Chapter 48: Martial Soul Mimicry and the Unfortunate Wuyun

"Oi, I've been this awesome since I was a kid. What's the problem?"

Mask Douluo grinned wickedly, his black robe billowing.

"Boom!"

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black!

Nine dazzling soul rings lit up, and the pressure belonging to a Title Douluo instantly bent the knees of those before him, forcing their martial souls out.

The strongest among them was the old man, a Soul Sage. The two middle-aged soul masters were at the Soul Emperor level, while the younger ones were all four-ring Soul Ancestors.

"Title Douluo!"

They were all shocked, hurriedly stepping back, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Mask Douluo.

The Soul Emperor who had just been shouting at him was now filled with regret and terror.

Had he been too loud just now?

Seeing their miserable expressions, Mask Douluo let out a sinister chuckle.

Before he even spoke, he had already used his spiritual power to assess their cultivation levels. The strongest was just an old Soul Sage with declining vitality—nothing to worry about.

Mask Douluo never fought unprepared battles.

In all his years roaming the world, he had relied on overpowering the weak and bullying the small.

"Oh~ Honorable Your Excellency, I do not know how we have offended you, but if you could enlighten us, we will certainly make amends," said another Soul Emperor, dressed in fine robes, stepping forward respectfully.

"Hehehe, you took my resting spot."

"Oh~ that is truly unfortunate. We shall leave immediately and vacate the area for you."

As he spoke, the Soul Emperor gestured for the others to pack up.

"Wait, you can't take these tents with you."

Mask Douluo pointed at three tents and said darkly.

These three tents belonged to him, the Holy Son, and Elder Zhang—perfect, no more, no less.

"But these are ours..."

The Soul Emperor hesitated.

"Does your name happen to be written on them?"

Mask Douluo asked indifferently.

"Actually, they do have our Qianling Academy's name on them..."

Mask Douluo walked over, looking at the three tents with confusion.

"And why, exactly, did you write your academy's name on my tents?"

"..."

The group was speechless, unsure how to respond.

"Oh~ how disgraceful! Apologies, Honored Your Excellency, we truly did not know these were yours. We will leave immediately."

The Soul Emperor's face darkened, but he forced a smile and spoke respectfully.

"Hehehe, if you keep talking to me in that tone, I swear I'll use my big black boots to kick your ass!"

The Soul Emperor's face tensed, and he no longer dared to argue, quickly leading the others away.

"Wait a moment—did I say you could leave?"

Mask Douluo's voice rang out again.

The group halted mid-step, looking uneasy.

"Your Excellency, didn't you say we could leave? You are a Title Douluo, surely you wouldn't bully those weaker than you?"

"When did I say you could leave? And besides, I never had much of a moral compass to begin with, so what if I did say it?"

"You..."

"Enough, Elder Yue," a calm voice sounded from behind.

Jiang Jue stepped forward.

Mask Douluo might have been lacking in intelligence, but at least he was self-aware.

Hearing this, Mask Douluo immediately ran over to Jiang Jue, reporting his 'victory' with enthusiasm.

"Let them stay and keep watch for us tonight," Jiang Jue said lightly.

Mask Douluo's pupils contracted, then quickly responded,

"As expected of the Holy Son, you're brilliant!"

He turned back toward the others.

"You lot, come here. Come on."

"Our Holy Son is merciful. He couldn't bear to see you wandering around in this freezing cold."

"And it's nighttime—it's not safe. So why don't you stay and help guard our camp?"

The group wanted to protest, but as soon as Mask Douluo released his pressure again, they fell silent.

Jiang Jue walked over, his gaze falling on a delicate-looking young girl.

However, he wasn't interested in her, but rather the massive ice-blue bear standing beside her.

Through his senses, Jiang Jue realized this bear wasn't a soul beast, but a martial soul.

An external martial soul?

This reminded him of a certain "great master" from ten thousand years ago.

But Jiang Jue felt that the girl before him wasn't born with an external martial soul.

"What's your name?"

Jiang Jue asked softly.

The girl looked at the boy in front of her—who appeared even younger than she was—but felt a deep sense of nervousness.

After all, she had just seen a Title Douluo treat this youth with absolute respect.

"I... I'm An Lengye," she replied, a little flustered.

Jiang Jue's eyes narrowed slightly. He remembered now.

She had participated in the first All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament as a member of Qianling Academy.

An Lengye's martial soul ability was called Martial Soul Mimicry.

This meant that if a soul master obtained their first soul ring from a soul beast that had the same form as their martial soul, they could develop this mimicry ability.

Unlike regular beast martial soul users—who integrated their martial soul to enhance their own body—martial soul mimicry allowed the user to control an external manifestation of their martial soul in battle.

While it reduced the physical strain on the user, it also made them fragile due to the lack of direct martial soul enhancement.

A double-edged sword, in other words.

Jiang Jue lost interest quickly.

He took out a soul tool tent and set it up, then turned to Zhang Peng and Mask Douluo.

"I'm heading in to rest."

Over the past month, he had been in a constant state of high alert. It was time to relax.

"You guys keep up the good work. Don't slack off, or else... hehehe."

Mask Douluo threw out another creepy warning.

"Mask, stay outside with them. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep soundly," Zhang Peng suddenly said, his tone firm.

Mask Douluo's face stiffened.

Damn, he had celebrated too soon.

Though reluctant, he had no choice but to comply.

"Alright, Elder Zhang, sleep well. Sleep really well!"

Zhang Peng gave a slight nod and entered one of the three tents.

"Sigh, what a miserable life I lead."

Mask Douluo muttered bitterly, plopping down onto the ground and gnawing on a steamed bun.

"Ahhhh!"

"Ahhhh!"

"Lord Sect Master, I swear I'm telling the truth! Please stop shocking me… ahhhh!"

Inside the Holy Spirit Church headquarters.

Wuyun was tied to a chair, his entire body smoking from repeated electric shocks, his face filled with terror.

After being sent flying by Ice Empress, he hadn't died—just suffered severe injuries.

When he finally got back up, Jiang Jue and the others were gone.

Based on his judgment, they had likely been killed by Ice Empress, so he returned to the Holy Spirit Church first.

However, upon hearing that Jiang Jue might be dead, Zhongli Wu immediately seized Wuyun and threw him into an interrogation chamber.

He cast a powerful Memory Recall Technique, forcing Wuyun to recall every detail of Jiang Jue's supposed death.

At the same time, Zhongli Wu dispatched a search party to the Extreme North.

"If they still can't find him, I will personally go to the Extreme North."

"Ice Empress… Hmph! Just a little scorpion. If you really killed my disciple, then I'll wipe out your entire Ice Jade Scorpion clan!"

Zhongli Wu's eyes gleamed blood-red with cruelty.