Crossing the Forest, Battling a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast

Half an hour later, Jiang Xiruan stepped forward and announced, "Now, follow us seven instructors. You may use your Martial Souls, but we won't slow down and wait for you. We have to cross a Spirit Beast Forest to reach our destination. Don't worry, though—we'll leave markers along the way, and the strongest Spirit Beast there only has three thousand years of cultivation."

"Hiss..." Every child drew a sharp breath, then immediately turned and scrambled after the seven instructors, who had already set off.

But the seven Soul Emperor-level instructors truly meant it when they said they would not wait. In the blink of an eye, they vanished from the sight of these children, whose strongest members were only Soul Elders.

They immediately activated their Martial Soul Possession and charged toward the direction where the instructors had disappeared. The only three Soul Elders had already left the main group far behind—but that did not include Qian Yuxi.

He was not foolish enough to serve as the pathfinder for a group of future rivals, perhaps even enemies.

The three Soul Elders soon reached the outskirts of the Spirit Beast Forest mentioned by the instructors. The moment they entered, an icy wind struck them head-on, making them shiver uncontrollably.

They seemed to be teammates, exchanging glances as they ran, as though signaling something to one another, before charging together into the dense forest.

Mixed in among the Soul Grand Masters, Qian Yuxi was only two and a half minutes slower than those Soul Elders. With the forest's edge right before him, he deliberately slowed down. Only after the main group had all entered did he activate his Martial Soul, his thousand-year third ring flashing!

"Sacred Radiance Twin Wings!"

Whoosh—!

Qian Yuxi transformed into a golden meteor and shot into the sky above the forest like lightning. He controlled both his speed and altitude perfectly, and almost no one noticed him.

After flying for around ten minutes, a girl's scream suddenly came from behind and to his left. Qian Yuxi looked down. The trees below were in turmoil as a petite, glowing-white figure was being hunted by a leopard-type Spirit Beast. On the other side was a black-haired boy, currently locked in a hard battle against a pack of wolf Spirit Beasts.

The girl had only one Hundred-Year Spirit Ring and was no match for the leopard Spirit Beast.

"A Five-Hundred-Year Blood Leopard. That little girl really has rotten luck." Shaking his head lightly, Qian Yuxi drew an arrow and aimed at the Blood Leopard's vital point from the air.

Bang!

The girl was swatted into a large tree and fell to the ground. The Blood Leopard had already rushed before her, releasing a low beastly growl.

"After enduring for three years... am I still going to stop here?" The girl struggled to raise her head as the Blood Leopard pounced at her.

"Without his protection, I would probably have died long ago. Now, I'm merely facing the ending that was bound to come sooner or later..."

The girl closed her eyes and waited for death to arrive.

Splat!!

A golden arrow pierced through the Blood Leopard's head from behind, killing it instantly. A yellow Spirit Ring floated into view.

Qian Yuxi landed and raised a hand, storing the Blood Leopard's corpse in his storage ring. His reason for saving her was simple:

This Blood Leopard was a rare source of protein. Dinner was taken care of.

"Y-you... hello... Thank you for saving me. May I ask wh—" The short-haired girl came to her senses and had just begun to thank him when Qian Yuxi suddenly accelerated, soaring into the sky again to continue on his way.

"Ah... forget it. Perhaps I really am too weak." The short-haired girl sighed softly and took out gauze to bandage herself.

Thud, thud, thud!

The ground trembled slightly. Soon, a black-haired, golden-eyed boy covered in blood came running over, two Spirit Rings hanging around him. Seeing that the girl was unharmed, he could not help but let out a breath of relief as he slowly set down the corpses of two wolf Spirit Beasts in his hands.

"Little White Dragon, sorry. This time it was my fault. I shouldn't have tried to steal that wolf cub."

After bandaging her wound, the short-haired girl shook her head at him. "Fortune lies in danger. I understand. Otherwise, we would have gone hungry tonight..."

"Let's go. We need to keep moving."

Qian Yuxi flew high above, maintaining a speed around the middle of the group. The Aurora Sacred Feather Bow remained in his hand at all times, ready for any unexpected situation.

Who knew whether there were any flying Spirit Beasts in this forest?

Whoosh!

The very next second, as if confirming Qian Yuxi's suspicion, a massive snake over ten meters long suddenly shot out from the trees below. A blood-red fleshy crest sat atop its head, while its unusually fan-shaped tail beat rapidly with a pair of dark-red little wings.

"Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent?!"

It was on page five of the Spirit Beast Encyclopedia. But it could leap this high—could it be...

Whoosh!

An arrow flew from Qian Yuxi's hand. The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent immediately swung its tail, knocking the arrow away without leaving so much as a mark on its dark-red scales.

"Dark-red scales... Is this the three-thousand-year Spirit Beast the instructors mentioned?!" Qian Yuxi's mouth twitched. His luck really was...

Once a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent reached a thousand years, its scales would gradually turn red. With every additional thousand years, not only would it grow longer, but its scales would deepen in color, and it would be able to fly higher. This one was definitely at the three-thousand-year level!

Qian Yuxi glanced at the ground, roughly fifty meters below. In theory, this thing could still fly another ten meters or so. Rather than waste Soul Power trying to shake it off, he might as well... kill it!

Ding!

"Aurora Split!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Five arrows split apart, streaking silver light through the air as they shot toward the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent in the blink of an eye. It did not dare take them head-on and repeatedly twisted through the air to evade, but one arrow still struck it, shattering a small patch of scales.

"Hisss—" The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent cried out in pain, fury blazing in its eyes. The crest atop its head lit up as it opened its huge mouth and spewed out a cloud of pinkish-white mist.

"This mist isn't poisonous, but it can confuse its opponent." Qian Yuxi quickly retreated, beating his Sacred Radiance Twin Wings and avoiding the mist's range.

Whoosh!

The enormous snake tail swept out from the mist. Qian Yuxi's pupils constricted. With no time to dodge, he folded his Sacred Radiance Twin Wings together to defend.

Bang!

Qian Yuxi was knocked two steps back through the air, a shallow mark now etched into his Sacred Radiance Twin Wings.

"Roar—!"

The dark shadow struck again. Qian Yuxi shot into the sky, his first soul skill lighting up as he aimed for the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's head!

Light Speed, arrow flight speed boost!

Smack!

In the end, the Aurora Sacred Feather Bow was faster. The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's crest was struck, blood spraying through the air. Its massive body swayed unsteadily before crashing to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

"Hiss..."

With a miserable shriek, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent fell headfirst, finally hanging from a tree trunk.

Splat!

Another arrow came flying, striking its crest again. The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent finally lost all signs of life, purple Soul Power pouring forth and condensing into a three-thousand-year Spirit Ring.

"Finishing blows are important." Qian Yuxi chuckled as he landed, grabbed the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's corpse, then took out a sharp dagger and cut off its crest.

After slicing open a bloody gash, Qian Yuxi took out a water flask and filled it with the red liquid that flowed out.

The crest stored all the nutrients in a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's body. Once they cultivated past a thousand years, those nutrients would liquefy, becoming akin to essence blood. It could be used to temper a Soul Master's body and increase their strength. No wonder some Soul Masters made their living hunting Spirit Beasts. If Spirit Hall had not explicitly forbidden the indiscriminate slaughter of Spirit Beasts, they might have gone extinct long before ten thousand years had passed.

After finishing all this, Qian Yuxi rose into the air again and continued onward. As for the Spirit Ring, wasted was wasted. He had killed it, so no one else could absorb it anyway.

Ten minutes later, outside a gorge, the seven instructors from Death Camp had already set up camp. Jiang Xiruan, who led them, was reading a slip of paper.

A moment later, a hint of surprise appeared in her eyes. "This year's students are pretty good... There's actually another Soul Elder."

"Who?" Instructor Long walked over.

"Mm... and his cultivation is actually level thirty-six. Even the other three returning students have only just entered the Soul Elder rank." Jiang Xiruan handed the information in her hand to Instructor Long.

He took it and looked over the information on the top four people listed on the first page:

Qian Yuxi, level thirty-six Agility Attack System Soul Elder. Martial Soul: Aurora Sacred Feather Bow.

Luo En, level thirty-one Agility Attack System Soul Elder. Martial Soul: Water-Crossing Bird.

Yu Longsan, level thirty-two Power Attack System Soul Elder. Martial Soul: Triangular Armored Dragon.

Bing Xinwu, level thirty-one Control System Soul Elder. Martial Soul: Star-Moon Staff.