Outside the Earth Dragon Mountain Range, after several days of travel, Guang Ling finally arrived at the location, leading the Angel Legion.
From the dense forest, a waiting Soul Sage—a bishop-level officer—stepped out and respectfully greeted the Glowing Feather Douluo with a deep bow.
"My lord, Elder Devil Bear is currently stationed in Earth Dragon Mountain City. Among those evil soul masters, there's indeed a Titled Douluo—one with nine soul rings. Elder Devil Bear has already fought them several times, but the matches have ended in stalemates."
"Based on his assessment, the opponent's cultivation is likely between Rank 92 and 94."
"They've now vanished into the mountains and are hiding somewhere. Our scouts dare not pursue them too deeply."
"You did the right thing. Leave the rest to me. Go inform Elder Devil Bear to remain stationed in the city and hold his ground."
Guang Ling nodded calmly. Given that the enemy party included a Titled Douluo, even he couldn't guarantee avoiding detection if he approached personally—let alone lower-ranked Soul Sages or Soul Emperors, who would be walking straight into a deathtrap.
"Understood."
The Soul Sage bowed again with clasped fists before turning and departing.
Guang Ling then looked at the dozen or so Angel Legion members accompanying him and gave instructions. "The four of you will handle the others. I'll deal with the Titled Douluo myself."
"Yes, sir."
"Then let's move."
He expanded his spiritual perception and led the group of Soul Sages deep into the mountain range.
Evil soul masters had a distinct signature: an instinctive aura of bloodlust and malice that clung to their bodies.
As long as they passed within the range of Guang Ling's spiritual detection, even if they'd already moved on, residual traces of that aura would linger—and he would sense it.
Perhaps the Titled Douluo among them had ways to mask this, but Soul Sages and Soul Douluos likely couldn't hide their presence perfectly.
Meanwhile, at the southern exit of the Earth Dragon Mountain Range, five figures moved swiftly through the terrain.
Each of them exuded a terrifyingly dense killing intent, with the leader's aura especially fearsome.
"Boss, why are we heading south instead of escaping north?"
One of the group voiced his confusion. It made no sense to him. They could've just followed the mountain range north to flee, but the boss insisted on heading into the south.
The southern region of the Earth Dragon Mountains led to a barren stretch of desert and rocky plains—empty, lifeless terrain. For killers like them, fresh out of the Slaughter City, the thought of such isolation was unbearable.
They were craving Bloody Marys—that signature soul concoction made from freshly drawn blood. That was the entire reason they'd escaped in the first place—to indulge freely.
But heading south into the wasteland? Where would they find prey?
Xiu Luo's blood-red pupils flared with murderous intent as he turned a chilling stare on the man who questioned him, his voice low and menacing.
"Are you questioning my judgment?"
The subordinate met his eyes and instantly felt cold all over. He quickly bowed his head. "I wouldn't dare."
"Hmph. You'd better not."
Xiu Luo sneered and then continued, "We failed to breach Earth Dragon Mountain City these past few days. The reinforcements from the Spirit Hall are bound to arrive. If we head north, we're more likely to be spotted by those damned Angel Legion troops."
At the mention of Spirit Hall, the eyes of the four evil soul masters behind him burned with hatred.
"Damn Spirit Hall! If not for them, there'd be no place on the continent we couldn't go."
"Exactly. Spirit Hall is the most oppressive organization in existence. Not only do they restrict our freedom as soul masters, but they hunt us down mercilessly."
"I just don't get it. All we did was kill a few filthy peasants, and they've been chasing us across the continent like rabid dogs. How are we supposed to survive?"
The four grumbled in frustration, their eyes filled with fury. If not for Spirit Hall's interference, some of them might already have broken through to the Titled Douluo rank and begun enjoying their reign of terror.
Listening to their complaints, Xiu Luo smirked coldly and said:
"The exit is just ahead. Once we're out of the Earth Dragon Mountains, we'll head east along the coast. When we reach Zhenchi City, we'll finally be free!"
"That remote little city has no powerful guardians. Once we get there, we can do whatever we want—Bloody Mary, all day long. Drink to your heart's content. Hahahaha!!"
"Hahaha!!"
The four burst into maniacal laughter, already picturing the blood-drenched banquet awaiting them—imagining the terrified faces of their victims as they died. Cruel, twisted smiles spread across each of their faces.
Back in the mountains, Guang Ling suddenly stopped and furrowed his brow.
"My lord, is something wrong?" asked the Angel Legion squad leader.
"Something's off."
Guang Ling crouched and pinched a bit of dark reddish soil from the ground between his fingers.
"Don't you see it?"
"We've been circling inside the mountain range. The evil soul masters have likely been using drops of blood infused with soul power to mislead us."
These droplets carried traces of their evil aura and had been deliberately placed to guide them northeast—occasionally even changing direction to throw them further off track.
The Earth Dragon Mountains were vast, and Guang Ling hadn't noticed the trick until now.
"We've fallen into their trap."
With that, Guang Ling soared into the sky, unleashing the full range of his Rank 96 soul power.
As expected, the evil aura stretched intermittently from within the mountain range all the way to the eastern banks of the Dragonblood River—then twisted around in an eerie arc, returning to its starting point.
But faint traces of killing intent veered off toward the south—clearly concealed on purpose.
Even for Guang Ling, maintaining high-intensity spiritual output for long was taxing. He quickly retracted his power and landed back on the ground, his snow-like eyes faintly showing signs of fatigue.
"My lord, what now?" asked the squad leader. "Should we alert Elder Devil Bear?"
Guang Ling shook his head at once. He unfurled a map, tracing the mountain range downward with his finger.
"We can't risk this being a diversion. Elder Devil Bear must stay put. We pursue them south."
Meanwhile, outside the Earth Dragon Mountains, Xiu Luo also laid out a worn map.
His gaze shifted toward the two weakest among the five—Zara and Soba. Their soul powers were at Rank 73 and 74, respectively, and the killing aura around them was too intense to mask.
"Zara, Soba, I've got a very... important task for you two."
The two exchanged a glance. They understood. Their boss was sending them on a suicide mission. Though angry, they didn't dare protest—any hint of defiance, and they'd be dead on the spot.
Zara's face twitched slightly. "Boss, what's the task?"
Xiu Luo saw through their thoughts but didn't care. Whether they followed orders or not, his goal would be achieved.
He pointed to the southern plains just outside the Earth Dragon Mountain Range.
"This is where we are now."
Then he slid his finger northwest. "You two are to cross this plain and head to the Drak Mountains. Don't bother concealing your aura. Once there, circle south toward the Sasa Hills. After you pass through them, head east along the coastline."
"We'll split into two groups and regroup at Zhenchi City."
~~~
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