Chapter 1: Soul Pearl (Part 1)

The family that recruited Hu Zhihui was unaware that Guo Shier was the master who had defeated Jin Daya and Jin Longqing, which was why Hu Zhihui was so confident. If they had known Guo Shier had the strength to chase after Jin Daya and Jin Longqing, they would surely have tried to avoid him instead of charging straight at him as they did now.

Guo Shier happily drove his altar forward for the collision. Ever since he defeated Jin Daya, he had become obsessed with this combat tactic. After all, his altar was exceptionally sturdy, and the old man was always there to repair it, so he didn’t need to worry even if it got damaged. With that in mind, why not go all out with a massive collision?

Hu Zhihui charged over with fierce momentum. He had thought Guo Shier would dodge, but to his surprise, the other guy was even faster. That attitude made him feel slightly uneasy—he couldn’t figure out what the opponent was up to.

Both of them moved at incredible speeds. In the blink of an eye, Hu Zhihui was too late to avoid the collision. In a hurry, he activated his altar’s defense, but it was only a basic level—there was no time to activate the advanced defenses—before the two collided head-on.

A blinding flash of light suddenly appeared in the dark night sky, illuminating the ground completely. With a loud explosion, both altars were sent flying.

Hu Zhihui cursed loudly. He never expected the other party to dare use an altar collision. He was a wandering professional who had traveled through countless hidden realms on the continent. When tired, he would join a stronger family as a guest elder before setting off on another journey. For him, killing humans or monsters was nothing unusual, and he had vast combat experience. Yet this time, he suffered a heavy loss—his altar was covered in tiny cracks.

“Damn you, bastard… There’s no such combat tactic as yours…”

Guo Shier didn’t even respond. He stabilized his altar slightly and charged again, scaring Hu Zhihui into turning and running, cursing, “Madman! You damn crazy madman!”

Not only Hu Zhihui but even Luo Zhan, who was sitting on Guo Shier’s altar, was terrified to the point of sweating profusely. Guo Shier laughed loudly, “Correct! Try again!” and charged recklessly.

Hu Zhihui had never thought about fighting to the death for the Gujin Family—it wasn’t worth it. He was just a guest elder, not the true ancestor of the Gujin Family. Even if he were the true ancestor, he wouldn’t fight so desperately. Come on, risking destroying his altar just for the win of a battle? He wasn’t that stupid.

Just as Guo Shier’s altar was about to collide with him, Hu Zhihui teleported away, shouting, “I won’t fight a madman!” He vaguely realized that Guo Shier wasn’t an ordinary expert with a two-layer altar. In this world, although few professionals dared to challenge those above their rank, if such a person did appear, their strength would be astonishing.

Guo Shier watched Hu Zhihui teleport away several times, disappearing into the darkness. After a while, he burst into laughter. Luo Zhan shook his head and said with a wry smile, “Shier, that guy ran away… He was scared away by you.”

The handsome old man poked his head out and said, “A smart guy wouldn’t run… Only an idiot would.”

Guo Shier stopped laughing and said, “There’s an old saying in my hometown: The soft fear the hard, the hard fear the ruthless, and the ruthless fear those who dare to die… Hehe, let him see what it means to be fearless!”

Luo Zhan wondered inwardly: Your hometown is my hometown too—why haven’t I heard these sayings? He had no idea that these were words from Guo Shier’s past life.

The handsome old man stroked his chin and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Hmm, makes sense. Not bad. Hehe, you’ve completed your task. Now… you need to complete a task for me—no, actually, for yourself.”

Guo Shier asked, “What task?”

The handsome old man flew into anger and cursed, “You fool! You don’t even know your own business and still need me to remind you! You… you idiot! You’re careless and clueless! Whatever… If you can’t remember, I don’t care! Damn it, you’re not in a hurry… I sure am not!”

Luo Zhan sat behind Guo Shier, laughing heartily. Not only him, but also Eagle Demon and Nan You enjoyed hearing the handsome old man scold Guo Shier—they all loved seeing Guo Shier get humiliated.

Guo Shier suddenly snapped out of it. He slapped the top of the altar, and the handsome old man was sucked into it and vanished instantly. In the blink of an eye, the handsome old man reappeared, “Bastard… You…” Guo Shier slapped the altar again, and the old man disappeared once more. This time, it took about ten seconds before he reappeared.

The handsome old man stopped cursing. He knew that if he continued, he’d be sucked back into the altar. He said, “Sigh, what a miserable fate. Alright, alright, hurry up and complete your own task. I’m in a hurry.”

Guo Shier smiled and said, “Don’t worry. It just started, and no one’s been hurt yet.” He sat steadily on the altar, waiting quietly.

Due to Hu Zhihui’s unexpected withdrawal, the top experts of the Gujin family became somewhat panicked. Fortunately, Guo Shier continued his offensive efforts. The army of professionals from the Gujin family charged forward and quickly got involved in a fierce battle with the professionals from the Gunan family.

Since Hu Zhihui failed to break through the defensive talisman array of the Gunan family, the attacking side suffered heavy losses. But at this point, they could no longer stop; they had to press on under pressure, otherwise they would face a complete defeat.

Nan Xiong, the commander here, kept watching the defensive talisman array anxiously. When the professionals from the Gujin family reached the main array, it remained intact. He exclaimed in joy, “Send orders to launch remote attacks immediately!”

Countless spear-like objects were shot out, tracing arcs in the air before plunging downward swiftly. The professionals from the Gujin family shouted in panic as talismanic lights flashed on their bodies as they raised their talisman shields, yet fear was evident on everyone’s face.

With an explosion, followed by numerous more blasts, Guo Shier, high in the air, exclaimed in amazement, “This thing is amazing… Its power is so great!” These spear-like talisman weapons could explode upon contact with a target. He had seen them before, back in the Secret Realm, but those spears were far less powerful compared to these ones.

A deluge of spears descended. Such remote, bomb-like attacks were quite common here. Since the Gunan family had a defensive talisman array while the other side did not, the professionals from the Gujin family suffered greatly. A single professional might be able to withstand one or two attacks using their armor or runes, but against such a relentless barrage of spears, they quickly lost their defense.

The commander of the Gujin family issued the order to attack. If this bombardment continued, the professionals would surely collapse. So far, the casualties weren’t severe—most were injured, with only a few weaker ones killed, mostly junior masters or a few martial-talismanists mixed in the ranks.

The army of the Gujin family charged at the talisman array, and the professionals began frantically attacking it in an attempt to break through the defense. Meanwhile, the professionals from the Gunan family pushed forward, and the two sides finally clashed. In an instant, blood flew everywhere. This was far more brutal than remote attacks.

As the two armies began to fight fiercely, the clan leaders and elders in the sky stopped fighting and retreated to their respective camps. These were elite fighters who needed to return to their own sides to help hold back the enemy forces. Only Guo Shier remained firmly in place high in the sky, though he still did not intervene.

Guo Shier understood that he absolutely could not act—someone from the other side was constantly watching him. It was an unspoken agreement among the elite: top professionals should not kill ordinary disciples. He was well aware that if he took action, this agreement would be broken, and then the other side would also start attacking ordinary disciples—a outcome no one wanted to see.

As the number of deaths increased, Guo Shier could sense those souls beginning to dissipate in the air. More and more souls floated out from the corpses, turning into wisps of green smoke that gradually vanished.

The old man stared down for a moment before gently tapping the altar. Countless tentacles stretched out. These tentacles were very different from before—there were only about a thousand of them. Each one had been carefully crafted by the old man; they were as thin as fingers and almost transparent, with only faint shadows visible upon close inspection.

Guo Shier exclaimed in surprise, “Hey, this feels… very different…”

The old man grinned and said, “I refined them anew… Hehe, it’s night now—perfect opportunity, an excellent chance!” He cast hundreds of spells in quick succession and shouted, “Come on, my treasures!” The tentacles stretched rapidly downward.

Guo Shier couldn’t help but want to lower the altar. As soon as he moved it, the old man noticed. He said in a deep voice, “Young man, no need. Stay right where you are. We don’t need to get closer.”

The tentacles, originally as thick as fingers, grew thinner and thinner until they were as fine as hair strands. They hung just under five meters above the battlefield, beginning to collect the souls of the dead.

The old man asked, “Do you know why few people collect the souls of professionals?”

Guo Shier replied, “Why?”

The old man said, “There are two reasons.” He raised a finger and said, “First, it’s a taboo among professionals. Collecting the souls of the dead easily angers most professionals.”

Guo Shier asked puzzledly, “Then why do you still want to collect them?”

The handsome old man ignored him and continued, “Second, even if one manages to collect the souls of professionals, the vast majority of them… well, out of a thousand people, nine hundred and ninety-nine professionals probably don’t know how to use them. Only a very small number, through special inheritance, know how to utilize them. Among them, the Black Sigil People are the best at using them—their unique soul flames can remove harmful elements from souls.”

Thousands of extremely thin tentacles swept back and forth above the crowd, devouring numerous souls with their spirit-catching tendrils. The professionals fighting on the ground fought desperately, none of them realizing that spirit-catching tendrils existed just under five meters above them. Guo Shier silently sensed everything, as he was the master of the altar. He could clearly detect every move made by the handsome old man, including the influx of souls into the body of Gu Xi Bi, only to be drawn away by the handsome old man.

Luo Zhan asked in confusion, “They’re all professionals. Why don’t they fly up…?”

The handsome old man replied, “Fly? Who dares to fly? Flying makes one a target; it’s seeking death. Hehe, in such situations, only experts above the Virtual Form Altar dare to fly, and even then, they must fly high. Others shouldn’t even think about it. Whether it’s a Saint or a Great Saint, once they fly out of the crowd, they’re doomed!”

Guo Shier noticed that the handsome old man didn’t distinguish between friends and enemies—any soul that drifted out was swept away by the spirit-catching tendrils. He couldn’t help but sigh bitterly, but he didn’t stop it. Since the souls disappeared into the air, it was pointless not to use them. In this regard, he shared the same selfishness as the handsome old man.

Eagle Demon said, “With this strategy, the Gu Jin family is at a huge disadvantage. Their attacks fail, and they can only make up for it with lives.”

Guo Shier nodded and said, “Defense talismans are extremely important. If they’re broken, both sides will be evenly matched. Hehe, right now… thanks to the defense talismans, the professionals of the Gu Nan family can retreat to the main formation and send in new members whenever they feel overwhelmed, while the Gu Jin family can only fight head-on, suffering heavy losses…”

The handsome old man said, “The number of deaths isn’t that high—just over a thousand, most of them injured. Well, those fighting are all low-level fighters; few saints or above have stepped in… A pity.”

At that moment, the hunting vehicles of both sides began attacking each other. Guo Shier said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, Nan You, don’t let the hunting vehicles get close to us. Within a 300-meter radius, shoot down anyone who enters.”

Eagle Demon asked, “If it’s a hunting vehicle from the Gu Nan family that gets close… should we shoot it down too?”