The First Signs of Huang Shan's Plot

Hearing this, Su Tianyu sighed and slowly explained, "Brothers, my appearance changed because of a Martial Soul Mutation. I didn't want to end up looking like this either. Luckily, a teacher helped me at the junior Soul Master Academy, and only then was I able to obtain my first Soul Ring and make it this far.

"Life is so hard for us commoner Soul Masters. At the academy, noble students bullied me, and now that I've left, even you, fellow commoner Soul Masters, suspect me. It hurts me so deeply."

As he spoke, Su Tianyu clutched his chest in anguish, putting on a pained expression and showing his sorrow over commoner Soul Masters suspecting one another.

Seeing that his pained expression didn't seem fake, the others chose to believe him, though they still had their doubts.

"All right, we believe you. Welcome to the Black Wolf Soul Hunting Team. I'm the captain, Gu San." The black-haired middle-aged man welcomed him with a smile.

The blond young man beside him introduced himself with a gloomy look. "I'm Zhang Erjiang. Welcome to the team. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me. I've been with the Black Wolf Soul Hunting Team for over two years. I also joined the team to gain experience right after graduating from an intermediate Soul Master Academy."

The white-haired old man beamed at Su Tianyu. "My name is Huang Shan!"

The old man named Huang Shan had the cunning air of someone who had grown shrewd with age, making Su Tianyu instinctively wary of him.

Although commoner Soul Masters might struggle to survive in big cities, they could live quite comfortably in small cities like Nuoding City. With the strength of a two-ring Soul Master, they were not people anyone in an ordinary small city could easily afford to offend.

Huang Shan looked to be nearly sixty, yet he was still venturing into the Star Dou Great Forest. He surely had a secret no one knew about. Even so, Su Tianyu wasn't afraid. As soon as the old man showed his true colors, he would become the next soul to perish at his hands.

"Thank you, brothers, for letting me join the Soul Hunting team. This meal is my treat, so eat to your hearts' content."

Su Tianyu waved his hand and spoke to the three men with a grand flourish.

The three thanked Su Tianyu, and the group ordered several more dishes and drinks before drinking to their hearts' content.

After eating and drinking their fill, they went outside the town and continued chatting. Then Zhang Erjiang asked, "Little brother, we still don't know your name. The three of us were having so much fun drinking just now that we forgot to ask."

"My name is Tang San, and I'm fifteen this year. Thank you all for letting me join the team. From now on, let's work together to make our team grow even stronger."

Su Tianyu spoke to the three men with a sincere expression.

"Young friend, let's part ways here for today. In three days, our Black Wolf Soul Hunting Team has a Soul Beast hunting assignment. We'll all meet at the entrance to the Star Dou Great Forest. This will be your first time hunting Soul Beasts with the team, but don't worry. With the three of us there, a mere Hundred-Year Soul Beast is nothing to speak of."

Gu San gave Su Tianyu this assurance with a smile.

"All right, Captain. We'll meet at the entrance to the Star Dou Great Forest in three days, then. I drank too much today, so I'll head back to the town inn and rest."

Su Tianyu waved to the three men and staggered unsteadily toward Star Dou Town.

"Captain, are you really comfortable letting a kid of unknown origins join our team?"

Huang Shan asked, beaming at Gu San with a meaningful expression.

"Of course not. Do you really think I've spent all these years playing around? But the kid said he's a commoner Soul Master too. What do you two think?"

Gu San watched the departing figure disappear through the entrance to Star Dou Town, then turned to ask the two men beside him.

"Of course I don't believe him. But let's test the kid first and see what he's made of, whether he's qualified to become an indispensable teammate. If his Soul Skills are decent, why not let him join us? That's how I joined your team back then, Captain."

Zhang Erjiang shrugged indifferently as he replied, not caring in the least what sort of background Su Tianyu had.

"All right, but we can look into the kid's background later. First, we'll let him come with us on this Soul Beast hunting assignment. The client wants a complete Fire Flame Lion pelt. Don't let some minor matter make us miss this assignment. The reward is a full six hundred Gold Soul Coins," Gu San warned the two men solemnly.

For the sake of this reward, he, Gu San, had argued with other Soul Hunting teams and had even come close to fighting them. He couldn't allow this assignment to fail. Failure would mean paying a considerable sum in Gold Soul Coins as compensation, and he didn't have that kind of money.

On the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, a lion's roar rang out through the dense woods, punctuated by the sound of trees breaking, showing that this Soul Hunt in the Star Dou Great Forest was not going smoothly.

"Roar-!"

A lion-like Soul Beast appeared before them, two meters tall at the shoulder and over four meters long. Its mane burned like flames, and its fierce vertical pupils stared fixedly at the humans nearby. Opening its great, fang-filled maw, it unleashed a deafening roar at Gu San and the others opposite it.

"Damn it! Huang Shan, how did you lead us here? How could we run into a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and the king of the Fire Flame Lions at that? Could this be one of your schemes?"

Gu San's face turned livid as he cursed Huang Shan. Huang Shan really deserved to die.

"Don't be hasty, Captain. You're a Soul Elder. Together with Zhang Erjiang, you can still put up a fight against a Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

Huang Shan replied with a chuckle, as if he couldn't see the Thousand-Year Soul Beast ahead.

"Huang Shan, you old bastard, did you deliberately go negotiate the assignment behind the captain's back and mine? I was wondering how this assignment could possibly pay six hundred Gold Soul Coins. So you joined forces with the client to deceive the captain and me! Even when the captain met the client in person, he didn't spot anything wrong. You old bastard wanted to keep the reward for this assignment all to yourself!"

Zhang Erjiang erupted into furious curses at Huang Shan, then stared at him darkly. A trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes, and he wished he could hit the old bastard with a Soul Skill and send him to an early grave.

"Roar-"

After letting out an enraged roar, the Fire Flame Lion King sprang forward on all fours and charged toward the two men.

When Gu San saw the Fire Flame Lion King pouncing straight at him, his heart began pounding in fright. He hurriedly rolled to the ground on his left, barely dodging a swipe of its claws.

"Damn you, Huang Shan! If I make it through this, I'll kill you!"

Seeing that he had dodged the lion king's attack, Gu San scrambled to his feet and moved closer to his teammate. He glared fiercely at Huang Shan, who was standing to the side watching the show, and spoke viciously.

"Captain, I didn't want this either, but what could I do? I'm almost sixty, and I don't even have a hundred Gold Soul Coins to my name. How am I supposed to live out my remaining years in peace?"

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