Chapter 73.1: Third Martial Soul? Necromancy?

Book 11: The Continental Advanced Academy Soul Dueling Tournament

“Yuhao!” Huo Yuhao had already disappeared without a trace by the time Wang Dong reacted. When he thought back to the exploding corpses from before, Wang Dong felt his mind blank out.

The scene had truly changed too quickly, such that no one had been able to react in time.

Elder Xuan abruptly flourished his large sleeve, and swept all the oncoming people away. “Wang Dong, quickly, help the others. I’ll save Huo Yuhao.” As he spoke, Elder Xuan released his martial soul in front of the students for the first time ever.

Elder Xuan’s aged back suddenly arched upwards, and his oil-stained, tattered clothing immediately split open. The muscles on his back swelled up at shocking speed, and in the blink of an eye, he bulked up to at least twice his previous size. The strangest thing was that one long, screw-shaped horn also grew from either side of his head. In that moment that he released his martial soul, it seemed as though all the air in the cave wanted to freeze over.

Nine soul rings shone and ascended with a dazzling brilliance - two yellow, two purple, four black and one red. Elder Xuan’s messy bed of hair had turned completely light brown. He abruptly turned his head and looked towards those remaining bandits. An incomparably frightening aura that was like a raging storm suddenly surged towards them. In the blink of an eye, an explosion occurred once more, but this time around, instead of the corpses, the living exploded.

He stomped with his right foot, and a huge crevice suddenly opened up in the ground. Elder Xuan bent his majestic body down and dug into the ground at a shocking speed with large hands that were like palm-leaf fans. He disappeared into the ground without a trace in just the moment that it took to breathe.

The heavy fishy fumes made Huo Yuhao feel nauseous. He was really too unlucky. The reason why the envoy of the Death God had grabbed him was first, to get a hostage, and second, the more important reason, was because the position that Huo Yuhao had previously occupied was at the entrance to the tunnel. This was really a misfortune on his part.

A cold, threatening aura surged madly into Huo Yuhao’s body from the entity in front of him. That icy feeling was completely different from his ice-attribute. This was cold, filled with evil intent, and accompanied by a horrible stench. That cold and dark feeling was like countless vipers boring their way into Huo Yuhao’s body.

The Envoy of the Death God was running down the tunnel at a shocking speed. He continuously slapped the walls as he dashed madly ahead, detonating the explosives he’d buried in them.

He had been able to lead the Hand of Death gang from the warping and winding Ming Dou Mountain Range, not only due to his ability as an evil soul master, but more importantly due to his cautious nature. This wasn’t the first time he’d encountered such a situation, but as long as he didn’t die, it wouldn’t take long before a brand new bandit group would rise up once more.

Huo Yuhao didn’t resist. He was now in a far more dangerous situation than he had been before, but contrary to expectations, he’d calmed down. This characteristic was unique to spirit-type soul masters. His mental strength far surpassed that of normal humans, so he could remain clear-headed more than a normal soul master could.

Huo Yuhao knew that the two white soul rings he’d previously revealed must’ve definitely fooled his opponents. Moreover, when the Envoy of the Death God had attacked, he hadn’t shown any signs of resisting at all. But he really couldn’t do so, having been caught off-guard. The enemy must’ve really looked down on him, but that was fine, because this was his only chance to flee for his life.

What am I going to do? There might only be one chance for him to escape, so he definitely couldn’t act blindly without thinking it through. As a result of that, Huo Yuhao could only force himself to circulate his Mysterious Heaven Technique to protect his internal organs. He was fighting against that evil soul power surging into his body, but he didn’t try to unleash a counterattack. As a matter of fact, his opponent’s soul power far surpassed his own. It wouldn’t be easy for him to retaliate either.

“Elder brother Skydream, Ice Empress, what are you guys doing?” Huo Yuhao softly called out to them in his Spiritual Sea.

The Skydream Iceworm was extremely serious when he spoke. “Yuhao, don’t fret. We are also thinking of a way. In a second, the Ice Empress might temporarily take control of your body. It’s really a little troublesome this time. This fellow’s soul power has a special quality that reeks with blood. The disparity between your cultivation and his is far too great. If Ice Empress suddenly uses the power she sealed within your body, I’m afraid you’ll sustain injuries because of that. You must be mentally prepared.”

Huo Yuhao was very calm as he asked, “That also means that attacking him isn’t actually that difficult, but the key to this is whether I can bear the burden?”

The Skydream Iceworm was silent for a moment before he spoke, “The Ice Empress’s ability is extremely overbearing. We’re afraid that it’ll injure the source of your spirit.”

Huo Yuhao inhaled deeply, then said, “Elder Brother Skydream, Ice Empress. The two of you don’t need to care about me. Kill him and avenge those who’ve died. This bastard definitely cannot be allowed to live. He’s killed so many people, including Senior Brother Yao Haoxuan.”

“Sure, you’re very brave. I’ll do my best to protect you. Don’t fret. When the opportunity arises, you must strike him in one move.” There was a bit of praise in the Ice Empress's chilly voice. She immediately fell silent after speaking, evidently trying to find an opening in their opponent’s guard.

Just at this moment, an aged voice suddenly rang out. “Big bug, little scorpion. Let this old man take charge, since you guys don’t have the confidence to do so. I am very familiar with this deathly aura.”

Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Sea subsequently turned grey. The Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Empress felt a pressure that even they feared. That was an soul ranked on a completely different level than they were.

“You are…”

The cave ahead suddenly opened up into a wide clearing. The Envoy of the Death God had brought Huo Yuhao out of the tunnel, causing the air around them to be fresh and clean. This immediately cleared Huo Yuhao’s mind.

However, twelve silhouettes were quietly standing by that exit out of the tunnel.

Those twelve humans, which didn’t seem to be breathing at all, immediately knelt down on one knee, respectfully saluting the Envoy of the Death God once they saw him emerge from the tunnel.

“Rise, my corpses. You guys were left behind for me to use as my protection. We’ve really run into huge trouble this time. I’m afraid that guy’s a Titled Douluo based on the aura he’s emitting. Hmph, don’t fret. Even Titled Douluo will only be able to prostrate themselves before me in ten years’ time, at best.”

At this moment, an aged voice suddenly rang out, “I’m afraid you don’t even have ten years left.”

The Envoy of the Death God paused and quickly looked around. “Who is it?!” He shouted in a stern voice, “Come out!”

“I’m right here. Where do you want me to go?” An odd, yet pure smell of death suddenly surged from his left hand. The Envoy of the Death God subconsciously loosened his grip on the person in his hand, and turned his body around at the same time to look at who it was. He was immediately taken aback by what he saw.

He’d been holding a person dressed completely in dark green garb with two white soul rings. But now, that person suddenly shone with an incredible light.

Behind the mask, the eyes that were originally a faint golden color had turned grey. It was a kind of grey that was filled with the vicissitudes of life, as though the owner could thoroughly understand everything in the world. What was even stranger was that a grey soul ring was slowly rising from beneath his feet. As that grey soul ring rose up, a string of fragmented shadow followed suit. One couldn’t clearly tell whether it was one shadow or many shadows.

The envoy of the Death God felt an inexplicably stifling feeling as he looked at that grey layer, subconsciously causing him to take a step back.

“Y-you’re also an evil soul master?” There was a shocked look on the Envoy of the Death God’s face when he asked this question. The mantle on his face had been lifted as he was running just now, revealing a face that resembled a skull. Only a film of skin seemed to be covering his face. His eyes, which were glowing with a light green light, were filled with shock.

“Evil soul master? What’s that? I’ve never heard of that before.” There was a bit of astonishment in that aged voice.

The Envoy of the Death God snorted and said, “Every single evil soul master is an existence worthy of the greatest admiration. I am a spokesperson for the Death God, the Envoy of the Death God. You are clearly young, since you dare to deceive the people in front of me. If you really are an evil soul master, you should make your identity known, and maybe then we might still have a chance to cooperate with each other. But you need to tell me something first. Why is your soul ring grey?”

“Envoy of the Death God? You must be joking. Even though I can’t remember most things from the past, I faintly remember that I could have been a Death God if I had wanted to be one. You’re already sacrificing your flesh, having just recently brushed over the edge of Necromancy. A Necromancer like you is worthy of being called an Envoy of the Death God? A Death God’s ability is to purify, not to summon souls and mess around with corpses. There’s no chance of you becoming a Demonic Shaman, and yet you’re here boasting in front of this old man. It’s really funny.”

The Envoy of the Death God stumbled over his words hearing the aged voice. “What Necromancy? What Necromancer? Demonic Shaman? I am an evil soul master worthy of admiration. You actually dare to blaspheme the Death God? You’re courting death!”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed in front of him. The third soul ring on his body abruptly lit up, activating the purple soul ring with a few streams of black. The twelve people around them who were emitting cold auras immediately moved and pounced toward Huo Yuhao at lightning speed.

“It’s a very familiar aura. Though it is slightly disgusting, I still have a bit of affection left in me.” The aged voice sighed, but didn’t move as he lifted his finger.

A faintly grey ball of fire was burning on the tip of his finger. When those corpses that the envoy of the Death God had converted into humans came within three metres of his body, they immediately stopped their violent trembling.

“Big bug, I need to borrow a bit of your sealed power,” The aged voice said indifferently, “I still can’t recall anything from the past, but I remember my own name. A tiny Corpse Shaman actually dares to show off with this kind of unpopular Necromancy in front of me, the Calamity Necromancer Electrolux who possesses the Divine Law of Necromancy. Then, I’ll let you play with fire!”

As he spoke, the flame atop his finger suddenly burned brighter. Shortly after that, that grey halo on his body was abruptly activated, encasing the twelve corpses within it.

The twelve corpses stopped trembling, and slowly raised their heads one after the other. One could see that their skin was now a metallic grey - a color that only dead people would have. Their eyes were empty and lifeless; their nails were strangely and incomparably long, and appeared to be dark purple in color. A foul rotting smell also seeped out from every inch of their bodies.

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