Chapter 57: Scheme

To reach Nuo Ding City a step faster, this time I didn't join a caravan but set out alone.

At the underground Black Market I spent fifty Gold Soul Coins to buy a Horned Scale Horse with a Soul Beast bloodline.

The reason for buying at the underground Black Market was mainly that the price was cheap.

But they are often of dubious origin.

For example, now Tie Li is being chased by a group, yet he feels no panic at all, because their horses aren't as fast as mine.

The Horned Scale Horse under his hips bears a distinctive mark; evidently the pursuers recognized the mark and were certain the horse belonged to them.

But having bought it myself, it is now mine.

Fortunately it was only discovered after leaving the city; otherwise it would have been hard to escape inside the city.

Perhaps they dared not pursue for long; after a short while they gave up.

With the Horned Scale Horse as transport, Tie Li's speed was undoubtedly much greater.

Running five hours and resting one hour, even with a Soul Beast bloodline, one cannot endure nonstop galloping.

The Horned Scale Horse does not eat ordinary fodder; it eats meat.

Tie Li is generous too, feeding it only Soul Beast meat.

Roo—roo

The Horned Scale Horse, after tasting Soul Beast meat, lets out an excited roar.

Here, have a piece of my favorite Thunder Python meat.

Tie Li built a fire pit and placed a homemade grill on it, something he had tinkered with while idling at the blacksmith shop.

He took a large chunk of Thunder Python meat from a Storage Ring, sliced it into small pieces to grill, and cut another big piece to toss to the Horned Scale Horse.

After eating that century‑old Thunder Python meat, the Horned Scale Horse became even more excited, as if it had endless vigor.

Sated, Tie Li mounted the Horned Scale Horse and set off forward again.

This time the horse's rear thrust was full, its speed much faster than before.

Traveling the regular official road would encounter border soldiers; without a passage permit, it becomes a troublesome matter.

Thus Tie Li plans to skirt around the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest to enter the Heavenly Battle Empire.

The Star Dou Great Forest links the two nations and lacks heavy garrisons, making it the best option for now.

After several hours of rushing, they luckily reached a small town before nightfall; spending the night out in the wild with just one rider per horse would greatly increase the danger factor.

Perhaps because of its location, the town seemed rather desolate, with only a single inn.

When Tie Li entered the inn, only the innkeeper sat at the front desk, a middle‑aged man.

The innkeeper heard the door's creak and instinctively looked up.

"Guest, what do you need?" the innkeeper immediately displayed great enthusiasm.

Tie Li at first thought nothing of it, not noticing a flash of greed in the innkeeper's eyes.

"One night stay, and also, arrange a decent stable for my horse."

"Sir, please wait a moment; I'll first arrange your horse."

"Fine."

The innkeeper led the Horned Scale Horse out, and Tie Li, seated on the bench, saw obvious knife marks on the wooden table.

He got up to the counter to inspect, discovering that every corner of the inn bore some knife marks, more or less.

His eyes flickered repeatedly, as if he had come to the wrong place.

……

"Brothers, another job, and a big one at that."

The innkeeper led the Horned Scale Horse into the house beside the inn; inside the gloomy wooden cabin were a dozen or so people, their exposed skin covered with various scars, clearly not benevolent folk.

"Yo, Horned Scale Horse, that's a rare sight."

"How many people, how many are Soul Masters?"

"Which faction are they from? Don't step on a hard nut."

Several people rushed to ask, having survived here so long; compared to ferocity, they were more cautious.

"Only he, likely a Soul Master, but he holds two Storage Rings—I saw that clearly," the innkeeper's greed was unmasked.

However, selling the Storage Rings would fetch a hefty profit, enough for their group to enjoy a long time.

Upon hearing the words "Storage Ring," the bandits' eyes changed.

"Just one Soul Master, not hard to handle."

"If we act together, he won't be able to react in time."

"Two Storage Rings are worth the risk."

Seeing their agreement, the innkeeper's smile grew broader.

To smoothly capture Tie Li, the innkeeper specially prepared a meal, adding Bewildering Fragrance to it.

Tie Li sat calmly on the bench, watching the innkeeper bring in the dishes.

"Innkeeper, you have few guests here."

"Sigh, can't help it, it's too remote; many townsfolk have moved away. If you come back in a few months, I'll probably have moved too."

"So that's why, I thought you, the innkeeper, turned everyone into human meat buns."

"No way…" The innkeeper's expression changed instantly as a sharp dagger pierced his eyeball.

"Aaah"

He let out two cries of agony before death, drawing the bandits' attention outside.

Tie Li drew a dagger, its red and white blood clinging, and wiped it on the innkeeper's corpse.

"Kid, you realized too late."

A hulking man led the charge into the inn, his massive body barreling straight at Tie Li.

Two Soul Rings—one white, one yellow—flashed on his body, and his limbs were sheathed in a gray carapace, clearly the effect of martial soul possession.

Behind him stood five One Ring Soul Masters, ordinary bandits.

It was obvious they were not doing this for the first time; their coordination was seamless.

The moment the hulking man surged forward, two of them used his bulk to conceal their slender frames, assuming Tie Li hadn't noticed them, then leapt from behind the man and slashed at Tie Li with long knives.

The other three One Ring Soul Masters appeared on either side of the hulking man, aiming to cooperate with the two and ambush Tie Li.

All three targeted Tie Li's heart and abdomen, but Tie Li ignored them, a flash of Lightning Light flickering in his hand as the Forging Hammer slammed violently toward the hulking man's body.

Boom

The hulking man's massive body was hurled backward, and the two who had leapt behind him were caught in the shock; their calves, not yet fully past his shoulder, were struck, the force spinning the two around two or three times in the air.

The other three still believed their attack would grievously wound Tie Li.

Clang

The clash of metal rang out, instantly cleaving their long knives and daggers in two.

Sensing danger, they tried to retreat, but Tie Li would give them no chance.

The whoosh of the hammer cutting through the air rang in their ears.

Bang—crack!

Three heads exploded like watermelons almost simultaneously.

Soul… Soul Elder.

The hulking man, flung by the hammer, saw the Soul Rings on Tie Li—two yellow and one purple—shimmering dazzlingly up and down.

That was the last thing he saw.

(End of Chapter)