75 Is It Power That You Seek?

Nearly halfan hour had passed since Sen Guo had left the Soul Train to Heaven Dou City, flying in the sky in a eastward direction. This was supposed to be an easy job, especially for someone as powerful as him. Board the train, smuggle a few weapons and bombs on it, giving commands to those trash commoners to take over the train and make the conductor release the people that were captured 20 days ago; Simple as that!

He was only there to make sure nothing went wrong and if it wasn't for that weird brat, who had knocked out those trash in a second, he wouldn't even have to act and could just sit back and watch, but no! Not only had the brat forced him to move, he even stalled for enough time that the Military from Heaven Dou City could come with their Mechas. Because of this, he had to flee with his tail between his legs like a rabid dog!

Think back at this, Sen Guo cursed his own damn luck. He could only hope that the higher ups wouldn't kill him and would accept his failure in exchange for that strange boy. Looking at the unconscious and bound boy under his arm, he frowned. The kid was only a Soul Ancestor, but his Soul Ring configuration was incredible; Three purple and one black ring, this wasn't something people like him could dream off. Moreover, even after being hit by Sen Guo's after he had activated his Spirit Essence Avatar, the boy still managed to send out a spiritual attack that had affected him.

Unknown to Sheng Feilong, his last attack, the Spirit Infestation Soul Skill, had not only taken root in Sen Guo's spirit source; the spiritual attack alone had even caused his Soul Power to go in disarray and the backlash from his Spirit Essence Avatar had him cough up a mouthful of blood.

Luckily, Sen Guo hadn't checked his spirit source yet, and the poisoned bud was continuously growing bigger and absorbing his energy. By now, it had already infested over half of Sen Guo's spirit source without the latter noticing. Flying with a high speed just a couple metres above the ground in order to not be found, Sen Guo had felt something off, but just attributed it to the backlash from his Spirit Essence Avatar.

A few more minutes passed in relative silence. By now, Sen Guo was flying through a hilly region with only sparse vegetation while panting heavily. He cursed in his mind as even he hadn't expected a backlash from his Avatar to have such severe consequences. If he didn't take a rest soon, he would surely lose his combat abilities for the time being, but recognizing where he was, his expression soured and he accelerated instead of searching for a place to stay.

Sheng Feilong felt his world filled with nothing as he slowly regained consciousness. Still having his eyes closed, he remembered fighting a terrorist Soul Master in the train to Heaven Dou City, remembered being injured and finally being knocked out with a powerful strike to the back of his neck. He opened his eyes and saw the scenery beneath him quickly rush past. Trying to move back in shock, he noticed himself being bound in strange, red ropes and saw that he was held under the arm of a person.

His pupils constricted and he desperately looked around, only to find that he was currently carried through some wasteland he'd never seen before. Trying to figure out where he could possibly be from the Douluo Continent's map he knew, he suddenly heard someone speak to him.

"Damn brat, you're finally awake?"

The voice was somewhat hoarse and strained, but contained a contempt and slight killing intent that Sheng Feilong knew all to well. Looking over his own right shoulder, he saw the somewhat pale face of the terrorist's leader that he had fought before. Trying to hide the distress he felt in his heart, he quickly noticed that the man still had the mark from his Spirit Infestation Soul Skill on him. From the man's pale face coupled with the fact that the poisoned bud felt extremely strong, Sheng Feilong was sure that the man was close to having his spirit source devoured and be killed!

Although Sheng Feilong didn't know his name, he knew that Sen Guo's Spirit Power was at least stronger than his own and probably already at the Spirit Abyss realm. The man looked somewhat older than a middle aged man in his prime. Coupled with his cultivation at the Soul Saint rank, it wasn't that uncommon that he was at the Spirit Abyss realm. Still, the poisoned bud had already finished consuming his spirit source and thinking about his training with Song Weihan, it should have been quite some time since he planted the seed.

Seeing Sen Guo look at him in contempt and hearing his question, Sheng Feilong cynically smiled with a hint of ridicule and killing intent behind it.

"I've slept quite well, thank you for asking. I've even got a personal servant carrying me around; how good my life is! You on the other hand seem quite tired and weak. You're not dying of old age, are you, old man?"

Sen Guo's expression turned dark and his voice grew cold.

"You're lucky that I still need you alive, brat. You dare insult me after loosing so pitifully? Your skin really is thick; Did they teach you that at school?"

Even though he was at the other's mercy, Sheng Feilong didn't back down and refuted with the same ridicule as before.

"Pitifully loosing? Who was the mighty Soul Saint that cried out like a dying pig from my attack at the end even though he's at least 30 ranks above me? Moreover, you're at least five times my age; If we were the same age, I'd swat you dead with a single hand!"

Killing intent burst forth from Sen Guo and was about to refute Sheng Feilong as he raised his hand, but his expression quickly froze and he looked towards his left, way past Sheng Feilong, with shock and incredible dread.

"Why is this thing near here?! It's supposed to be hibernating during this season!"

Sheng Feilong wanted to ridicule Sen Guo again, but a sudden change in direction made him swallow his words as Sen Guo maniacally turned right before flying away as fast as he could. Sheng Feilong groaned from the sudden pressure and furiously spoke to Sen Guo again.

"Damn old man, can't you even fly evenly?! What's with this sudden turn?!"

"Shut up, you damned brat!" shouted Sen Guo back at him before looking behind himself and accelerating even further. He was now flying at his maximum speed towards the south. Sheng Feilong wanted to speak up again, but suddenly felt a dreadfully strong energy closing in on them at an incredibly speed. Turning his head around, he saw a black dot at the horizon, quickly growing bigger as he heard a irritating buzzing sound.

He concentrated and saw a black shadow rushing at them, but couldn't make out it's form, before the shadow rushed past him, a few centimetres above his head. Sen Guo groaned and exhaled painfully before he let go of Sheng Feilong, the latter falling to the ground at a high speed.

Just a second later, while still falling, Sheng Feilong saw Sen Guo being skewered through the chest with both of his hands holding on to the blade like stinger that protruded from his front. At this point Sheng Feilong finally saw the appearance of the black shadow that followed them; Attached to the blade like stinger in Sen Guo's chest was a long, segregated black tail that was as thick as a man's thigh and more than 25 metres in length. It curled upwards at the end, seamlessly transitioning in a short torso, approximately 5 times thicker than the tail.

Three pairs of long, thin legs, angled at the torso during flight, hung beneath it while two pairs on half-transparent, long wings gave off the irritating buzzing sound from before, while two sharp scissor like claws grabbed Sen Guo after he was pulled closer to the beast. Opening it's grotesque maw, it bit down on Sen Guo, ripping him into pieces while it devoured him in a few bites.

Sheng Feilong brutally crushed into the ground below, grinding and rolling around for more than 50 metres before he finally came to a halt. His face contorted and he groaned in pain as the initial impact broke quite a few of his bones. Looking at the Soul Beast in the distance, it's antenna flinched after it finished Sen Guo and it looked at Sheng Feilong with it's compound eyes as the latter paled from fright.

(A/N: Inspiration for the Soul Beast came from the Dragon Fly that crashed into my damn head and flew off like nothing happened. Those things, I swear. Also: This image. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4vRz1

The Soul Beast's black in colour, though, and it's tail is way longer.)

Sheng Feilong tried to stand up, but the strange, red ropes still bound him tightly and he could only lay on his back while pushing himself away from the Soul Beast with his legs. He screamed in terror as the Beast slowly flew over to him, the long, scorpion-like tail curled up under its body with the stinger pointing forward.

"Damn it! Get away! Back off! Back off, damn Beast! You've had your meal, now get away!"

The Beast hovered above him, still a few metres away while Sheng Feilong continuously shouted while he crawled away. When he passed the ten metres mark away from it, it's tail suddenly shot forward, the blade like stinger brutally penetrating though he chest, punctioning his heart before ripped up and slicing open his whole shoulder. Sheng Feilong froze as he looked down on his chest where only a gaping hole remained, with blood unceasingly flowing out of it.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood before turning around and looking at the beast in front of him. The tail had curled up underneath its body again as it slowly neared Sheng Feilong. Sheng Feilong's whole body slowly turned colder and colder while his vision blurred and he felt his consciousness fading. Slowly, the world turned grey and dark and Sheng Feilong was unable to move, only lying in a pool of his own blood.

'This... can't be happening... This is a nightmare..! I'm only doing my Year End Exam! I can't die like that, damn it! I won't die by the hands of some damn Soul Beasts!' Sheng Feilong thought with disbelief and terror. His eyes blurry, but still focused on the giant insect Soul Beast in front of him. He could barely see anything anymore and tears welled up in his eyes.

'Damn it! Why me?! What have I done to deserve this?! I'm only taking a god damn exam! Fuck! If only... If only I was stronger! I'd rip that fucking vermin to death!'

The world slowly turned completely dark as the buzzing sound from the Soul Beast's wings vanished. Sheng Feilong cursed his bad luck, cursed the Year End Exam and cursed his own lack of strength. When everything slowly faded away, regret and hatred were the only things filling Sheng Feilong's mind... and the world before his eyes suddenly froze. Sheng Feilong's vision was clear. He couldn't move, but still see the huge insect in front of him, unmoving and suspended in the air. Everything was grey.

Sheng Feilong couldn't think of anything. He was completely frozen as well; even the bleeding had stopped. Even though there was nothing and nothing happened, Sheng Feilong continued to curse in his mind. Everything happened because he was to weak and he became calm; Terrifyingly calm when a otherworldly and deep voice boomed in his head, loud enough to fill the whole world.

>Is it power that you seek?<