"Would you die for someone?"
Su Wen suddenly asked.
"For a human?" The auspicious beast looked like it had just heard the joke of the century, curling its lips in disdain. "I am a Emperor Auspicious Beast, so noble in status. How could I possibly give my life for a human? Ridiculous! Even if I were to kill myself, jump down from here, and get caught by those evil soul masters, it's still impossible!"
"..."
Su Wen looked at the Emperor Auspicious Beast, eyes flickering.
As the incarnation of fate, Emperor Auspicious Beast couldn't control its own destiny. In the original story, it was sacrificed for the Child of Destiny, becoming a stepping stone for Huo Yuhao's ascension to godhood…
Fate truly is a mysterious thing.
"Didn't expect you to be hiding here!"
A voice full of excitement rang out.
Outside the dense leaves, an ice dragon several meters long hovered in the air. A boy, about thirteen or fourteen, stood atop the dragon's head, his gaze arrogant as he stared intently at the Emperor Auspicious Beast. Human and beast looked at each other.
The boy in black robes seemed to be at the Soul Ancestor level, just recently advanced, but there were also two black-clad figures nearby, floating with flying soul devices. Their strength was unclear, but definitely not weak—at least stronger than Zhou Yi.
"This is a bit troublesome," Su Wen scratched his head, a little troubled.
"Trouble? Hmph, such arrogance." The black-robed youth sneered. "I'm here to take your life. Emperor Auspicious Beast, and you, little brat from who knows where, remember my name."
"Yan Feng from the Holy Spirit Sect?"
Before he could speak further, Su Wen raised his eyebrows and asked.
"Huh? How did you know?" Yan Feng looked confused. He was the top genius of his generation in the sect, with a high chance of becoming the next Holy Son. His identity was secret, known only to some elders within the sect. How could he…?
"No reason."
"Domain of Eternal Frost!" Su Wen shouted.
Pale blue frost spread from under his feet, catching the three opponents off guard before they could dodge.
Without the Ice Emperor by his side, Su Wen could only use his own skills. Though only at two-thirds the might of the Ice Emperor, it was enough.
A furious roar echoed from the ancient woods.
Several pale green wind blades shot out, heading straight for the three.
"Damn it!"
The trio's expressions changed, panic replacing their earlier calm.
Frost slowed them, and then the main attack struck.
This kid has so many tricks?!!
Yan Feng was especially shocked, unable to move. His martial soul, the Bone Dragon, had top-tier ice attributes, but in the face of Su Wen's ice, it felt completely suppressed—a mere ant before a king.
"Yan Feng!"
A black-robed man shouted.
He quickly stepped in front of Yan Feng, barely managing to conjure a wall of wind. His martial soul's phantom appeared behind him—a Green Wind Bird, a wind-type beast martial soul, corrupted into a Green Demon Bird with evil soul master attributes.
"Ordinary wind attribute?"
Su Wen grinned.
As he finished speaking, screams rang out.
A green gale pierced through the wind wall as if breaking clouds, striking the black-robed man.
His limbs were severed by the wind blades, his body tumbling down, blood spraying everywhere. His soul power was in chaos, and his flying soul device trembled violently before failing, sending him plummeting.
"Gale."
Su Wen said calmly.
He then darted down like a white shadow, intercepting the falling black-robed man and slamming him into a tree, crushing him to pieces like a mosquito.
This was to prevent the man from being discovered by other black-robed people, or from sending off a signal flare.
The man had little time to react and could not use his full strength. If not for the attribute suppression and Yan Feng being in the way, a Soul Emperor wouldn't have died so easily. Of course… perhaps Yan Feng deserved some "credit"—if he'd dodged, Yan Feng would have taken the hit.
Su Wen shook his head at the dumbfounded youth.
"Too weak."
"..."
Yan Feng gasped for breath, terror in his eyes.
This was the first time he'd faced a life-or-death battle. His teacher had always sheltered him. Though he was infamous as a Holy Spirit Sect member, he'd never truly fought a losing battle or faced a strong enemy.
Among peers, he always crushed all other Holy Spirit Sect prodigies.
This made his confidence swell, but now, facing a boy even younger than himself, he let his guard down, focusing only on the Emperor Auspicious Beast—and ended up in a disastrous situation.
Is this guy really only twelve or thirteen?!
Looking at the calm Su Wen, Yan Feng felt a despair he'd never known—not just for his life, but for his very confidence.
"Trying to call for help?"
Su Wen sneered, his eyes flashing coldly.
He lifted his hand.
"Winter's Descent!"
He stacked a freezing effect onto the "Domain of Eternal Frost."
The terrifying power of Ultimate Ice instantly turned the two into ice sculptures. Yan Feng was completely trapped, and the remaining Soul Emperor-level evil soul master was frozen for a second or two, his hand gripping a signal flare cut off by a wind blade, sending him tumbling down.
"Demonic Puppets~!"
After a short delay, the black-robed man broke free from the ice, shaking off the frost, his eyes filled with shock.
Although the cold delayed his reaction, it also dulled the pain in his wrist. He shouted.
Dozens of small wooden puppets flew from his chest, gathering into human-shaped puppets emitting black energy, connected by strings controlled by the black-robed man.
With the signal flare gone and Yan Feng here, he couldn't run. Even if he escaped, he'd die anyway. He had to fight to the death and hope a stronger sect member would sense it.
"Human puppets," Su Wen said coldly.
Clearly, these were refined from the bodies of soul masters. This is why evil soul masters are called "evil"—they desecrate the dead, turning souls into "medicine" for strength, unlike normal soul masters who let grudges fade after battle.
In this world, the authority over death is still incomplete…
"The strongest puppet is Soul Sage level, two Soul Emperors, five Soul Kings—I have to end this quickly." Su Wen narrowed his eyes, thankful he'd already taken out the other enemy via surprise.
Evil soul masters are indeed much harder to deal with than ordinary ones.
If it were a two-on-one fight, he could kill them, but if they tried to flee at full power, it'd be hard to stop them. Now, with Yan Feng as leverage, he could force them to fight.
"Gale, Blood Rage."
Su Wen decided instantly.
A sudden surge of power filled Gale.
A full 100% attribute boost, an incredible increase—Gale's strength shot from Soul King to Soul Emperor level.
White shadows flashed, puppets smashed or flung into trees.
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