No wonder the higher-ups sent him—this kid was definitely hiding something. The young man opened his eyes and gave a command in a tone that allowed no argument: "That kid couldn't have gotten far. Spread out and search. Signal the moment you find anything."
"Yes, sir." The others responded in unison, clearly taking the winged youth as their leader.
The group immediately dispersed to search for Huo Yuhao, while the winged youth also moved off in one direction.
Once everyone had left, next to a large tree, a seemingly ordinary stone suddenly wobbled and rolled into the nearby underbrush.
A man in luxurious robes cautiously scanned his surroundings. Since splitting up, everyone had been on high alert, not wanting to be the one caught off guard.
This man's Martial Soul was a highly sensitive hunting hound. At that moment, his Martial Soul was already active. His elongated nose twitched constantly as he remained vigilant.
He kept walking, still without any discoveries. Suddenly, his expression changed dramatically. He tried to dodge instinctively, but it was already too late. A blood-red spear pierced through his throat. In the next instant, the spear was withdrawn, and the man collapsed to the ground, lifeless, blood gushing like a fountain.
Not far from his body, that "stone" darted swiftly in another direction.
Elsewhere, a burly man with a full beard searched thoroughly with a stone axe in hand, determined not to miss any clues.
In front of him stood a twisted, gnarled tree so large that three men would be needed to encircle it. A grotesque bulge marred the trunk. As the bearded man walked past, the blood-red spear again shot forward, piercing his throat—same method, same death.
"This mimicry skill is pretty damn useful," muttered Huo Yuhao from a distance. He moved on to his next target. Two Soul Elders had already fallen to his ambushes without any chance to fight back.
His face was pale. This was the first time he had truly taken a life. But he didn't have the luxury to be sentimental right now.
Boom!
A dull sound echoed from the forest. Moments later, three figures rushed toward the source of the noise.
Huo Yuhao looked at the man lying dead on the ground, clearly not as easily dealt with as the others. This one was a pure agility-type Soul Master and nearly escaped. In the end, Huo Yuhao had to use Spiritual Shock to finish him off. Unfortunately, the struggle had made quite a bit of noise—his enemies would likely arrive soon.
Huo Yuhao turned to leave, but suddenly an idea crossed his mind. A strange smile curled on his lips. He returned to the corpse and vanished the next instant.
Whoosh whoosh!
Soon, two dark figures arrived from opposite directions. Seeing the corpse, both fell silent and cautiously approached. One of them crouched to inspect the body.
Next moment—the blood-red spear again. Same move. The crouching man collapsed, terror frozen on his face. Even in death, he couldn't understand how someone could be hiding in a shadow.
Huo Yuhao revealed himself and immediately charged the other man. To be safe, he had already used Spiritual Shock on him from a distance, which is why the second target was still stunned and couldn't react.
The spear swept cleanly through the air—his head dropped to the ground.
Just then, the winged youth finally arrived—only to witness Huo Yuhao beheading his companion. Around him were the bodies of his other comrades.
His expression flickered rapidly—then he turned and ran.
"Are you kidding me?! This brat kills Soul Elders like he's chopping down dogs. This is a two-ring Grandmaster? Whoever sent us clearly had no idea what they were doing."
Running back might earn a punishment. Staying meant certain death. That decision was easy.
"Damn, he's fast,"Huo Yuhao muttered, surprised. This was clearly the strongest among them; that speed was no joke.
But since he was already here, how could he be allowed to escape? The blood-red greatsword reappeared in Huo Yuhao's hands. He stepped onto his flying sword and gave chase.
No choice—his opponent was just too fast. And hey, the guy had wings.
About half a kilometer out, the winged youth cursed under his breath. When he got back, he was definitely going to demand answers from those damn old geezers. This mission was a disaster.
The sound of rushing wind behind him made him turn his head. He saw Huo Yuhao flying in close at high speed on his sword, and his expression darkened.
Five soul rings rose from his body—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black. Simultaneously, the second yellow ring and the fourth purple ring lit up.
As Huo Yuhao drew near, a sudden cacophony erupted in his ears—cawing like countless crows screeching all at once.
Luckily, Huo Yuhao's mental strength was formidable and he resisted most of the effects. At the same time, hundreds of bluish-gray wind blades sliced toward him. It was a wide-area attack—not particularly strong, but annoying.
Huo Yuhao scoffed. His spear dispersed, forming a dense field of Bloodflame Needles that hovered before him, spinning like a vortex and shredding the incoming wind blades. Anything outside the immediate danger zone he ignored.
Seeing his two soul skills shattered with ease, the youth's face twitched. At least now he felt justified in running away—best decision of his life.
The real problem now was how to shake off his pursuer. As he desperately thought of an escape plan, a sudden needle-like pain shot through his brain. His body went limp and began plummeting.
"Shit." Panic surged through him, but he was still a five-ring Soul King. He bit down on his tongue—hard. The pain snapped him back to clarity.
But in that moment of recovery, a strong wind screamed behind him. He sensed danger, tried to dodge—but it was too late. He only managed to twist slightly.
That small move saved his life. The spear pierced his arm, shattering bone and tearing flesh.
"Aargh!" he roared in pain. But this was a fight for survival—one wrong step meant death.
His only ten-thousand-year soul ring lit up. A torrent of dark light burst from his wings. In the blink of an eye, his body shot forward at more than triple his previous speed.
"Son of a—"Huo Yuhao cursed and pushed the Bloodflame Sword to max speed in pursuit.
The guy was an agility-type Soul King, and with his fifth ring activated, he left Huo Yuhao in the dust. Thankfully, his aura was now extremely obvious, so it was easy to track. Huo Yuhao was confident the guy couldn't keep that up for long anyway.
(End of Chapter)