The Professional Rankings, in twelve volumes, each bearing the name of my lord.

Ma Feng saw that Yuwen Hao had been stabbed through the shoulder by his own knife, but he didn't react at all.

A strange eye symbol also appeared on its forehead.

I felt even more frightened, and my back felt a little cold.

Very uneasy.

"What kind of skill is that?"

Yuwen Hao's expression suddenly turned sinister, his lips twisted as if he were speaking to Ma Feng, but his kiss was strange.

"Without my protection, you'd be a corpse by now. How about it? Do you need my help?"

Yuwen Hao's expression instantly returned to normal.

The wound in his chest caused him pain, but he gritted his teeth and said, "It doesn't matter if I die, but... I must avenge Old Song! Make your move!"

Yuwen Hao's expression turned sinister again.

"Oh? I want you to beg me."

"Stop playing!"

"No, you have to beg me. It's your fault for not letting me out before!"

"asshole!"

"You're insulting me? Then I'm not going to bother with you anymore."

Seeing that Yuwen Hao was acting like a lunatic, sometimes with a crooked mouth like a dragon king, sometimes with a face full of pain, Ma Feng cursed loudly.

"Are you kidding me?! You're insane! Go to hell!"

Ma Feng drew his katana and swung it down again.

"when!"

A black scale appeared in Yuwen Hao's hands at some unknown time.

The scales blocked the katana.

Yuwen Hao raised half of his eyes and stared at Ma Feng.

"Trash, don't get in my way with your fruit knife."

Ma Feng felt that Yuwen Hao's contempt for him ran deep.

He wasn't just feigning contempt; he genuinely despised me, as if he were standing on some higher place, looking down on me.

But he was clearly kneeling on the ground, with blood gushing from his shoulder.

Ma Feng had always wanted to prove that he was the number one genius in Yunshan City, so he couldn't stand such contemptuous looks.

"You loser, you dare look down on me?! Die!"

Ma Feng unleashed his ultimate move.

S-rank warrior, Gale Swordsman, with a naturally rare skill – Gale Breath Slash!

However, this move failed to be successfully executed.

Yuwen Hao stood up, seemingly unconcerned about his bleeding body. He raised the scales in his hand and made strange noises.

He only said two words, but the rhythm and intonation were very rich, like some kind of incantation.

"balanced--"

In an instant, all around became dark.

Streams of dark, twisted light flowed from Yuwen Hao's body, like tentacles, piercing into Ma Feng's body.

The light stream surged, swayed, stretched, and expanded continuously...

Ma Feng was terrified by Yuwen Hao's bloodshot eyes.

He seemed to have seen a demon!

He wanted to run away.

However, these black streams of light bound him, rendering him unable to move.

Ma Feng noticed that his information panel had popped up automatically.

"Beep beep beep..."

"W-what's going on... Why are my attributes decreasing? My level, my talent effects, they're all decreasing... And why are there archer-series talents and skills now?!"

The black light stream stopped flowing for a while.

The surrounding darkness gradually gave way to light.

Yuwen Hao held the black scales in his hands, sneered, and took a step forward.

"Now that our strengths are even, let's have a fair fight."

"What?!"

Yuwen Hao made his move, his agility far exceeding what his equipment quality could provide.

Ma Feng sensed the surging killing intent in Yuwen Hao's eyes.

His survival instinct kicked in, and he immediately fought back.

Unexpectedly, in a single exchange, Yuwen Hao easily snatched Ma Feng's katana.

"Your stamina isn't what it used to be, old comrade."

Ma Feng suddenly went from being eighteen to forty-three years old, and his physical condition couldn't keep up with this change.

Even with equal combat strength, his physical attributes were inferior, so he was naturally no match for Yuwen Hao.

Although Yuwen Hao was injured, strangely, he seemed not to feel any pain, and it did not affect his movements at all.

"goodbye."

Yuwen Hao swept across with a single sword strike.

Ma Feng's head fell to the ground.

Upon witnessing this scene, Song Gua's mouth dropped open in astonishment.

"Is that blond guy?"

The clones gave their opinions.

"Anyone can tell he's not normal."

"Based on the setting of a certain comic, he may be possessed now."

"An evil spirit is using Yuwen Hao's body."

"This evil soul must be residing in that black scale."

"This scale seems to be able to bring my combat strength and the enemy's to the same level; it's too overpowered!"

"I want..."

"What exactly is this thing? Checking the information didn't bring up a panel, so it doesn't seem to be a professional's supplies."

The clone that was slashed by Ma Feng has been retrieved by Song Gua.

Now that the Black Scales have appeared, the Song Hexagram certainly cannot be missed.

Not to mention that this thing is worth eight million.

Furthermore, his best friend was still bleeding, and he couldn't let him continue in this bizarre state.

Song Gua retreated to the depths of the bamboo forest and sent a clone to approach Yuwen Hao.

After killing Ma Feng, Yuwen Hao's expression remained unchanged.

He raised the black scales and aimed them at Ma Feng.

A dark shadow flew out of Ma Feng's corpse and was sucked into Tianping.

"Ah...that was exhilarating...it's been so many years since I've tasted the soul again. My soul power has finally recovered somewhat."

Song Gua cleaved through a bamboo stalk with a single stroke and stepped out, demanding, "Who are you?"

This clone is a warrior who uses a knife as his weapon.

Upon hearing Song Gua's voice, Yuwen Hao's expression instantly returned to normal.

"Old Song? You're not dead?"

"Of course I'm fine. I was just pretending to be dead, just acting silly."

"Ma Feng? Ah! How could Ma Feng be dead!"

Yuwen Hao was very surprised to see Ma Feng's headless corpse.

Yuwen Hao's expression turned wicked and arrogant again.

"You killed him."

"It wasn't me...it was you!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, you were just yelling about revenge, and now you're blaming me? You humans are really good at shirking responsibility."

"You...you, why are you able to talk to me so freely?"

"Hehe, what do you think? This body of yours will also belong to the original owner, although it's not very useful."

"No, you damned undead!"

"No, you will be a ghost once we leave this place. I am Yuwen Hao."

Song Gua stood aside, completely unaware of what was going on.

"What's going on? Yuwen Hao, where did you find this thing?"

Yuwen Hao's expression remained completely sinister.

"Song Gua, you should worry more about yourself. I've heard you're quite capable."

"Hmm... After absorbing your soul power, my true form should recover a significant portion, making it much easier to move around once I get out."

Yuwen Hao held the black balance scale in his hand and aligned the eye symbol at the bottom with the Song hexagram.

"balanced--"

It's that trick again.

The clone Song Gua was hit, and a stream of black light formed between the two.

"Heh, so what if you're a higher level than me, or have better equipment? Before the Dark Sky, everyone is equal! Hmm?"

Yuwen Hao raised an eyebrow and saw another Song Gua emerge from the bamboo grove beside him.

"How..."

The one who came out was an unemployed individual's clone.

He picked up the Soul-Devouring Pearl that had fallen to the ground.

"I wonder if there's still room for this thing?"

After saying that, he activated the Soul-Devouring Pearl and aimed it at Yuwen Hao.

【Name: Soul-Devouring Bead】

[Type: Consumable]

[Quality: Legendary (Gold)]

[Durability: 100%]

【Effect: Consumes 5 years of lifespan to activate. Aims at the target and shines a soul-devouring beam. The beam lasts for (target level/2) seconds, after which the target's soul is sealed within the Soul-Devouring Orb.

During this period, the Soul-Devouring Bead cannot be moved.

Note that the Soul-Devouring Orb has limited space; exceeding the limit will reduce its durability and release previously sealed souls. The durability of consumables cannot be restored.