Soul King's Resolve

"Are you all right?" Professor asked solicitously, helping Soul King up and pressing him down onto the sofa, afraid he might bolt. "P-Professor, is she the Natural Disaster I'm thinking of?" Soul King asked, a smile on his face uglier than weeping. Professor gave a silent nod. Soul King finally understood why Professor had treated Red King with such extraordinary courtesy, even when no one yet knew how to use the Human Dao supreme treasure. Indeed, whether it even was the Human Dao supreme treasure remained in doubt. Just on the grounds that Red King had taken a stroll right under Natural Disaster's nose and come back in one piece, Soul King fully agreed that Red King deserved to be head of the Seven Kings. Such guts were truly unrivaled. That was Natural Disaster, after all. Red King belonged to the previous generation of the Seven Kings. Among them, some had died and others had left, leaving behind only Red King and one other King, which gave him immense seniority. Soul King was of the new generation of the Seven Kings, but he had likewise lived through Natural Disaster's defection. The memory was deeply etched into his mind. Even now, he sometimes had nightmares about that petite figure laying waste to heaven and earth, jolting awake in the middle of the night drenched in cold sweat. Back then, he had only been a candidate for the Seven Kings and had felt deeply resentful when hearing of Natural Disaster's renown. He had exerted endless effort, passing countless trials to climb to the rank of candidate, only for that little girl to appear out of nowhere and stand above the Seven Kings without displaying any power at all, while Professor bowed to her every whim. Then, when Natural Disaster defected and he received Professor's order for everyone to mobilize against her, he had scoffed, thinking Professor was making a mountain out of a molehill. Only after they clashed did he realize how terribly wrong he had been. She was an enemy they had no hope of taking on. His competitors, his revered seniors, the master he looked up to... all of them were wiped out in that battle, killed or crippled. In his view, Professor had been too conservative. Rather than merely deploying the Organization against her, Professor should have put aside all prejudices, pleaded with the cultivation world to join forces, and staked every ounce of available power. She was an innately sacred existence whose very purpose in descending upon the mortal realm was to reign over all living beings. He even felt she had transcended the realm of mortal life, something that could never be explained away as a mere "superpower." "Professor, do you think it's possible that the Human Dao supreme treasure Red King brought back is the real deal?" Soul King felt that whatever Red King had gone to such great lengths to retrieve must be authentic. If anyone dared claim it was fake, he would snap at them, Professor included! He was genuinely terrified that the moment his front foot stepped into Chang'an, he would bump into Natural Disaster, and Professor's back foot would arrive only to collect his corpse—perhaps burning the hell banknotes from the box for his spirit while he was at it. "Don't worry. Natural Disaster doesn't necessarily know about the Human Dao supreme treasure," Professor consoled him, laying out his reasoning. "From what I know, she has been at that school for two whole years. If she wanted to find the Human Dao supreme treasure, she would have found it long ago." Although Professor personally suspected Natural Disaster had come specifically for the Human Dao supreme treasure—how else could there be such a coincidence?—he certainly couldn't say that out loud. "As long as you are careful and avoid being noticed by Natural Disaster, everything will be fine." "Then it's settled. You will take a trip to Chang'an, search for clues regarding the Human Dao supreme treasure, and ideally bring it back." "Do a good job. I think very highly of you. I've always considered you the most promising among the Seven Kings—none of the others, including Red King, can compare to you. Pull this off, and you can have unlimited access to top-tier strengthening agent." "Set out tomorrow." Professor issued the order without brooking any argument, eager to prevent second thoughts and avoid Soul King backing out. Dazed by Professor's smooth talk, Soul King returned to his quarters and collapsed onto his soft, plush bed. Suddenly, he snapped back to his senses. "Wait, that's not right—I never agreed to this!" From start to finish, he had never agreed to Professor's assignment. Professor had forcibly shoved it onto him. He had been so frightened by the mention of Natural Disaster that his brain froze, leaving him unable to react in time. Otherwise, he would have rejected it on the spot. "Trying to back out now... won't be easy." Professor wouldn't always speak with such a jovial smile. If Soul King went back on his word, he would have to face Professor's thunderous wrath. He didn't want to face Natural Disaster, nor did he want to face Professor. What could he do? Gritting his teeth, Soul King dialed his subordinate. "Track down Wenchang True Lord and Dong Yunzi's location for me. Yes, those two cultivators who beat me up last time." *** Wenchang True Lord and Dong Yunzi's journey in the United States had been rich, eventful, and full of dramatic twists and turns. After stepping off the plane and giving Soul King a sound thrashing, they had soon run into a young girl being hunted down. After rescuing her and asking questions, they learned she was a hybrid born of a werewolf and a vampire. Her parents were missing, and in her panicked flight, she was being pursued by both factions. Outraged by such an injustice, the two had taken the girl and stormed back that very night. It happened to be a full moon, and the werewolf assassins howled toward the sky, entering a bloodthirsty frenzy like killing machines. Yet with a pair of iron fists, Wenchang True Lord beat the werewolf straight back into human form until he fell to his knees begging for mercy, promising he would turn vegetarian and pleading for them to stop. Unfortunately, he had spoken in English, which Wenchang True Lord couldn't understand. Later, the two tracked down the vampire base and fought a fierce battle against the vampires. Inside the facility's laboratory, they encountered a biochemical monster. The deformed creature, over two meters tall, burst from its vat, spilling nutrient fluid all over the floor. Though it appeared formidable, it had lost all sanity and was easily dispatched by Dong Yunzi. On the verge of death, the monster gasped out the young girl's name. Only then did the girl realize the monster had been created from her parents, who had been captured by the two clans and turned into test subjects. Cradling the monster, the young girl wailed in despair, but things had already gone beyond hope of salvation. Wenchang True Lord tried to pull her away, but she harbored a death wish and refused to leave. Amidst the roaring flames, she lay embracing her parents in eternal slumber. Because the two cultivators were high-priority targets of surveillance for the superpower organization, and because they had kicked up such a massive commotion, it was impossible to overlook them. "All right, don't take it so hard. At our age, what haven't we seen?" Dong Yunzi consoled Wenchang True Lord, though he didn't feel much better himself. "Besides, I was the one who finished off Lisa's parents. If anyone should feel terrible, it should be me first." "Sigh, getting old makes it hard to stomach these things." Behind them, roaring flames rose into the sky from the burning vampire base. Voices repeatedly shouted calls for firefighting efforts, and the sirens of ambulances and fire engines wailed in a chaotic din. Wearing a tank top with bulging muscles, Soul King swaggered down the street, looking every bit the unreasonable thug. Upon spotting the two, Soul King marched straight into them, cursing under his breath. "You two old farts bumped into me again!" Wenchang True Lord and Dong Yunzi were already brooding, desperately searching for an outlet to vent their frustration, and Soul King had walked right into the muzzle of the gun. "Hey, hey, what are you doing!" Soul King felt the glint in their eyes wasn't right—they looked like vicious fiends from hell—and a terrible premonition instantly seized him. *Thud!* "Wait, can't you hit a bit lighter? Just like last time is fine—*aaargh!*" Soul King's wretched screams blended seamlessly into the clamor of the firefighting. *** "What? Soul King was beaten by those two old men again, and worse than last time?" Professor was momentarily stunned when he received the call from his subordinate. What did they mean by *beaten again*? Soon, Professor realized what had happened: Soul King had regretted his assignment and didn't want to go to Chang'an to search for clues about the Human Dao supreme treasure. "Was that really necessary? It's not like I told you to go fight Natural Disaster!" Even so, Professor could understand Soul King's reaction. The shadow Natural Disaster had cast over the Organization was far too deep; countless people would never escape it for the rest of their lives. Professor dialed a number. "Hello, Red King? Come to my office... Yes, it's about the Human Dao supreme treasure. Good news."