Soul Emperor Martial God-Chapter 884: Sky-locking Formation

The sound of battle within the vast forest became increasingly faint.

However, the rich scent of blood did not lessen at all; instead, it grew more intense.

Because there were still Martial Artists continuously dying.

Be it those black-clothed Martial Artists, or Heavenly Talents from various regions.

Several hours later.

The overwhelming scent of blood in the air suddenly reached a bottleneck, still growing thicker, but the rate of increase was exceedingly slow.

This indicated that fewer people were dying; the pace of death had slowed down.

The originally noisy vast forest suddenly fell into a strange calm.

Yet, this calm was clearly extremely oppressive, like the calm before the storm.

Hunters and hunted, the roles had blurred and could no longer be distinguished.

The only difference lay in who would overpower whom, who would break the calm first, stirring the storm into full fury.

...

Deep in the forest, within a pavilion.

Before the enigma of a young man, six black-clothed Martial Artists with cold auras kneeled on one knee.

"Hidden One, you are the six most outstanding among the Hidden Guard; rarely have you disappointed me."

"This time, I am very disappointed."

The young man’s voice was so cold it made one shudder.

The six black-clothed Martial Artists kept their heads bowed low, silent and still.

Not because they disregarded the young man’s words.

Rather the opposite, without the young man’s permission, they dared not utter a single note from their mouths.

"Speak, what happened?" The young man slightly softened the icy tone.

The leader among the six spoke respectfully, "Young Master, we are useless, unable to find them."

The young man coldly responded, "That Mysterious Person is extraordinary; it is understandable that you failed to find him."

"But those few little mice beside him, can you not find them either?"

The six shook their heads.

"Hm?" The young man narrowed his eyes, "What exactly occurred?"

"At the forest’s edge, I appeared before them; there was my presence there."

"You followed the trail, but was it so difficult to find a few little mice?"

"Could they vanish into thin air?"

"Young Master, please quell your anger." Hidden One spoke deferentially, "We followed the scent to where you were visible."

"However, aside from your presence, no scent from another lingers."

"In fact, there is not a single sign of Martial Artist existence or movement there."

"That group seemed as if they truly vanished into thin air."

"How is that possible?" The young man frowned deeply.

What he mentioned about ’vanishing into thin air’ earlier was anger-fueled rhetoric.

Yet his subordinates’ words compelled belief.

He knew very well the abilities of his six subordinates, all meticulously trained elites from Beiyin Palace, the finest six.

"Young Master." Hidden One spoke solemnly, "The only possibility is that the group eliminated all traces upon departure."

"Including the traces of their movement, wiped clean as they moved along."

"No matter the effort to eliminate traces, some remnants should exist." The young man frowned deeply.

"None." Hidden One shook his head, "This person’s trace elimination skill is exceptionally advanced."

"From our investigation of the young master’s appearing place, within a hundreds-mile radius all traces were wiped away."

The young man’s gaze chilled, "How could an ordinary Martial Artist possess such outstanding skills?"

"Therefore, this person is certainly no ordinary Martial Artist." Hidden One’s voice suddenly turned grave.

"Such exceptional trace elimination skills, coupled with our prior inspections of other Hidden Guard corpses."

"Unless I am mistaken, this person is an Assassin."

"Assassin?" The young man muttered to himself.

"Impossible. I have never heard of any renowned Assassin faction in ordinary regions."

Hidden One shook his head, speaking solemnly, "Judging by this person’s skills, they are not cultivated by an ordinary faction."

"Disregarding Cultivation and strength."

"Purely assessing skills in stealth, trace removal, infiltration, and killing, this person’s ability far surpasses ours."

"Surpasses you?" For the first time, the young man showed a hint of surprise.

"You all are the Death Soldiers trained by my Beiyin Palace, also skilled in these crafts."

"The capability of such a person goes beyond yours, cannot be of ordinary regional Martial Artists; could it be..."

The young man’s tone turned icy, "Barring the Heavenly Nether Mansion, there are no factions coming to mind."

Hidden One offered a bitter smile, "Pardon my words; I have dealt with the Heavenly Nether Mansion’s Assassins."

"But even if they are Heavenly Killers from the Mansion, they would pale before this person."

"At least, in trace removal, this person has reached an appalling level."

"Even the Heavenly Killers from the Heavenly Nether Mansion can’t match?" The young man’s voice suddenly turned extremely ice-cold.

"Hidden One, are you jesting with me?"

"Never." Hidden One replied solemnly, "If what you mentioned earlier about this person is true, being a youngster of a similar age."

"Then possessing such skills at such a young age comes down to two possibilities."

"Either he is a natural-born Assassin, constantly employing various assassination techniques since birth."

"Or his growth follows a bloody path; having faced countless dangers, surviving many pursuits, retaliations, and perilous encounters, developing such techniques along the way."

"What if both possibilities are true?" The young man asked solemnly.

Hidden One replied gravely, "Then this person is truly a Monster, exceedingly terrifying."

"Terrifying? Ha." Suddenly, the young man restrained the coldness on his face, indifferently rising.

"’Terrifying’ and yet, facing this now? My Beiyin Palace’s Elite Martial Artists, the thousand Hidden Guards I’ve brought personally, once invincible and fearless of death, now forced into timidity."

"A thousand Hidden Guards; now over half have perished or been injured; even you six, six Heavenly Extreme Ninth Layer experts of high skill and cultivation, rendered helpless."

"Is that so?"

The young man’s tone abruptly took on a playful curve.

But to those six who understood his character, they knew this was the most dangerous time for him.

"It’s due to our incompetence." The six quickly bowed their heads lower still.

"Hmph." The young man sneered, "Whether he is from the Heavenly Nether Mansion or not, daring to disrupt my amusement means only death."

"By the way." The young man glanced at the six, asking, "When will that fellow arrive?"

"The Young Palace Master?" The six hesitated briefly, saying, "By rough estimate, he should arrive within a few hours."

"Mm." The young man nodded, "We agreed to determine superiority in this hunt with him."

"As it stands, I’ll have to conclude this game myself ahead of schedule."

With that, the young man’s smile turned playful and cold, followed by a flash in his hand, revealing a Green Jade Pendant.

The pendant emitted an astonishing aura.

Its terrifying essence far surpassed that of a Mid-grade Holy Artifact.

With the pendant’s emergence, the prohibitive barrier previously sealing the entire forest in high air resonated with successive pulses.

"Ha, in the Sky-locking Formation under the Sky-locking Jade, one seals life, the other seals soul."

"Which shall I seal first?"

...

First update.

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