A ghostly figure darted across the rooftops of the residential area.
Extremely fast, yet with light footsteps, it didn't disturb any residents.
Huo Yuhao maintained a distance of approximately 300 meters from Jiang Nannan, ensuring she remained within his sight.
He covered his body with spiritual power, isolating himself from external senses to ensure the unknown soul master wouldn't detect him first.
Huo Yuhao also occasionally used his spiritual power and spiritual sound waves to probe the other's location in reverse.
However, he found nothing, only the chatter of drunken passersby and the gossip of wives and husbands in the nearby residential buildings.
Clearly, the other party also used spiritual power to shield themselves from external senses.
The current situation was very unfavorable for Huo Yuhao; the enemy lurking in the shadows was clearly a spiritual soul master.
Huo Yuhao's cultivation was far superior, at least in terms of the range of his spiritual power.
Even at approximately 300 meters from Jiang Nannan, he remained within the other's spiritual perception range.
Fortunately, the quality of the opponent's spiritual power was inferior to his own. Even with a significant difference in cultivation level, the opponent couldn't break through his spiritual power shield.
He also had an advantage: the opponent was unaware of his existence, while Huo Yuhao was aware of the opponent's.
The current situation was like two hunters meeting in a dark forest; whoever fired the first shot lost half the battle.
Moreover, the opponent's target was very clear: Jiang Nannan. Therefore, unaware of Huo Yuhao's existence, the opponent would inevitably make a move at some point.
That would be the best time to lock onto the opponent.
However, there was another serious problem: spiritual-type soul skills were mostly unpredictable and liked to use gimmicks to kill.
Huo Yuhao couldn't predict how or when the opponent would act.
Or perhaps they had already acted, but their methods hadn't yet been unleashed.
"Sigh, these are turbulent times."
Huo Yuhao quickened his pace to keep up with Jiang Nannan's steps, his spiritual eyes scanning her for any suspicious movements.
Half an hour later, Jiang Nannan had arrived in the West District.
The hidden soul master still hadn't shown himself. If Huo Yuhao hadn't been able to sense the opponent's spiritual power, he would have thought the opponent wasn't planning to make a move that night.
"Strange, she hasn't made a move yet?"
"Could she be planning to make her move after Jiang Nannan goes home and falls asleep?"
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Huo Yuhao dismissed it.
"If she's going to make her move at home, why waste so much mental energy monitoring Jiang Nannan on the way?"
"She's obviously looking for an opportunity."
Watching Jiang Nannan walk further and further away, the surroundings remained completely silent, not even a breeze stirred, the thick darkness making it hard to breathe.
Jiang Nannan's steps were steady, her breathing coordinated, each step precisely measured, like a robot.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao sensed something was wrong.
He hadn't heard Jiang Nannan mention any training in walking techniques at Shrek Academy.
So he increased the output of his spiritual eye's soul power, making his vision clearer.
"Too coordinated."
"Like a copy-paste of an action."
Humans, without conscious effort, will inevitably have subtle differences in their walking movements.
Such extremely coordinated movements would only appear during important ceremonies, not just when going home.
Not to mention Jiang Nannan, whom Huo Yuhao knew well. Her Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul made her an active girl by nature, and even though she tried to suppress it, it would still show in some small actions.
Huo Yuhao understood.
"It seems the hunter has already fired."
"A hunter doesn't fire pointless shots; everything is to hit the prey."
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"Once the prey is hit, it's time for the hunter to show up and collect it."
"Unfortunately, you're not the only hunter this time."
Huo Yuhao held his breath, his powerful dynamic vision taking in every change in the world.
His brain worked at high speed, analyzing every bit of information contained within.
When a small patch of Blue Silver Grass bent incongruously a hundred meters behind Jiang Nannan, Huo Yuhao breathed a sigh of relief.
When the hunter reveals himself, the hunter becomes the prey.
Huo Yuhao's figure silently blended into the thick night, without causing a ripple, only the full moon in the sky silently watching everything.
Yu Hongzhi felt that his good luck, which had been delayed for many years, had finally arrived.
Some time ago, Chen Wen, a drinking buddy he had met, brought him good news.
He wanted to exchange a Xuanwu Divine Pill for him to control someone.
Moreover, he had to ensure that the other party would not realize what he had experienced during this time.
This was easy for Hongzhi, as the owner of the spirit-type martial soul, the Dream Eater.
Making people fall into dreams and weaving a false memory was his specialty.
Especially since the opponent was merely a Soul Master, there was no way they could resist his Martial Soul.
However, Yu Hongzhi hesitated for a whole night. The reason was simple: the target was a student from Shrek Academy.
The Shrek Academy Inspection Team was in Xuanfeng City these past few days. If anything happened to them
, the Shrek Inspection Team would definitely investigate seriously.
His strength was good, but against a Shrek Inspection Team, he was no match.
He would be guaranteed to die if he attacked them.
Even if he was lucky enough to escape, he would be on the continent's wanted list, and he would have no place in the Douluo Three Kingdoms.
He would also face pursuit from Shrek Academy and the powerful figures of the Douluo Three Kingdoms.
Yu Hongzhi drank countless amounts of alcohol at home.
He wanted to give up the mission, but under the influence of alcohol, he kept thinking about his former teammates, all of whom had become Soul Saints.
Many were already striving to become Soul Douluos.
He, however, had been stuck at level 69 for twenty years without any progress.
Was it because he hadn't worked hard enough? Of course not. He had cultivated diligently over the years, even participating in numerous Soul Arena battles in search of a breakthrough.
But all of this was useless; his innate fourth-level soul power talent firmly bound him to his limit.
Without other fortuitous encounters in his life, he would be stuck at this level.
He was extremely unwilling. His martial soul, the Dream Eater, was a top-tier mental-type martial soul, but his low innate soul power was due to childhood illness.
He had traveled the entire continent for many years to find only a few mental-type soul beasts most suitable for him, and had even obtained rare soul bones.
Soul rings, soul bones, martial soul—every aspect of his configuration was no weaker than that of a graduate of Shrek Academy's inner court.
Yet, this mere innate soul power had locked him firmly at the Soul Emperor level.
How could he accept this?
Thinking this, Yu Hongzhi gritted his teeth and accepted the commission. He truly didn't want to stop at this point on the path of a Soul Master.
Chen Wen was also quite generous; upon hearing that he had accepted the task, he directly offered a Xuan Shui Pill as a deposit, promising to give him a Xuanwu Divine Pill upon completion of the task.
The Xuan Shui Pill was useless at his level; only the Xuanwu Divine Pill could help him break through.
So he put the Profound Water Pill into his storage soul tool, intending to sell it for resources after completing the mission.
(End of Chapter)