Wait... Dude?
Some cursed bitterly, unwilling to accept their fate, but still chose to fight to the death against the Soul Beasts surging toward them.
Outside the mine, two members of the Zhou Clan heard the thunderous noise from within.
A flash of eagerness appeared in the Soul King's eyes.
"The plan's already underway. Let's go in too. Once they're all dead, all that blood and vitality will surely draw out that ten-thousand-year Earthquake Beast.
Once I've absorbed its Soul Ring and broken through to level 60, my strength will surely far surpass that of Soul Emperors at the same level."
"Oh my, we're really so wicked."
"Hahahaha! Every man for himself, or heaven and earth will strike him down."
The two burst out laughing.
Inside the mine, Hui Ye watched their escape route being sealed off, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"There's actually something this good? Doesn't that mean I can hunt Soul Rings to my heart's content in a little while?"
Along the way, he had been planning to find a chance to slip away from the main group and hunt Soul Beasts alone in a side tunnel.
Now a horde of Soul Beasts had come right to him, and their escape route was blocked off.
Apart from the tunnel leading deeper into the mine, the area was a semi-enclosed space.
There was no hurry to hunt the Soul Beasts yet. He had something more important to do first.
Hui Ye's gaze abruptly landed on Commander Lie Hu.
Lie Hu had already been pacing in circles with anxiety. Feeling someone's eyes on him, he instinctively turned to look.
"Brat, we're going to die either way. If anyone's dying, you're dying first!"
"It's far too early to say who'll die first."
Hui Ye smiled faintly and activated Wolffy Martial Soul Possession. He triggered the skills of his Right Leg Soul Bone and Right Arm Soul Bone, and his speed abruptly soared.
"You don't know your own limits! I'm a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. You're a two-ring Soul Master. What have you got to fight me with?!"
Commander Lie Hu activated Martial Soul Possession, his Soul Power surging as sharp tiger claws sprang from his fingertips.
"You think that trash wolf Martial Soul of yours can even compare to my Lie Hu Martial Soul? Utterly ridiculous!"
The next second, the two collided in a fierce clash.
Bang!
Hui Ye exploded into a cloud of bloody mist, and the blast sent Commander Lie Hu staggering back dozens of meters.
Commander Lie Hu steadied himself and stared wide-eyed at the bloody mist gradually dispersing in the air. "He's dead?!" he said in disbelief.
"Wait, I still wanted to beat him to a pulp."
"Who said I was dead?"
Hui Ye's teasing voice came from behind Commander Lie Hu.
"Head Soul Bone skill: Black Flame Eruption."
A stream of black fire sprayed over Commander Lie Hu's legs.
"Aaaah! What kind of fire is this?!"
Commander Lie Hu screamed and fell to the ground, rolling back and forth.
"Lao Ba, where's your water-attribute Soul Skill? Put the fire out, quick!"
Lao Ba hurriedly used his water-attribute Soul Skill, spraying a jet of water from his mouth onto Commander Lie Hu.
Sizzle~ Sizzle~
The water boiled the instant it hit the flames, scalding an even larger area of his body.
"Damn it, are you spraying oil? You're scalding me to death!" Commander Lie Hu cursed.
"How does Ultimate Fire taste?" Hui Ye asked with a smile.
"It's actually Ultimate Fire? Quick, Lao Jiu, do I have to teach you how to use your healing Soul Skill?
Lao Ba, pour on more water! Even Ultimate Fire can be put out with enough water."
It had to be said, Commander Lie Hu had considerable battle talent. Healing the scalds while putting out the fire with water really could resolve the danger he was in.
Just as he thought everything was under control, an icy voice rang out beside his ear.
"Are you pretending I'm not here?"
Hui Ye raised his foot and kicked Commander Lie Hu into the mass of Soul Beasts.
Before Lie Hu could even scream, a group of thousand-year Earth Armored Beasts trampled him into a pile of minced meat.
Lao Ba and Lao Jiu trembled with fear and kowtowed to Hui Ye, begging for mercy. "Young man, we never offended you the whole time. Please spare our lives."
One Soul Master couldn't stand watching any longer and shouted angrily:
"At a time like this, you're still fighting among yourselves?!
What good will it do you if he lets you go? If you can't get out, you'll still be waiting to die.
The most important thing right now is figuring out how to escape!
Instead of wasting time fighting among yourselves, you'd be better off finding a way out first."
Hui Ye surveyed the battle. Of the five-hundred-person group, only half were still alive.
On the Soul Beasts' side, only two Earth Armored Dragons and a small number of Metal-Devouring Rats had died.
The disparity in losses was far too great. If this dragged on, everyone would be wiped out in less than fifteen minutes.
Hui Ye silently calculated the ratio of Soul Power spent to Soul Power gained, based on what he had left.
Before he ran out of Soul Power, he could just about max out the metal and earth attributes required for his Second Soul Ring.
As long as he had Infinite Stamina, no one on the entire Douluo Continent could harm a hair on his head.
Hui Ye raised his voice and shouted for everyone to hear.
"Those of you who want to fight can keep fighting. If you don't, get back, or you might get caught in the crossfire later."
Everyone's first reaction was that Hui Ye had gone mad!
"Look! What's that kid doing?"
"He charged over there!"
"That's a 1,200-year Earth Armored Dragon! Does he have a death wish?"
"He... he jumped up, he..."
"What did you say? He jumped straight into the Earth Armored Dragon's mouth?!"
"Crazy. He's really gone crazy."
What was that if not throwing his life away?
Everyone was already disheartened, and now their morale sank even lower.
They all thought Hui Ye was too young to bear their predicament and had chosen to end his own life to escape reality.
Bang!
With a muffled bang, the Earth Armored Dragon's belly bulged several times before a huge bloody hole burst open in it.
Hui Ye crawled out of the Earth Armored Dragon's belly and stood on its head. He reached out and drew the purple Soul Ring that had just risen into his body.
His earth-attribute progress immediately rose to over 2,000 years.
Everyone's eyes shook.
"What did he just do?"
"It looked like the Earth Armored Dragon's stomach exploded."
"How did he do that?"
Everyone whispered their guesses.
"Oh, I get it."
"What do you get?"
"He's a defense-type Soul Master. He knew the Earth Armored Dragon's defenses were high and wouldn't be easy to break through."
"So?"
"So he chose to break through from the inside. He crawled into the Earth Armored Dragon's stomach, used a defensive Soul Skill, then set off a Fixed-Installation Soul Guidance Bomb and destroyed it from the inside in one blow."
"So that's how it was."
Everyone thought it over and decided it made perfect sense.
"I've got it."
A defense-type Soul Master had a sudden outhouse-opening revelation. He took out a Fixed-Installation Soul Guidance Bomb and hugged it to his chest, staring at an Earth Armored Dragon with excitement written all over his face.
"You... what are you going to do?"
"Watch closely. We defense-type Soul Masters are the strongest."
"Don't do anything rash..."
The defense-type Soul Master ignored the warning beside him. As though he had made some sort of decision, he moved as fast as a bolt of lightning.
He charged forward.
He leaped high into the air.
Then,
He plunged headfirst into the Earth Armored Dragon's mouth, ready to crawl into its belly.
Immediately afterward,
The Earth Armored Dragon closed its mouth and chewed twice.
And then there was no then.
Dead silence.
A deathly silence!
"Huh???"
Hui Ye froze, his mouth slightly open and his eyes as wide as copper bells.
"Wait, dude, what are you doing?"
A warrior. Now that was a true warrior.
He dared to charge forward in the face of danger and remained calm and composed in death, without letting out a single wail.
That was a warrior!
Everyone was filled with respect and raised their thumbs in approval.
Awesome!