Chapter 29: Full Release of the Second Seal

After taking a deep puff on the cigar in his mouth, Tang Wulin and the others' expressions instantly turned to surprise.

He Caitou's four soul skills respectively boost spirit power, strength, defense, and soul power, offering a very comprehensive support ability.

Just his first soul skill already gave Huo Yutong a huge boost: the range of spirit detection expanded by a full twenty percent, and its precision also increased considerably.

And that was only the effect of his lowest‑level first soul skill; the other soul skills gave Tang Wulin and Wang Dong even greater enhancements.

Being noticed by the third‑in‑command of the Soul‑Guiding line truly means his talent isn't lacking.

Tang Wulin mused inwardly while using the shared spirit‑detection imagery in his mind to watch the enemies' movements.

He Caitou was right: although his firepower is terrifying, completely suppressing several enemies is clearly impossible; these foes, though wounded to varying degrees, have already readjusted their stance and are now advancing toward Tang Wulin and the others under a hail of cannon fire.

As a Soul‑Guiding cannon‑tower type Soul‑Guiding master, He Caitou's strengths and weaknesses are obvious: his strength lies in overwhelming firepower suppression, while his weakness is close‑quarter combat, since a Soul‑Guiding device harms both friend and foe—enemies take damage, and anyone blasted by it, including himself and teammates, also suffers full damage.

Thus the outcome of this defensive battle hinges on whether Tang Wulin and the others can help He Caitou push back the enemies that have closed in.

Everyone present seemed to have thought of this; the Soul Emperor leading the enemy side displayed dragon scales, the third‑ranked yellow soul ring lit up, and despite the barrage, the distance to Tang Wulin and his group was shortened.

Seeing this, Tang Wulin and Wang Dong surged forward, stepping in front of him.

The Soul Emperor snorted, his voice full of contempt.

"You two little brats, move aside!"

Even though he had just been caught off guard and struck by several fixed‑type Soul‑Guiding cannon shells, taking a bit of damage, he was still far beyond what these two brats without even a third ring could contend with.

He didn't even glance at Tang Wulin and Wang Dong, slapped a hand out, and at the same time extended his other hand toward He Caitou; the fourth‑ranked purple soul ring lit up, and black light began to swirl in his palm.

At that moment, a strong shiver rose from deep within him.

The fear even affected his actions; his hand moved slower, and Tang Wulin dodged his palm at the last moment.

Tang Wulin clenched his right fist, which had transformed into a golden dragon claw, and delivered a full‑force punch to the Soul Emperor's abdomen.

The crushing effect activated; the Soul Emperor let out a muffled hum, stepped back two paces, and the fourth soul skill he had been charging was forcibly interrupted.

"Bastard!"

The Soul Emperor roared in fury.

He's a six‑ring master, yet a one‑ring brat knocked him back; if word got out, he'd have no future in the Soul Master World.

Enraged, he no longer held back, black flames coiled around his fingertips as he lunged at Tang Wulin.

"Damn…"

His speed far surpassed Tang Wulin's; even though Tang Wulin had predicted his move via spirit detection, he couldn't evade.

If only he were twenty levels stronger, he wouldn't be struggling this hard!

At the critical moment, golden light surged in Huo Yutong's eyes, and an invisible stream of spirit power shot toward the Soul Emperor.

Caught completely off guard, the Soul Emperor was hit by this soul‑impact aided by He Caitou's support; his eyes glazed, and his body lost control in an instant.

In the nick of time, Wang Dong grabbed Tang Wulin from behind and pulled him out of the Soul Emperor's attack range.

Simultaneously, He Caitou angled the cannon toward the Soul Emperor, and a terrifying soul‑power wave rose again, engulfing him.

In the distance, several figures rose skyward from Slake City, sprinting toward this side at breakneck speed. At that pace, they could arrive in less than half a minute.

The battle instantly entered a countdown.

Realizing the situation was dire, the assassins became frantic.

They either used soul techniques or, ignoring their wounds, charged forward, striving to end the fight within half a minute.

However, what met them was He Caitou at full power.

Since rescue was guaranteed to reach the battlefield in under half a minute, He Caitou naturally felt no need to hold back at all.

He jammed the most powerful Soul‑Guiding cannon shells he had kept in his hand into the barrel, and with a chilling murderous intent fired them at the assassins.

After this battle he considered himself back to the pre‑liberation state; his pouch of Soul‑Guiding devices was completely emptied, containing not only his own creations but also the gift Fan Yu had given him.

He felt no regret; had he hesitated and died here, he would never get a chance for revenge.

Facing He Caitou's full‑throttle firepower, the leading Soul Emperor clenched his teeth, and the black soul ring, the last of all the rings, finally lit up.

He had actually been sparing the enemy all along.

After all, Dai Huabin's haughty tone really irritated him, and he had no intention of putting extra effort into that second‑generation scion who looked at people through his nostrils.

But now was no time for further hesitation; He Caitou was on a ten‑second sprint to expend all his soul power, and having been caught off guard and wounded by the first wave of shells, if he held back now he might fall here.

Black flames surged, forming a black long sword that instantly sliced away all the cannon shells He Caitou had fired.

Moreover, he swung a blade through the air toward He Caitou; although He Caitou promptly activated a Soul‑Guiding shield to protect himself, the shield didn't last even a second before it was burned away.

At this perilous moment, He Caitou felt a strong force from his waist; looking down, he saw a strand of Blue Silver Grass had somehow become entangled around his waist.

Tang Wulin strained both hands and pulled He Caitou out of the black‑flame‑shrouded area at the last instant.

Nevertheless, many cannon barrels were nearly melted by the lingering heat of the black flames.

Because they had to counter the Soul Emperor's attacks, gaps appeared in He Caitou's fire coverage, allowing several Soul Kings to finally seize the opportunity, drastically closing the distance to Tang Wulin and his group and moving to their front.

The situation suddenly turned sharply downward, becoming extremely critical.

Seeing the Soul Kings and Soul Emperor before him, Tang Wulin felt an unprecedented aura of death bearing down on him.

Clearly, the few of them could not hold out for the coming ten seconds.

Tang Wulin clenched his teeth, his eyes showing resolve.

He Caitou had already handed over all his Soul‑Guiding devices; he had done everything he could.

Thus, among those present, only he could unleash any stronger power.

Tang Wulin took a deep breath, controlling all his soul power to crash into the remaining half‑seal.

Since death was inevitable either way, he might as well go all out.

As the remaining half‑seal loosened under the impact, a faint dragon's roar echoed throughout the arena.

(End of Chapter)