"Nether Serpent… I didn't expect this martial soul to appear in the Sun Moon Empire." Du Weilen covered the bleeding stump of his severed finger with one hand, his face grim.
As the director of the academy with the most extensive library on the continent, he naturally recognized this martial soul. Snakes are inherently cold and venomous, and the Nether Serpent is a mutated martial soul of the Nether Snake. Its speed was unrivaled—even among the top agility-type Soul Masters, it stood out. Even the famed Nether Cat would struggle to win in a speed match at the same level.
This martial soul was born to kill, appearing without a trace and vanishing without a sound. Many victims didn't even get a look at the assassin before being decapitated. Hence, in the records, it was often referred to as the Nether Assassin.
And to make matters worse, the woman was also a Soul Engineer...
He recognized that curved snake sword—it was at least a peak-grade level-eight soul tool.
"Old Du, fall back!"
Another Soul Douluo nearby shook his head.
"Damn it!" Du Weilen's face twisted with rage.
Their mission had been to advance into Mingdu with the main army, crush resistance on the way, and assist the Mingde Hall in plundering key targets.
But ever since they were ambushed at the city gates of Mingdu, losing nearly ten Soul Douluos, everything had changed.
They were then ordered to go deep into the city. Under the life-sacrificing cover of three Soul Douluos, they infiltrated Mingdu to try and take advantage of the chaos. However, they had barely begun before encountering a group of black-robed opponents whose firepower was anything but ordinary.
They had been fighting a retreating battle ever since. When they finally saw an opportunity to eliminate the genius Ye Guyi, they were once again intercepted.
They didn't know what had happened to Mu En and the others. All they could assume was that the Sun Moon Empire had been thoroughly prepared.
"Retreat!"
Du Weilen waved his hand, face full of frustration.
Several figures flashed and vanished.
Only Ye Guyi remained, her expression slowly relaxing. By her side stood Shangguan Wei'er, watching the departing enemies.
"Thank you..." Ye Guyi said sincerely.
"Heh, if you died, how would I explain it to His Highness? Not to mention the person backing you," Shangguan Wei'er replied indifferently.
"If it weren't me being chased, but just a civilian, you'd save them too." Ye Guyi shook her head.
"Waste an invincible level-eight barrier for a civilian? And put myself in danger? What, do I look crazy to you?" Shangguan Wei'er laughed.
"All right, members of the Plain Alliance are arriving soon. They'll take you somewhere safe. I've got things to do..." She waved impatiently and her voice trailed off, "Oh right—don't forget to join the underground Soul Engineer Tournament in Mingdu four years from now."
"Soul Engineer Tournament?" Ye Guyi looked puzzled.
"What, you planning to learn everything from scratch?"
But still...
"This world isn't just black and white… she's right," Ye Guyi thought, recalling the events just moments ago.
Elsewhere—
"Elder Ye!"
Looking at the bald old man before her, Shangguan Wei'er couldn't help but complain internally: The Ye family is massive—Ye Cheng, Ye Yulin, Ye Jue (current Nine-Hearted Begonia inheritor), Ye Xishui...
"The tracker's in place, right?" the man asked, overlooking the area with a flicker of coldness in his eyes.
"I slipped it on his back when I broke his finger. He hasn't noticed." Shangguan Wei'er nodded.
"Good." Ye Yulin closed his eyes and sensed the tracker's position. Opening his eyes slowly, he said,
"Axiao, Rulong, Juechen. Once my Sun-Moon Divine Needle strikes, you're to finish them off. Leave none of these bastards alive in our Empire!"
The view pulled back.
The student exchange group from Shrek Academy, who were supposed to be stationed far away, had all appeared behind Ye Yulin.
Xu Cheng had informed them earlier. When they realized Shrek's defenses were empty, they had broken through resistance and rushed back to the Empire, arriving just in time to witness this invasion.
Their Empire was under attack—how could they remain indifferent?
"Don't worry, Elder Lin! I'll make sure none of them leave alive!" Ma Rulong growled, his voice cold and furious.
The others, including Xiao Hongchen, were equally fired up.
Ji Juechen was calmly cleaning the sword on his back, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.
"Hmph. Once I've cleaned up these rats, I'll go assist the main battlefield," Ye Yulin snorted coldly. He swiped his storage soul tool, and a large case floated midair. As it opened, soul tool components automatically assembled into a complex weapon.
It was Ye Yulin's signature: the Sun-Moon Divine Needle. It could strike at 1,600 meters high and cover a 30-kilometer radius—enough to wipe out nearly half of Mingdu.
As a level-94 Soul Engineer, his combat power rivaled even Jing Hongchen. His strategic value was immense.
And dealing with rats like these? Trivial.
Still, he wanted the Mingde Hall students to get some real combat practice. So he didn't intend to annihilate them all at once.
"Rise!"
At Ye Yulin's command, the Divine Needle absorbed solar energy and launched skyward, flying toward the center of Mingdu.
Moments later, he closed his eyes again.
He locked onto the tracker's position, pressed his fingers together, and whispered one word:
"Fall."
On a deserted street—
Several black shadows dashed by.
In the open skies, they'd be spotted instantly. Only by sticking to the uneven buildings on the ground could they avoid pursuit.
"Old Du, something doesn't feel right."
A black-robed man muttered.
"Take 'feel' out of it," Du Weilen said bitterly, pulling a small metallic shell from his back. "It isn't right."
"What is that?!" another man gasped.
"If I'm right, it's a tracking soul tool developed by Mingde Hall. As long as we stay within range of their tracking compass, they'll know our position. Looks like we've been exposed." A third voice explained grimly.
"No worries, it's not too late. If we toss it and stay here a while, maybe they'll think we're stuck."
Du Weilen threw it against a nearby wall, where it stuck firmly.
The group sighed in relief and prepared to leave.
But a thunderous roar echoed from the sky.
"Wait—!"
Du Weilen's face went pale. Before he could finish his sentence, a massive beam of light shot down from above—directly targeting them.
There was no time to think.
BOOM.
The explosion turned buildings to dust.
Coughing blood, Du Weilen staggered through the ruins, pushing aside broken walls—only to find himself surrounded.
"Xiao Hongchen? Ma Rulong?! Why are you here?!" As a department head at Shrek, he had seen these names.
"Why can Shrek's people invade our home, but we can't defend it?" Xiao Hongchen replied with a cold smile, laced with killing intent.
He'd had enough of Shrek's arrogance.
Buzz.
Ji Juechen lightly wiped his blade. A sharp, icy sword aura burst from him.
These youths were all prodigies—capable of fighting above their level...
But what terrified Du Weilen more was how fast they reacted.
Almost too fast. Like they had been planning this all along.
Were they the hunters—and he the prey?
What about the Royal Academy battlefield… had they also suffered defeat?
"Lin Xi, Senior Zhang Tian, Senior Tian Ji—set up the soul tool array. This is a death battle! Unless we're all dead, not one from Shrek leaves our Empire!" Ma Rulong barked.
"Yes!" they replied in unison.
Even students stronger than Ma Rulong obeyed him—his command ability was top-notch.
"Axiao, Old Ji—go melee. We'll provide fire support!"
"Got it!"
"Right."
Looking at the five of them now surrounded, Du Weilen felt a surge of anger.
Even wounded, he wouldn't lose to a bunch of snot-nosed kids.
BOOM!
A burning fire lion roared into existence from the rubble, towering over them.
"Let me show you what a Soul Douluo truly is!"
Du Weilen charged toward Ji Juechen.
"Intent of Annihilation."
Ji Juechen's expression didn't change. His longsword shimmered with black and white light.
Then it enveloped his body and spread outward across the ground.
"A domain!" Du Weilen gasped.
If he wasn't mistaken—this was a self-created domain...
The entire world seemed reduced to stark black and white.
But beneath that was wild destruction—brutal, annihilating.
Ji Juechen's aura soared.
"This can't be!"
Du Weilen was shocked.
He'd seen Ji Juechen's solo duel with Soul Emperor Ling Luocheng before—and even then, Ji had barely scraped by. He shouldn't be this powerful!
"Because I've advanced to Soul Emperor," Ji Juechen said flatly.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black.
Six soul rings rose beneath him.
Then he swung his sword.
BOOM!
Like space itself had been cleaved.
A torrent of annihilating power surged through the black-and-white domain. Ji Juechen's true sword talent—born of destruction—was fully unleashed.
None before me. None to follow.
His sword of destruction evolved into the Heart of Oblivion.
As the dust cleared…
With Ma Rulong and the others staring in awe—
Ji Juechen slowly sheathed his sword.
Before him, a massive abyssal chasm stretched far and deep, radiating pure annihilation.
And before that crack—
Du Weilen stood still. A thin line of blood appeared on his brow, running down his face.
His eyes dimmed.
He collapsed.
Du Weilen: true half-split.
(End of Chapter)