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The moment Su Wen summoned his martial soul, the thirteen Soul Ancestors and Manager Qian were left bewildered.
Weren't we supposed to head out of the city to reinforce the Branch Master? Why is he manifesting his martial soul now? Does opening his martial soul make him run faster?
Of course, what shocked them even more was the nature of the martial soul itself. It was clearly a book, yet it exuded a terrifyingly potent aura—one that seemed no different from the top-tier, pinnacle martial souls found across the continent.
Is this Lord Su Wen's true martial soul?
Before they could ask what he intended to do, Su Wen answered their confusion with action. Within the range covered by the fluttering pages of his book, all fifteen people—including Su Wen himself—vanished in an instant.
Manager Qian and the others felt a brief, violent wave of dizziness. When their vision cleared, the scenery around them had transformed completely. They were standing in a place that felt both foreign and familiar. It was foreign because the instantaneous transition had left their minds reeling, but familiar because they recognized this location: a forest three kilometers outside the walls of Ninghai City!
"Weren't we just inside the Sun Moon Pavilion?" Wang Lin murmured to himself, his voice thick with disbelief.
In a single heartbeat, fifteen people had been transported three kilometers outside the city! What kind of heaven-defying spatial teleportation soul skill was this?
Every Soul Master from the pavilion stared at Su Wen as if he were a monster. Spatial power! This was an absolute, primordial force—an ability that low-level Soul Masters could never hope to touch in their entire lives. For the Soul Masters of the Sun Moon Continent, even if they managed to hunt a soul beast with spatial attributes, the chance of obtaining a spatial soul skill upon absorbing the ring was infinitesimally small unless their own martial soul possessed an innate spatial talent.
Yet, Su Wen—this Honorary Elder of the Ninghai branch—not only wielded spatial power, but he also possessed a mass-teleportation skill of such terrifying scale! At this moment, no words could describe the sheer shock echoing in their hearts.
Once the initial shock faded, Manager Qian felt a surge of wild joy. As the current hope of their branch, the stronger Su Wen was, the higher their chances of victory in the coming struggle!
"Let's move," Su Wen said calmly. "By teleporting directly like this, the City Lord's Mansion should be completely unable to monitor our movements."
Forget monitoring; the City Lord's guards wouldn't even be able to fathom such a move in their wildest dreams. A soul skill that could make thirteen Soul Ancestors and a manager vanish into thin air was beyond their comprehension.
The Transverse Canyon was close to Ninghai City. With Su Wen and the others traveling at full speed, they reached the area in less than half an hour. However, as they neared the canyon, the expressions of Manager Qian and his subordinates grew increasingly grim. Powerful ripples of soul power were radiating from the valley—and among those fluctuations, they sensed several familiar auras.
"The Branch Master and the others have been discovered!"
"The Branch Master and the three Vice-Branch Masters are in combat! I can sense Zhao Hai's soul power too!"
"Besides Zhao Hai and our Branch Master, there's another Soul Emperor present... and his aura is incredibly powerful!"
Su Wen frowned, ignoring the commentary of the Soul Ancestors behind him. He had sensed these fluctuations long ago. In fact, his mental energy had already spread forward like an invisible web, bringing the scene into sharp, clear focus.
"Manager Qian, it seems the Imperial Family has deployed a significant force this time."
Manager Qian's face was dark. He didn't speak. The soul power ripples below weren't just from a few individuals; they belonged to a large crowd. Among them, only four belonged to the Sun Moon Pavilion. The remaining Soul Masters—numbering in the double digits—were all enemies. Furthermore, not a single one of those enemies had a soul power level below that of a Soul King.
"Lord Su Wen!" Manager Qian looked toward Su Wen, his eyes filled with a desperate, lingering hope.
Su Wen might be powerful, but they were facing two Soul Emperors and over ten Soul Kings. Even with Lin Tian and the three Vice-Branch Masters present, Su Wen would still have to contend with the pressure of a Soul Emperor and more than ten Soul Kings on his own. Could he do it?
If the enemy had brought cannon-type soul tools, the situation would be even more perilous. While such weapons were generally forbidden, the government could authorize their use during "emergencies"—and this was clearly one of those times.
Manager Qian didn't even expect Su Wen to join the fray and win the battle. He simply hoped Su Wen could use that mass-teleportation skill to rescue the Branch Master and the others. That ability was the ultimate life-saving trump card.
At that moment, a flicker of regret crossed Qian's mind. If he had known Su Wen possessed such a skill, he would have advised him to save it for the rescue rather than using it just to leave the city undetected. After all, the City Lord was already out here; even if their tracks had been spotted in the city, it wouldn't have mattered much.
Usually, the more powerful a soul skill, the harsher its limitations. Does Su Wen's teleportation have a long cooldown? This was Manager Qian's greatest worry.
Fortunately, Su Wen didn't look discouraged. Instead, he glanced back at the group. "Manager Qian, do you and the others care to join me for a fight?"
Su Wen then turned his gaze toward Wang Lin and the others.
"Kill!" Wang Lin roared, his voice thick with resolve. The other Soul Ancestors followed suit, their battle intent erupting.
Su Wen nodded in satisfaction. There was a reason Manager Qian had gathered these specific Soul Ancestors first; they were likely the most promising talents the Sun Moon Pavilion was cultivating. Before Su Wen's arrival, the branch only had one Soul Emperor and four Soul Kings, but they had over thirty Soul Ancestors.
The battle intent of the men behind him didn't actually change Su Wen's tactical plans—these Soul Ancestors were, quite frankly, too weak to tilt the scales of a Soul Emperor battle. He was simply using this as an opportunity to gauge the mental state of the pavilion's Soul Masters.
He had started to form a new plan. He hadn't forgotten that he hadn't come to the Sun Moon Continent for a vacation. He had two primary goals: first, to establish an Academy (Xuegong) and spread his influence and "faith" across the continent; and second, to study soul tools and research core formations to enrich his own formation system, eventually spreading it through the "Academic World" (Xuejie).
Learning about soul tools seemed to be going well, but the task of building the Academy had yet to begin.
"Old Qian?"
Sensing yet another Soul King-level fluctuation approaching, Lin Tian and his companions felt their hearts sink. But after identifying the specific aura, their expressions grew even more unsightly.
Why is Old Qian here?
Lin Tian glared at Zhao Hai. "Zhao Hai, you truly are ruthless!"
"Hmph! Weren't you also planning to wipe me and my City Lord's Mansion out in one go?" Zhao Hai replied with a cold sneer. Although he was actually quite confused as to why the "Fatty Qian" had arrived to reinforce them now, he didn't miss a beat in his mockery. Since you've come, I might as well send you all to the afterlife together.
Lin Tian suddenly remembered Su Wen. Though he didn't yet sense a Soul Emperor-level fluctuation from the approaching reinforcements, he held onto a sliver of hope as he looked toward the rapidly closing Sun Moon Pavilion party.
Lin Tian's martial soul was a mutated Dragon-Hawk, granting him exceptional eyesight. It was this visual advantage that had allowed his soul tool skills to advance so rapidly. Now, utilizing that superior vision, he caught sight of a specific figure, and a flame of hope ignited in his heart once more.
If... if we add Su Wen, a Soul Emperor...
(End of Chapter)