The Soul Power Network

The moment the monitor went dark, Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes.

It wasn't panic. It was the frozen focus that came when the calculations were interrupted.

"It's over!" Mo Chen roared, his fingers frantically pressing buttons on the control panel. "All the ' Water Mirror ' are broken! The Soul Power connection has been forcibly severed, how is this possible..."

Lu Yuan didn't reply. He tapped his index finger rapidly on his knee three times, paused, and then tapped it twice more.

Inside the mine tunnel, Lin Xiao's figure had vanished from the spot, leaving only a few wisps of lingering black smoke. Where he had just stood, three deep marks appeared on the rock wall—instinctive dodges and probing counterattacks made after hearing that sound.

"It wasn't a severance," Lu Yuan said, his voice more steady than usual, as if stating an experimental phenomenon. "It was a covering interference. His Soul Power perception field was like a heavy iron plate, pressing down and flattening all the subtle Soul Power connections we had set up—the buzzing of the ' Hive,' the image transmission of the ' Water Mirror,' even the fluctuations of residual soul crystal dust—all of them."

Shen Moxin adjusted her glasses, her eyes behind the lenses fixed on the pitch-black monitoring panel. "This means he not only knows we're monitoring him, but he can also precisely interfere with Soul Power fluctuations at specific frequencies. This kind of control..."

"Peak Soul Emperor, or even higher." Lu Yuan picked up the conversation, standing up. A slight pain in his side made him pause, but he quickly straightened up. "Moreover, he specializes in perception and interference. For most Soul Master, this ability is a natural counter. Soul Skill require Soul Power to guide their release. If perception is interfered with, attacks will go astray, defenses will be a beat slower, and you won't even be able to pinpoint the enemy's location."

Mo Chen's face turned pale. "Then what's the point of fighting? Run?"

"We can't escape." Lu Yuan shook his head. "He can interfere with our senses, so he can naturally track our Soul Power traces. In this area he's 'marked,' we're the ones who are blind."

He walked up to the stone wall and placed his palm on the rough rock surface.

"So, we need to change our approach."

As soon as he finished speaking, a slight release of Blue Silver Soul Power emanated from his palm. It wasn't an attack, but rather, like water seeping into a sponge, it silently seeped into the depths of the rock wall.

Almost simultaneously, in various parts of the core area—at the corners of side passages, at the bottom of abandoned minecarts, and deep in rock crevices—the low-level soul crystals that had been buried in advance and roughly treated by the Mo Chen began to glow with extremely faint, chaotic, flickering fluorescence, one after another.

There's no pattern. Some lights flash twice and then go out, some stay on but flicker, and some don't react at all.

Mo Chen was stunned. "This... I didn't do any activation treatment when I buried it?"

"I did it." Lu Yuan didn't turn around, his fingers slowly moving across the rock face, as if touching invisible veins. "I used Soul Power threads to pre-carve unstable resonance patterns. Now, I'll use my remaining Soul Power as a fuse to activate them."

Shen Moxin keenly sensed something. "The fluctuations of these soul crystals... are very chaotic. The frequencies are completely different and conflict with each other."

"Yes." A faint smile appeared on Lu Yuan's lips. "Chaos is the way to go."

"The Scavengers Leader's ability is essentially to use his powerful, orderly Soul Power to cover and distort the Soul Power fluctuations of other areas, creating a ' Mist '." He spoke faster, as if deriving a formula, "But what if the Soul Power fluctuations of this area itself are chaotic, disordered, and full of noise?"

He withdrew his hand and turned to look at the two of them.

Imagine you're in a noisy market, trying to hear someone whisper. Then someone shouts even louder, and you might still be able to make out their voice. But if, suddenly, the entire market erupts with thousands of random, varied noises—shouting, hissing, banging, crying—all mixed together, even the person shouting will be overwhelmed by the noise.

Mo Chen's eyes widened. "You mean..."

"This core area is now a huge, chaotic field of Soul Power noise," Lu Yuan said. "He's interfering with us? Fine. I'll turn all the Soul Power fluctuations in this area into interference itself. When his perception field presses down, it won't be able to create a clear ' Mist '; instead, it will be interfered with and amplified by these chaotic ripples. His capture of Soul Power fluctuations will be distorted, delayed, or even misjudged."

He paused, then added, "Of course, this is just theoretical. The effect depends on the precision of his Soul Power control, and whether the 'noise' we create is chaotic enough and lasts long enough."

From deep within the mine tunnel came a very soft "Eh.", seemingly tinged with doubt.

The cold voice rang out again, still coming from all directions, but it seemed to have lost some of its previous absolute calmness, and gained a hint of imperceptible stagnation.

"A little trick."

Before the words were even finished, a shadow suddenly crept up from a side road on the left!

The second Shadow Jump finally appeared. He seemed to have been detached from the rock wall itself, his figure blurred, and his short blade was aimed straight at Lin Xiao's back, who had just revealed himself!

Lin Xiao didn't turn around.

He didn't even look. In the instant the shadow writhed, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. His body twisted to the side at an incredible angle, the short blade grazing his ribs and drawing a trail of blood. At the same time, his left leg whipped backward like a whip, his toes gathering Soul Power and pointing at the opponent's wrist.

The Shadow Jump missed its target and was about to merge into the darkness.

But this time, he was a beat too slow.

It wasn't that Lin Xiao had become faster. It was that during his process of merging into the shadows, there was a momentary, almost imperceptible, delay. It was as if the surrounding "darkness" was no longer so obedient, and the connection between his Soul Power and the shadows was disturbed by something chaotic.

Just this once.

Lin Xiao's fingertips had already touched the fluttering hem of his clothes.

"Mo Chen!" Lu Yuan shouted in a low voice.

Mo Chen, who had been standing guard by the control panel, suddenly pressed a protruding button.

Behind the rock wall where the Shadow Jump was about to disappear, a muffled explosion suddenly came! It wasn't Soul Power explosion, but a physical one— Soul Tool modified by Mo Chen, filled with rubble and Caltrop!

Boom!

The rock face cracked, sending debris flying. The Shadow Jump groaned as it was forcibly jolted out of the nascent shadow, staggering with a bloody mess on its left shoulder.

Lin Xiao's claws were already at his throat.

However, just as the claws were about to touch the skin, an immense, mountain-like pressure of Soul Power descended without warning!

It wasn't the interference from before; it was pure overwhelming power.

The Soul Power of Soul Emperor level surged like a tangible tide, sweeping across the entire side path. Lin Xiao's forward momentum suddenly halted, as if he had crashed into an invisible wall of energy. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and was violently thrown back, crashing into the rock wall behind him and coughing up blood.

The Shadow Jump seized the opportunity to retreat hastily, clutching his shoulder, and looked in shock toward the source of the oppressive aura.

At the end of the main mine tunnel, a figure slowly emerged.

He wore the same dark gray outfit as his deceased companions, and a plain black mask covering his face, revealing only his eyes. Those eyes were calm and still, like two deep wells, but now they turned slightly, sweeping over the chaotic, shimmering soul crystal fluorescence on the surrounding rock walls.

"Use chaos to quell the disturbance." He spoke, his voice no longer amplified by Soul Power, but ringing out directly, deep and with a metallic, abrasive quality. "Good idea. Unfortunately, the person who set up the formation has too weak Soul Power."

He raised his right hand, his five fingers loosely clenched.

Buzz--

Within the core area, all the chaotic, flickering soul crystal fluorescence trembled violently at the same time! It was as if an invisible hand was forcibly "molding" them into the same frequency.

Lu Yuan's face paled, and his hand, pressed against the rock wall, trembled slightly. He felt that the Soul Power resonance network he had constructed was being forcibly penetrated and suppressed by the opponent's terrifying Soul Power, and the chaotic ripples began to show signs of convergence.

In less than ten breaths, this makeshift "noise field" will be violently dismantled by the other side.

"Mo Chen, the second contingency plan!" Lu Yuan gritted his teeth and roared.

Mo Chen's temples bulged with veins as his hands frantically operated the control panel. "Detonate the preset node! Disrupt the stability of his Soul Power output!"

He slammed down another button.

The soul crystals in several key locations within the core area didn't just flicker; they exploded directly! It wasn't Soul Power explosion, but rather the internal structure being overloaded by the pre-set Soul Power circuits, instantly releasing a large number of disordered and sharp Soul Power pulses!

These pulses were harmless, yet they were like fine needles, piercing deeply into the Soul Power that the Scavengers leader was gathering in an attempt to gain control of the entire situation.

The leader's loosely clenched fingers trembled slightly.

Although it was only an extremely subtle fluctuation, a crack appeared in that feeling of absolute control. The trembling frequency of the surrounding soul crystals became chaotic again.

"Annoying bugs." A cold glint flashed in the leader's eyes.

He no longer tried to control the situation; instead, his figure suddenly blurred, and in the next instant, he appeared in front of the control panel where Mo Chen was!

Wow, so fast!

Mo Chen only had time to channel his Soul Power into a Defensive Soul Tool at his waist, and a pale yellow light shield had just appeared when the leader's fist arrived.

Without the Soul Skill Radiance, it was just a simple straight punch.

Bang!

The light shield shattered like paper. The fist, still carrying considerable force, landed squarely on Mo Chen's crossed arms as he tried to block.

Click.

A clear sound of bones cracking rang out. Mo Chen screamed and flew backward, crashing into a pile of debris, collapsing to the ground with his arms twisted, unable to get up again.

The leader didn't even glance at him; his gaze was fixed on Lu Yuan, who was a few steps away.

The chilling killing intent, like a tangible ice spike, stung Lu Yuan's skin. The pressure of the Soul Emperor's peak Soul Power made it difficult for him to breathe, and the remaining 20% of his Soul Power stagnated and became difficult to circulate within his body.

I'm going to die.

This idea is crystal clear. No matter how much calculation or how ingenious the strategy, it is still fragile in the face of an absolute power gap.

The leader took a step, then two.

The distance closed rapidly. He raised his hand, his fingertips gathering Soul Power, which transformed into a dark, seemingly light-devouring spike, aimed at Lu Yuan's brow.

Lu Yuan didn't move. His pupils contracted, and all the calculations were running wildly in his mind, searching for that almost non-existent chance of survival. His left hand, hidden in his sleeve, had already touched a slightly warm rock on the ground.

Just as the spike was about to pierce the air.

A figure staggered out from the passage behind Lu Yuan Lu Yuan, spreading its arms to block him.

It's Lu Qinghe.

His face was ashen, and the burlap bandage around his chest was seeping dark red, clearly indicating that his injuries had not yet healed. He had no decent weapon in his hand, only the iron hoe that had been with him for half his life and was the embodiment of his Martial Soul, which he held horizontally in front of his chest, the rough wooden handle against his shoulder, the blade pointing at the enemy.

He was panting heavily, his forehead beaded with cold sweat, but his usually tired and cloudy eyes were now frighteningly bright, filled with a resolute determination as he stared Rock at the leader.

The Scavengers leader paused slightly.

A faint hint of surprise seemed to flash in the eyes behind the mask. He had seen too many desperate counterattacks, kneeling and begging for mercy, and frantic escapes, but he had rarely seen anything like this... a guy who was so weak he could barely stand, yet used a ridiculous farm tool to block his target.

Moreover, this person's Soul Power was weak and his aura was unstable, clearly indicating that he was seriously injured.

Why?

This pause lasted less than half a breath.

But for Lu Yuan, that was enough.

His eyes flashed with a cold light, and his left hand, which had been hidden in his sleeve, slammed down with all his might on the ground in front of him—on a rock that was slightly warmer than the rest of the body.

That place was the true core node of the entire Soul Power interference network that he had planted in advance, and it was also the last resort he had prepared for himself, or rather, for this moment when he was in dire straits.

Inside the rock, an extremely complex Soul Power circuit was fully activated.

It wasn't an explosion, it wasn't an attack.

It's... resonance.

Buzz--

A strange, deep tremor, seemingly originating from the depths of the earth, suddenly spread outwards from the rock.