Chapter 37 Evil Soul Master.
Inside a hotel in the Far North City, Wu Xuan stretched lazily and walked out. One night's rest in this city was enough; he didn't plan to stay long.
In the lobby! Wu Xuan happily ate a piece of pastry.
"Have you heard? It seems Lanshan City has been attacked by an evil soul master," a thin man whispered.
"Yes! I heard the entire Lanshan City lord's family was wiped out—that's over a hundred lives! What do you think we should do if that evil soul master comes to our Far North City?" an older man sighed.
"Hey! You old man, stop talking nonsense. Our Far North City is so remote and sparsely populated; that evil soul master would be bored to come here," a burly man slammed his hand on the table.
"I was just saying in case!" the old man retorted stubbornly.
"Shut up, all of you! Stop gossiping, you ignorant masses! Let me tell you, that evil spirit master has already alarmed the governor of Beiling City. High-ranking spirit masters from Beiling City will be here to deal with him soon!" A spirit master dressed as an officer entered the hall and shouted sternly.
"Yes, yes, yes! The spirit master is right!" The group of commoners hurriedly bowed and scraped.
Wu Xuan shook his head upon hearing this and continued eating his breakfast. Anyway, he would pass through Lanshan City on his way back to Shrek Academy, so he could just stop and take a look.
After leaving the far north city, Wu Xuan continued his journey.
"Wu Xuan! What are those evil spirit masters that ordinary humans talk about? How are they different from you ordinary spirit masters?" Ice Emperor asked curiously.
Wu Xuan's expression turned grave as he said, "The reputation of evil soul masters on the continent is extremely bad. Those who become evil soul masters are all vicious and ruthless individuals who increase their strength by killing and devouring life. Therefore, every evil soul master is a heartless killer who doesn't blink an eye. If we really want to compare, even the human-faced demon spider among the soul beasts would have to admit defeat."
"There are such evil beings among humans? In the eyes of us soul beasts, you humans are quite united!" Ice Emperor said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Humanity has never been a monolithic entity. To ask why, this touches upon a fundamental question," Wu Xuan smiled. "Ice Emperor, what do you consider 'kind'?"
Ice Emperor laughed, "That's simple. My soul beast race is kind, and so is your human race."
Wu Xuan shook his head disdainfully, "You soul beasts are all strangely shaped, with different habits and strengths, killing each other every day. Just because you're all called soul beasts, does that make you a race?"
Ice Emperor's expression faltered, but she still stubbornly insisted, "The law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, that's the law of survival among soul beasts."
"Haha! The law of the jungle! That's right. What I'm telling you is the law of the jungle. What divides soul beasts isn't race, but class. Soul beasts only have predators and prey. Just like humans only have rulers and the ruled; strength is the only dividing line."
"There's no such thing as 'kind' or 'different races.' A ten-thousand-year-old soul beast is no longer a species of a hundred-year-old soul beast. Even within the same race, it's the same."
"Perhaps it's a little better among humans, but the gap between ordinary soul masters and commoners is already like an insurmountable mountain."
"For those evil soul masters, commoners and low-level soul masters are nothing more than resources for their cultivation and growth," Wu Xuan said self-deprecatingly.
"Is that so...?" Bingdi remained silent for a long time.
Wu Xuan looked at Bingdi, who was lost in her own world, shook his head, and chuckled twice. *Little brat, trying to argue with me? I can shut you up with just a few words. Do you think my university education in my previous life was for nothing?*
After a brief moment of smugness, Wu Xuan continued on his way.
The hundreds of kilometers he covered only took him a few hours at his speed.
"Hiss... Ugh! Ugh... This... This is the stench of rotting corpses!" Wu Xuan stopped himself from vomiting and frowned as he carefully inspected the area.
Following the stench, a dilapidated small village came into Wu Xuan's view.
The scene almost made Wu Xuan vomit his breakfast at first glance. The village was littered with rotting corpses, purplish-black bloodstains almost everywhere. The corpses were gruesomely mutilated, not a single one intact. Everyone in the village, regardless of age or gender, had perished; their bodies lay exposed in the wilderness.
"Ugh!" Wu Xuan suppressed his nausea and began examining the corpses. Having weathered many storms, he possessed this level of restraint.
After careful examination, Wu Xuan concluded that the corpses had been dead for no more than half a month.
Composing himself, Wu Xuan couldn't help but feel furious at the evil spirit master's actions.
If the evil spirit master was no more than a Soul Emperor, he would personally kill him.
But if he was more than a Soul Emperor, he would try to avoid him. While he was enraged by the evil spirit master's methods, he wouldn't act impulsively. He valued his own life more; he couldn't concern himself with everything else in the world.
Noon, Lanshan City.
This wasn't a particularly prosperous city, but it was several times more prosperous than the Far North City where Wu Xuan had previously settled, and its population was far greater.
Along the way, Wu Xuan had discovered more than two dozen massacred villages; some were reduced to skeletons, others were completely destroyed. This showed that the evil spirit master's atrocities were not a recent occurrence.
Wu Xuan was now quite curious: how could this evil spirit master dare to slaughter villages here for so long, and even wipe out the entire city lord's mansion? Although the area around Lanshan City was relatively underdeveloped, it was very close to Beiling City, a major northern city of the Douling Empire. From Beiling City, it would only take a day for a spirit master, and a powerful spirit master could arrive in just a few hours.
To dare to wipe out the entire city lord's mansion in this location, attracting the attention of Beiling City, was something Wu Xuan couldn't understand. Unless this evil spirit master had immense confidence in his strength, or there was something hidden in this city that was extremely important to him, Wu Xuan couldn't fathom what the other party was trying to do here.
Upon entering the city gate, Wu Xuan noticed a significant increase in the stringency of the guards' checks. Entry was only permitted after thorough questioning, while leaving was out of the question.
Once inside, Wu Xuan approached a pastry stall near the city lord's mansion and casually tossed over a gold soul coin.
"Weigh it! Give me the best," Wu Xuan said calmly.
"Alright! Please wait a moment, sir," the vendor replied quickly, packing the pastries.
"Uncle! Could you tell me what's been happening in the city lately? Why is the security so tight?" Wu Xuan asked casually, arms crossed.
The middle-aged man whispered, "Young man, I advise you not to enter the inner city unless it's absolutely necessary."
Wu Xuan's eyes remained calm, devoid of any emotion.
The middle-aged man glanced at Wu Xuan, then looked around, lowering his voice further, "Recently, the city lord's mansion, where the Qi family resided, was completely wiped out in just one night! City Lord Qi was kind and benevolent to the people, and he was also a level 48 Soul Master. To be killed in just one night has caused a huge uproar; it's a clear provocation against the royal family. The Soul Master sent by the Governor of Beiling City is expected to arrive tomorrow."
"I see!" Wu Xuan's sharp eyes narrowed.
"Guest, I have some inside information; would you like to know?" The middle-aged man finished speaking and cautiously looked around again.
Wu Xuan tossed out another gold soul coin and said calmly, "Tell me about it."
The middle-aged man pocketed the gold soul coin, and after confirming that no one was around, he whispered, "A distant nephew of mine happens to be the manager of the Xinyuan Restaurant across the street. He was on duty last night, and he vaguely saw a black-robed figure covered in blood, limping towards the north of the city. That black-robed figure is very likely an evil soul master, so that evil soul master is probably still in the north of the inner city. Therefore, I advise you, young man, to stay in the outer city for safety unless it's urgent!"
"Thank you!" Wu Xuan nodded, accepted the pastries offered by the man, and turned to leave.
Now that he knew the other party was in the north of the city, things would be easier to handle. If someone could be seriously injured by a level 48 Soul Master, then that evil soul master was at most a Soul King. Wu Xuan had no reason to ignore it.
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