Arthur's footsteps came to a complete halt. The confusion in his eyes vanished, replaced by a burning fervor.
Even his originally upright ahoge seemed to stand a bit firmer.
"A Spirit King Evil Soul Master..."
Estimating his own strength in his mind, Arthur nodded, his voice carrying a hint of irrepressible excitement: "It's worth a try."
A Spirit King without Battle Armor was neither too high nor too low for the current Arthur; it was just right.
Seeing Arthur like this, the smile on Agravaine's face deepened as he patted his shoulder. "This is a rare opportunity for Actual Combat. Besides, with me watching over you, nothing unexpected will happen."
"When do we leave?" Without asking for further details, Arthur voiced his most pressing concern.
Having Cultivated day and night for the past few years, his combat practice partners had always been teachers or elders. Although Arthur's goal was to eliminate Evil Soul Masters, he had never actually fought a real one, let alone a Spirit King-level opponent.
Arthur's excitement brought a flicker of gratification to Agravaine's eyes as he replied, "We leave now. Every second an Evil Soul Master lives is a waste of air."
He placed his hand on Arthur's shoulder and focused his mind.
The surrounding light seemed to gradually twist and converge into a single point. In an instant, the two transformed into specks of light and scattered with the wind.
The shaded path became silent once more, appearing even a bit dimmer than before.
At the same time, far away at the entrance of Arthur's dormitory building, Gu Yue, who was waiting there, frowned slightly.
She looked toward the path leading to the dormitory in surprise.
A powerful aura had just flashed by there; it was at least at the level of a Titled Douluo.
If Gu Yue's essence weren't that of a Divine Rank being undergoing re-cultivation, she truly wouldn't have been able to sense it with her current cultivation level.
She lowered her head slightly, her falling hair obscuring her delicate face and hiding her eyes, making her intentions impossible to read.
As if talking to herself, she murmured, "What's going on?"
The air went still.
A second later, a slight tremor in the airflow brought Di Tian's voice: "My Lord, it was Arthur's elder. He has taken Arthur away."
She remained silent.
Arthur and Wu Zhangkong's daily practice always took place after their special training.
Tomorrow was a rare day off. Thus, Gu Yue had come here early to wait for Arthur's return, intending to ask him to go for a stroll on the streets later.
She hadn't expected such a turn of events.
Since that was the case, it was time to handle another matter.
"Di Tian." A glint flashed in Gu Yue's eyes. "From now on, monitor Tang Wulin's every move with all your strength."
"Do not miss any suspicious point. Report any situation immediately."
Before Di Tian could respond, Gu Yue's tone suddenly grew heavier: "Be careful while monitoring. Do not be careless just because he is weak."
"He carries the aura of another King."
"My Lord, are you referring to that lord?" Di Tian's voice came with unprecedented shock. How could Tang Wulin have that lord's aura?
"It is a fact." After spending time with him, Gu Yue was certain that Tang Wulin occasionally emitted the aura of the Golden Dragon King.
It was very faint, but it truly existed.
It was as slight as a grain of sand in a river, but in the eyes of the Silver Dragon King, it was as vivid as a bonfire in the night.
Back then, the Dragon God split in two, becoming the Golden and Silver Dragon Kings. Among the two newly born Kings, the Golden Dragon King was immediately Sealed by the God Kings of the God Realm.
Only Gu Yue escaped the encirclement and hid in the Lower Realm.
So, how could Tang Wulin possibly have the Golden Dragon King's aura?
Unless he was related to the God Realm.
Narrowing her eyes slightly, Gu Yue utilized her Dragon God's wisdom.
"Surnamed Tang, Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, related to the God Realm..."
She thought of a person.
The Sea God Tang San, who had undergone Ascension to the God Realm twenty thousand years ago!
Could these two be related?
"Tang San... Tang Wulin..."
A figure flashed through her mind.
Tang Wutong!
"Tang Wulin, Tang Wutong."
"Heh, so that's how it is."
A cold light appeared in her eyes as Gu Yue suppressed her anger. Tang Wutong had caused the Spirit Beast world to lose its Auspicious Beast.
What kind of scheme was being played out through Tang Wulin?
"Tang San... Hmph."
...Tianhai City.
The night deepened.
The sea breeze, carrying the scent of rust, poured through the broken windows of an abandoned factory in southern East Sea City.
Liu Jin hunched his back, sticking to the shadows beneath a shipping container. His fingers were thin and withered as he repeatedly rubbed a piece of dark purple paper in his hand.
Under the constant rubbing, the corners of the paper had become wrinkled.
The three characters for "Blood Sacrifice Ritual" were reflected in his eyes, gleaming coldly in the shadows.
Three years ago, he was still a spirited young Genius at Tianhai Academy. His Green Flame Vine Martial Soul could manipulate the power of plants, and his teachers and elders all spoke of his promising future.
But an incorrect Fusion with a soul spirit led to a sudden Martial Soul mutation, turning the Green Flame Vine into this mass of black-threaded Bone-Corroding Scythe.
His Martial Soul already had a slight abnormality, and the wrong soul spirit became the fuse for its mutation.
The Green Flame Vine turned into an Evil Martial Soul, backfiring on him. His normal cultivation ground to a halt, and the achievements that were once within reach became a pipe dream.
The once-admiring gazes around him turned into wariness and disgust, piercing through all his pride.
Just when he was in despair and had lost all hope, a figure appeared and gave him a method to progress again, along with a secret technique.
A blood sacrifice method called the Blood Sacrifice Ritual.
"Blood Sacrifice Ritual, using the life of living beings to sublimate oneself." Liu Jin's Adam's apple bobbed as he whispered the person's instructions.
That mysterious person wanted him to record every single detail during the blood sacrifice.
"Am I being used as a test subject..." Liu Jin had once been a Genius, after all; he could naturally see that this Blood Sacrifice Ritual had been neutered and was incomplete.
Its original form could be faintly discerned between the lines of the secret technique.
It was an extremely evil, large-scale sacrificial method.
It seemed it hadn't been perfected yet?
Otherwise, that mysterious person wouldn't have handed it to him to experiment with and record the details.
"Suits me just fine." Liu Jin no longer cared about anything; he only wanted to become strong, stronger than ever before. He wanted to make certain people pay the price.
His gaze passed over the piles of waste and landed on a curled-up figure not far away.
It was a youth of fifteen or sixteen, wearing faded old clothes and tightly clutching a grey, worn-out backpack. Liu Jin had been watching him for a while; the youth had come to the big city to find his relatives.
The youth was sleeping soundly against a container, a faint smile on his lips, likely dreaming of the moment he found his family.
After a moment of internal struggle, Liu Jin's fingertips trembled slightly.
He remembered when he first participated in the Soul Master assessment, he was also full of anticipation, wearing the new clothes his mother had bought him.
After a brief hesitation, Liu Jin crushed those feelings. He had no way back.
This youth wasn't his first target. Why was he still hesitating now?
He quietly straightened his hunched figure. Lightening his steps, he moved toward the youth one step at a time.
"Don't blame me. If you must blame someone, blame this world for not having a place for me first."
He murmured to the air, his voice hoarse.
His right hand rose quietly, and his Martial Soul, the Bone-Corroding Scythe, emerged in the shadows. Black chains hung from the sickle blade, moving without wind and glinting with an eerie green light under the moonlight.
"Quite interesting." A sudden voice rang out from above.
"Who's there!"
Liu Jin looked up sharply but saw no one. He gazed out through the large hole in the abandoned factory's ceiling.
Under the moonlight, a great spear entwined with golden light fell toward him.