A golden radiance immediately shone from Huo Yuhao’s eyes as the combined force of both his Purple Demon Eyes and Spiritual Shock soul skill burst forth.
The body of the bandit Huo Yuhao had targeted shook fiercely. However, the scene that followed completely shocked him: the bandit’s head exploded like a watermelon. Bright red blood, white brain fluids, and other strangely-colored things flew in all directions, which instantly frightened the bandits around him and made them disperse. They’d yet to understand how their companion had died.
Huo Yuhao was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected his Spiritual Shock to be so powerful. When he saw the headless corpse fall to the ground, he immediately threw up. That person had been alive just a moment ago!
He wasn’t the only one to throw up; the nearby Xiao Xiao also puked. She’d been holding it back since they’d first entered the cave, but after this last scene, she couldn’t bear it anymore.
At that moment, a sharp voice echoed forth from the depths of the cave, “Who dares to oppose the Envoy of the Death G.o.d? All of you will die and become corpses under my control.”
The bandits weren’t relieved when they heard his voice. Rather, they all began to tremble and quickly retreated.
“Be careful!” Huo Yuhao roared as soon as he’d finished throwing up. Thanks to his Spiritual Detection, he’d discovered that the corpses on the ground had begun to swell at an astonis.h.i.+ng speed; they’d also become faintly red in color.
“Boom, boom, boom…” Terrifying explosions began to echo throughout the entire cave. Flesh and blood was scattered all over the cave following each explosion.
The seven members of the preparatory team had just arrived, and since all of them were within the range of Huo Yuhao’s Spiritual Detection, they were able to react quickly. All of them ran towards the corpse-free areas of the cave as quickly as they could in order to avoid the explosions.
However, the seven disciples of the inner courtyard—who happened to be in the midst of the corpse-ridden battlefield—weren’t so lucky. They found themselves at the center of the explosions!
Luckily, they were able to quickly erect some defenses since they’d heard Huo Yuhao’s warning. However… the power wrought by the detonating corpses was just too much. Bones, muscles, and even blood vessels had become weapons because of the explosions. The stronger the corpse had been when it was alive, the stronger the explosion it caused. The corpse of the Soul King that Dai Yueheng had killed caused a particularly earth-shaking explosion when it detonated.
These explosions continued for about ten seconds or so before they stopped. The Shrek Guardians hadn’t thought that they’d find themselves in this sort of situation. How could they have expected a group of bandits led by a Soul King to have such a powerful skill? Furthermore, the power of this ability was incredibly high. Its power had far exceeded their imagination, and was the main reason that they took such a big hit.
The old man with messy hair that was sitting outside of the cave drinking alcohol was surprised when he heard the sound of explosions. He immediately turned into a streak of light as he shot into the cave.
Elder Xuan had been following their group since the beginning. He’d checked the auras of the people in the cave as soon as he’d arrived and determined that the strongest one was only a Soul King. Though there was more than one Soul King present, he didn’t give it too much thought. These bandits didn’t really seem to have a chance against the elite disciples of Shrek Academy. Furthermore, someone as experienced as w.a.n.g Yan was in charge of the mission. As such, he’d decided to stay outside and drink alcohol. After all, n.o.body liked the foul stench of blood.
Even he hadn’t expected such a sudden change in their situation. The power from the explosion just now had exceeded that of a Soul King or Soul Emperor.
“Gaga, gagaga… Did you all like the exploding corpses from this envoy? Even if you all were stronger, you’d still die when faced by my consecutive corpse explosions. Furthermore, even if you were survive the explosions, you’d die from the poison!”
The entire cave was now permeated with a thick smell of blood. Moreover, everyone felt like they were wet due to the thick layer of blood covering their bodies. Every single previously dead bandits had had their corpse exploded.
The explosions hadn’t distinguished between friend and foe. As such, they didn’t only strike the students of the Shrek Academy; even the bandits that were still alive had been hit by the explosions. Despite this, the bandits had been somewhat prepared. Some of them had been able to quickly hide in depressions in the ground to dodge the explosions.
However, the scariest thing was actually the liquid alongside the explosion; it had the same powerful corrosive properties as a strong acid. The ‘chi chi’ sound of things being corroded echoed throughout the entire cave. Besides the corpses exploding, the hidden soul master had even made them release a deadly poison. It was an extremely vile and cruel tactic.
Everyone had done their best to protect themselves the moment they’d heard Huo Yuhao’s warning. However, considering the fact that they all had different martial souls, their defensive capabilities were all different from one another.
Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng were sent flying from the explosion, and they both spat out some blood. Despite their injuries however, their soul skills’ protected them from being contaminated by the poisonous blood. Ma Xiaotao landed in a place that not too far off from Huo Yuhao’s position.
Ling Luochen’s entire body was protected by a layer of ice, but she was still sent flying regardless. However, considering that she’d been in the rear, and that she’d managed to raise her defenses in time, she didn’t end up in a bad state. She spat out some blood like Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng had, but she didn’t receive any external injuries.
On the other hand, Chen Zifeng wasn’t as lucky as them. He was also an a.s.sault system battle soul master, and considering the number of soul rings he had, he exceeded both Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng in pure offensive power. However, how was he supposed to protect his entire body with just his Soulchasing Sword? He could only rely on his soul power and protective armor to withstand the explosion.
Once the explosions had finished, he was lying sprawled on his side. His right leg had disappeared, and he’d begun to scream pitifully due to the corrosion of the deadly poison and loss of his limb.
However, he wasn’t the only one that had been severely injured. Gong Yangmo wasn’t much stronger than him; even if he was the ultimate auxiliary-type soul master, he definitely wasn’t specialized in defense! Moreover, the corpses had exploded without much warning at all. Despite Ling Luochen’s a.s.sistance, his chest, abdomen, and legs had all been badly mangled. Smoke was still rising from his wounds, and he’d lost consciousness.
Yao Haoxuan had met a tragic fate. As his build was the biggest, he’d had to face the brunt of the explosions. Half of his body had simply disappeared—he obviously hadn’t been able to survive the explosion.
Xi Xi had it slightly better off. Her thunder and lightning had protected her body, while thanks to her fast speed, only her back had been struck. However, she’d still suffered severe wounds and was lying on the ground in agony.
Regardless of the intensity of their injures, the seven disciples of the inner courtyard had all suffered heavy injuries, while one of them had even died. Even though they’d originally held the advantage, they were now in an extremely pitiful state.
All of this had happened too quickly; the disciples of the outer courtyard didn’t suffer any damage since they were on the periphery, but they were still shaken by the outcome.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” A hoa.r.s.e voice suddenly echoed, causing the entire cave to tremble. An intense white light immediately covered every corner of the cave, afterwich all of the deadly corrosive poison disappeared.
The form of a slovenly old man immediately became visible. Elder Xuan raised his right hand, then made a grabbing motion towards the depths of the cave. A terrifying attractive force erupted from his palm, causing a figure to rapidly fly towards him from the interior of the cave.
The word ‘anger’ wasn’t enough to describe Elder Xuan’s current state of mind. His students had been injured to this extent, despite being under his supervision. Furthermore, the ones that had received harm were members of the current Shrek’s Seven Monsters! They were supposed to represent the academy at the Elite Continental Soul Master Academy Tournament in a few days, yet now, one of them had died, and the others were all severely injured!
The form that was yanked towards Elder Xuan was shrouded in a black robe. He had a slender build, and his facial features were hidden. Only the radiance of five soul rings, three of which yellow and two of which purple, were visible. This person really was just a Soul King, yet he’d created such a terrifying tragedy!
He let out a terrified scream as soon as he was yanked away by Elder Xuan. He tried his best to struggle free, but how could he struggle against someone as powerful as Elder Xuan? He could only watch helplessly as he was pulled closer and closer to Elder Xuan.
At that moment, the remaining half of Yao Haoxuan’s body suddenly began to swell.
“Elder Xuan, be careful!” Huo Yuhao called out in alarm.
Elder Xuan’s perception wasn’t weak, and his students were much more important than this evil soul master! The academy had already suffered such a huge loss; how could he let more people be injured?
He raised both of his hands, and a ball of white light immediately enveloped Yao Haoxuan’s corpse. At the same time, he flicked his finger, which caused the Soul King to feel as if he’d been struck by a huge hammer. However, something strange happened. All five of his soul rings simultaneously shone and he changed into a wisp of smoke. However, he didn’t run away. Instead, he pounced towards Huo Yuhao.
His speed was so fast that Huo Yuhao couldn’t react even with his Spiritual Detection active. Afterwards he felt the world spin, then heard Elder Xuan’s angry yell. There wasn’t anything under his feet; they instantly sank through the ground.
A powerful explosion echoed through the cave. Yao Haoxuan’s body exploded, and even his skeleton was vaporized. The explosion was contained by Elder Xuan, but it was because of this that he arrived a moment too late to save Huo Yuhao; his hands only grabbed a newly-created slab of stone. Huo Yuhao and the evil soul master had disappeared without a trace.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” Elder Xuan angrily howled. He was now thoroughly enraged. He immediately punched the ground, instantly pulverizing the newly-created slab of stone to. However, he didn’t dare to use too much soul power out of fear that he’d harm Huo Yuhao, who might have been below it. As this happened, a series of explosions echoed from the corridor beneath them, causing it collapse. A crafty person always had several ways out of a predicament. That person was, without a doubt, the leader of the group of bandits known as the Hand of Death.