Chapter 46: Life-or-Death

Three Yellow, Two Purple!

The one who severely wounded himself was a Five Ring Soul King.

A hint of surprise flickered in his eyes; he actually managed to dodge the vital point under his own attack.

But that was all; he lifted the fire serpent sword in his hand, intending to deliver the final blow to Tie Li.

"Don't... don't kill me. If you kill me... you'll be suspected when you return. If he doesn't obtain the soul bone... you kill me, he'll suspect you took the soul bone."

Tie Li struggled to rise, suppressing the sour‑sweet taste in his mouth, and managed to speak.

Indeed, if I kill him and Lord Bishop doesn't find the soul bone on that person, and the three of them also fail to locate the soul bone, Lord Bishop will surely suspect that the four of us hid the soul bone.

Even if I bring the iron box back, an empty iron box explains nothing at all.

If those three bring the Soul Masters back to Lord Bishop and confirm the soul bone isn't on them, Lord Bishop will suspect that I concealed the soul bone.

Glancing at the severely wounded Tie Li, surviving alone was already a stroke of luck; taking him and the iron box back would mean my mission is complete.

Sheathing his martial soul, he lifted Tie Li with one hand, showing no regard for Tie Li's condition.

Pain... pain!

Tie Li only felt a blaze inside his body scorching his organs, even his soul power couldn't function normally.

Yet even so, Tie Li kept searching for a chance; this isn't a Soul Battle tournament—failure means no second chance.

Life comes only once; seize any chance to stay alive.

The scorching soul power surged, recklessly destroying the vitality within his body.

"Sss"

Feeling a flash of current inside, Tie Li seemed somewhat excited.

It's the Thousand-Year Lei Mang Inner Pill!

It seemed provoked, splitting into strands of energy that eroded the foreign soul power.

Tie Li could feel the internal heat receding, his damaged body gradually healing.

The pure energy released by the Thousand-Year Lei Mang Inner Pill far exceeded before.

Tie Li's fingers reached for the storage ring.

Perhaps thinking Tie Li no longer posed a threat, his mind wasn't on Tie Li.

Do those three Soul Masters have soul bones? If they obtain a soul bone, will they return it to Lord Bishop?

The direction of the Five Ring Soul Ring shifted unknowingly, as if another direction held a mysterious power, luring him.

Just as he made a certain decision, a blinding Lightning Light flashed before his eyes.

It was so close it gave him no time to react.

Tie Li poured soul power into the Thunder Python Horn; the erupting thunder pierced his chest like a long spear.

Freed from his restraints, Tie Li kept attacking, his right leg exuding a terrifying aura.

"Roar"

A terrifying giant beast's phantom loomed behind Tie Li, its dreadful pressure making his body tremble.

Right leg bone soul skill, Ten‑Thousand‑ton Mountain‑Shaking Strike!

An all‑out strike—the strongest attack Tie Li could conceive.

"Pfft‑ss"

His chest was pierced by Tie Li's foot, leaving a massive wound on his body.

On the brink of death, he stared at Tie Li in disbelief.

How could this be? He was about to die—how did he recover?

Unfortunately, he could only carry his lingering doubts into the underworld.

Tie Li hobbled to a massive sturdy tree and pulled the Thunder Python Horn off the trunk.

Then he groped around the corpse of the Five Ring Soul King.

Aside from the storage ring on his finger, there was nothing else of value on his body.

He removed the ring, slipped it into his bosom, and Tie Li fled toward the distance.

Now the Great Soul Battle Arena is unreachable.

If the old man can escape the Spirit Hall's encirclement and the soul bone is on him, then I can still return to the Great Soul Battle Arena.

But if the old man is killed, or the soul bone truly was placed by him in the four iron boxes and is lost, I absolutely cannot return to the Great Soul Battle Arena.

They will certainly search, checking whether the soul bone has been absorbed and refined.

Tie Li's iron box contains no soul bone, but he carries one on his body; if he returns to the Great Soul Battle Arena and they conduct a search, even ten mouths couldn't explain it.

And what would become of me? I fear I can tell without even thinking.

As long as the Great Soul Battle Arena doesn't obtain the soul bone, I absolutely cannot return there.

He doesn't even know where to go now; Tie Li only thinks of leaving quickly so the Spirit Hall's people won't catch up.

He dares not pause at all en route, even when exhausted, always hoping to get farther.

Eventually he collapsed onto a patch of grass, his feeble breaths and dilated pupils indicating his condition had plummeted to the worst.

Pierced by the Five Ring Soul King, although the Thunder Python Inner Core repaired him, it didn't fully heal him; under these circumstances, using the Thunder Python Horn consumed massive soul power, and employing the right leg bone soul skill nearly drained the soul power from his body.

The night‑long onslaught left Tie Li's condition at its worst.

At this point, even a ten‑year‑old Soul Beast could literally bite Tie Li to death.

"Liu Guanjia, do you see a person here?"

A crisp, pleasant voice sounded beside Tie Li's ear, but he could do nothing now; vaguely he saw two figures appear in his sight.

Unable to hold on any longer, Tie Li fell into a deep sleep.

Having recovered a bit, Tie Li immediately scrambled up and found himself in a clean little cabin.

"Fortunately, the storage rings weren't lost."

I haven't changed the clothes on my body either; it seems someone rescued me.

However, it shouldn't be that someone helped me bathe, gave me a set of clean clothes, then took my storage rings, and when I woke up I would frantically search for the storage rings, and at that moment the woman who saved my life would appear, and I would develop a story with her.

How did it come to be that I'm here, and things have become a bit different.

Clack.

The wooden door of the cabin was opened, and a little old man walked in.

This is a far cry from the wonderful woman I imagined!

"Huh? How did you wake up despite such severe injuries? Butler Liu said you'd need to sleep at least three days."

The little old man carried a basin of warm water and set it in front of Tie Li, with a set of clean clothes placed beside the water.

"Since you're awake, wash yourself, and I'll go inform Butler Liu."

The clothes on my body were severely damaged and still sticky; after the little old man left, Tie Li used the warm water to give them a good wash and changed into the clean garments.

When Tie Li had mostly finished, the little old man returned with Butler Liu.

Butler Liu should be about sixty, yet he looks quite spry, and his clothes are extremely fine.

"Thank you for saving my life," Tie Li immediately expressed his gratitude.

"You don't need to thank me; Miss rescued you and brought you back, but fearing the master's scolding, she let me sneak you here;

however, she only rescued you yesterday afternoon, fed you some herbal medicine, and didn't expect you to wake up so early."

(End of chapter)