Chapter 47: Ancient Sword City

"The young brother should be a Soul Master, right?" Butler Liu guessed.

Tie Li nodded; it wasn't a secret, and he openly admitted it.

"Alright, you just rest well here."

After saying that, Butler Liu led the old man out of the wooden hut.

Tie Li could clearly feel that Butler Liu's tone had stiffened a few degrees after learning he was a Soul Master.

Come to think of it, bringing an unknown Soul Master home, especially one with such serious injuries, could mean he's offended someone.

Keeping him in the mansion might drag us into trouble.

Once he recovers a bit, we'll leave; the other side was willing to save my life, which is already a rare kindness.

He took whale glue from the storage ring, and strands of Lightning Light flowed from his fingertips, softening the glue, which emitted a faint fragrance.

He pinched a small piece from the whale with his finger, put it in his mouth, and ate it piece by piece until it was all in his stomach.

A warm current began to flow through his limbs and bones, replenishing his previously hollow body.

No wonder it's a rare treasure; the injured body recovered at a visibly rapid pace.

Crimson sweat excreted from Tie Li's body, followed by layers of black filth; though not much, his body indeed felt a bit lighter.

Perhaps because his body was void, the side effects of the whale glue didn't manifest on Tie Li.

The Soul Power Level Breakthrough, which was already close, succeeded, reaching Level 25.

Tie Li didn't fully awaken and continued meditating to refine.

He didn't finish his meditation until midnight.

The black filth emitted a foul odor; because it wasn't cleaned immediately, it dried into chunks.

Outside the wooden hut stood a well, with several similar huts around it.

Tie Li cleaned the filth by the well, then took his clothes from the storage ring and changed.

He left here overnight.

Parting without farewell was a good thing for both sides.

It was clearly the noble lady of this family who saved me; with my Second Ring Great Soul Master strength I couldn't repay her, and my unknown background might even bring her harm.

Earlier, Butler Liu had hinted in his tone that I didn't need to stay here nursing my wounds.

But I remembered this kindness, and if the chance arises, I'll definitely return to repay it.

The city was somewhat ancient; Tie Li found an inn and planned to recuperate here for a while.

From the innkeeper he learned that the city was Ancient Sword City, and the two nearest cities were West Lu City to the north and Soto City to the west.

By that measure, he was already at the border of the Heaven Battle Empire and the Xingluo Empire.

In his inn room, Tie Li took out the storage ring he had retrieved from the Five Ring Soul King.

The hoard of a Soul King shouldn't be too shabby, I guess.

Spiritual energy seeped into the storage ring, and besides three hundred Gold Soul Coins, there were three hundred‑year Fire Attribute spirit herbs and a millennial Flame Fruit.

Apart from that, only some junk remained, nothing valuable.

Once his injuries healed, he'd sell those spirit herbs and fruits, or exchange them for Thunder Attribute spirit materials.

Three months later, Tie Li's injuries were fully healed; during those three months he sold the Fire Attribute herbs and fruits, then bought a thousand‑year Thunder spirit herb and a Thunder pulp fruit to raise his Soul Power Level.

After three months of complete refinement, he raised his Soul Power Level to Level 27.

To Tie Li's surprise, the Thunder Python Inner Core had undergone subtle changes after the previous mutation.

With Tie Li's limited insight, he couldn't tell whether it was good or bad.

Now Tie Li intends to cross the border between the two nations and head to Geng Xin Cheng.

……

"Bastard, go find it; dig three feet into the ground if you have to, and bring it out." Jiu He shouted at the supervisors below.

His aura was unstable; although he had escaped the Spirit Hall's encirclement last time, he sustained serious injuries.

The first thing he did after escaping was to chase Duolangbu.

Under those conditions, he indeed placed the soul bone in one of the iron boxes—the very one Duolangbu had taken.

But when he went after Duolangbu, the trail was lost, and there were no signs of battle along the way.

Even the Spirit Hall Soul Master who had been hunting him vanished without a trace.

Jiu He didn't think the Spirit Hall Soul Master would release Duolangbu after obtaining the soul bone; under such temptation, the best outcome would be to kill and silence, monopolizing the soul bone.

Unable to find Duolangbu, Jiu He immediately summoned the supervisors of the major Soul Battle arenas, hoping to use their eyes to locate Duolangbu.

But he seemed to have vanished into thin air; no matter how they searched, they couldn't find him.

As for the other three, Zhang Yang returned to the major Soul Battle arena severely injured, You He was captured by the Spirit Hall, and the arena paid a sum of Gold Soul Coins to ransom her back.

As for Tie Li, he, like Duolangbu, vanished without any trace.

However, they found battle traces and a charred corpse.

The Spirit Hall people believed that this Soul King had obtained the soul bone, killed to silence, and then tried to seize the bone and flee.

Consequently, the Spirit Hall issued a wanted notice, offering an astonishing bounty for him.

Yet only Jiu He knew that the soul bone was never on Tie Li's body.

From that perspective, there was absolutely no need to slaughter Tie Li and then destroy the body and erase traces.

Jiu He didn't think a Second Ring Great Soul Master could possibly counter‑kill a Five Ring Soul King.

In his view, Tie Li must possess some treasure that made the Five Ring Soul King covet it, but upon closer thought the reasoning fell apart; they could simply kill Tie Li and claim the treasure, since no one knows what it is, so why flee?

This matter would only occupy Jiu He's thoughts in his spare time; his main goal was to locate Duolangbu.

……

In a dark corner, Duolangbu, cloaked in a black robe, raised his blade and chopped off the man's head.

His entire being underwent a massive change; the aura around him turned dark and damp, as if he were a beast ready to erupt at any moment.

The optimal Soul Ring configuration of two yellows and one purple manifested on him.

"Another spy from the Great Soul Battle Arena, watching me so closely!"

Duolangbu had a vine the thickness of an arm coiled around his body, coated with a layer of black slime, like the tentacle of a dark octopus.

Whoosh—

The vine suddenly shot out, ensnaring the headless corpse, and a tentacle‑like head pierced the body from top to bottom.

In less than a moment, the corpse was sucked dry, and the soul power fluctuation around Duolangbu grew stronger.

"I never realized before that I could boost my soul power level so easily; I've wasted so much time, heh heh!" Duolangbu let out a sickening laugh, his eyes full of obsession with power.

(End of Chapter)