Douluo Continent: The Eternal Order of the Azure Sky.

At the same time, a gap was finally broken in the formation. The golden wolf leader was incredibly fast, and in a flash, he slipped past the Soul King, his sharp claws outstretched, lunging straight at Xu Yingluo.

Xu Yunxiao sensed the Golden Wolf Leader's attack the moment it pounced. His fourth spirit ring shone, and with a flick of his left hand, a dense black light transformed into a giant palm that hurtled straight toward the Golden Wolf Leader.

But at that very moment, a bronze-gold figure struck like lightning, crashing violently into the black light.

The palm shattered, and the figure was already in front of Xu Yunxiao.

Caught off guard, even Xu Yunxiao, a Soul Saint-level expert, was greatly surprised. He never expected that simply shrinking Xuanming Zhen's detection range for a short while would cause such a blunder. The small tortoise shell surrounding his body instantly transformed into water ripples and returned into his body, while the shield in his hand shone brightly with black light, blocking in front of him.

"Bang—" The black light dissipated, and in the midst of his hasty response, Xu Yunxiao, a defensive-type Soul Master, was actually blasted away.

At that moment, the golden wolf leader's claws were already in front of Xu Yingluo.

It all happened so suddenly; no one expected that a powerful individual was hidden among the golden wolf pack, which wasn't known for its intelligence, and that such a treacherous tactic could be devised. The last golden wolf to appear hadn't even been detected by Xu Yunxiao's ripple detection.

Xu Yuanxi was standing closest to Xu Yingluo, but she was on the other side of Xu Yingluo's body. Having not yet obtained her fifth spirit ring, she might not be able to suppress this golden wolf with at least nine thousand years of cultivation, let alone in such a sudden situation.

However, Kong Tianxu discovered that Xu Yingluo seemed to have a lot of confidence in her, and didn't even release her martial spirit, as if she had no intention of resisting at all.

Xu Yuanxi indeed made a move, her fourth spirit ring flashing behind her. Seeing this, the Spirit Emperor Ye Handong stopped his attempt to return to help and continued to deal with the golden wolves surrounding him.

However, another golden wolf, lurking somewhere, crossed the much looser defenses and suddenly pounced on Xu Yuanxi. Although she dodged it, her soul skill release was momentarily interrupted, and the speed at which her soul rings lit up seemed to be slightly slower than before.

This delay slowed down her rescue efforts, making her progress a full beat slower than everyone had anticipated.

The other Soul Kings and Soul Emperors from the Xuanming Sect in the team were too confident in the effect of Xu Yuanxi's fourth Soul Skill, and by then it was too late to come to her rescue. Seeing that she was about to be attacked, Xu Yingluo, pale-faced, seemed frozen in fear, her arms crossed over her chest, motionless.

Just then, a bright orange fire whip suddenly struck between Xu Yingluo and the golden wolf leader without warning. The instantaneous surge of heat caused the golden wolf leader's steel-like fur to curl slightly.

Not only that, the fire whip was raised, and the intense orange-red light stretched upwards, bringing with it a scorching wave of fire that crashed into the Golden Wolf leader. At the same time, it made Xu Yingluo release her martial spirit as if she had just woken up from a dream.

Don't underestimate this simple act of blocking; in the face of life and death, a moment of resistance can be enough to change the outcome of the entire battle.

The golden wolf leader's paws touched the crimson flames directly, producing a sizzling sound like roasting meat. It howled in pain and its body involuntarily recoiled backward.

Faced with the terrifyingly high temperature of Kong Tianxu's near-extreme fire, its defensive capabilities were far from sufficient.

Xu Yuanxi's fourth spirit ring finally lit up completely. With a flash of black light, her tall figure appeared before the Golden Wolf leader. In her place stood the trembling Xu Yingluo.

Xuanming Displacement! Kong Tianxu's eyes flashed. This powerful support-type soul skill allows the user to instantly switch positions with the target within a certain range.

For defensive-type Soul Masters, this is practically a divine skill. In the original story, Xu Sanshi played a crucial role in several key battles thanks to this skill, and it's unexpected that Xu Yuanxi also possesses it.

What he didn't know was that even within the Xuanming Sect, only Xu Sanshi and Xu Yuanxi among the younger generation possessed this soul skill, and the concentration of Xuanwu bloodline required for successful acquisition was extremely high.

However, Kong Tianxu could clearly see that at the moment he made his move, a fleeting hint of regret seemed to appear in Xu Yuanxi's eyes.

The Golden Wolf leader roused himself, his body gleaming with metallic light, and tried to break out, but Xu Yuanxi held him firmly.

The Xuanming Turtle Soul King, which had been knocked away earlier, immediately returned to attack. The Xuanming Turtle Shell Shield in its hand was divided into several layers and stacked on top of each other, heavily slamming into the side of the Golden Wolf Leader. Countless wolf hairs with a metallic luster instantly flew up.

Ye Handong also made a move in anger. His fifth spirit ring lit up, and his limbs and head retracted into the tortoise shell. He spun around as if he had been thrown into the air by some force, and then fell down with great momentum.

"Pfft—" A shrill howl rang out as the golden wolf leader's waist was dented by the thick tortoise shell, and it slammed heavily onto the ground, twitching a few times before falling still. The combined efforts of a Soul Emperor and a Soul King had finally killed the golden wolf leader.

Enraged by this incident, the Xuanming Sect members unleashed a barrage of dazzling soul skills. In just a few breaths, the once formidable golden wolf pack was decimated.

As the leader of the golden wolves was killed, Kong Tianxu's attention shifted to the other side, where a golden wolf was also present, which was imposing in the elemental vision and had knocked Xu Yunxiao away and entangled him.

To be precise, it should be a golden wolf king.

Unlike the brown of ordinary golden wolves, its eyes are blood red, signifying its powerful cultivation of ten thousand years. It is exceptionally large, at least four meters long, and its robust body, if standing upright, resembles that of a giant bear.

In particular, the muscles in its limbs were extremely well-developed. The sharp blades on its four claws looked no less impressive than the dark gold dinosaur specimen that Kong Tianxu had seen, and a bloodthirsty aura constantly emanated from its body.

Without a doubt, the Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Wolf King is the true leader of this pack of golden wolves. Judging from its aura and soul power fluctuations, its cultivation level should be between ten thousand and twenty thousand years, but judging from its appearance, its actual combat strength is probably over twenty thousand years. This is why the golden wolf pack did not retreat even though they sensed the considerable strength of these humans before them.

It's a pity that soul beasts are still soul beasts after all. Even if they can devise certain tactics, they can't compete with humans in terms of intelligence. In the end, it's just laughable.

Seeing most of its people slaughtered, the Golden Wolf King was enraged. Its ferocity fully unleashed, it showed no sign of retreating. Xu Yunxiao, clearly angered by the near-out-of-control situation due to his momentary carelessness, activated his seventh-ranked, jet-black soul ring. He shrank into a shield that had transformed into a giant tortoise shell, and a Xuanming Tortoise, its entire body radiating dark light, appeared out of thin air.

Chapter 7 Golden Tortoiseshell

He used the power of Xuanming to envelop the Golden Wolf King again, and its power was more than ten times stronger than before.

Seeing this, Kong Tianxu looked away; the outcome was already decided. Although the Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Wolf King was quite powerful, it was no match for a top-tier martial soul with seven rings—a Battle Soul Saint.

He cautiously looked around, but his gaze suddenly stopped in a certain direction.

The place he was looking at was underground. In the thick, majestic, and seemingly endless yellow earth element, there was a ball of light mixed with blue and yellow. Although this ball of light was not as bright as the Golden Wolf King, it was even larger and was moving rapidly.

On the other side, Xu Yunxiao, unleashing his full power, shattered the Golden Wolf King's skull with the black light of his sixth soul skill, Turtle God Strike. The oppressive force, so intense it was almost tangible, even made Kong Tianxu, who was making small movements, turn his head slightly.

The tortoise's body detached, and Xu Yunxiao emerged with a grim expression, ignoring the Golden Wolf King's collapsed corpse. In a flash, he appeared before Xu Yingluo, whose breathing was still somewhat rapid from the shock.

"Miss, are you alright?"

Xu Yingluo loosened her grip on the Xuanming Shield, her ample bosom returning to normal, and shook her head, saying:

"It's alright, luckily that fire whip blocked it for me."

Xu Yunxiao turned to Kong Tianxu, unaware of his earlier strange gesture of lightly tapping the ground with his toes, and said earnestly:

"Tian Xu, thank you so much. If it weren't for your timely intervention, Miss would have been injured even if she hadn't been kidnapped by those golden wolves. It's all my fault for underestimating them; I never expected these golden wolves to be so cunning."

Kong Tianxu looked a little weak from the outburst just now, and chuckled, saying, "It's about mutual help. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had the chance to enter the mixed zone."

After a period of rest, Xu Yingluo had recovered considerably. She stood up, stepped forward, took out a black jade pendant from her bosom, and handed it to Kong Tianxu, solemnly saying:

"Brother Tian Xu, thank you. I haven't introduced myself yet. We are from the Xuanming Sect. If you need anything in the future, you can come to Tiandou City to find me with this jade token."

The crowd that had gathered fell silent for a moment. One of the Soul Kings seemed about to say something, but under Xu Yunxiao's stern gaze, he opened his mouth but swallowed his words.

"Xuanming Sect?"

Kong Tianxu feigned surprise. After some consideration, he ultimately decided not to refuse.

Hidden sects are a force to be reckoned with in the inevitable continental wars to come. A significant portion of them do not actually care which empire rules the continent. If you want to win them over and turn the entire Soul Master world into your faith, the Xuanming Sect might be a good entry point.

Upon receiving the jade pendant, it didn't have the warm, smooth texture I had imagined. Instead, it had a cool, serene quality, which suited the temperament of its former owner.

He held up the jade pendant and said, "Thank you."

The atmosphere warmed up again, and everyone looked at Kong Tianxu with much more fervor than before. A fleeting, almost imperceptible coldness flashed in Xu Yuanxi's eyes as she moved closer from the outermost edge, hugged Xu Yingluo, and playfully asked about his martial soul.

They really are just fake friends.

Although she concealed it well, no one could have imagined that she possessed such an unpredictable ability as X-ray vision. Kong Tianxu took in her expression and thought to himself, "It's going to get even more interesting later."

"Hey, what's that?" he suddenly exclaimed, pointing in a direction.

Xu Yunxiao was the first to turn his head to look in the direction he was pointing. It turned out that the people, who were immersed in the harmonious and joyful post-war time, did not notice that several cracks had appeared in the ground behind them at some point and were spreading into the distance at an alarming speed.

Having just experienced a close call, Xu Yunxiao was extremely sensitive. Now that another unexpected event had occurred, he quickly protected Xu Yingluo and threw the Xuanming Tortoise Shell Shield, which was covered in a dense and sharp black light, without hesitation.

With a crisp cracking sound, a golden figure burst forth from the ground as if it had been kicked hard, and soared into the sky.

After finally managing to identify the figure, Xu Yunxiao's pupils constricted involuntarily.

"This is……"

Kong Tianxu had already clearly seen the details of the soul beast's appearance at the first moment. He lowered his eyes and silently recited in his heart:

"Golden tortoiseshell".

Almost instantly, this physically imposing defensive Soul Master unleashed a speed of movement far exceeding his physique. With his Soul Power fully unleashed, he caught up with the golden figure that was still flying in a parabolic arc in the air within a few breaths.

Unlike ten thousand years ago, the current seven-ring Soul Saints can now fly for short periods of time thanks to their powerful soul power.

Xu Yunxiao's eyesight was naturally far inferior to Kong Tianxu's. Only when he got closer could he fully see the golden hawksbill turtle's appearance:

The most striking feature was its golden shell, with an extremely even and deep color. Even the color within each line of the shell was a dark gold, without any flaws. The head had three ridges, making it slightly triangular in shape. There were also several whisker-like spikes on the lower jaw. The gold color of its entire body gradually evolved from dark to light, making the entire turtle appear like a work of art in his eyes.

The only flaw is that there is a noticeable dent on the plastron, as if it had been kicked and flattened, but this does not diminish its value in the slightest.

With a dazed look in his eyes, Xu Yunxiao used his soul power to bind this soul beast, which held immense significance for the Xuanming family. Unexpectedly, he didn't sense any resistance.

This golden hawksbill turtle, with a cultivation of five thousand years, seemed extremely weak, its eyes dull and lifeless, yet the vitality within it surpassed that of the previous golden wolf king. He couldn't help but admire it once more:

"Such powerful vitality is truly unparalleled—"

"Rubbish."

Kong Tianxu rolled his eyes. He had originally thought it was a powerful ten-thousand-year-old soul beast with both water and earth attributes, which would be perfect for him to absorb, so he tried to force it out using his superb earth element control ability.

The initial strong resistance only confirmed his suspicions, but as the opponent approached the ground, he saw the cool figure clearly and was immediately disappointed.

It possesses both water and earth attributes, and its bloodline level is barely suitable, but it lacks both ten thousand years of cultivation and is completely unrelated to the word "powerful".

The golden hawksbill turtle's unusually large accumulation of soul power caused him to misjudge its age. Their species itself is not strong in combat; what resisted him was a natural skill of the golden hawksbill turtle called the Invincible Shield.

It is the inspiration for the invincible shield in human soul tools, and also the most powerful means of the Golden Tortoiseshell Clan.

But that doesn't meet his standards at all. Even disregarding the age limit, would he lack an invincible shield?

Kong Tianxu felt a pang of frustration, but he had guessed why these golden wolves could use ranged attacks. Generally speaking, metal-attribute soul beasts possess extremely strong strength, speed, and defense, but limited by their bloodline level, they are far from being as versatile as his silver dragon. The lack of ranged attack capabilities is one of their biggest weaknesses. However, this golden hawksbill turtle mingling among the golden wolves changed this. Its auspicious aura might have, through some fortuitous coincidence, caused a mutation in the golden wolf pack, allowing them to evolve ranged skills they didn't originally possess.

Before long, Xu Yunxiao had completely taken control of the golden tortoiseshell and slowly descended. The Xuanming Sect members below also reacted and rushed towards the landing spot, surrounding the beaming Xu Yingluo. Xu Yuanxi's lips were tightly pursed, looking extremely unwilling, her legs feeling like lead as she trailed behind.

Why? How could Xu Yingluo, that idiot, be so lucky? She actually managed to find a golden tortoise shell as a spirit ring!

The girl's resentment poured out undisguisedly, her nails digging deep into her palms as she silently made a decision.

Chapter 8: Assassination! Robbery! Human Hearts

Kong Tianxu watched this scene leisurely, his already minimal soul power rapidly recovering under the influence of the Myriad Origins Returning to Origin Domain. He decided to see it through; although he himself didn't fancy the Golden Tortoise, it greatly increased the probability of their Xuanming Turtle Martial Soul evolving into the Divine Beast Xuanwu, making it a being on the same level as the Bright Holy Dragon Martial Soul, and completely stabilizing this evolution.

For the Xuanming Sect, this was indeed a gift that could be described as divine.

However... something seems off about this golden hawksbill turtle? Although its eyelids are drooping, its little eyes are actually darting around non-stop.

He frowned slightly, and the Elemental Vision was activated once again.

In the colorful world, the remaining soul power within the golden tortoise shell began to accumulate faintly.

The powerful soul force suppressed the golden hawksbill turtle. Xu Yingluo slowly approached, drawing a dagger. Xu Yunxiao controlled the Xuanming power to create a gap in the soft flesh of the golden hawksbill turtle's abdomen, and she plunged the sharp blade down.

A touch of crimson appeared, but the dagger did not pierce the golden tortoiseshell.

"So resilient." She admired it in her heart and signaled Xu Yunxiao to weaken the binding of his soul power. The golden tortoiseshell still seemed to have given up resisting. She steadied herself and thrust the dagger down again with all her might.

In Kong Tianxu's eyes, the power that had been accumulating for so long finally erupted completely.

Suddenly, a burst of golden light shone forth! Just as Xu Yingluo was about to stab the golden tortoise shell in its vital spot for the second time, a pressure that seemed to emanate from the very source of her bloodline suddenly struck.