Why Are All Your People Running Over to My Side?

Deep in the woods, a tree snapped.

Right on its heels, a second thunderous crash came from down the slope.

By the time Shen Zhaolin arrived, the Gray Fang Hunting Group had already stirred up a herd of Steel-Bristled Boars. Several century-old ones were charging about in front, while the one behind them was enormous, the hard bristles on its back standing up like steel needles. It was the thousand-year Soul Beast the hunting group had been hired to find.

The original plan had been for ten Outlanders to carry the scent and lure the boars in front toward the back slope.

Shao Rong would remain on the other side and lead his men against the last one.

Now the people had yet to go down, but the beasts had already come.

"Fall back!"

Shen Zhaolin stopped a hunter who was trying to run up the slope. Stone armor covered his arm, and he met a charging century-old Steel-Bristled Boar head-on, knocking it off course.

Shao Rong looked back, and his expression changed too.

"What are you doing here?"

"Your people are about to send those Outlanders straight into the beasts' mouths. I came to ask if you knew."

"Send them where?" Shao Rong frowned. "Zhuo Yuan said they were willing, and that even if they died, they could come back!"

Shen Zhaolin seized him by the front of his clothes.

"Willing? Who did you ask?"

Before he had finished speaking, the thousand-year Steel-Bristled Boar behind them charged in.

They had no choice but to let go of each other and dodge in opposite directions. The boar's tusks scraped a thick tree, sending bark and wood chips flying.

Shen Zhaolin stopped arguing and blocked the narrow passage to the back slope. He shouted at a nearby hunter, "Tell your employer to get back!"

But Shao Rong looked toward another path first.

With no one on the northern slope to lure away the lesser beasts, this hunt was likely to descend into chaos.

Xu Sheng heard the roar and stopped wasting time on Zhuo Yuan.

"Brother Du, lead them back!"

Green vines pushed out of the grass and stretched along the ground at the feet of Qi Luo and the others. Du Wenhe did not tie them together in a line. Instead, he set up vine ropes where they were likely to slip, giving them something to hold as they walked.

He Zheng put the oil-soaked clothes in a hollow away from their retreat route, then took up his hammer and guarded the rear.

Qi Luo followed the others back to the mouth of the slope, then suddenly turned and shouted.

"Zhuo Yuan, didn't you say all ten of us would get a share? That hunter just said your name was the only one on the list!"

He had heard it when he handed over the clothes.

In return for securing this ring for their employer, the Gray Fang Hunting Group had promised to give Zhuo Yuan priority in preparing for his next Soul Ring hunt. The names of the ten people sent to act as bait had never even reached Shao Rong.

Several faces that had still shown hesitation all turned at once.

Zhuo Yuan's heart sank.

Qi Luo knew more than he had thought. If he really got back and told everyone what had happened, Zhuo Yuan could forget about bringing the people who had stayed at the academy out of the city.

Besides, Chu Heng was already on his way.

As long as he kept Qi Luo here first, could Xu Sheng, with his two rings, really snatch someone from a Soul Elder by force?

Zhuo Yuan strode over and reached for Qi Luo's shoulder.

"The others can go, but first let's get this..."

A steel sword barred his hand.

Xu Sheng had turned around at some point, and the spine of his sword rested against Zhuo Yuan's wrist.

"Get out of the way."

Zhuo Yuan's gaze darkened, and a crimson saber took shape in his hand.

He did not strike at Xu Sheng. Instead, he flicked his wrist, and the blade darted toward the leg Qi Luo had just stepped forward with!

The smile vanished from Xu Sheng's face.

Crimson Holy Judgment!

Clang!

Saber and sword collided, throwing sparks. Qi Luo shrank back in fright and nearly fell on his backside, but He Zheng grabbed him and pulled him away.

Zhuo Yuan stepped back half a pace, his hand numb from the impact.

He had only intended to put Qi Luo on the ground. If he left the one leading the retreat here, the others' courage would naturally crumble.

He had not expected Xu Sheng to turn faster than he did.

A burst of rapid snorting suddenly sounded from behind them to one side.

Two century-old Steel-Bristled Boars bounded over the low shrubs and charged toward the hollow where the clothes had been placed. Another, startled off course by the commotion ahead, was bearing down on the retreating crowd.

Lu Song had already braced his shield behind a low rock.

He Gu was so nervous that his palms were slick with sweat, and a yellow light shone from the Dark-Patterned Turtle Shell. Neither of them overreached by charging onto the open ground to meet the beast. They held the narrow passage and pushed the panicked people back first.

"Get past me!"

A young man fled blindly, slipped, and nearly tumbled down the steep drop beside him. Song Xiaoqiao immediately whipped out the Silver-Patterned Rope. Her first yellow ring lit up, and a loop of rope cinched around his waist and pulled him back.

He Gu freed one hand to catch him. Seeing Song Xiaoqiao stumble from the pull, he hurriedly steadied her by the shoulder.

Neither had time to speak. They first pushed the young man behind the rock.

Du Wenhe's Second Soul Ring lit up.

Thick, tough green vines snapped taut along the slope, wrapping around the charging Steel-Bristled Boar's front legs. It squealed and pitched forward, yanking the roots in the ground until they crackled.

Ji Juechen struck with his sword at that moment.

Two yellow rings flashed in succession. Instead of slashing at its thickly armored back, he swept his blade along the inside of the beast's leg, then slipped aside to avoid its tusks.

Pain shot through the Steel-Bristled Boar's hind leg, and Du Wenhe used the opening to drag it toward a pit to the side.

For the moment, the path was clear.

Xu Sheng saw it all clearly, and some of the tension in his heart eased. His gaze returned to Zhuo Yuan.

"Still going to block us?"

Zhuo Yuan did not answer. Instead, he looked past Xu Sheng at the man running toward them.

Chu Heng, the Gray Fang Hunting Group's Soul Elder.

Level thirty-two, Iron-Spined Lizard.

Fine scales rapidly covered his neck, and a long, thick tail extended behind him as three Soul Rings, two yellow and one purple, rose into view. He swept a glance over the scene, and his first reaction was to go over and stop them.

"Who gave you permission to disrupt our hunting ground?"

Xu Sheng beat his wings and surged forward, his sword point aimed straight at Chu Heng's face.

Chu Heng raised an arm to knock it aside and was about to give chase when a black hammer came smashing in from the side.

He Zheng planted his feet, and his First Soul Ring blazed!

Heavy Mountain!

Chu Heng's expression changed. He pulled back his arm and blocked the blow head-on, but the hammer forced him half a step sideways.

It was not that he could not block it, but that the black hammer was indeed astonishingly heavy.

Before he could strike back, Ji Juechen's sword arrived.

A thrust toward his ribs forced him to turn and guard the seam between his scales.

The two of them held Chu Heng at the mouth of the slope for the moment.

Xu Sheng did not go after Chu Heng to compete for that strike. He turned back and blocked Zhuo Yuan instead.

He had seen that Zhuo Yuan was still trying to slip through the chaos toward Qi Luo and the others.

"Your opponent's right here."

Zhuo Yuan tightened his grip on his saber and suddenly shouted, "Members of the Edge-Chasing Association, follow me! Don't let them fool you. Group Leader Shao is up ahead to meet us!"

His shout carried through the woods.

The people who had retreated behind the low rock looked up, and one of them actually edged half a step forward.

Before Xu Sheng could speak, Qi Luo lost his patience.

"Meet us, my ass! Who was it that just slashed at my leg?!"

The wind from the saber had torn a slit in his trouser leg. He lifted it now, and his whole leg was still trembling.

The man looked at him, then at Lu Song, who was holding off the beasts for him, and immediately stepped back.

Seeing this, Xu Sheng suddenly smiled.

"Why are all your people running over to my side?"

Zhuo Yuan's face turned livid.

The first Yellow Soul Ring on his saber lit up.

A crimson, burning glow spread inch by inch along the blade, and the nearby blades of grass curled slightly from the heat.

Xu Sheng shook out his wrist, still numb from the impact, and spread his white wings behind him.

He did not retreat.

That cracked sword in the courtyard, and the skills he had honed by sparring with Ji Juechen every day—he had to find someone to test them on.

Since someone had put a saber right in front of him.

Then he could not be blamed for accepting it without holding back!