"Matriarch Ye, if you insist on being so stubborn, then I'll have no choice but to deal with you first, and then take your daughter back to the sect. Anyway, the next generation can still awaken the Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Soul."
The Fire Leopard Soul Master had clearly lost patience. His gaze shifted to the short-haired girl, his words dripping with malice and threat.
Ye Miaoyun's expression changed drastically, and she quickly shielded her daughter behind her.
In this dire situation, a sense of desolation welled up in her heart; was the Ye family truly about to be destroyed in her hands?
"Lingling, I'll hold him off for a while. You hurry and escape, don't look back."
Ye Miaoyun didn't intend to sit and wait for death. She transmitted her voice to her daughter using her Soul Power.
As a renowned physician on the continent, she was not only skilled at saving lives but also at concocting poisons.
Although these poisons couldn't kill a Soul King outright, they could certainly delay him for a short while.
Ye Miaoyun knew very well that even if she agreed to join the Fire Leopard Sect, their treatment wouldn't be much better than slavery.
"No!"
Ye Lingling gripped her mother's sleeve tightly, shaking her head repeatedly. Her little face was filled with tension and the sheer terror of losing her mother.
"You're courting death!"
Noticing their movements, the Fire Leopard Soul Master completely lost his patience. With a leap, he charged forward like a hunting leopard.
In an instant, Ye Miaoyun took out a handful of poison powder from her storage soul tool and, using her Soul Power, scattered it directly at the enemy.
The Fire Leopard Soul Master's expression changed slightly, and he decisively retreated to avoid the cloud. However, even with his quick reflexes, he still inhaled some of the fine powder and quickly began to experience symptoms of poisoning.
However, as a Soul King, his physical resistance was much higher than ordinary people, and this amount of poison was not life-threatening.
After all, the general knowledge of poisons in this world was not particularly advanced; even the famed Poison Douluo's techniques were arguably inferior to the specialized knowledge of the Tang Sect.
It is bizarre that the Tang Sect, a martial arts sect from another world, possessed the power to slay gods in this new world. The fact that even hidden weapons could kill gods proves that the gods of this world weren't invincible.
"Lingling, run!"
"Trying to run? None of you will escape!"
"Fourth Soul Skill: Blazing Inferno!"
The Fire Leopard Soul Master roared, his fourth Soul Ring lighting up. Intense flames erupted from his body, transforming him into a flaming beast-man hybrid.
Under this Soul Skill, all his attributes increased by 100%, and negative effects were temporarily purged by the intense heat.
"Is the heavens dooming my Ye family?"
Seeing that the enemy wasn't affected by the poison, Ye Miaoyun felt utterly hopeless.
Just at this critical moment, a blazing slash suddenly descended from above, arriving in an instant and striking the Fire Leopard Soul Master heavily on the back.
BANG!
Even in his Martial Soul Possession state, the Soul King was sent flying more than ten meters by the sheer force of the impact.
Immediately afterward, a figure clad entirely in fiery red armor leaped down from the tree, landing protectively in front of Ye Miaoyun and Ye Lingling.
Tall and imposing, with a powerful aura, he exuded a sense of trustworthiness simply by standing there.
"How dare you interfere in the affairs of our Fire Leopard Sect! Are you courting death?"
The Fire Leopard Soul Master scrambled to his feet, glaring angrily at the figure that had suddenly appeared. But the next second, he sensed something amiss.
This person's Martial Soul was clearly not a beast type, and his Soul Power level wasn't higher than his own, yet the Soul Master felt a strange sense of suppression.
Could it be a mutated Martial Soul?
Now that his Martial Soul was being suppressed, the Fire Leopard Soul Master dared not take the risk lightly.
Although this person was only a four-ring Soul Ancestor, judging from the previous attack, his strength was definitely no less than that of a Soul King.
"Ahem, brother, our Fire Leopard Sect is one of the Lower Four Sects. Interfering in our affairs won't do you any good. You'd better think it through carefully."
Just as the Fire Leopard Soul Master was about to use verbal persuasion, all he received in response was a blazing longsword pointing at him.
"Enough with the nonsense."
Lin Mu, wielding the Molten Scale Blade, didn't give the Fire Leopard Soul Master a chance to react. He swung his blade directly.
An arrow released from a bow cannot be taken back.
Although the Fire Leopard Sect was one of the Lower Four Sects, it was completely incomparable to the Upper Three Sects. They didn't even have a single Titled Douluo; their strongest member was merely a Soul Douluo.
Moreover, as long as this Fire Leopard Soul Master was dealt with here, the sect would have no way of knowing who did it.
Once Lin Mu cultivated to the Soul Saint level, his strength would definitely be no less than a Soul Douluo, so there was no need to worry about future retaliation.
As for why he intervened, it was entirely a decision from the heart.
As the saying goes, "When you see injustice, you must act." As an upstanding young man with modern values, how could Lin Mu tolerate a mother and daughter being harmed by villains? Besides, he had absolute confidence in dealing with this Fire Leopard Soul Master.
Although his opponent was significantly higher level, he didn't possess a ten-thousand-year Soul Skill, and the Flame of Nava, which completely countered the Fire Leopard Martial Soul.
It wasn't a bloodline suppression between Martial Souls, but rather an 'attribute' suppression. The Flame of Nava possessed the unique power to devour flames, rendering the opponent's fire-based attacks largely ineffective, and even turning that energy into his own.
"Sneak attack?! Unsportsmanlike conduct!"
Facing the approaching Molten Scale Blade, the Fire Leopard Soul Master cursed inwardly. He hastily used his Second Soul Skill to summon a wall of fire in front of him for defense.
In an instant, the Molten Scale Blade easily pierced the fire wall. It absorbed the flames and slashed fiercely at the Fire Leopard Soul Master's chest, sending him flying another twenty meters.
The enemy's flames not only failed to hinder the Molten Scale Blade but actually increased its power.
"Pfft~"
The Fire Leopard Soul Master spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with shock and bewilderment. He, a Soul King, was completely unable to withstand the attack of a mere Soul Ancestor.
Terrifying!
A single attack was a critical blow; just two strikes had taken half his life.
What he couldn't understand most was what kind of Martial Soul this guy possessed. It should clearly be a Weapon Martial Soul, yet it had defensive capabilities that most Beast Martial Souls lacked.
Armored Martial Souls had appeared on the continent before, but they were mostly individual pieces like chest armor or arm guards; a full-body Armor Martial Soul like this was unheard of.
Not only did it possess astonishing defensive power, but it also had the powerful offensive capabilities of a Weapon Martial Soul.
Offense and defense combined, it was simply outrageous!
"Who exactly are you?"
"The one who will kill you."
The words had barely left his lips when a blazing blade of energy swept in, giving the Fire Leopard Soul Master no chance to breathe.
"Damn it!"
Sensing the naked killing intent, the Fire Leopard Soul Master had no choice but to fight to the death, burning his blood essence.
Only after exhausting all his strength could he barely withstand Lin Mu's attacks.
But soon, the Fire Leopard Soul Master realized the hopelessness of his situation. His Soul Power was clearly much higher than his opponent's, yet he couldn't launch an effective attack.
Each time his attack landed on the armor, the flames on his fist were simply absorbed by the armor.
Without its flames, the Fire Leopard Martial Soul is like a pistol without bullets, forced to rely solely on brute physical force. Its destructive power was drastically reduced.
Lin Mu, however, after absorbing the flames, fought with increasing ferocity. He consumed very little of his own Soul Power and even became more powerful than before as the fight dragged on.
"Don't kill me!"
Lin Mu gave the Fire Leopard Soul Master no chance to beg for mercy. With a single, decisive strike, he decapitated the enemy, blood splattering three meters away.