Chapter 161: Omen

The Soul Saint's soul, reduced to a puppet, cannot manifest its Weapon Soul True Body, and even its soul skill execution feels sluggish.

Yue Yin faces four Soul Saints, holds the advantage, and the Soul Rings on his body flash in alternating succession.

In contrast, Tie Li's situation is not good; all the other soul bodies, except the Soul Saints, swarm toward him and the the Spirit Hall Steward.

Tie Li quickly kicks the the Spirit Hall Steward aside, letting him draw some of the firepower for him.

The Thunder Dragon Hammer, entwined with Black Thunder, immediately releases the First Soul Technique and the Third Soul Technique.

Sizzle.

A hammer strike lands on a defensive soul skill released by a Soul Emperor, and it easily shatters his defense.

"Ah!" A pitiful cry; the soul body is corroded by Black Thunder, and in an instant it becomes like a cracked vase that shatters at the slightest touch.

Black Thunder greatly amplifies damage to soul bodies; a Soul Emperor's soul, merely corroded by Black Thunder, ends up in this state.

Bang.

The Soul Emperor's soul body suddenly attacks itself, its ferocious face showing a look of release.

Within the Nether Realm Pearl, one must endure torment constantly; the pain is unimaginable.

The Black Thunder on Tie Li inflicts massive damage, but also restores some of his control over souls, leading him to self‑destruct without hesitation.

For them, this is a form of release.

Seeing this, Tie Li immediately unleashes the Fourth Soul Technique, with a three‑hundred percent attribute boost, and the massive Thunder Dragon Hammer crashes down like a meteor.

Boom—boom.

This sudden turn instantly catches the Fallen Soul Master's attention.

"What kind of lightning is this?"

Every soul that Tie Li has attacked experiences brief loss of control.

The Fallen Soul Master's Third Soul Ring lights up, all the soul bodies go berserk, and under his control they all swarm toward Tie Li.

But at that moment, a black silhouette appears behind the Fallen Soul Master, its ferocious arms hanging before it, its form grotesque, skin an unnatural reddish‑brown, with uneven scales covering its chest and face.

Ugly, sharp twin claws suddenly pierce from behind the Fallen Soul Master; there is no soul power on it, only a different kind of blood‑red energy;

Sizzle.

The sound of claws piercing flesh, the Fallen Soul Master's head turns in an uncanny way, its cold gaze landing on him.

"Damn, it lost control again."

This isn't the first time this has happened.

The Fallen Soul Master reluctantly glances at Yue Yin and the other two; if even one Beastified Body loses control, the rest will follow suit one after another.

"What's happening? Why did he suddenly retreat?"

"Ignore him, go back first." Yue Yin isn't doing well; the Fallen Soul Master just imposed a certain condition on the Soul Saint's soul, causing injury that needs prompt healing.

The the Spirit Hall Steward has only a breath left; Tie Li lifts him, staying behind Yue Yin.

Yet Tie Li can't help glancing toward the direction the Fallen Soul Master fled, and for a moment he felt an inexplicable summons.

…

"What's going on with you? You actually let a Beastified Body escape?" The Fallen Soul Master, upon returning to the valley, casts a hostile gaze at the other Fallen Soul Masters.

"We don't know what happened to him either; he broke free suddenly, the speed of his burst, we never caught up."

"Inside this Beastified Body I implanted the soul of a thirty‑thousand‑year Soul Beast; we must watch over it," the Fallen Soul Master warns again.

After placing him back into the Beastified Body's ranks, the Fallen Soul Master begins tending to his own injuries.

The blood‑red energy of a Beastified Body can corrode living beings' life force; it bears traits of soul power yet is fundamentally different, and can be called pseudo‑soul power.

After the Fallen Soul Master leaves, the hollow gaze once again shows emotion and intelligence.

He was originally just an ordinary person, forcibly altered by these Fallen Soul Masters, losing the humanity's inherent wisdom and emotions, becoming a complete puppet.

Earlier, this group of Fallen Soul Masters captured many Soul Beasts, tortured them to death, then forcibly extracted their souls and, using a special ritual, implanted the Soul Beast souls into puppet bodies.

Over thirty percent of the puppets could not bear the Soul Beast souls, turning into pools of blood‑filled mud.

The surviving puppets gained pseudo‑soul power, and their combat strength depends on the Soul Beast souls within them.

He is the only puppet possessing a thirty‑thousand‑year Soul Beast soul, whose combat power is not weaker than that of a Six‑Ring Soul Emperor.

However, the thirty‑thousand‑year Soul Beast soul is peculiar, causing him to often slip out of control.

During the Fallen Soul Master's ceremony, he communed in the void with an unknown entity.

"Brother..."

A hoarse whisper, emotions flickering in his eyes.

…

Returning to Xinyue City, Yue Yin immediately heads to the Xin Yue Sect; the entire Xin Yue Sect has only one Six‑Ring healing‑type Soul Master.

As for the the Spirit Hall Steward, Tie Li took him back to the WuHunZhuDian.

"Th‑thank you..." At that time Tie Li had kicked him, but ultimately Tie Li saved him, and he expressed gratitude to Tie Li.

"This situation is off; you should quickly inform the Spirit Hall."

"I… understand."

Dragging his heavily wounded body, the the Spirit Hall Steward walks toward the hall interior.

Tie Li returns to Cheng Zhu Fu, finds Bai Baoshan and Zhi Lin, and recounts the events in full detail.

"A Fallen Soul Master of Soul Emperor Level? Controlling the souls of four Soul Saints?" Bai Baoshan's face darkens; for a Fallen Soul Master to rise to Soul Emperor and also command Soul Saint souls is astounding.

Behind him, there must be support from a Soul Master force, or rather, these Fallen Soul Masters have gathered into an organization.

But the Spirit Hall's tolerance for Fallen Soul Masters would not allow such an organization to exist.

Therefore, only one possibility remains: a powerful force is backing them.

Soul Master forces capable of doing this under the Spirit Hall's very nose are few and far between.

Bai Baoshan, in that instant, seemed to think of a terrible outcome.

If such a powerful SoulMasterForce were backing it, then what this SoulMasterForce schemes could be truly astonishing.

This must be reported to the royal family immediately.

"Something may be about to happen; I must inform the royal family at once," Bai Baoshan said in a low voice.

What needs attention is not only this group of Fallen Soul Masters; the SoulMasterForce behind them is the real terror.

A written notice is too unreliable; Bai Baoshan had Zhi Lin go personally to ensure the situation is reported to the royal family.

The appearance of these Fallen Soul Masters within the Tiandou Empire is certainly not a good omen.

……

"The preparations are almost complete; let's begin. I can hardly contain the news any longer—both the Spirit Hall and even the Tiandou Empire's royal family have started to take notice,"

(End of chapter)