In recent months, many soul masters had died at the hands of their own companions while clearing Contamination Points.
Facing this harsh environment, Shui Bing'er and her team were well-prepared. They quickly circulated soul power throughout their bodies to block the invasion of negative energy.
At the same time, they focused their mental strength to shield themselves from negative emotions.
However, they couldn't maintain this state for long—their soul power would be depleted and their minds would tire.
But this was the basic survival method inside a Contamination Point. Otherwise, once eroded by negative energy and polluted by negative emotions, even soul masters would need months to recover.
Crack!
A dry branch snapped under Shui Bing'er's foot, echoing in the silence.
She looked around at the devastated landscape, finding it hard to believe that it had been a lush forest not long ago.
But she knew that once the Contamination Point was cleared, the land would soon recover. Negative energy would be purified and transformed into life-giving positive energy, restoring the land to vitality.
If not cleared in time, though, the consequences would be dire.
Contamination Points would expand like malignant tumors, birthing ever-stronger monsters.
Spirit Hall and the two empires had deduced that if a Point expanded to the size of a main city, its monsters could reach Title Douluo level—or even beyond, to peerless Douluo.
At that point, the Douluo Continent would face unprecedented disaster.
Even worse, if a Point went undiscovered and expanded unchecked, it could possibly spawn god-level monsters.
While tightly monitored on land, the vast oceans were a worry.
The seas were huge and mostly inaccessible to humans.
If a Contamination Point appeared in the deep sea and went unaddressed, who knew what horrors it could breed.
If these monsters weren't defeated, the cycle of expansion and strengthening would continue, threatening the continent's very existence.
Many realized this potential crisis, but most didn't care, thinking, "Let someone else handle it if disaster comes."
"Careful! Something's off! Why are all these monsters humanoid?" As the team ventured deeper, Shui Ming'er's expression darkened.
Although the monsters at the edge were weak—mostly Soul Grandmaster and Soul Elder levels—they were humanoid, clad in black soul tool armor and wielding all kinds of soul tools: ranged, control, support, defense. This caused Shui Bing'er's team great trouble.
According to Spirit Hall and the empires' recent research, most Contamination Points spawned beast-type or other bizarre monsters, rarely humanoid ones.
But Points that spawned humanoids were the hardest to handle.
They were modeled after soul masters—possessing martial souls, soul rings, and a variety of soul abilities, making them formidable foes.
Shui Bing'er's team had heard how, in the Star Luo Empire, a Contamination Point birthed a humanoid monster modeled after the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's Sword Douluo.
Though only Soul Sage level, it took five Soul Douluos to bring it down, since it was accompanied by a Soul Emperor-level Ning Fengzhi support clone. With no emotions and terrifying combat instincts, its actual power surpassed the real Sword Douluo.
Thus, everyone avoided humanoid monsters when clearing Points.
Now, even at the very edge, the monsters looked like a fully equipped soul master army.
It was hard to imagine what dangers awaited deeper inside.
The only consolation was that the Point was new, with little accumulated negative energy, so the monster levels weren't too high—yet.
Crack!—the sound of shattering ice. A black-armored soldier, frozen by Shui Bing'er, was smashed by her palm, dissolving into black mist and leaving behind a spherical soul tool.
Shui Bing'er picked it up and, after infusing it with soul power, hurled it at another black-armored soldier.
Boom!—an explosive blast obliterated the target, leaving only a piece of metal.
Her teammates were amazed.
These soul tools were extremely useful—just pour in soul power, and they unleashed immense force.
Even support- or food-type soul masters could wield them effectively.
They had just experienced the power of these soul tools firsthand—if not for Shui Ming'er's presence and Shui Bing'er's alertness, they would have suffered casualties.
It was impressive that Soul Ancestors nearly got injured by Soul Grandmasters and Soul Elders, showing just how dangerous these black armored soldiers were—more so than the regular soul master armies of the empires or Spirit Hall.
Shui Bing'er thought further: if these black soldiers formed a large-scale legion with powerful soul tools, they would be terrifying.
They'd only encountered small groups so far—if it was an organized army, retreat would be their only option.
Though the fighting was tough, the rewards were rich.
Each black-armored soldier dropped a soul tool or soul tool metal.
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was collecting soul tools in bulk, and selling these to them would be very profitable. Even low-level soul tools fetched high prices, and they also wanted the metals.
As they moved forward, the black mist thickened and the battles became harder. Even martial soul fusion techniques were used.
The monsters grew stronger; their soul tools more powerful—even Shui Bing'er got slightly injured.
At this point, Shui Ming'er began to reconsider.
There were far more monsters than expected. While they didn't threaten her, her students were at risk.
Who knew what weapons the core monster would wield? If Shui Bing'er or others got badly hurt and missed the tournament, it would be a disaster.
She signaled the team to stop, then turned to Shui Bing'er: "Bing'er, wait here at the edge. I'll go alone to try to kill the core monster."
"Aunt, isn't that too risky? This Contamination Point is too strange and dangerous!"
Shui Bing'er frowned. Everything about this place felt wrong, and she didn't want her aunt taking risks.
They'd cleared Points before, but never one filled entirely with humanoid monsters—an organized soul master army in all but mind.
Only their lack of intelligence kept them from fighting as a proper unit; otherwise, the team wouldn't have made it this far.
But as they got deeper, they could feel the Point madly gathering negative energy, with new monsters forming constantly.
And the soul tools' powers were all unpredictable.
Who knew if the core monster's weapon could threaten Shui Ming'er?
"It's fine. I'll check things out. If it's too much, I'll retreat."
Confident in her strength, Shui Ming'er couldn't believe that a newly formed Contamination Point could truly endanger her.
"Please be careful, Aunt!"
Seeing her aunt's confidence, Shui Bing'er was anxious but could only nod—she knew she couldn't stop her.
"Don't worry. I'll be back soon."
With a gentle smile, Shui Ming'er turned into a blue streak and shot toward the core.
"Sis, do you think Aunt will be alright? I feel uneasy..."
Shui Yue'er looked at the withered grass, cracked earth, and rising black mist. Even while focusing on resisting the negativity, her usual liveliness was gone.
Anyone would feel pressured in such an environment—Shui Yue'er was no exception.
PS: Bonus chapter at 100 PS