Chapter 23: The Dog's Blood Plot

  The fierce gusts of wind shattered the soul power blade that Zong Yin had slashed out countless times, sending him crashing back against the wall. Since he was able to take a step forward yesterday, he has been unable to advance even an inch further. Every time he took a step forward, the gusts of wind in front of him grew more intense, and even increasing the number and intensity of his soul power blades couldn't sustain him for long. The repeated collisions had already caused Zong Yin's mouth to bleed, and even his elbow bones were fractured, but he seemed to feel nothing, repeatedly charging forward again and again.

  In the end, it was still the older soul doctor who couldn't bear it anymore and quietly gave him a hint.

  "Child, think carefully about the purpose of this course, you've walked into a dead end."

  After treating Zong Yin's entire body, Old Soul Doctor shook his head and said in a low voice.

  The old soul doctor finished speaking and left the classroom, immediately followed by a strong gust of wind. This time, however, Zong Yin did not charge forward like a fierce bull, but instead furrowed his brow in careful consideration of the old soul doctor's words. In his past life, he had found one phrase to be particularly useful: "Not listening to the words of elders, suffering is right before your eyes."

  Just thinking of Hei Sen's dark face made Zong Yin angry, and he wished that his strength could quickly increase to the level of a Soul Master so that he could beat him up. He rolled his eyes and drove out such unrealistic fantasies from his mind. Zong Yin carefully recalled what Hei Sen had said on the first day of class.

  Unlike before, Zong Yin would never have remembered what Hei Sen said a few days ago, but the formation of the Human Soul Stone made his memory incredibly impressive.

  "The previous lesson was to teach you how to form a closed soul force shield to protect yourself, this lesson is to let you exercise the intensity of your soul force shield, until you can withstand the strong wind and walk to the other side of the classroom, then you will pass this lesson."

  Automatically ignoring Hei Sen's tedious opening remarks and the same old threats, Zong Yin's mind flashed back to the content of the previous lesson he had summarized and the requirements of this lesson.

  After a moment, Zong Yin's tightly furrowed brow finally relaxed. He had been following the qualified requirements for this subject all along, but he had neglected the content of this lesson.

  "What's the intensity of the Soul Shield?"

  A faint smile appeared on Zong Yin's face, and several soul power blades slashed out again, cutting through the fierce wind in front of him. The two soul power shields followed closely behind, forming a 45-degree angle with the wall as their base, protecting Zong Yin within. The two soul power shields only lasted for one second before shattering once more, but Zong Yin's smile grew even wider. Earlier, he had not used his full strength to create the two soul power shields, which meant that as long as these shields were strong enough, he could continue to hold on until he reached the other side.

  From then on, Zonghui no longer rushed forward blindly, but instead continuously formed a soul power barrier in front of him, searching for a way to instantly solidify the soul power barrier.

  Meanwhile, Yang Jun's arms opened and closed, tearing apart the fierce winds with his soul-powered arms. At the same time, countless reverse winds were set in motion by him, rushing into the space torn apart by him. With this momentum, Yang Jun had already taken more than four steps forward.

  Like everyone else, Yang Jun was moving forward in a violent manner. Unfortunately, at the fifth step, his arm strength weakened and he failed to tear through the fierce wind, and was heavily knocked back against the wall. The farther he went, the greater the force of the rebound.

  This collision, even if it was as strong as Yang Jun, didn't move at all. The wall behind Yang Jun's back even had a slight dent. Fortunately, Yang Jun had been using his soul power to strengthen his body for many years, so he didn't suffer too much damage. If it were Zong Yin instead, this one collision would probably have shattered his body into pieces without any treatment.

  Panting and staring at the wall in front of him, Yang Jun believed that with a few more days to cultivate his soul power and strengthen his arm, he would be able to reach the finish line.

  During Yang Jun's meditation, he couldn't help but glance in the direction of others, to be precise, in the direction of Zong Yin. The other students were about as expected, with the strongest one able to take two steps forward against the strong wind. However, what puzzled him was that Zong Yin was calmly stuck to the wall, not moving at all, as if he was resting with his eyes closed.

  He furrowed his brow and stared at Zong Yin for a long time, but he still didn't move an inch. Yang Jun felt somewhat disappointed and shook his head, clenching his fists again before charging forward once more.

  Until the end of today's classes, Zong Yin still stood in his original position without moving. The advantage of this was that after school, he didn't have a sore waist or legs, and with a refreshing spirit, he headed to the library. He planned to go thank the old man who had returned the umbrella to him.

  The library was always the quietest place in the whole school, with only a dozen or so people inside, browsing through various books.

  What Zong Yin didn't notice was that when he arrived at the library, a sly-looking student quietly flipped over the window from the corner and slipped out.

  The library of the Soul Academy is enormous, covering nearly a thousand square meters, and is said to be one of the three soul academies with the largest collection of books, with over a million volumes. However, it's also very small, with only six floors, and there are hardly any staff members to manage it. If you need to find someone, you can spot them at a glance, but Zong Yin searched every nook and cranny of the first two floors without finding the old man who had taught him his soul technique. He wanted to go further up, but he didn't have the necessary clearance level - the third and fourth floors were only accessible to disciples and instructors who had made significant contributions to the Soul Academy, while the fifth and sixth floors were only open to a select few of the academy's instructors.

  Zong Yin had no choice but to return to the first floor and found a deserted corner to read the chronicles of the mainland.

  "Older brother, look! Over there! I didn't lie to you, did I?"

  Zong Yin was casually flipping through something when a proud and complacent voice entered his ears. He instinctively raised his head, and his eyebrows furrowed instantly. A group of people were walking towards him under the leadership of a sly-looking person, one of whom was Shen Peng.

  He cursed silently in his heart, Zong Yin knew that he would have more trouble next, this kind of melodrama, why did it always land on him.

  "Hmph! You little stinker, why didn't you keep hiding? I've had people guarding for so many days, and finally caught up with you! Today, if I don't break your legs, my surname isn't Shen!"

  Shen Peng shook his fringe, his nearly two hundred jin body moving in big strides towards Zong Yin, constantly trembling.

  Zong Yan rolled his eyes and thought to himself, "This guy is a typical second-generation rich kid. He actually thinks he can pursue that little loli named Lan Xin? I reckon even if all the men in the world were dead, it still wouldn't be his turn." Immediately after, he maliciously sized up Shen Peng again, and couldn't help but purse his lips, thinking to himself, "Having a good father is indeed good."

  Shen Peng was wearing a standard Soul Master battle uniform, which greatly enhanced the Soul Master's defensive capabilities and increased their agility. The most striking feature was the pair of black crystal custom-made goggles he wore over his eyes, which effectively isolated soul attacks from Soul Masters below him, clearly influenced by Zonghui's previous gift. Although this was a basic-level combat suit, it was still more than what the Zong family had given him when he arrived.

  At the level of Shen Peng's third-level Soul Master, wearing this set of combat uniforms is enough to make several hundred rounds in the hands of a Soul Master below the sixth level. If it were the original Zonghui, he might not have been his opponent at that time. Unfortunately, today's Zonghui is no longer the original Zonghui. He has confidence and will ruthlessly trample Shen Peng underfoot.

  Zong Yin's heart skipped a beat as he pondered how to thoroughly teach Shen Peng a lesson, so that he would no longer come looking for trouble.

  As the crowd approached, Zong Yin's eyebrows furrowed even tighter, and he sensed a strong soul power aura on one of the disciples behind Shen Peng.

  With a closer look, this person has a tiger's back and bear's waist, his muscles are obviously tempered by soul power countless times, already condensed to a certain extent. A face with no distinctive features, but with a hint of pride in his eyes. This person gives Zong Yin a feeling that is even stronger than Yang Jun!

  At this moment, Zong Yujian's expression turned solemn, he closed the annals in his hand and slowly stood up.

  "Looking for trouble? How annoying, if you have something to say, go outside."

  After finishing his words, Zong Yin walked out of the library by himself, passing through the crowd.

  "You think I'd fall for your trap? Want to run away? Come on! Get up! Beat me to death! If anything happens, I'll take the blame!"

  With confidence, Shen Peng's self-confidence was extremely inflated, and he wouldn't let Zong Yin leave. With a wave of his hand, the dozen or so people behind him with similar strength to his own rushed forward with sinister smiles, leaving only the person who made Zong Yin feel apprehensive still standing behind Shen Peng. Each of these people wore black crystal goggles, rendering Zong Yin's soul power ineffective.

  Zong Yin had never practiced any martial arts, nor had he ever used his soul power to strengthen his body. Seeing a dozen or so people rush at him, he knew he couldn't dodge, and immediately leaned against the bookshelf with a very bold move. Two layers of soul power shields protected him within, as several soul power blades shot out towards the oncoming people, slashing straight at them.

  The person opposite had long been prepared, and Zong Yin's soul power knife slashed at the opponent's soul power shield, only making the opponent's shield wobble twice, without having any effect.

  The faces of the people who withstood Zong Yin's attack flashed with a frantic expression, and in their minds, they had already envisioned the scene where Zong Yin was beaten to death by their chaotic fists.

  Several fists simultaneously slammed onto Zong Yin's soul power barrier, causing his barrier to violently shake for a moment, but it remained intact and firmly blocked everyone's attacks.

  Shen Peng's smile froze on his face, and the people attacking Zong Yin also stiffened. Only Zong Yin let out a big sigh of relief. His soul barrier, which had been reinforced with more than half of his total soul power, successfully blocked everyone's attacks. This was the result of his training for the entire day.

  Zong Yin knew that with his physical body, walking against the wind in a gust of wind, it was fine if the distance was short, but once he walked far and was blown back to crash into the wall, he would basically be done for. Therefore, he hesitated and didn't move, thinking that he should wait until he could consolidate all his soul power into his soul barrier before proceeding.

  It's just that the soul force barrier isn't so easy to condense, and every additional strand of soul force makes it harder by a fraction. It feels like trying to stuff food into someone who's already full - if you're not careful, it'll burst at any moment.