Huo Yuhao's voice, infused with spiritual power, echoed through the valley, ensuring everyone heard his warning.
Wolf Mountain, on the outer edge, looked towards the east of the valley. His Blood Wolf wasn't a martial soul known for its perception, so he couldn't confirm the veracity of Huo Yuhao's warning.
However, as a Soul Master who had been in the Soul Master world for decades, he was willing to trust his companions.
After all, mutual suspicion was the worst thing for mercenaries.
Without hesitation, Wolf Mountain roared at the people in the valley almost immediately after hearing Huo Yuhao's warning.
"All Great Soul Masters except Wolf Rock and Danzo, immediately go to the east of the valley to defend!!"
"Wolf Rock and Danzo, take the members of the Dingyi Merchant Guild to the south exit of the valley to ensure there's no danger from the rear!!!"
Although the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group members didn't have high average soul power, their execution was extremely strong.
The two Soul Masters and seven Great Soul Masters, excluding Wolf Rock, quickly found their positions and formed an anti-enemy formation.
The twenty one-ring Soul Masters of the Dingyi Merchant Guild prepared on the inner side, ensuring each mercenary had three one-ring Soul Masters ready to support them at any time.
Huo Yuhao led Xiao Xiao and the other core members of the Dingyi Chamber of Commerce to retreat to the southern exit of the valley.
A
soft rustling sound came from the distant forest, whether from the wind or a soul beast disturbing the leaves. The sound was approaching at an incredible speed, like the footsteps of death.
It was exceptionally clear in the silent valley. Huo Yuhao could clearly see fine beads of sweat on Lang Shan's forehead, and the expressions of the other mercenary members grew increasingly serious.
They had been traveling the world together for over twenty years, and although their strength was limited to low-risk missions, they were familiar with the speed of soul masters of different levels.
In their minds, those who could achieve such speed were either agility-type soul masters, soul sect masters, or even soul kings.
Lang Shan stared intently at the eastern forest, veins bulging on his forehead, praying silently,
"Please don't let it be the enemy!"
He knew that neither soul sect masters nor soul kings were opponents they, as soul masters and great soul masters, could contend with.
If it really came to a fight to the death, they would likely suffer heavy losses.
Suddenly, the rustling sound stopped abruptly, and four Soul Masters dressed in tattered black robes burst forth from the forest.
These Soul Masters exuded a chilling and malevolent aura; the tangible darkness of their presence faintly carried the wails and howls of vengeful spirits.
A chill, seemingly from nowhere, sent shivers down the spines of everyone in the valley.
Wolf Mountain's heart, which had been pounding with anxiety, finally died. If they were bandits, they could still negotiate and avoid a fight.
But against evil Soul Masters, only a death match remained.
Because in the eyes of these evil Soul Masters, their lives and souls were likely more important than their possessions.
Wolf Mountain's facial muscles twitched involuntarily, revealing a grim expression.
He shouted, "Evil Soul Masters!!! Prepare for battle!" As soon
as he finished speaking, three Soul Rings—two yellow and one purple—rose around him.
Blood-red fur instantly covered his entire body, his pupils turned eerie green, fangs protruded, and cold, sharp claws extended from the tips of his ten fingers. His physique became even more muscular, his muscles nearly bursting through his clothes.
Immediately afterward, numerous yellow spirit rings appeared in the valley, interspersed with a few purple ones.
One of the evil spirit masters, seeing this, let out a piercing laugh from beneath his cloak.
"Heh heh, third brother, your senses were right after all. There's so much blood and gourd here."
The black-robed evil spirit master known as the third brother chuckled as well.
"My spirit is the Heart-Eating Rat, extremely sensitive to smells. I smelled these delicacies from afar."
The leading black-robed evil spirit master coldly interrupted their conversation, saying,
"We'll talk about this later. Hurry up and eat them to recover your injuries and spirit power. That damned Golden Crow woman will probably be here soon!"
"If you don't want to die at her hands, you'd better hurry up!"
Hearing their words, the people in the valley felt a chill in their hearts; they realized they were about to fight to the death.
Wolf Mountain clenched his fists, opened his mouth wide, revealing his bare fangs, and then the purple spirit ring behind him lit up.
"You want my life? Let's see if you have the guts!"
"Third Soul Skill, Blood Wolf Strike!"
A crimson energy wave condensed from Wolf Mountain's mouth, then the violent energy, accompanied by a hissing sound, surged towards the black-robed leader.
The black-robed figures didn't even dodge, coldly watching Wolf Mountain charge up and unleash the attack.
Just as the crimson energy wave was about to strike the black-robed figures, the leader slightly raised his arm and opened his palm. His palm was like withered bones, devoid of any color, the gray skin revealing grotesque joints.
At the moment of contact, contrary to Wolf Mountain's expectations of his opponent's palm being blasted to pieces, it simply vanished.
Not even a wisp of wind was stirred, as if Wolf Mountain had never released a soul skill.
The leader lowered his arm and coldly said, "The show's over?"
"Then obediently become food!"
The four black-robed figures immediately swooped down the mountainside and activated their soul rings.
These evil spirit masters were all four-ringed, with only one having a white first ring; the rest had the best possible combination that ordinary people could access.
Seeing this, Lang Shan lit up all his spirit rings and roared as he charged towards one of the evil spirit masters.
The others also activated their spirit skills, attacking their respective enemies.
Each evil spirit master faced the firepower of three to five other spirit masters.
Even though it was clear these evil spirit masters were in poor condition, the difference in their levels wasn't so easily overcome.
Every swing of their arms was accompanied by a spurt of blood; they didn't even need to use their spirit skills.
They only dodged when Lang Shan and the other spirit masters unleashed their third spirit skills.
This was a one-sided crushing defeat.
Huo Yuhao and Lang Yan, protecting the core members of the Dingyi Chamber of Commerce behind them, watched the battle inside, akin to a massacre, from the south exit. Lang
Yan, his face flushed with anxiety, wanted to rush in and help. Clearly, his talent was better than his brother's, but his experience was too shallow.
His brother had arranged for him to go to the south exit so he could escape.
Xiao Dingyuan covered Xiao Xiao's eyes, his face ashen.
He knew that if Lang Shan and his men were all killed, they wouldn't be able to escape either.
Huo Yuhao looked at Xiao Dingyuan and shouted sharply, "President Xiao, we should retreat now!"
Xiao Dingyuan shook his head helplessly and said, "It's no use, we can't escape. The Heavenly Soul Empire is different from the Star Luo Empire; the nearest city is seven hundred miles away."
"The route is either plains or mountains; there's nowhere to hide. You also heard that one of their martial souls is a Heart-Eating Rat, which is good at tracking."
Huo Yuhao sighed, his eyes returning to the situation in the valley. His newly met friend, Li Fei, was already lying on the ground clutching his arm.
At the current speed, everyone inside would be dead in ten minutes at most.
Huo Yuhao turned to Lang Yan and said, "Let's go help. Since we can't escape, we can only fight to the death!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lang Yan activated his martial soul and rushed over to help his brother.
Huo Yuhao's eyes twitched. He was about to say something, but in the end, he could only shake his head and say, "This idiot."
Huo Yuhao no longer hesitated to use his mental power, locking onto the evil soul master whose martial soul was the Heart-Eating Rat. Then he began to quietly sneak up to the other party.
"I have to kill him! Otherwise, I won't have anywhere to escape to."
The Heart-Eating Rat evil soul master seemed to be engrossed in this near-slaughter battle and did not notice Huo Yuhao, this "little mouse" with a weak aura.
So he easily circled around to the Heart-Eating Rat evil soul master's side.
Only at this moment did he realize that there was another person next to him.
"Hehe, there's one more."
He chuckled evilly, preparing to turn around and swat Huo Yuhao with his claws.
"Now!"
Huo Yuhao pondered the timing in his mind, and the moment the other party made eye contact with him, he used illusion magic without hesitation.
The special mental power transformed from the Kaleidoscope of Spirit Eyes was like an iron nail, directly driving into the Heart-Eating Rat evil soul master's sea of consciousness.
Then, by using the "nails" to disrupt the opponent's mental power and soul power, he would disarm the opponent's physical defenses and gradually control his five senses and thoughts.
Having consumed approximately two-thirds of his mental energy and almost all of his soul power, Huo Yuhao completely dismantled the opponent's consciousness, turning him into a puppet entirely subservient to his will.
Due to the mask of the faceless man, no one could see that Huo Yuhao's face was extremely pale.
Consuming two-thirds of one's mental energy in an instant is a considerable burden for anyone.
In fact, most of this two-thirds of mental energy was wasted.
Mainly because the genjutsu inherent in his Mangekyou Sharingan was more of an instinct, lacking a coherent system. If he truly possessed a complete genjutsu system from Naruto, Huo Yuhao wouldn't have wasted so much mental energy trying and failing bit by bit.
"Fortunately, the result wasn't unexpected." Huo Yuhao breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the Heart-Eating Rat Soul Master whose eyes were now lifeless.
Immediately afterward, Huo Yuhao transmitted a command to him through the nail in his spiritual sea: "Go give your older brother a surprise."
The Heart-Eating Rat Evil Soul Master's eyes lit up, and he rushed straight towards the Evil Soul Master leader who was locked in combat with Wolf Mountain and Wolf Rock.
"Hmph, if it weren't for that damned Golden Crow woman severely damaging your martial soul, you wouldn't have lasted a minute!"
The evil soul master leader, realizing he'd been held back by two Soul Masters and several first-ring Soul Masters, couldn't help but feel annoyed.
He quickly seized an opportunity, his mummy-like hand shrinking into a sharp claw and viciously tearing at Wolf Mountain's chest.
A large chunk of flesh and skin was ripped off, and blood gushed from Wolf Mountain's chest.
"Brother!!!" Wolf Yan, seeing his brother severely injured, was frantic, his attack rhythm becoming chaotic.
The evil soul master leader sneered, licking the blood and flesh from his hands. Almost visibly, his withered body began to regain a faint color.
"Truly high-quality flesh and blood!" He looked at Wolf Mountain, who was kneeling on the ground clutching his chest, with satisfaction.
(End of Chapter)