Douluo Continent: Martial Soul Young Gilas, Sandstorm King!

Lin Xia walked at the front, her figure appearing somewhat blurry in the pale green light.

"A place where you can't use soul skills."

He paused, his voice echoing hollowly on the stone steps.

"A primal and brutal battlefield that worships only killing and power."

Dugu Yan clenched her fists; the cold touch of the brass knuckles reassured her slightly.

"The City of Slaughter?"

She had heard of this legendary name, but never imagined that she would actually set foot there one day.

"Ah."

Lin Xia responded and said no more.

At the end of the stone steps, the view suddenly opened up.

What appeared before them was a boundless wasteland shrouded in dark red light.

The sky hung low, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, only filled with an ever-present layer of dark red clouds, like congealed blood.

The earth was scorched black, and white smoke with a sulfurous smell occasionally rose from the cracks.

In the distance, there were vague outlines of buildings, but they were not clearly visible.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood and murderous intent, along with a madness that was so oppressive it was almost unbearable.

This place seems to be a fragment of purgatory abandoned by the gods.

A massive black city gate stood on the edge of the wasteland, its gate tightly shut, carved with ferocious skulls and demonic patterns.

Above the city gate, four ferocious characters were written in some dark red material that looked as if it might drip blood at any moment—

The City of Slaughter.

In front of the city gate, on a vast expanse of scorched earth, a few figures sat or stood scattered about.

Those people were ragged, with murky and crazed eyes. Most of them were wounded and exuded undisguised malice and greed. Like hyenas that had smelled blood, their eyes were all fixed on Lin Xia and her group who had just come out of the stone steps.

He lingered particularly on several beautiful young women, making undisguised swallowing sounds and low, wicked sneers.

A gaunt man with a gruesome scar on his face staggered to his feet, licked his chapped lips, and stared intently at Lin Xia at the front and the group of women with diverse personalities behind him. He let out a hoarse, eerie laugh:

"Hehe... Another newcomer? This time the quality is not bad... delicate and tender..."

His gaze was like a leech, especially lingering on Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong.

"Little girls, this Killing City isn't a place for pampered young ladies like you... But since you're here, let your brother teach you the rules... I guarantee you'll be in heaven..."

Several other men around him, who also looked lewd, joined in the laughter, their eyes filled with lust.

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes instantly turned cold, her cat-like pupils contracted, and her fingertips stirred slightly with soul power, but she immediately suppressed it—Lin Xia had said that soul skills could not be used here.

She took a small half-step forward, shielding Ning Rongrong and Meng Yinyin behind her, her body tense, like a sharp blade about to be drawn.

A cold glint flashed in Dugu Yan's emerald eyes, and her fingers had already gripped the sachet poison gas bomb, but Lin Xia stopped her with a single look.

Lin Xia didn't stop walking, as if she hadn't heard the foul language, and headed straight for the city gate.

His gaze didn't even linger on the scarred man; it simply swept calmly across the massive black city gate, as if examining an object about to be obtained.

This utter disregard enraged Scarface more than any provocation.

"Damn it! You pretty boy, I'm talking to you!"

Scarface spat, his eyes flashing with malice, and suddenly drew a rusty sword from his waist.

But the short axe, its blade gleaming with a dark red blood-red light, erupted with a berserk soul power fluctuation belonging to the Soul Emperor level, and grinned as it blocked Lin Xia's path.

"Want to go into the city? Sure!"

He brandished his short axe and pointed to the city gate behind him.

"Leave some money for the toll! And... leave those girls here to play with us for a few days! Otherwise..." He weighed the axe in his hand, his meaning clear.

His companions behind him also stood up, their soul power fluctuations varying, but all carrying intense killing intent, subtly forming an encirclement.

The other "residents" near the tavern's stone steps exit also stopped what they were doing and gathered around with expressions of watching a show, their eyes numb and cruel.

Here, the arrival of newcomers often means chaos, slaughter, and... a new "blood sacrifice".

Ning Rongrong's face turned pale, and Meng Yiran was so frightened that she almost shrank behind Ye Lingling.

The color drained from Ye Lingling's cold face. She could clearly feel the tangible malice and murderous intent emanating from the people around her, something even more suffocating than Bloody Mary.

Lin Xia finally stopped.

He tilted his head slightly, and for the first time, his gaze truly fell on Scarface.

His gaze was calm and still, like a deep pool, yet it inexplicably sent a shiver down the scarred man's spine.

"Get out of the way."

Lin Xia's voice was not loud, and there was not much emotional fluctuation.

"Ha! Move aside?"

Scarface laughed exaggeratedly, as if he had heard a joke, and pointed his short axe directly at Lin Xia's nose.

"Kid, do you know who I am? I've been in this outer city for three years, and I've killed at least eighty or a hundred people! You think you can..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

Because Lin Xia moved.

There was no fluctuation of soul power, no dazzling light, and the specific movements were not even visible.

Everyone only saw a blur before their eyes as a blurry black afterimage slashed into Scarface's face like a ghost, faster than the limits of visual perception!
The next second—

"Crack!"

A crisp, teeth-grinding cracking sound rang out!

The short axe that Scarface was pointing at Lin Xia, along with his right wrist holding the axe, twisted backward and broke off at an eerie angle! The axe clattered to the ground.

"Ugh—!!!"

The piercing scream had barely escaped its throat when it was instantly choked up, like a chicken being strangled.

Lin Xia's hand had somehow already gripped the scarred man's throat, her five fingers like iron hoops, lifting him off the ground.

Scarface's eyes bulged out, his face quickly turned from red to purple, and his legs kicked weakly in the air, but he couldn't make a sound.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

It wasn't until Scarface was lifted up that his companions reacted, roaring in shock and anger as they tried to pounce on him.

Lin Xia didn't even lift her eyelids.

He tightened his grip on the scarred man's throat slightly.

"Click."

Another soft sound rang out, not loud, but it froze everyone who rushed over in place as if they had been struck by a spell, their faces drained of color.

Scarface's head was tilted to one side, his eyes still filled with disbelief, terror, and bewilderment; he was no longer breathing.

Lin Xia released his grip, and the scarred man's corpse collapsed to the ground like a tattered sack, kicking up a cloud of dust.

He slowly raised his eyes, his gaze calmly sweeping over the Soul Masters who stood frozen in place, and over the "residents" around him who were watching the spectacle, their eyes gradually changing from mockery to fear.

"Who else?"

Lin Xia's voice remained calm, yet it carried an invisible chill that sent shivers down one's spine.

"Trying to teach us manners?" (End of Chapter)