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After bidding farewell to the Blue Silver King, whose cultivation had reached eighty-five thousand years, Ning Tian quietly left the forest.
As soon as he stepped out of the forest, Ning Tian was stopped by two uninvited guests.
These two were surrounded by soul rings—two yellow, three purple, and two black, making them Spirit Saints. One was a burly man holding a giant axe, and the other was an old man with a bronze mirror in hand. Without a doubt, the axe and the mirror were their martial souls.
'I think I saw them on my way here,' Ning Tian thought, recalling a village he had flown over earlier. The two had been resting there, and since he was close to the Blue Silver Forest, he hadn't stopped.
He hadn't expected them to follow him.
Before Ning Tian could make a move, the burly man with the axe laughed loudly, "Haha, old ghost, I was right! It's him, the one wanted by the Star Luo royal family. We're going to be rich!"
The old man with the mirror said, "It's more than just getting rich. Rumor has it that the Spirit Hall champion was rewarded with three soul bones. He must have at least one on him, probably the one that gives him the ability to fly. You can have the bounty; I want the soul bone."
"Fine, but his soul guide devices are mine," the burly man agreed.
They were already dividing the spoils as if they had already won, completely underestimating Ning Tian.
Ning Tian shook his head. It wasn't surprising that the Star Luo Empire had put a bounty on him, but these two were blinded by greed and were practically begging for death.
Without wasting words, Ning Tian raised his right hand, and eighteen Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords flew out, turning into streaks of pale golden light that attacked the two from all directions.
"Seventh soul skill: Martial Soul True Body!" both men shouted in unison.
Startled by the sudden attack, they quickly activated their seventh soul skills. The burly man's axe grew enormous, and he spun it in front of them to block the swords coming from the front. The old man's mirror expanded to three feet in size and split into three, rotating around them to defend against the swords attacking from behind and the sides.
With their coordinated effort, they managed to repel all eighteen swords.
'They haven't absorbed any evil attribute soul rings? That's rare for bounty hunters.' Ning Tian noted with slight surprise.
'Oh well, time to test out my new fifth soul skill.'
"Not bad for the most outstanding soul master of the younger generation on the Douluo Continent. You really gave me a scare," the old man said with a sinister tone. If they hadn't worked together for years, they might have fallen for Ning Tian's trick.
The burly man snorted, "Why waste time talking? Let's take him down together."
With that, he charged at Ning Tian, swinging his giant axe.
The old man controlled his three mirrors to hover above, emitting a grayish-white light, ready to strike.
At that moment, Ning Tian released his soul rings. As his fifth black soul ring lit up, the two men's movements froze.
The eighteen Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had surrounded them unnoticed. Nine hovered in the air, and nine were planted in the ground, forming a sword array that trapped both men and their martial souls.
"What kind of soul skill is this?" the old man exclaimed in terror.
The burly man, despite his tough appearance, was actually a coward at heart. Realizing he couldn't move, he wet himself in fear.
"Blue Silver Sword Array!" Ning Tian slowly raised his right hand, and as he spread his fingers, the two men were lifted into the air.
"No, don't—" the burly man screamed in horror.
Ning Tian clenched his fist, and the eighteen swords struck simultaneously.
In the blink of an eye, the two were sliced into pieces. As the swords vanished, a final, massive upward slash completely obliterated their already mangled bodies.
This was Ning Tian's fifth soul skill, his only control-type skill. It could forcibly trap enemies within the sword array. To break free, one needed to be stronger than Ning Tian and possess a powerful skill to shatter the array.
These two had the strength but lacked the necessary skill to escape.
After dealing with them, Ning Tian waved his hand, pulling their soul guides to him.
He quickly found the wanted posters for himself and Zhu Zhuqing in one of the soul guides.
[Ning Tian, nearly 1.9 meters tall, martial soul: Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, level 49 Assault System Battle Soul Ancestor, bounty: 3 million gold soul coins, dead or alive.]
[Zhu Zhuqing, nearly 1.8 meters tall, martial soul: Nether Civet, above level 40 Soul Ancestor, bounty: 2 million gold soul coins, additional 1 million if captured alive.]
The posters also included their portraits and martial souls.
"The Star Luo Empire dares to put a bounty on Brother and Sister Zhuqing. They're really asking for it," Ah Yin's voice echoed in Ning Tian's mind.
"Ah Yin, you can read?" Ning Tian asked, surprised.
"Even though I've lost most of my memories, I still remember how to read," Ah Yin said proudly.
Ning Tian smiled, put away his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword martial soul and the two men's soul guides, then released his Gold Devouring Beetles. Thousands of insects enveloped him, forming a layer of black armor.
"Ah Yin, it's time we head to the Slaughter City."
…..
Back on the road, Ning Tian didn't fly. Along the way to the Slaughter City, he encountered several more groups of bounty hunters attracted by the reward.
Most of them were Spirit Kings and Spirit Emperors, with few Spirit Saints.
Thanks to the black armor formed by the Gold Devouring Beetles, which concealed his soul power fluctuations, some of these hunters approached him to check if he was the wanted criminal, only to be fed to the insects.
He didn't encounter any Spirit Douluos, which made sense since those at that level were usually high-ranking members of major forces and wouldn't bother with such tasks personally.
It saved Ning Tian a lot of trouble.
…..
Three days later, he left the Star Luo Empire and entered the Heaven Dou Empire, where the number of bounty hunters decreased significantly.
He took out the map given to him by Qian Renxue and studied it again. After confirming the direction, he headed north, following the mountain paths.
Gradually, the air grew colder.
After half a month of traveling and camping in the wild, Ning Tian finally arrived at the small town where the Slaughter City was located.
But perhaps due to his butterfly effect, he encountered Hu Liena, one of the Golden Generation of the Spirit Hall, who was supposed to enter the Slaughter City two years later but had arrived early.
Accompanying her was Ghost Douluo.
Both Ghost Douluo and Hu Liena noticed him, but because the black armor of the Gold Devouring Beetles blocked soul power fluctuations, even Ghost Douluo couldn't recognize him.
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