Mercy and Resolve, a Transformation of Heart

"Eh, they moved so quickly? And it’s at Xing’s place…" Su Yu suddenly frowned.

Mo Qi immediately asked, "Is the Holy Spirit Cult making its move?"

Su Yu nodded. "At midnight three days from now, fifty Holy Spirit Cult disciples will massacre Tianqi Village, where Xu Xing lives. A Soul Ancestor will lead them, while the rest are Soul Elders."

"I’ll send people over right now," Mo Qi said.

Su Yu raised a hand to stop him. "No need. Let my students go."

As he spoke, Su Yu took a watch out of his storage space, pressed it, and spoke into it. "Attention, everyone. At midnight three days from now, a group of Holy Spirit Cult disciples will be heading out to massacre a village. Their target is Tianqi Village, Xu Xing’s village.

"I’m assigning summer homework now. Everyone is to head to Tianqi Village and hunt Evil Soul Masters. The location has been sent to your watches."

This watch was the communication device Su Yu had given them. At the same time, the students scattered throughout different places all heard Su Yu’s message. After stretching a little, they each hurried toward the address displayed on their watches.

Tianqi Village

Xu Xing frowned tightly. He had complete faith in Su Yu’s words, so he wanted the villagers of Tianqi Village to leave and hide for a few days before returning. But he had no evidence, making it difficult for him to convince them.

Xu Xing fretted for a long time and even discussed it with his classmates. In the end, someone suggested that they simply ambush the enemies on the only road leading to Tianqi Village. There was no need to let the battle spread into the village.

This was obviously the best option, and Xu Xing fully agreed. As long as Tianqi Village was not implicated, it would be fine. Those Evil Soul Masters were no match for them at all. Even their weakest member had strength equivalent to a Soul Elder, while forty of them were equivalent to Soul Ancestors. With such strength, they could utterly crush the Holy Spirit Cult disciples heading for Tianqi Village.

Three days later

That night, everyone from Class one lay in ambush along the only road leading to Tianqi Village. A little after eleven, a group of people dressed in black arrived on the forest path, while the Class one students hid among the surrounding trees.

The Soul Ancestor leading them suddenly sensed that something was wrong. He immediately ordered everyone to stop and warily scanned their surroundings.

"Friends, since you’re here, why hide?" the Holy Spirit Cult Soul Ancestor asked in a deep voice.

One girl from Class One whispered, "Why do I suddenly feel like we’re the bad guys and they’re the good guys?"

The Soul Ancestor immediately looked in the girl’s direction. His Soul Rings lit up as he hurled a fireball toward her.

The girl was so frightened that she immediately summoned her Martial Soul. A longsword appeared in her hand, and with a flick of the blade, she knocked the fireball away. Class one had already been exposed, so they simply charged out together.

When the Soul Ancestor saw that the ambushers were merely a group of twelve- and thirteen-year-old students, he immediately sneered. "I was wondering what it was. Just a bunch of brats."

Chen Jie, Class one’s monitor, smiled. "This bunch of brats will make you regret that soon enough. Brothers, attack!" As he spoke, a halberd appeared in Chen Jie’s hand, and he swung it down at once.

The Soul Ancestor immediately retreated, gathering a massive fireball in his hand before launching it forward.

On the other side, flames rose from Xu Xing’s body, and red light shone from his eyes. Su Yu had previously helped Xu Xing undergo a second awakening of his Martial Soul. Now, Xu Xing’s Martial Soul had become the Blazing Fire Vermilion Bird, and its flames were scarcely inferior to a phoenix’s.

Third Soul Skill, Falling Stars!

Xu Xing directly unleashed his third Soul Skill. It was an area-of-effect Soul Skill, and in an instant, streaks of red light rained down from the sky upon the Evil Soul Masters.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

All the fireballs struck, but they only landed beside those people. They merely suffered injuries of varying severity; not a single one was killed.

Chen Jie sighed at the sight, while the others lightly shook their heads as well. Xu Xing was simply too softhearted. These were Evil Soul Masters who killed without batting an eye, yet he still could not bring himself to kill them.

Xu Xing was merciful, but Chen Jie and the others were not. They immediately began killing the Evil Soul Masters. Watching them die one by one, Xu Xing could not bear it and said, "How about sparing their lives?"

One hot-tempered student from Class One grabbed Xu Xing by the collar and shouted, "Xu Xing! Don’t think I won’t beat you up just because you’re Teacher Su’s disciple! The Holy Spirit Cult has already massacred three villages. Hundreds, even thousands, have died at their hands, and you’re actually pleading for them!"

As he shouted, he punched Xu Xing in the face, knocking him to the ground. The others immediately said, "Wang Long, that’s enough. We should deal with these Evil Soul Masters first."

Wang Long angrily flicked his sleeve and punched one of the Evil Soul Masters.

Xu Xing climbed to his feet, his gaze somewhat unfocused. Not long after, Chen Jie suddenly shouted, "This is bad! There are only forty-nine corpses here! Quick, back to Tianqi Village!"

Hearing this, Xu Xing immediately rushed toward Tianqi Village in agitation, and the others hurried after him.

Before long, they could see Tianqi Village. What greeted them, however, was a sea of flames and the screams of the elderly, the weak, women, and children.

Xu Xing let out a cry, his eyes red.

"Ah! Why?!"

No one else spoke. Chen Jie led the others charging over, and soon they dragged a man back. The man did not care at all that he had been captured. Instead, he burst into laughter. "Hahaha! What a bunch of fools. You actually showed mercy to Evil Soul Masters. Brats, this is a lesson I’m giving you before I die!"

Wang Long angrily threw a punch at the man, but Xu Xing moved first. Flames in Xu Xing’s hand condensed into a Flame Sword, which pierced straight through the man’s heart.

Watching the man collapse before him, Xu Xing staggered toward the village like a wandering ghost. The others silently followed behind him without saying a word. Soon, they reached the entrance of the village, where Chen Jie said, "Xu Xing, these villagers were all ordinary people… They’re all dead…"

Two streams of tears ran down Xu Xing’s face, and he dropped to his knees. His hands clenched the dirt beneath him as he remained silent.

Though he said nothing, Xu Xing’s state of mind had already begun to change. This experience was far better than having him personally learn of the darkness in people’s hearts.

Seeing the villagers slaughtered because of his own mercy, Xu Xing was truly devastated. At that moment, his mind was filled with every memory he had of the village from childhood to the present. They were all still so vivid that he could not forget them.

Xu Xing stared fiercely at the blazing village and gritted his teeth. "I will kill every Evil Soul Master in the world!"