Chapter Sixty-One: The Corridor of Soul Commanders

Brother Biao was jolted awake by a basin of cold water, and immediately regretted regaining consciousness.

"Speak. Where did you hide my treasures?" Tang Tian's voice drilled into Brother Biao's ears.

With his head spinning, Brother Biao asked, "Your treasures?"

"That's right!" Tang Tian suddenly stood up, spreading his arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "You’re all my prisoners now. Your treasures are, of course, mine."

Only then did Brother Biao understand, and he couldn’t help but laugh and cry. "Everything is right there. Your technique… so clean…"

"Save your tricks!" Tang Tian looked at Brother Biao with unconcealed disdain. "With such a pile of loot, not a single bronze treasure? No silver cards either? Who are you trying to fool? Members of the Radiant Martial Society can’t possibly be this poor! Don’t think I’m clueless. I know how wealthy the Radiant Martial Society is!"

Just thinking of Lord Kong’s luxurious carriage and the wall covered in fourth-tier silver Soul General Cards filled Tang Tian with energy.

Seeing Brother Biao rendered speechless, Tang Tian continued smugly, "Even I have a bronze treasure, and you don’t have a single one among you? How is that possible? I’m telling you, you’d better cough up all your treasures. If anyone is hiding something, well, if you end up missing anything when I’m done, don’t say I didn’t warn you."

Tang Tian repeated Brother Biao’s own words back at him.

Brother Biao was beside himself with tears. Who said the Radiant Martial Society was a flock of fat sheep?

"We really don’t have any…" Brother Biao quavered.

Tang Tian put on a stern face, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "Looks like I’ll have to help jog your memory!"

Panic flooded Brother Biao’s face, but suddenly, an idea struck him. "I remember! I remember! There’s a place—there are treasures there!"

Tang Tian’s spirits soared at once.

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Tang Tian gazed at the corridor before him in astonishment. "This place seems to have quite a bit of history."

"There was an elder here long ago," Brother Biao explained. "He made a mistake and was exiled here, spending the rest of his years in this place. This corridor leads to his retreat. He left a will: anyone who can reach the deepest part of the corridor, his retreat, can claim his relics."

"Sounds impressive!" Tang Tian was visibly excited, but then a question occurred to him. "Why haven’t you gone in?"

"There’s a formidable Soul General inside. We’ve all tried, but none of us could beat it," Brother Biao replied.

"I see…" Tang Tian narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Alright, I’ll give it a try."

The bald man hadn’t lied; Tang Tian could sense a faint, elusive presence deep within the corridor—a presence both drifting and dangerous.

A gleam of hope flashed across Brother Biao’s face. Let this troublemaker go in—if the Soul General inside finishes him off, well…

But his smile froze as he watched Tang Tian. "W-what are you doing?" he stammered.

Tang Tian took out a length of rope and promptly tied up every last one of them. Looking at the group, their arms and legs bound like dumplings, Tang Tian clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Now you won’t be able to cause me any trouble! Once I’m out, I’ll let you go."

"But what if you don’t come out…" Brother Biao asked, voice trembling.

Tang Tian flashed a broad grin. "Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be back!"

He ignored them and strode into the corridor.

The passage was far from dim; on the contrary, it was brightly lit. The air wafting from its depths carried a faint tang of water. Tang Tian’s face grew solemn as he advanced cautiously. The passage was paved entirely with stone, stretching so far he couldn’t see the end. The energy here was thick, just a shade less than behind the Gate of Light.

Clearly, no one had entered in a long time—a thick layer of dust had gathered, spiderwebs hung everywhere. Tang Tian’s footsteps echoed in the eerie corridor; those of a timid heart would have turned and fled at once. But aside from his grave expression, Tang Tian showed no sign of fear.

As he ventured deeper, faint marks began to appear on the stone walls. They resembled writing, yet didn’t, scrawled and messy, but they made Tang Tian gasp inwardly. The stone walls were incredibly hard—he could shatter a block with a punch, but to carve something into the stone at will? He could never hope to do that.

Such finger strength was incredible!

Tang Tian felt a surge of respect, especially as he realized these scrawled marks seemed to be musings on martial techniques.

A portrait of a martial-obsessed elder instantly formed in Tang Tian’s mind.

For such a person, Tang Tian felt nothing but admiration.

As he walked, he pressed his palms together and muttered, "Elder, please, let me have all your relics, treasures, techniques—everything! I will not disgrace your name. A genius youth like me is the perfect heir; I’ll be sure to pass it all on and bring it to new heights…"

Perhaps it was these words, but suddenly a faint figure began to coalesce ahead.

A Soul General!

Tang Tian jolted, stopping in his tracks, alert.

The Soul General was a withered old man, his frame stooped and his arms unusually long.

Tang Tian’s gaze focused on the Soul General’s hands—skinny as dead branches, fingers like hooks, nails long and jet-black, sharp and menacing. Tang Tian’s expression grew grave; the chilling, sinister aura the old man radiated made his hair stand on end.

Now he understood why Baldy and the others dared not enter.

Looking at the hooked fingers, then recalling the scrawled marks on the walls, Tang Tian realized this Soul General was likely the very elder himself, transformed into a Martial Soul before death.

Tang Tian bowed respectfully and muttered, "Elder, I've come for your treasures. Though you still guard them, surely you can’t be happy—they lie buried in dust, unable to shine in battle as before. What a pity, for treasures that cannot release their brilliance in combat!"

The Soul General stared at Tang Tian coldly, unmoved.

Tang Tian met his gaze and said solemnly, "If you must test me, do it! I’ll prove I’m worthy and won’t disgrace your legacy!"

His expression steeled, Tang Tian shouted, "Heavenly Furnace!"

With a whoosh, flames surged over his fists. Now, the flames from his Black Iron Gauntlets had acquired a bluish hue.

After countless refinements, the Martial Soul within the gauntlets had subtly changed. Tang Tian had long felt the gauntlets’ transformation was imminent.

But now, all his focus was on the Soul General before him. He crouched slightly, ready.

The Soul General’s pale eyes suddenly flared with a chilling light. In a blink, the figure vanished from Tang Tian’s sight.

So fast!

But in the new recruits’ training camp, Tang Tian had been battered by countless orbs of light daily, gradually honing a keen intuition. The eyes could not always be trusted—sometimes what you saw was a feint, sometimes too quick to follow.

In "getting beaten" training, the orbs of light fell like a torrential storm. Trying to track them with the naked eye was impossible.

Tang Tian’s method was to cultivate his intuition.

No one taught him this; he discovered it himself. He realized that if he maintained deep inner calm, his intuition sharpened. After seeing the benefits, he trained it deliberately. The "getting beaten" drills not only tempered his inner strength, but also his intuition.

Intuition was like a rough bronze blank—polished over and over, it became smooth and reflected more.

This was why Tang Tian could endure longer and longer in the "getting beaten" training.

He moved without hesitation, sidestepping and hooking his fingers toward his left.

Clang!

A piercing, needle-fine force shot into his fingertips.

How fierce! If not for his Crane Body, which could neutralize invading energy, an ordinary martial artist would have suffered greatly from such a strange attack. The Soul General’s power might only be fourth-tier, but his attack was so bizarre that it made him far stronger than most at his level.

Recognizing the danger, Tang Tian dared not be careless; his Eagle Claw technique lashed out in a storm.

Shrill whistles filled the air like raging tides.

Tang Tian’s Eagle Claw technique was all about speed—unparalleled speed! In the "getting beaten" drills, one moment’s hesitation meant a heavy blow and a fresh bruise. He endured over six hours of these relentless attacks daily; such brutal training had honed his technique to the extreme.

His Eagle Claw technique might not be the most powerful version out there, but it was undoubtedly the fastest, reaching the theoretical limit.

Yet what he didn’t expect was that the Soul General matched him move for move.

Those hooked fingers were like iron sickles, each swipe slicing the air with a shriek.

Both sides attacked at blinding speed, sparks flying between them.

Strands of true energy pierced Tang Tian’s fingertips, but his Crane Body absorbed them all.

The frequency of attacks was astonishing—within moments, more than three hundred strikes’ worth of true energy vanished into Tang Tian’s Crane Body.

The Soul General could never have anticipated anyone capable of absorbing his energy.

The depletion became evident; the Soul General’s attacks began to slow, almost imperceptibly. Tang Tian’s sharp intuition caught the change instantly.

With a long shout, Tang Tian’s offensive grew even fiercer. He ignored the strain, pouring everything into his attack.

The air was rent with shrill cries, and the unleashed force smashed into the stone walls, leaving new scratches, holes, and pits wherever they passed. The corridor was soon battered and scarred.

Suddenly, with a crisp sound, the red flames enveloping Tang Tian’s fists shifted to blue.

The pure blue fire was less wild, but more ethereal!

A surge of powerful energy flooded from his gauntlets.

A rush of joy filled Tang Tian’s heart.

His gauntlets had advanced!

Heavenly Furnace Bronze Gauntlets!