Upheaval in Nuoding City
Midnight was approaching.
Nuoding City, Life-Saving Hall.
Lin Yuan stood in the shadows of the rear courtyard and glanced up at the sky.
Time to draw in the net.
Guang Ling was on a nearby rooftop, his presence so thoroughly concealed that he seemed not to exist.
Two Soul Saints had sealed off the two roads outside the city.
Six Soul Kings and four Soul Emperors were already in position.
They were only waiting for Lin Yuan's command.
But the instant he raised his hand-
Boom!!!
A tremendous crash suddenly rang out in the distance!
The whole of Nuoding City shook with it.
Lin Yuan whipped his head around.
The sound had come from-
The Spirit Hall Branch!
The next moment, a surge of Soul Power so violent it made hearts tremble shot into the sky.
Heavy.
Overbearing.
Like a mountain smashing straight into the city.
Guang Ling's expression changed drastically.
"A Titled Douluo!"
Before his words had faded, he had already turned into a streak of white light and shot into the sky.
"Stay here!"
"I'll go take a look!"
Before Lin Yuan could respond, Guang Ling had vanished into the night.
Meanwhile.
At the Spirit Hall Branch.
The once-heavy gates had been shattered into wooden debris scattered across the ground.
Half the wall had collapsed.
Blood flowed down the steps.
A black-clad man stood amid the ruins.
In his hand, he held an enormous black iron hammer.
Terrifying Soul Power churned ceaselessly over its head.
Every swing seemed about to smash the entire branch into the ground.
Bang!
A Spirit Hall Soul King had barely charged forward when a single hammer blow sent him flying before he could even scream.
His breastbone was completely shattered.
He died on the spot.
On the other side, two Soul Saints dispatched as reinforcements had activated their Martial Soul Avatars simultaneously.
Yet against that massive hammer, it still meant nothing.
"Seventh Soul Skill!"
One of them roared.
The next instant.
The enormous black hammer swept toward him.
Boom!
Soul Power exploded.
That Soul Saint was brutally smashed apart along with his Martial Soul Avatar. His corpse crashed through two walls and fell silent.
The other Soul Saint was thrown back by the shock wave, half his body drenched in blood as he slammed heavily into the ground.
Severely wounded!
Just one man.
In mere moments.
One Soul Saint dead.
One Soul Saint severely wounded.
Several Soul Kings down.
The entire Spirit Hall Branch had nearly been smashed through!
The black-clad man took a step forward.
Nine Soul Rings slowly rose beneath his feet.
Yellow.
Yellow.
Purple.
Purple.
Black.
Black.
Black.
Black.
Red!
The instant that final blood-red Soul Ring appeared, even the surrounding air seemed to freeze.
Just then.
An utterly icy roar of fury descended from the sky.
"Tang Hao!!!"
Boom!
Freezing air swept down the long street.
Light Feather Douluo stood in midair.
Nine Soul Rings unfurled at once.
His ice bow was already fully drawn.
The arrowhead locked firmly onto the black-clad man below.
Tang Hao slowly raised his head.
Beneath his black robe, his eyes darkened as well.
"Guang Ling."
Two Titled Douluos.
They stared at each other across the ruins.
Killing intent instantly filled the entire street.
And that cry of "Tang Hao" utterly tore apart Nuoding City's night.
In Life-Saving Hall's rear courtyard.
Two stewards checking the account books looked up simultaneously.
"Something's happened!"
One of them paled abruptly.
The other had already rushed to the window.
In the distance, flames soared into the sky in the direction of the Spirit Hall Branch.
More terrifying still, two presences at the Titled Douluo level had already collided head-on.
Every Soul Master in Nuoding City could feel that pressure.
The two stewards exchanged a glance.
Without the slightest hesitation.
"Retreat!"
They had no idea what had happened.
But a sudden battle between Titled Douluos at Spirit Hall could not possibly be a minor matter.
And their own operation could never see the light of day in the first place.
If Spirit Hall investigated them along the way, none of them would escape.
Both men rushed toward the rear courtyard's secret passage.
Lin Yuan's expression instantly turned cold.
Damn it.
That hammer blow from Tang Hao had completely smashed their once-silent encirclement and suppression into chaos.
"Move!"
Lin Yuan waited no longer.
His low shout instantly carried throughout the rear courtyard.
The next moment.
Boom!
Three courtyard walls exploded simultaneously.
Spirit Hall Soul Masters stormed in from all sides.
"Spirit Hall business!"
"Nobody move!"
The six Soul Kings took the lead in sealing off the front and rear courtyards.
The four Soul Emperors charged straight toward the secret passage.
Lin Yuan drew his bow.
First Soul Skill-
Star Chaser!
Whoosh!
A blue-green streak of arrow light instantly pierced the night.
A Medicine King Holy Church member who had just been about to slip into the secret passage was pinned to the wall on the spot.
"Seal the exits!"
Lin Yuan shouted sharply.
But he was ultimately a step too late.
Those two Soul Emperor stewards had already prepared to flee upon hearing the tremendous crash from the Spirit Hall Branch.
One had barely rushed into the underground passage when he ran head-on into a Spirit Hall Soul Emperor.
The two instantly exchanged blows.
Boom!
The wall exploded.
The steward was forced back out.
Lin Yuan gave him no second chance.
Third Soul Skill-
Soul Lock!
The arrow grazed his shoulder.
Soul Power chains instantly coiled around him.
The Soul Emperor's expression changed drastically.
"You-"
Bang!
Two Spirit Hall Soul Kings lunged at him from the side simultaneously.
One in front and one behind, they pinned him to the ground.
Successfully captured.
"Where's the other one?"
Lin Yuan whipped his head around.
No one answered.
The western secret passage had already been smashed open.
Only a pool of blood that had yet to dry remained on the ground.
The Soul King responsible for sealing that area lay on the ground, his chest pierced through.
Lin Yuan hurried to the exit.
He activated Hunting Sense to its fullest.
Life signatures were a tangled mess.
The distant streets were filled with residents awakened by the battle between Titled Douluos.
The Soul Power fluctuations had become completely muddled together.
The Soul Emperor who had escaped had already vanished into the crowd.
Lin Yuan stood at the secret passage's exit, his expression growing colder by the moment.
What should have been a sure catch when the net closed.
Because of Tang Hao's sudden appearance.
Had let the biggest fish slip through.
The Soul Emperor had just been pinned down when his body suddenly jolted.
Boom!
All six rings lit up at once.
Violent Soul Power erupted from his body, catching the two Soul Kings restraining him off guard and blasting them away on the spot.
"Merciful Medicine King!"
The Soul Emperor's eyes were bloodshot, his manner crazed.
"Sacred Tree, grant life!"
He abruptly thrust a hand into his robes.
A dark gold pill appeared in his palm.
Without hesitation, he opened his mouth to swallow it.
Whoosh!
A sharp whistle suddenly pierced the air.
Squelch!
A cyan-blue arrow pierced his arm in an instant.
Blood splattered.
The pill flew from his hand, and before it could hit the ground, another arrow pinned it straight into the wall.
Lin Yuan did not even turn his head.
"I'll give you Medicine King."
The Soul Emperor clutched his arm, screaming.
"You dare blaspheme the Medicine King-"
Lin Yuan turned, his gaze as cold as ice.
"Leave two people to watch him."
"Search him from head to toe. Every place he could hide a pill, search it thoroughly."
"Strip his clothes off."
"Check between his teeth."
"Dislocate his jaw, too."
The Soul Emperor's expression finally changed.
"You-"
The two Soul Kings lunged at him again.
Crack!
His jaw was dislocated outright.
Immediately afterward, several chains of Soul Power bore down at once, sealing his meridians and Soul Power tight.
Lin Yuan walked up to him and crouched down.
"Don't let him die."
"What's in his mouth is worth more than his life."
With that, Lin Yuan stood.
In the distance, in the direction of the Spirit Hall Branch, icy Soul Power had already collided with the oppressive might of the Clear Sky Hammer.
The whole of Nuoding City was shaking.
Lin Yuan grabbed the Imperial Bow.
"Everyone else."
"Come with me to the branch."
Lin Yuan raised his eyes toward the surging storm of Soul Power in the distance, killing intent sinking into the depths of his gaze little by little.
"Tonight, no one is leaving Nuoding City unscathed."