Lu Mingfei starts from Douluo.

"Hey, what do you think we'll do if that madman really comes?" Deacon Lin suddenly sighed.

"Whether he comes or not, I will stick to my post and let everyone know that faith will not waver because of fear!" Deacon Xiao said with a righteous expression.

"Well done." Deacon Lin clapped his hands.

"Alright, you're making me blush. No need for applause." Deacon Xiao scratched the back of his head. It was only because it was the two of them on duty that night that he felt embarrassed to say such a thing in broad daylight.

"What clapping?" Deacon Lin patted his chest, almost choking on a mouthful of corn on the cob: "I'm having a midnight snack."

Who is that?

The two suddenly awoke and saw a figure shrouded in black robes standing at the door. The next moment, a vast and powerful soul force erupted.

Nine soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, and red—suddenly lit up, bathing the entire city in a red glow.

"Destroy!"

A dark shadow rose into the air, and a giant hammer, tens of meters long, suddenly slammed down.

"Tang Hao, you're asking for death!"

A soul skill with golden petals rushed towards the Clear Sky Hammer. Tang Hao merely snorted and quickly changed the trajectory of the Clear Sky Hammer. The two bursts of soul power created an astonishing explosion, instantly reducing more than half of the church to ruins.

"Tang Hao, how dare you attack our branch hall so recklessly? Aren't you afraid of death?!" Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo's figures fell from the sky.

Tang Hao's face, hidden beneath his black robe, twitched slightly: "A mere chrysanthemum, a little brat, dare to be so insolent in front of me!"

"Damn it." Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo clenched their fists, but they really couldn't say anything tough in front of Tang Hao, after all, the Pope who took office six years ago was beaten to a pulp in front of them.

"Don't think you can continue to be arrogant. Your rampage and destruction of the Martial Soul Branch Hall has angered the Grand Elder. Today is your death day!"

"Hahahaha." Tang Hao burst into laughter, "You think you can get away six years ago? Today I'll pay for that blood debt!"

"Do you think we're still the same people we were six years ago? The bipolar stillness zone!"

Chrysanthemum Demon Douluo's body was engulfed in golden and silver flames, and in an instant, a huge halo illuminated the entire city's sky.

Tang Hao's weathered face couldn't help but show a hint of surprise, because the moment the halo took off, he was completely unable to move.

"Let's do it!"

In an instant, more than a dozen figures leaped into the air, revealing sharp weapons and claws as they attacked Tang Hao's body.

"roll!"

A crimson domain instantly expanded from the Clear Sky Hammer, and the immense soul power instantly blasted away all the approaching figures. The Clear Sky Hammer instantly swelled to hundreds of meters, its entire body wrapped in scarlet lightning, and smashed directly down towards the huge halo in the sky!

"boom!"

The light faded, leaving only ruins as proof of the fierce battle that had taken place that night.

Three days later, in Wuhun City, at the Papal Palace.

"Your Majesty, we have failed to live up to your trust and allowed that scoundrel Tang Hao to escape." Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo knelt on one knee, his face pale.

"It's alright, it's good that the two elders have returned safely." Bibi Dong held her scepter and waved for Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo to stand up. "Tang Hao's strength was enough to severely injure the former Pope six years ago. The two elders don't need to blame themselves. I never planned to defeat him in one battle."

“But we have already lost seven branch halls. We finally managed to ambush Tang Hao, but we failed. Elder, we are probably to blame.” Ghost Douluo looked troubled.

"I have my own explanation for the Grand Elder." Bibi Dong lightly tapped her scepter: "I have read the battle report. After Tang Hao broke free from the Martial Soul Fusion Technique, he did not kill you all but took the opportunity to escape. Since that is the case, it means that he must have paid a certain price or even been seriously injured. He should not take any further action. The two elders are meritorious."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Chapter 14 Drawing the Sword and Stabbing

"Don't you two elders find it strange that Tang Hao has wreaked havoc on the continent this time?" Bibi Dong asked calmly.

Although four level-three main halls, two level-two sub-halls, and one level-one branch hall were destroyed, and over a hundred Spirit Hall deacons were killed or wounded, it was not a crippling blow to the Spirit Hall, but it was still a great loss of face.

Chrysanthemum Douluo frowned and said, "It is indeed very strange. Tang Hao has a blood feud with our Spirit Hall, so it is reasonable for him to take revenge. But how could someone of his status attack a Spirit Hall that doesn't even have a branch? Unless he really intends to eradicate all of our lower-level organizations. But he couldn't possibly not have anticipated that we would surround and ambush him. At that time, he is very likely to be caught like a turtle in a jar."

“In that case, his behavior is completely unreasonable. After all, if he really wanted to retaliate, he should have taken advantage of our unpreparedness to destroy the main halls in the two great empires and the branch halls in those important cities first.”

“That’s right. If Tang Hao’s comeback this time is really to start a full-scale war with us, then his first target would not be these small branch halls. His actions are tantamount to stirring up trouble. Rather than saying that he is hunting and creating panic, it is more accurate to say that he is concealing his real target.” Bibi Dong revealed a smile: “There must be something he is trying to hide in the attacked Martial Soul branch halls.”

"Your Majesty is wise!" Chrysanthemum Douluo's eyes lit up. If he remembered correctly, Tang Hao and that soul beast had a cub. How could someone with offspring do such a reckless and desperate act?

Unless he's paving the way for that bastard!

"Send people to investigate all the martial soul awakenings, soul master subsidy receipts, and new student admission files of all primary, intermediate, and advanced academies across the continent over the past three years. There isn't much of value in the grassroots branch halls, so the focus of the investigation should be on the areas attacked by Tang Hao and their subordinate areas. Any abnormalities should be reported to me."

"Furthermore, we cannot rule out the possibility that Tang Hao may continue to commit crimes in order to confuse the public. All the titled elders in the Elder Hall will continue to patrol the continent in groups of three." Bibi Dong waved her hand and issued the order, and in an instant, all the messengers in Wuhun City were mobilized.

-

Notting College, Back Hill

Lu Mingfei was practicing sword techniques, thrusting, while brandishing the iron bar. The end of the bar had been sharpened to an extremely sharp point, or rather, it should be called an iron awl.

He didn't go to the library for five days, devoting himself to practicing swordsmanship. The whole school was abuzz with the news that a work-study student was practicing swordsmanship with a fire poker, which quickly became a laughing stock in the new college.

However, since the college's top student is now also a work-study student, no one dares to make fun of him intentionally.

"Lu Mingfei, don't you feel ashamed to use something like this?" Xiao Wu and a group of her underlings stormed over to watch, clearly feeling that Lu Mingfei had embarrassed her.

That's true. Lu Mingfei's movements are all about thrusting and stabbing, which would make anyone who sees it feel ridiculous.

"There's nothing I can do, I really don't have any money." Lu Mingfei spread his hands. He actually felt a little embarrassed, but there was nothing he could do about the difficulties in the early stages of development. As long as it could help with Soul Hunting, Lu Mingfei could try his best to overcome it. After all, as long as he was strong enough in the future, he could be called a Sword Saint even with a wooden sword.

"You're not planning to use this to hunt soul beasts, are you?" Wang Sheng quickly realized Lu Mingfei's intention. But when hunting soul beasts together, there's the teacher's help. Is it really necessary to end the life of a soul beast with something like this?

"There's no other way. I don't feel safe fighting bare-handed. Anyway, I can't cultivate soul power right now, so I'll just practice casually." Lu Mingfei shrugged. He couldn't very well tell them that he planned to use this iron bar to kill a hundred-year-old soul beast single-handedly, could he?

"What's the use of this? Are you planning to use it as a toothpick for a soul beast?" Xiao Wu was even more disgusted when she heard this.

"It could also be barbecue skewers," Lu Mingfei said.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Wu burst out laughing, and Wang Sheng and the others couldn't help but laugh as well.

Lu Mingfei gave an awkward smile but didn't say anything.

He simply took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then sheathed his sword at his waist, took a half step forward with his right foot, and squatted down.

The laughter of Xiao Wu, Wang Sheng, and the others suddenly stopped because they could feel that Lu Mingfei's aura had suddenly become heavy, and the surrounding air seemed to suddenly become solemn.

Lu Mingfei drew his sword.

Only Xiao Wu caught a glimpse of a dark shadow and a flash of light out of the corner of her eye; the others only heard a terrifying howl in the wind.

In a third of a second, Lu Mingfei had already taken three steps forward. The tip of the iron cone pierced through a bamboo without any hesitation, but the bamboo was completely undamaged, without even the slightest tremor or crack.

At the same time, Lu Mingfei extinguished his golden eyes, pulled out the iron cone, swung it in a blood-vibration motion, and sheathed his sword.

Lu Mingfei, the Sword Saint of the Children's Palace, is a serialized story!

It captures the essence of the swift, unexpected, and deadly strike of the sword-drawing technique. Although it lacks power in its slashing motion, its thrusts target vital points, perfectly positioned to pierce the eyes and throat of a soul beast. After all, this is probably the only way to kill a soul beast with a broken iron bar.

The movements were extremely simple, but the shock they brought was indescribable. Even though Xiao Wu and the others didn't understand what swordsmanship was, such a fast attack was simply terrifying and... cool!

Especially the final move of Blood Shaking and Sheathing the Blade, made all the boys' hearts pound, and even Xiao Wu exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh my god."

Listening to the heavy breathing of the people behind him, Lu Mingfei was quite satisfied with his performance.

He had actually discovered that, to some extent, the Soul Masters of this world were quite fragile.

Especially in the early stages, not to mention weapon spirit masters, even beast spirit masters could be killed by a small dagger if they didn't have their spirit attached beforehand. In other words, during the development period of a spirit master, the role of weapons is still very prominent.

The same principle applies to spirit beasts. As long as they are not fully armored defensive spirit beasts, weapons can still inflict fatal damage on them.

What Lu Ming insisted on doing was to make the process more precise and faster, because in the world of martial arts, speed is the only way to win.

"Lu Mingfei, where did you learn this?" Xiao Wu asked excitedly, and everyone else gathered around.

"Our youth center," Lu Mingfei said casually with a laugh.

"I want to learn too! Teach us quickly!" Xiao Wu hurriedly found a similar bamboo pole on the ground.

"It's basically a thrust, just one simple movement. The key is speed and accuracy, as well as the burst of soul power," Lu Mingfei explained patiently.

Ultimately, it's just a simple action, nothing complicated. It's normal for kids to like these cool things, but they'll be disappointed once they try it themselves.

Sure enough, once the initial enthusiasm wore off, Xiao Wu immediately lost interest. Her movements lacked any real feeling, and she angrily threw down the bamboo pole and left.

Lu Mingfei watched the children's departing figures and smiled helplessly. These children were so carefree. Tomorrow was the last day of the school closure, and it was time for him to leave as well.

Chapter 15 Light Rain

As dawn broke, the sound of rain suddenly began to fall outside the window.

When Lu Mingfei woke up, he opened the window and stretched his hand out. The damp, cold air clung to his cheeks like spider silk, and everything in sight was a hazy blur.

It started raining, and Lu Mingfei was a little annoyed. Luckily, he had brought an umbrella and a raincoat, and the rain wasn't heavy; he figured it would stop soon.

Tang San, who had been meditating all night in the dormitory, also opened his eyes, but he only glanced at Lu Mingfei briefly before closing them again. As for the others, they were probably sleeping soundly because of the tranquility brought by the sound of rain. It was a rare day without classes, and they probably would forget about breakfast when they woke up.

Tang San watched as Lu Mingfei leisurely put on his raincoat, grabbed his umbrella, and even took the broken fire poker with him when he left. He secretly scoffed at him.

That kind of thing can't even be called a weapon; compared to our Tang Clan's hidden weapons, it's not even worthy of carrying our shoes.

Half a month into the new semester, his only two interactions with Lu Mingfei both ended in his humiliating defeat. Being suppressed by a six-year-old child, one can imagine his frustration.

More importantly, the opponent's eye martial soul completely countered his Tang Sect's ultimate techniques. He had considered whether to find a way to concoct poison to cripple the opponent's eyes and body, eliminating any future trouble.

Is it too cruel to poison a six-year-old child?

We should be grateful that he was spared.

After all, he is going to rebuild the Tang Sect in this world. If a family with an eye-shaped martial soul appears on the continent in the future, wouldn't that make his Tang Sect's unique skills inferior?

"Wait a little longer. The Purple Demon Eye has an even higher level and may not be inferior to the Eye Martial Soul. Moreover, my teacher is planning to take him and Xiao Wu as disciples. If he can become my help in the future, then I'll give him a chance to join the Tang Sect." Tang San's thoughts drifted far away. He also wanted to know what a grand scene it would be if, thousands of years later, the descendants of the Tang Sect could possess both the Eye Martial Soul and the Purple Demon Eye.

Lu Mingfei shivered. It was autumn, and the rain was quite chilly. There weren't many people in the cafeteria that morning, and even the kitchen helper seemed a bit listless.

Lu Mingfei ate a hearty meal in the cafeteria, weighed the remaining belongings in his pocket, walked to the back mountain, and took advantage of the drizzle to climb over the wall and disappear into the nameless alleys of Notting City.

Dry rations, tents, felt sheets, water bottles, ropes... Lu Mingfei quickly gathered the necessary items at the market.

"I made a mistake. I should have tricked the master into giving me a gift before leaving." Lu Mingfei muttered to himself, carrying a mountain of bags on his back, feeling that he had been taken advantage of for being too honest.

This world has such a wonderful thing as a storage soul tool. The master even gave Tang San twenty-four pieces of it. If he had known, he should have tricked one over last night to use, since he was going to run away anyway.

He always had some mischievous fantasies, but they remained just empty words. He still felt he should stay as far away from people like Master Tang San as possible.

Both of them have brain problems, especially Tang San, who has almost been brainwashed into becoming an idiot by the Grandmaster.

During his stay in the library, he actually found a handwritten theory that the master had deliberately left in the academy to fish for information. After taking one look, he determined that the content was basically all nonsense.

It's really hard to believe that a man in his fifties can come up with ten nonsensical sentences and still insist on calling himself a master. Lu Mingfei is truly impressed by his shamelessness.

-

"What time is it? Why hasn't Lu Mingfei come back yet?" Wang Sheng scratched his head, feeling a bit annoyed. Notting Academy has a strict dormitory management system, and dormitory supervisors check the rooms every night. Teacher Mo has already gone upstairs, but Lu Mingfei still hasn't returned tonight.

"He must have gone to the library again. He'll be back soon." Xiao Wu pouted. She wasn't surprised at all that Lu Mingfei was often nowhere to be seen all day.

Tang San frowned, though he vaguely guessed what was going on.

When Teacher Mo came to check the dormitories, he gave the work-study student dormitory a demerit in a bad mood and instructed the dormitory head, Wang Shengming, to take Lu Mingfei to the dormitory manager's office on the first floor to accept the punishment.

Wang Sheng smiled wryly; this time, the punishment would be at least a month of cleaning the dormitory toilets.

However, before he could even feel depressed for a few hours, he soon discovered an even bigger problem: it was already past midnight and Lu Mingfei still hadn't returned to his dorm. Could something have happened to him?

Thinking of this, he quickly woke up the whole dormitory. Xiao Wu was already asleep, and she looked resentful when she was woken up.

"Something terrible has happened! Lu Mingfei hasn't returned yet; something must have happened to him!"

"What could possibly happen? Who in our academy could bully him?" Xiao Wu rubbed her sleepy eyes, her tone quite displeased.

"Could he have climbed over the wall to leave the school?" Wang Sheng immediately thought of a possibility. Although the whole school was under martial law, quite a few people still sneaked out of the school every day. Xiao Wu did this the day before yesterday.

When Xiao Wu was reminded of this, especially recalling how hard Lu Mingfei had been practicing that thrusting move these past few days, her eyes widened in disbelief as she asked, "He wouldn't have really gone soul hunting alone, would he?"

These words caused an uproar in the entire dormitory, and even Tang San broke his meditation.

"My God, going soul hunting alone?" Wang Sheng stared out the window with his mouth agape.

The rain stopped in the afternoon, but the night sky was still terribly gloomy.

Tang San sneered inwardly. A six-year-old kid trying to hunt soul beasts all by himself was simply courting death.

On the other side, on the roof of the dormitory building, the master was about to turn off the lights and rest when suddenly there were several knocks on the door.