When golden flames began dancing in Xiao Lin's eyes, the Thousand-Faced Guest was startled, and a trace of flaw appeared on his face.
Although the steward he had transformed into still looked calm on the surface, Xiao Lin could see his true form with his Fiery Golden Eyes.
Even now, the Thousand-Faced Guest still didn't know that back then, when Xiao Lin and the others trusted Tang San, it wasn't just blind faith—they were certain Tang San was truly Tang San.
At this moment, Xiao Lin knew that his Fiery Golden Eyes had been exposed. No matter how stupid the Thousand-Faced Guest was, he would realize that something was off about Xiao Lin.
At most, the Thousand-Faced Guest simply didn't know that Xiao Lin's Fiery Golden Eyes could see through illusions.
Very soon, under Xiao Lin's Fiery Golden Eyes, a full set of soul rings flickered beneath the Thousand-Faced Guest's feet.
Among them, the black soul ring flashed at high frequency—one look was enough to tell that the Thousand-Faced Guest was about to forcefully make his move.
But wasn't Xiao Lin the same?
He silently concealed the Vajra Indestructible soul power of the Coiled Dragon Staff beneath his skin, protecting his own safety.
Then he took the initiative and walked toward the Thousand-Faced Guest.
This left the Thousand-Faced Guest dumbfounded. Had Xiao Lin still not discovered him?
Instinctively, the Thousand-Faced Guest stopped activating his soul skill. He planned to wait until Xiao Lin got a bit closer before using it.
Although he was a soul master who excelled at transformation and imitation, his own strength was by no means weak.
Otherwise, he would never have reached the level of a Soul Douluo.
His martial soul was a type of soul beast known as the Fierce Wind Gecko. In addition to its talent for transformation, it was also adept at wind-attribute attacks.
As long as Xiao Lin came close, he was confident he could cut Xiao Lin clean in half at the waist—turning Xiao Lin into "Xiao Wood."
For a moment, the Thousand-Faced Guest's mind was already filled with images of victory.
Xiao Lin dead.
The joy of snatching the War God Cloak.
Then extorting that fellow for more than five million gold soul coins.
The Thousand-Faced Guest was dreaming beautifully, completely unaware that the Xiao Lin before him was already prepared to strike. The toothpick-sized Coiled Dragon Staff was clenched tightly in Xiao Lin's palm.
Xiao Lin still didn't attack—he was just considering whether this Thousand-Faced Guest was a clone.
But very quickly, he stopped thinking about it.
Real or not, just kill him first. The Thousand-Faced Guest wouldn't realize that his Fiery Golden Eyes could see through illusions anyway.
One step.
Two steps…
As Xiao Lin drew closer, the Thousand-Faced Guest's black soul ring had flashed no fewer than a hundred times, waiting for Xiao Lin to step just a little closer.
"Hey, do you know where Xue Qinghe keeps his books?"
From Xiao Lin's perspective, he naturally knew that the Thousand-Faced Guest was already prepared to strike.
But ambushing people was Xiao Lin's specialty as well—after all, he had grown up learning alongside Tang San.
Given his concern that a Soul Douluo-level expert might be able to react to the Comet Star-Mark Slash, Xiao Lin could only keep closing the distance, using words to distract the Thousand-Faced Guest.
After all, this time there was no Tang San to weaken the opponent's reactions with his soul skills.
When the distance between Xiao Lin and the Thousand-Faced Guest had shrunk to within two meters—approaching the human "safe distance"—
The Thousand-Faced Guest could only answer honestly:
"I am not aware of the crown prince's affairs."
At the instant he replied, the Thousand-Faced Guest also launched his attack.
The black soul ring expanded, and a black wind blade formed in front of him.
At that very moment, Xiao Lin's attack was also unleashed.
Weapon Soul True Body activated.
Heaven-and-Earth Throw.
Flowing Shadow Lightning Flash.
Heart of Blazing Flames.
Comet Star-Mark Slash.
To deal with the Thousand-Faced Guest, Xiao Lin pulled out nearly all of his strength.
This time, he even used the speed-type soul skill Flowing Shadow Lightning Flash to increase the velocity of the Comet Star-Mark Slash, releasing massive arcs of lightning to blind the Thousand-Faced Guest.
In just an instant, Xiao Lin's body erupted with dazzling blue lightning, along with flames of ice-blue and fiery-red.
The blinding light immediately made the timid Thousand-Faced Guest sense danger, but he was confident that his own attack would kill Xiao Lin first.
Thus, the Thousand-Faced Guest merely darted sideways, attempting to dodge the powerful soul skill Xiao Lin had used before.
However, to the Fiery Golden Eyes of Xiao Lin, the Thousand-Faced Guest—moving with his eyes closed—was nothing more than a slowly shifting target.
In the next second, the Coiled Dragon Staff instantly extended, thrusting straight toward the Thousand-Faced Guest.
This time, in order to kill him, Xiao Lin had no intention of holding back.
That meant he used Extreme Fire and Extreme Ice.
In the blink of an eye, the searing heat of the flames seemed to ignite the surrounding air itself.
The Thousand-Faced Guest felt his throat scorching hot, even his breathing becoming labored.
The sudden surge in temperature made sweat pour from him, leaving him dizzy and lightheaded.
Then, in less than the time it took to blink, Xiao Lin's Coiled Dragon Staff pierced through the Thousand-Faced Guest's abdomen, blasting open a massive hole that nearly cut him in half.
Until the moment of death, the Thousand-Faced Guest still wore an expression of utter disbelief.
Yet as a Soul Douluo, his formidable vitality left him with a shred of consciousness.
He believed that his wind blade would split Xiao Lin in two.
Clinging to that final hope, the Thousand-Faced Guest watched as the wind blade slashed toward Xiao Lin's body.
"It worked—you'll die with me!"
The Thousand-Faced Guest rejoiced inwardly. If I die, you won't live either!
But in reality, the Coiled Dragon Staff extended faster than the wind blade. Xiao Lin killed the Thousand-Faced Guest first, and only then did the black wind blade arrive slowly.
Xiao Lin then tried to block it with the Vajra Indestructible soul power of his Weapon Soul True Body.
He blocked for less than half a second before Xiao Lin's body vanished from the spot.
"You little fellow—why didn't you dodge?"
"Because I wasn't afraid."
Elsewhere, not far from the battlefield, Gu Rong's large hand was gripping Xiao Lin's arm as he asked with curiosity and concern.
Just moments ago, Gu Rong had been wondering why Xiao Lin had suddenly made his move. By the time he realized the man was the Thousand-Faced Guest, it was already too late.
What Gu Rong had never expected, however, was that Xiao Lin's defense was actually no weaker than his own.
One had to know that before obtaining his bizarre and unpredictable spatial soul skills, Gu Rong had been a top-tier defensive battle soul master.
After hearing Xiao Lin's calm reply, Gu Rong even developed the urge to take him as a disciple.
Very soon, before Gu Rong could even react, Xiao Lin had already rushed over to the Thousand-Faced Guest's corpse.
Neither Xiao Lin nor Gu Rong paid any attention to whether the wind blade released by the Thousand-Faced Guest would damage the surrounding buildings. They were both simply curious as they looked at the body.
"Kid Xiao Lin, was that his real body?"
Gu Rong still couldn't quite believe that Xiao Lin had killed a Soul Douluo. How old was Xiao Lin, after all?
Xiao Lin himself didn't know either. He was just habitually checking whether the Thousand-Faced Guest had dropped any "gold."
At the very least, this time, the Thousand-Faced Guest hadn't turned into a tail.
"Hand it over."
Looking at the Thousand-Faced Guest's mangled body, Xiao Lin quickly spotted an intact storage soul tool.
After swiping the storage soul tool, Xiao Lin finally came back to his senses and looked toward Gu Rong.
The Gu Rong before him stood around two and a half meters tall—practically a giant.
Xiao Lin raised his head to look at Gu Rong and asked with a face full of curiosity:
"Senior Gu Rong, were you following this Thousand-Faced Guest just now?"
Xiao Lin had no intention of sharing the forcibly "dropped gold" with Gu Rong. After placing the storage soul tool into his own, he asked.
"No. I was following you. If the Thousand-Faced Guest wanted to complete his mission, he had to make a move against you."
Gu Rong shook his head calmly, then asked with interest,
"Do you want to become my disciple?"
(End of chapter)