**Chapter 37: Where is Master Xuan?! Where Did Master Xuan Go? (3000 words)**
In the middle of the Sunset Forest, in a hidden cave.
A man wearing a black robe with a ferocious face, exuding a murderous aura, was a person with a deeply rooted evil nature.
"Hehehe, wait until this messenger finishes in the Sunset Forest, and then refine a few more corpse slaves."
The black-robed man said hoarsely, "It's time to practice in seclusion for a while, improve the control of the corpse explosion technique, and then prepare to break through to the Soul King."
His current cultivation had reached the peak of the Soul Sect. He felt that this year was a good year as if he would encounter some great luck, and breaking through to the Soul King was a sure thing.
The man in the black robe looked at the dozens of corpses that could be detonated around him and curled his lips. These were the gains made in recent days and could be used for attacks or to cover an escape.
"In about a year, the Star Luo Empire will hold the next Soul Master Competition."
The black-robed man's eyes were gloomy, and he couldn't help but sneer a few times: "By then, this messenger will have successfully broken through to the Soul King and will go to the area near Star Luo in the Mingdou Mountains to do something big."
He always felt that although he was an evil soul master, his luck was extraordinary, as if something was shocking waiting for him to accomplish.
"If there are any fools who dare to come to me, I will give them a gift of corpse explosion. I will make sure they never come back!"
As for the corpse explosion technique that he was proud of...
It was a strange scroll that he obtained by chance a long time ago when he was looking for a target to refine corpse slaves in the Mingdou Mountains and was surrounded by a large number of soldiers sent by the Star Luo military. Fortunately, he was lucky enough to survive after falling off a cliff and being seriously injured.
It's the corpse explosion technique.
In the eyes of the Messenger of Death, as long as there are enough corpses that were strong enough when they were alive, this technique is comparable to a divine skill and has infinite power.
Even though he is only at the peak of Soul Sect now, if he prepares enough corpses in advance for him to detonate...
Even if a few Soul Kings came, they would be just like a group of insects in his eyes.
The Messenger of Death was thinking about the plan for the coming year when he suddenly felt something. His mouth curled up, revealing a sinister smile.
Through the corpses lying in ambush around him, he sensed that there was a team on the left side of the mixed zone, groping their way closer.
At the same time, on the right side of the mixed zone, he sensed a veiled blue-eyed woman.
"She possesses a highly poisonous martial soul like the Jade Phosphorus Snake. If she is refined into a corpse slave, she will surely become a great weapon for this messenger."
The Messenger of Death has some knowledge of this top-level poisonous martial soul that was once famous all over the world.
Although you may not have much advantage when fighting alone...
When it comes to large-scale killing power, such as poisoning an entire town or village, it is extremely terrifying, and soon, corpses could be everywhere in an instant.
And this effect is exactly what the Messenger of Death wants. Combined with the corpse explosion technique, he feels that he is about to rise.
The Messenger of Death slowly walked out of the cave, his eyes revealing a dark light under his black robe, and he looked gloomily at the woods in the distance on the left.
"Shrek Supervisory Group? When I refine that Green Phosphorus Snake Soul Master into a corpse slave, I will let you taste the flavor of corpse explosion, Jie."
The Messenger of Death turned into a wisp of gray smoke and flew toward the direction of the blue-eyed girl on the right.
At this time, Dugu Luo, who was holding the ancestral "Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well" map in her hand, had a hint of sadness in her green eyes, along with a bit of unwillingness.
Dugu Luo's eyes were a little sour, and tears appeared in her eyes. "If the toxins in my body were not getting worse, who would care about your Xuanming Sect, wuwu?"
After she understood the ritual of the Xuanming Sect, she chose to refuse.
She placed her last hope on the ancestral map.
The forest was dense, and a gentle breeze was blowing. Dugu Luo wiped her eyes and regained her confidence. To survive, she must find the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well through the ancestral map and obtain herbs that can suppress the toxins in her body.
...
On the forest path outside the Sunset Forest.
After Huo Yuhao had filled his stomach with some grilled fish, he was about to head toward Heaven Dou City when three options popped up in front of him.
—
[Option 1: Go forward 3,000 meters to the right, where you will meet the Death Messenger, who is at the peak of the Soul Sect. The evil soul master is wreaking havoc on the surrounding villages and is deeply sinful. Please strike him down severely. Completion reward: Flying Dou skill - Purple Cloud Wing (Advanced Xuan level)]
[Option 2: Ignore it and leave the Sunset Forest. Completion reward: a small amount of Dou Qi]
[Option 3: Join the Death Messenger and create a great cause together. Completion Reward: Soul Palace Dou Skills (obtained from the enemy's ring in the middle stage of Flame Emperor Xiao Yan)]
—
Huo Yuhao was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the Death Messenger would be in the Sunset Forest at this time. He wouldn't plan to cooperate with a certain old man who didn't want to reveal his name.
As for the three option tasks, Huo Yuhao chose one without hesitation.
Any soul master with correct thoughts and values should, to the best of their ability, punish evil soul masters when encountering them committing evil deeds—whether out of humanitarian concern or for the sake of social stability and long-term peace and order.
Huo Yuhao said to the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, "Brother Tianmeng, I am about to meet an evil soul master known as the strongest Soul King, called the Death Messenger."
"It's just that his current cultivation is at the peak of the Soul Sect. Brother Tianmeng, what do you think?"
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm immediately said excitedly: "Yuhao, brother will teach you a move."
"Oh? What move?" Huo Yuhao casually mentioned the Death Messenger to the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, but he didn't expect it to have a move in mind.
"Yuhao, start rubbing your Angry Buddha Lotus Flame on the way there."
"When we get there, wait for the right moment and throw it directly at the evil soul master's face."
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm used mental camouflage to appear outside Huo Yuhao's body, winked, and said a few words, looking forward to Huo Yuhao, who had two rings, using the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame to inflict multiple injuries on the peak soul master.
Huo Yuhao took another look at the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm. "Not bad, Brother Tianmeng. You and I have the same opinion."
"Of course not. Do you think that my experience of hundreds of thousands of years was all spent sleeping?" The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm felt that his awareness had improved.
So Huo Yuhao started to rub the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame while walking toward the front right.
At the same time, he released his Spirit Eyes martial soul and performed mental detection. Two white soul rings lingered around his body.
He used a simulated soul skill to change the second ring to yellow. His purpose was to punish the evil soul master. One white and one yellow soul ring would make it easier for the opponent to relax his vigilance, making it easier for him to find an opportunity to throw the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame.
Of course, if he enters the academy later, he can simulate the first two soul rings into yellow-purple or even purple-purple.
After all, it is a different era now. There is no need to act like a pig and eat a tiger in school. Instead, he should directly demonstrate his outstanding talents to obtain more resources from the college and shorten his growth cycle.
As Huo Yuhao went deeper into the Sunset Forest, the white and purple flame lotus in his hand was completed.
"Let's hide the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame through simulation."
After rubbing the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame with his hands, Huo Yuhao used the simulated soul skill to make it transparent.
The simulated soul skill can not only simulate the external image of an object but also simulate its internal aura. The originally very hot aura of the Buddha's Angry Lotus dissipated.
The next moment, the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame disappeared into the surrounding space. To outsiders, Huo Yuhao's palm seemed empty.
...
Huo Yuhao continued to move forward with exploding steps. Soon, two rather abrupt figures appeared on the detection map, and there were some corpses around them, which might have been prepared by the Messenger of Death.
The two had started fighting.
"This black-robed man should be the Messenger of Death." Huo Yuhao confirmed the identity of the Messenger of Death through the detection map in his mind and walked toward the place where the two were fighting with the transparent Angry Buddha Lotus Flame that outsiders could not see.
At this moment, the Messenger of Death was raising his hand in the air, detonating a corpse.
Bang!
A not-too-loud explosion sounded, and a figure in a green dress was blown away by the power of the corpse explosion and fell to the ground.
The low and strange laughter of the Messenger of Death was heard.
"Hehehe, if this messenger didn't want to refine you into a perfect corpse slave, you would have been blown to pieces long ago. Don't resist anymore; just be my corpse slave."
Dugu Luo raised her head with difficulty and noticed Huo Yuhao entering the battlefield. However, when she saw that he only had two soul rings, she quickly shouted despite the pain.
"Run away, little brother! He is an evil soul master!" Huo Yuhao took a quick step forward, helped the girl up, and handed her a pill.
A trace of bright red blood oozed from the corner of the girl's mouth. She was born with blue eyes, and her beautiful face looked particularly pale and stained with a little dust.
She swallowed the pill in a hurry, without even having time to speak, and quickly grabbed Huo Yuhao, trying to escape.
A wisp of gray smoke flashed not far in front of them, and the Messenger of Death appeared one hundred meters in front of the two, with the corpses he carried scattered in various areas around him.
Of course, most of the corpses he carried were first- or second-ring soul masters when they were alive, so the power after detonation was not particularly great.
"A second-ring soul master with spiritual attributes is also a good example for refining corpse slaves."
The Messenger of Death was very satisfied with his luck today.
Huo Yuhao was looking for an opportunity to throw the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame.
Dugu Luo gritted her teeth and glared at the Messenger of Death, but she was powerless. Knowing that the evil soul master was ruthless, she smiled bitterly: "Little brother, it seems that neither of us will survive today."
But when she looked at Huo Yuhao, she was surprised to find that this handsome little brother did not have a trace of fear on his face.
Of course, this was not Huo Yuhao's fault.
It is easy to pretend to be cool but difficult to pretend to be cowardly.
Facing the Messenger of Death, Huo Yuhao really couldn't be scared at all.
Not to mention that he was holding the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame. Even if he was like Huo Yuhao in the original novel, he could compete with the Messenger of Death when he was in the second ring. Yi Lao's possession could kill the Messenger of Death in minutes.
Huo Yuhao's mind moved, and he quietly pulled Dugu Luo into the spiritual detection sharing.
Although Dugu Luo was surprised by the changes in his mind, she did not show it.
Through the three-dimensional detection map in her mind, she saw a lotus pattern flame floating in the palm of Huo Yuhao's hand.
Dugu Luo spoke to distract the Messenger of Death.
"You don't want to turn me into an unconscious corpse slave but want me to consciously sign a soul contract with you, right? Let this little brother go, and we can discuss it."
The Messenger of Death laughed strangely: "Since both of you have been caught by this messenger, why can't I refine you together?"
While the other party was talking, Huo Yuhao found the right opportunity and directly invited him to eat the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame.
An invisible arc of heat waves passed through the sky.
When the Buddha's Angry Lotus flew out of the simulation range, it revealed its original true appearance: a white and purple flaming lotus seat.
The Messenger of Death's face suddenly changed; he became extremely horrified, and he didn't have time to think about why a two-ring soul master could release such a terrifying move—he quickly recited a spell.
"Get up, my corpse slaves..."
Several puppet-like bodies rose from the ground for no reason and blocked the Messenger of Death.
Feeling a considerable threat to his life, the cautious Messenger of Death turned into a wisp of gray smoke and fled backward like a desperado.
Boom——
A huge explosion roared, and in the air, a two-colored lotus-like air wave swayed faintly.
One could see that the gray smoke transformed by the Messenger of Death was bleeding in the air, and a cloud of bloody mist appeared because he had been severely injured.
Huo Yuhao simulated an Angry Buddha Lotus Flame in his palm using simulated soul skills.
"Miss, chase me!"
"Ah?" Dugu Luo was confused. Chase me?
She felt as though she were the opposite of Tian Gang.
The simulated Angry Buddha Lotus Flame was suspended in his palm, and Huo Yuhao took exploding steps and chased after it without hesitation.
When the Messenger of Death saw the lotus seat in Huo Yuhao's palm, he was almost frightened to death and quickly detonated the corpses scattered on the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Loud explosions occurred one after another all around.
Huo Yuhao had been paying attention to these corpses from the beginning. He reacted in advance through the detection map and released the strange fire to protect his body.
Dugu Luo had shared spiritual detection, so there was no need for Huo Yuhao to remind her. The second soul ring of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Martial Soul flashed, and she quickly rushed back to the position least affected by the explosion.
After this clash with the Messenger of Death, Huo Yuhao could feel that the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame was still a great threat to the Soul Sect. It was also possible that the Messenger of Death himself had poor defense.
The only pity was that the explosion only severely injured the Messenger of Death but did not kill him.
—
[The optional task has been completed. Reward: Flying Dou skill - Purple Cloud Wing (Xuan-level advanced)]
—
Outside a cave thousands of meters away, the bloodied Messenger of Death leaned against the wall and spat out a few more mouthfuls of blood.
"Why is that two-ring soul master so weird? Could he be the direct disciple of some hidden boss? It seems that after breaking through to the Soul King level, the plan before the Soul Master Competition needs to be more fully prepared to make the corpse explosion more violent..."
...
"My name is Dugu Luo, Yuhao. You can just call me Dugu sister." Huo Yuhao and Dugu Luo got to know each other.
Dugu Luo looked at the deep pit that was blasted out by the Angry Buddha Lotus Flame and said in disbelief: "Yuhao, did you release that lotus just now?"
"It's my trump card. I won't use it unless it's necessary." Huo Yuhao chuckled.
"Sister Dugu, why did you come here alone?"
"I just told you about my martial soul problem. I want to find herbs that can suppress the toxins in my body through the ancestral map."
"Map?" Huo Yuhao thought of a possibility.
"Yes, the map of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well." Dugu Luo tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, her green eyes filled with anticipation.
Huo Yuhao suddenly became interested. While chatting with Dugu Luo, he followed her footsteps and walked toward the depths of the Sunset Forest.
The two were chatting with great interest, and they didn't realize how far they had walked when they suddenly heard a woman's clear and loud voice.
"Everyone be careful! Everyone, do your best to protect yourselves!"
"A mantis-type soul beast, the Three-Soul Ghost Mantis! Its cultivation is close to 100,000 years! It can split into three souls and control three soul beasts in under 10,000 years!"
Huo Yuhao was stunned. What was Tang? Through the detection map...
Oh, it turned out to be a mantis.
Some disciples were terrified, "Master sister, how could such a powerful soul beast appear in Sunset Forest?!"
As soon as the Three-Souled Ghost Mantis appeared, it raised its sickle-like sawtooth forelimbs, created a piercing sonic boom, and slammed into a man in the team's waist.
The man flew backward like a cannonball, crashing into several thick trees. His body was almost cut in half, blood gushing out; he was about to lose his life completely.
"Wang Chen! You can't die in vain!!"
Someone screamed like weeping blood: "Master sister, where is Mr. Xuan? Why hasn't he come out yet?!"
(End of this chapter)