y-you're not lying to me, are you?" The fat teacher hauled himself up with the help of the desk, his voice trembling.
Qian Chen secretly savored the moment. It seemed the title of Mu En's disciple really did open doors at Shrek Academy. He raised his eyebrows. "Of course not. Do you think any student at Shrek Academy has swallowed a bear's heart and a leopard's gall, daring to impersonate Mu En's disciple?"
"Yes, yes, yes! How foolish of me! I'll prepare the intelligence on the Evil Soul Masters for you right away!" The fat teacher nodded hastily, then turned to rummage through the files. Before long, he brought out over a dozen dossiers.
Qian Chen thanked him and reached out to take all the files.
The fat teacher hurriedly stopped him. "Qian Chen, there's no use taking so much intelligence. Most Evil Soul Masters move from place to place committing crimes. If you take all these dossiers, by the time you've wiped out five targets, the rest might have long since vanished. You'd only find empty air when you rushed over. I really don't recommend taking so many at once. All my intelligence comes from real-time reports by Shrek graduates across the land, and it's constantly updated."
Qian Chen found that reasonable. He immediately lowered his head and searched through the dossiers, intending to select five targets to eliminate.
The fat teacher enthusiastically explained them beside him. Each dossier clearly recorded when the Evil Soul Masters had committed their crimes, their approximate strength, and the victims' circumstances.
Qian Chen flipped through them quickly, specifically seeking nearby targets with considerable strength. As he browsed, one dossier suddenly caught his eye.
The victims recorded in this intelligence report were a small clan surnamed Ye, which had suffered a surprise attack by a large group of Evil Soul Masters whose strength was unknown. The dossier had initially seemed unremarkable, but one sentence in the report read: During the battle that night, golden light filled the dark sky, and large numbers of low-ranking Evil Soul Masters suffered grievous casualties. Afterward, the whereabouts of the Ye Clan's members were unknown.
Golden light filling the sky, low-ranking Evil Soul Masters suffering grievous casualties-this was clearly an effect only a holy angel martial soul could produce!
Qian Chen seized the report tightly. "I'll take this one."
With that, he turned to leave.
The fat teacher hurriedly called him back. "Qian Chen, aren't you going to pick a few others? This report doesn't specify the strength of the Evil Soul Masters' leader. Going there could be dangerous!"
"It's fine." Qian Chen did not look back, his tone as firm as a blade cutting through iron.
"And another thing! It's been some time since this intelligence arrived. That little clan might already have been exterminated. You could end up making the trip for nothing!" The fat teacher was still trying to dissuade him out of kindness.
"It doesn't matter. I have to take a look, even if all I can find are the victims' bodies." Leaving those words behind, Qian Chen paid the fat teacher no further attention. He walked straight out of the office, immediately activated his Flying Soul Tool, got his bearings, and flew off at full speed.
The fat teacher shook his head as he watched Qian Chen leave and sighed quietly. "Ah, this child has hot blood, but he's far too rash."
Having handled intelligence on Evil Soul Masters for so many years, he could tell at a glance that those Evil Soul Masters had targeted a secluded little clan with angel martial souls, specifically to wipe them out. The people they had dispatched were certainly no weaklings, and their methods were all the more ruthless.
"Hopefully, the little fellow won't make the trip for nothing," the fat teacher murmured. After so many years in intelligence, he understood the viciousness of Evil Soul Masters better than anyone at the academy. He could not help lamenting the Angel Clan's decline. If the Angel Clan were still as powerful as it had been back then, how would Evil Soul Masters dare run so rampant?
Qian Chen flew out of Shrek City on his Flying Soul Tool. The farther he flew, the more he felt the thing was too slow, so he simply put it back into his Storage Soul Tool.
The next moment, his angel martial soul abruptly manifested. Qian Chen glanced back at his four-winged holy angel martial soul. Remembering that the Angel Godhood had shattered and no divine-level six-winged angels remained in the world, he gritted his teeth. He swore that one day, he would restore the godhood and bring back the divine-level six-winged angel martial soul. Then a streak of golden light shot into the clouds and hurtled like lightning toward Shuangquan City, where the incident had occurred.
After two full days of flight, Shuangquan City was close at hand. Qian Chen landed ten li outside the city, withdrew his angel martial soul, and used several high-grade Milk Bottles in succession to replenish his Soul Power to over eighty percent. Then he activated his hundred-thousand-year Light Heaven Horse Soul Bone Skill, Fatigue Recovery.
Dazzling golden light instantly shone from his left leg and spread over his entire body. In the blink of an eye, Qian Chen was radiant and refreshed, the exhaustion of two days of traveling at full speed swept away. Apart from Soul Power and injuries, this skill could restore every other aspect of his physical condition to its peak.
With his condition fully restored, Qian Chen wasted no more time and strode into Shuangquan City.
As soon as he entered, he noticed that the city had more than twice the usual number of guards. Qian Chen approached a peddler selling trinkets and flicked his fingertip. A Gold Soul Coin landed on the stall before the peddler with a clang, making the little wares jingle.
The peddler looked up to see a blond youth standing before his stall and hurriedly put on an ingratiating smile. "My lord, what can I do for you?"
"I ask, you answer. Answer well, and I'll reward you with another Gold Soul Coin." Qian Chen's tone was cold and hard.
"Yes, yes, yes! Ask away, my lord. I'll tell you everything I know!" The peddler's eyes lit up, and he nodded hastily.
"What major incident happened in Shuangquan City half a month ago? Tell me in detail-the more detail, the better."
"Of course! Half a month ago, a truly monstrous crime did happen here in Shuangquan City! I heard that dozens of black-clad Soul Masters came that night, all of them Evil Soul Masters, and surrounded the Ye Clan in the west of the city! The Ye Clan might have been small, but they weren't soft persimmons to be squeezed either. The whole clan fought the Evil Soul Masters to the death, with countless casualties! That night, golden light blazed up and lit half the sky. In the end, the Ye Clan's patriarch died in battle. He wasn't even left with an intact corpse..."
Qian Chen listened with his teeth clenched and his fists gripped so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He was now all but certain that this Ye Clan consisted of descendants of the Angel Clan who had changed their names and hidden in Shuangquan City!
"The Ye Clan's people... did they all die?" Qian Chen's voice tightened.
"Th-that I don't know! My lord, I'm just an ordinary commoner. This is all hearsay. Please don't blame me if I've gotten anything wrong!" Frightened, the peddler hurriedly waved his hands.
"It's fine." Qian Chen tossed out another Gold Soul Coin. By the time the peddler caught it in a fluster and looked up, the blond youth before him had already vanished. Only the two weighty Gold Soul Coins in his arms proved he had not been dreaming.
Qian Chen soon found the ruins of the Ye residence.
The first sight that met his eyes was over a dozen pools of black liquid, dark and thick-the traces left when low-ranking Evil Soul Masters had been directly scorched by holy light and their flesh had melted away.
Judging by the lingering presence throughout the Ye residence, at least one Soul Emperor-level wielder of a holy angel martial soul had detonated themselves here, taking Evil Soul Masters down with them.
Grief filled Qian Chen's heart. Had I come too late? Were all my clansmen ten thousand years later simply gone?
He refused to accept it!
The next moment, Qian Chen spread his immense spiritual power, scanning every blade of grass, every tree, every brick, and every tile of the Ye residence, inch by inch, unwilling to overlook even the slightest trace.
Soon, he detected remnants of the sacred presence unique to angel martial souls-one trace, then another, then more and more.
At last, he confirmed that two extremely faint sacred presences had escaped the Ye residence before the self-detonation, heading toward the western city gate!