Chapter 105: Hu Liena's Motive

[T/N: This is a Christmas Bonus chapter, ENJOY~🎁🎄 Merry Christmas🎄🎁 guys]

"Charge! Break through their encirclement!"

With a furious roar from Blood Bat, the remaining evil soul masters echoed his cry, rushing in all directions in a desperate attempt to break through the encirclement.

Like the other black-robed and blood-robed evil soul masters, Lawrence also dashed towards the perimeter, protected by several knights as he followed the others. However, unlike his previous pretense before Lin Ye and the others, this time, he revealed the true strength of his knights. Shockingly, they were all Soul Kings!

Summoning their martial souls or entering their Spirit Possession states, these Soul King knights immediately formed a tight guard around Lawrence.

These knights, however, were not evil soul masters but ordinary soul masters under Lawrence's control. His martial soul was a mutated Spirit of the Body-type: Phantom Mask.

The first soul skill, Mask of Transformation, allowed him to alter someone's appearance.

The second soul skill, Mask of Control, enabled him to manipulate others, provided they were weaker than him; stronger individuals could resist.

The third soul skill, Mask of Mimicry, allowed him to replicate another's strength temporarily.

At first glance, these abilities might not seem inherently evil. However, as an evil soul master, Lawrence's Phantom Mask concealed its true darkness:

The Mask of Transformation required him to devour a person's face using his martial soul to grant that face to another.

The Mask of Control necessitated implanting a stolen face onto the target to dominate them.

The Mask of Mimicry, too, required him to devour a soul master's face before temporarily assuming their identity and power.

These abilities came with limitations:

1. He could only devour soul masters two ranks below him, capped at the Soul King level.

2. Each face could only be used once, unlike the reusability of the other masks.

But then, how could Lawrence control multiple Soul Kings as a mere Soul Elder? The answer was clear—other evil soul masters had intervened. These knights' stiff movements revealed the truth: their souls and consciousness had been destroyed, leaving them as puppets entirely under Lawrence's command.

Even with his trump cards revealed, Lawrence and the evil soul masters still couldn't break through the encirclement. Facing twenty Soul Emperors, their numbers—including Lawrence's knights—were far too few to escape.

Meanwhile, Blood Bat, who had attempted to take flight, was intercepted mid-air. The Earth Armor Boar Soul Saint forced him back to the ground, while the Black Demon Hawk Soul Saint swooped down, pinning him in a relentless aerial battle. Despite his martial soul's unique regenerative properties, sustained through devoured vitality, Blood Bat was struggling. Without this reserve of life force, he would have fallen already.

On the ground, countless evil soul masters tried to escape but were ruthlessly cut down by the Soul Emperors.

Now, only a handful remained within the encirclement: Lawrence, Eveley, three puppet knights, and two blood-robed evil soul masters drenched in their own blood.

"Curse it! There's no way out!"

Gritting his teeth, Lawrence glanced at the nearby Eveley, who still hadn't summoned her martial soul.

"Not yet!" he muttered to himself. "This isn't the end. We can still endure… We still have a chance!"

With determination, Lawrence had the stiff-faced knights shield him again while subtly moving closer to Eveley.

---

Above the battlefield, Blood Bat let out an enraged shriek as he dodged another attack from the Earth Armor Boar Soul Saint.

"Despicable! Does the Spirit Hall only know how to rely on numbers to overwhelm others?"

"Hmph! Against evil soul masters, I've already said—fairness is irrelevant!"

The Black Demon Hawk Soul Saint sneered coldly. Seizing a moment when Blood Bat evaded an attack, he swooped past, leaving a deep gash across Blood Bat's body.

"If you can't hold on, surrender! Return with us to the Spirit Hall for judgment. Cooperate, and you might earn the chance to live," rumbled the Earth Armor Boar Soul Saint.

"Live? You mean get sent to the City of Slaughter? That's no different from death!"

Blood Bat laughed coldly, his tone venomous.

"Forget it! I, Blood Bat, will never surrender!"

With a roar, he activated his martial soul again, channeling the vitality stored within to heal his wounds. However, the regeneration was noticeably slower than before.

---

Not far from the encirclement, hidden within the forest…

Lin Ye observed the chaotic scene. He frowned slightly and turned to Hu Liena. "You clearly have the power to finish them off. Why hold back?"

"Have you forgotten what you told me?" Hu Liena replied, glancing at him.

"What I told you? Is it about that evil soul master called Blood Infant?" Lin Ye asked after some thought.

"Exactly," Hu Liena nodded. "The one called Blood Infant is cunning and dangerous. His martial soul, just like his name, is the Blood Infant, an extremely vile martial soul that grows stronger by absorbing fresh blood—especially infant blood."

"Years ago, when he was just a teenager, he massacred an entire village of infants, prompting our Spirit Hall to issue a warrant for his arrest."

"However, we've never managed to kill him. In recent years, we've discovered that his martial soul… is evolving!" Hu Liena's tone grew heavy.

"Evolving?" Lin Ye was taken aback.

Even the surrounding mercenaries of the Wild Bear Soul Hunting Team were startled. Could martial souls really evolve?

"Can martial souls change?" Lin Ye asked.

"Martial souls aren't static; they can evolve, though it's rare. This phenomenon is known as martial soul evolution," Hu Liena explained.

"For instance, the most powerful auxiliary sect on the Douluo Continent, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, once witnessed a martial soul evolve from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. Normally, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda caps at the Soul Sage level, but the Nine Treasure version can reach Title Douluo."

"Blood Infant's martial soul seems to be undergoing a similar evolution. Originally, it appeared as a blood-red infant with sharp fangs. But as an infant, it seems capable of maturing into an adult form—essentially a martial soul evolution. Given its innate strength, this would make him nearly unstoppable if he reaches the Title Douluo level."

"I've delayed killing these evil soul masters because I want to capture them alive—especially Blood Bat. If we can interrogate them using Spirit Hall's mental-type soul masters, we might extract crucial information. Right now, I'm waiting for the right moment to act."

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