"Yao Chen… we meet again!"
Raging Rhino's eyes burned like twin furnaces, his teeth grinding audibly.
Because of this bastard, he'd spent half a year bedridden, missing his prime cultivation window.
By now, he should've already broken through to Soul Elder—but instead, his progress was delayed by nine months.
"Today, you'll stay—and everything in your storage soul tool will stay too."
Clearly, the Raging Battle Team had come for the soul bone.
They'd watched Yang Fan's entire battle with the other five from a hillside, originally planning to stab him in the back the moment he absorbed the soul bone—effortless victory.
But this damn fool hadn't followed their script!
Now they had no choice but to confront him head-on.
"A single soul bone… how will you seven split it?" Yang Fan taunted, his voice strained in imitation of Yao Lao's—but the Raging Battle Team still caught the oddity.
Yet before a soul bone, such trivial details meant nothing.
Raging Rhino sneered. "That trick won't work on us!"
Yang Fan noticed it too.
Though the Raging Battle Team wasn't elite, they were a well-drilled unit. The soul bone hadn't fractured their unity—not yet, at least!
"Attack!" Raging Rhino hissed.
No wasted words. No honor.
All seven summoned their martial souls, falling into the same formation they used in arena team battles.
Yang Fan had planned to borrow Yao Lao's power to instantly obliterate them—but before he could ask, Yao Lao retracted his energy.
ROAR—!
As team captain and pure-defense soul master, Raging Rhino charged first.
Behind him: two strong-attack soul masters flanked left and right, a control-type held the center, an auxiliary brought up the rear, and two others remained poised…
Their undefeated streak in Soul Grandmaster team battles wasn't luck.
Their coordination and formations dwarfed any temporary group of freelancers.
"Titanic Rhino Crush!"
Raging Rhino's body swelled further upon activation. He leapt like a small mountain, crashing down.
Yang Fan sidestepped effortlessly.
When Raging Rhino swung his iron fist, Yang Fan countered with his own.
Mid-swing, orange-red flames erupted from his knuckles.
THUD—!
Despite the size difference, it was Raging Rhino—now 2.3 meters tall—who staggered backward.
Searing pain shot from his fist to his torso. He looked down—his massive fist was charred black.
Raging Rhino was the same brute as before.
But Yang Fan? He was no longer the same boy.
After devouring the Infernal Delicate Apricot, his body now housed flames stronger than beast flames.
Just then—
A black orb materialized midair, exploding into a giant spiderweb. Simultaneously, the Raging Battle Team's two supports rushed forward.
Yang Fan's lips curled. Let you see what true divine art looks like.
Dou Qi surged—flames erupted from his palm, engulfing a thirty-meter radius. The spiderweb disintegrated before it even touched the ground.
He spun like lightning, unleashing two blazing punches at the charging strong-attack soul masters.
Fists could be dodged—but flames couldn't.
In a blink, one Soul Grandmaster's hair ignited, burning fiercely with the help of scalp oil.
"My eyes! I can't see!" he screamed.
The control-type soul master yanked his injured comrade back with a silk thread.
They barely extinguished the flames—but his eyes were clearly ruined.
Yang Fan's offensive began in earnest.
He leapt high, unleashing Flame Splitting Tsunami. A terrifying heatwave detonated among the Raging Battle Team.
His Yellow-Tier mid-grade Flame Mantra, combined with the Blue Emperor Soul Bone Pill's rapid recovery, let him waste Dou Qi freely. It wasn't just energy—he regenerated spiritual power and stamina too.
BOOM—!
The shockwave shattered their formation.
Yang Fan switched from ruler to spear, thrusting lightning-fast at two dazed Soul Grandmasters.
The Flame Splitting Tsunami under the Heavy Xuan Ruler was fearsome—but for pure piercing power, nothing beat the Soul Breaking Spear.
Even as a one-ring soul master, he'd dominated Soul Grandmasters under Yao Lao's tutelage. Now, with his second ring and the Infernal Delicate Apricot, he moved like a dragon among mortals.
In seconds… three of seven fell!
Raging Rhino watched two comrades die and one maimed. Rage boiled in his chest.
Under his white and yellow rings' boost, his fist swelled further. He swung it with crushing force at Yang Fan's skull.
Yang Fan's soul power surged. Amplified by two thousand-year soul skills, his spear struck like thunder.
HISS—!
The Soul Breaking Spear pierced through Raging Rhino's fist, piercing his left shoulder.
No matter how tough his defense, Raging Rhino was still just a Soul Grandmaster.
Yang Fan's strength had long surpassed that tier.
"AAAAH—!"
Gritting through the agony in his fist and shoulder, Raging Rhino lunged forward, wrapping his thicker-than-Yang-Fan's-waist arms around him. "Kill him!"
Running was impossible.
The soul bone's temptation, his crippled right fist and left shoulder, and his fallen comrades left no room for retreat.
Just then—a bone-chilling flame erupted from Yang Fan's body, reducing the remaining members—including the blinded Soul Grandmaster—to ash in an instant.
Yang Fan kicked Raging Rhino off, breaking free.
This time, Raging Rhino didn't resist.
Seeing his lively comrades reduced to nothing but dust, his lips turned blue with terror.
"W-who… who are you?!"
That icy-cold flame revealed an unbridgeable gap between them.
This power was impossible for a Soul Grandmaster!
"Go to hell."
Yang Fan's spear pierced Raging Rhino's throat.
In his final moments, Raging Rhino heard a youthful voice—but never saw the face beneath the cloak.
Yang Fan surveyed the carnage. The stench of blood flooded his nostrils, churning his stomach.
This is the soul bone's curse.
Its appearance almost always birthed a bloodbath.
"Master, let's go," Yang Fan pleaded.
He couldn't bear another second here.
Watching others kill was one thing.
Doing it yourself? That was another world entirely.
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