Ming Dou Mountain Range, high in the air.
The strongest Soul King, the Death God Envoy, was exerting every ounce of his strength, practically tapping into the soul power to fuel the flying soul tool strapped to him. The soul tool bore a striking resemblance to Doraemon's bamboo copter.
This flying soul tool, hailing from the Sun and Moon Empire, was the most valuable thing he owned. However, it was also why the soul engineer who designed it was often mocked as an idiot. This tool required a specific bracket to attach it to the user's head, much like the bamboo copter. While it saved on materials, flying too fast risked pulling your head right off.
But to the Death God Envoy, this device was worth every penny. Those black market smugglers from the Sun and Moon Empire who sold it to him in the Ming Dou Mountain Range weren't lying—this flying soul tool could really save your life when things got tough!
"I had heard through the grapevine that the Bloodthirsty Fiend was wiped out by some unknown force. The Holy Church warned me to be cautious, yet I foolishly didn't take it seriously. If only I had evacuated earlier, none of this would've happened! And where on earth is the person the Holy Church sent to escort us back to the Sun and Moon Empire? Why hasn't he arrived yet?"
The Death God Envoy grumbled while tightening the strap on his neck. He had no choice—the weight of his own body plus the two people he was carrying made flying feel like his head was about to be ripped off.
"This won't work. That old man is too powerful! If I keep flying this slowly and he catches up, I'm done for!" He glanced at the two hostages he was carrying and, after a moment of consideration, decided to toss Ma Xiaotao out of the air.
"That boy has a White Tiger martial soul; he must be related to that old fart Dai Hao. If I can turn him into a corpse slave, the rewards would be massive."
However, what he didn't know was that the voluptuous woman he had just thrown away was actually far more valuable to the Holy Spirit Sect. Alas, our strongest Soul King hadn't had much schooling and had no idea what an Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul was, missing his golden opportunity for a fast track to greatness.
While escaping through the secret tunnel earlier, the Death God Envoy had made sure to press a button on the wall, triggering the explosives he had planted long ago. The resulting explosions caused nearly the entire passageway to collapse—an ace he had prepared since setting up his base in the Ming Dou Mountain Range. And now, it had finally paid off.
"Even a Title Douluo can't stop me! I, the son of fate, have you dancing in the palm of my hand!"
"When I reach that level of power, with the help of the Holy Church, I'll strap you to a soul cannon and turn your corpse into fireworks in the sky!"
As he flew for another half hour, the Death God Envoy suddenly trembled, then veered sharply to the side.
"Boom!"
A black-and-white fire lotus barely missed him, exploding just above his head. The intense heat from the blast caused him to wobble in the air like a candle flame in the wind. Forced to descend, he landed on the ground below.
Panic-stricken, the Death God Envoy scanned his surroundings. The earlier attack had the power of a Soul Emperor. If it had hit him directly, even if he didn't die, he'd be gravely injured.
As his gaze focused again, he realized, to his shock, that a boy dressed in black combat gear was standing nearby, holding two chickens in his hands.
"So, you're the Death God Envoy? That old fool Xuan Zi really let you get away, huh? I guess even mighty Shrek Academy churns out idiots like you sometimes."
Hearing the boy's words, the Death God Envoy's face twisted. But when he saw the two white soul rings gently pulsing around the boy, he froze in disbelief.
"A… Grandmaster?!" The Death God Envoy gasped, his skeletal face exposed as the cloak had been blown off in his escape. His skin barely clung to his skull, and his eerie green eyes radiated pure shock.
How could he not be shocked? Why would a Grandmaster dare block the path of a Soul King? Was this kid some kind of honey badger, attacking anything in sight?
Also, who had launched that earlier attack? Was there a hidden expert nearby?
Nervously, the Death God Envoy scanned the surroundings again but found nothing out of the ordinary.
The boy's hands suddenly glowed with an icy blue light, freezing the two struggling chickens into ice sculptures, which he then tossed aside.
"Every evil soul master is a great existence. I am the Death God's emissary, the Death God Envoy. You may be young, but you dare act presumptuous before me?" The Death God Envoy, unsure of the boy's true strength, refrained from attacking and tried instead to intimidate him.
Besides, a Title Douluo was still pursuing him, and all he wanted now was to escape, not get tangled up with this boy.
The black-clad boy smiled faintly, slowly walking toward him. Despite appearing to only be a Grandmaster, the Death God Envoy felt a chilling sense of mortal danger from him.
"You—don't come any closer! I'll kill him if you do!" The Death God Envoy pulled out a black, sinister-looking dagger, holding it to Dai Yueheng's neck.
Suddenly, the boy's eyes emitted a burst of multicolored light. A moment later, the Death God Envoy's mind was pierced with excruciating pain, leaving him momentarily paralyzed.
When his senses returned, he realized to his horror that Dai Yueheng had lost his legs. The stumps, however, had been sealed with a thin layer of ice, preventing any further blood loss.
"You—you…!" The Death God Envoy stared dumbfounded at the scene, a deep terror creeping over him.
"Indeed, only someone as vile as the Death God Envoy would stoop so low, cutting off the legs of the White Tiger Duke's son. Truly despicable." The boy chuckled coldly.
"No! It wasn't me…! I didn't…"
Before the Death God Envoy could finish his protest, the boy flashed forward, and the next thing he knew, he was staring at the ground—up close.
"You're the first person on this continent to force me to use the twelfth layer of my Heavenly Net Technique. You can rest in peace now." The boy calmly spoke as he looked at the headless body before him, the severed head rolling on the ground.
And so, the strongest Soul King, the Death God Envoy, perished, just as fate decreed, at the hands of someone even more heaven-defying: Huo Yuhao.
The blood that flowed from the Death God Envoy's body wasn't red but black and reeked of rot. Wherever it spread, the surrounding vegetation withered instantly. Even his own body was full of deadly corpse poison.
Soon after, his entire body began to disintegrate, corroded by his own poisoned blood—proof of the terrifying lethality of the poison.
"Death God Envoy? What a joke. This corpse mage, who barely touched the fringes of necromancy, sacrificed his own flesh and blood and dares call himself the Death God's emissary? Death is about purification, not raising corpses. He didn't even have the potential to become a lich, yet he spouted such nonsense. Pathetic."
Huo Yuhao couldn't help but smile wryly as Elder Yi's muttering echoed in his spiritual sea. He poured the Death God Envoy's black, toxic blood over Dai Yueheng's severed legs, as well as the detached limbs.
The severed legs quickly dissolved into a puddle of black sludge, while the stumps of Dai Yueheng's legs were sealed once again in ice after being lightly corroded by the corpse poison.
After all, there was still a grand show to be staged!
After finishing his framing and setup, Huo Yuhao received a warning from Elder Yao in his spiritual sea.
"Yuhao, that chicken leg-loving guy is on his way!"