Sly Little Girl

Kick his legs out, close his eyes!

Lin Xuan's consciousness slowly sank into darkness. When he woke again, he was already in a forest.

"The air here really is fresh!"

Lin Xuan lazily stretched. This simulated Star Dou Great Forest felt distinctly different from the real one.

Other than during riot periods, the Spirit Ascension Platform generally used random teleportation. There was no one nearby except Lin Xuan.

"Squeak!"

A piercing cry came from ahead. A huge white rat flew down from a tree in front of Lin Xuan. Its entire body was round and plump, while a pair of ears even larger than its body flapped at its sides.

"A Flying Ear Rat! It looks like a Hundred-Year Soul Beast too. Not bad luck!"

Lin Xuan smiled faintly and controlled Azure Leaf Sword Grass to coil around it, forcing the Flying Ear Rat into a cluster of branches. The greatsword in his hand flew out and pierced straight through it.

A yellow glimmer entered his body, and Azure Leaf Sword Bamboo gained another five years of cultivation.

That was already pretty good. During his worst streak of bad luck, he had gone three whole days without encountering a single Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

With a gesture, Lin Xuan caught the greatsword that Azure Leaf Sword Grass had reeled back in and headed into the distance.

After going another ten or so li deeper into the forest, Lin Xuan killed five or six Ten-Year Soul Beasts in succession, but did not encounter another Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

"Damn! I thought I'd gotten off to a lucky start, but it turns out I peaked right at the beginning. Life really is just one fall after another!"

Lin Xuan sighed. He could not find even the slightest sense of a protagonist's superiority here.

"Ah! Doggy, how about we discuss this? We each go our own way and head home, okay?"

A somewhat timid voice came from several dozen meters ahead. Hearing it, Lin Xuan tapped off the ground and leaped onto the treetops.

In a clearing ahead stood a huge boulder two or three meters tall. Squatting on top of it was a Little Girl around eight or nine years old.

The Little Girl looked pitiful as she tightly hugged an Ice Staff taller than she was. Her watery eyes stared at the two Soul Beasts circling nearby.

"I'm very fierce! Don't you dare come over, or I'll knock you all out later."

The Little Girl spoke viciously, but her weak and powerless tone made it sound more like she was acting cute.

"It's her! But why is she here alone?"

Lin Xuan recognized the Little Girl at a glance. She was Xu Xiaoyan from that pair of siblings before. Her older brother, Xu Xiaoyu, did not seem to be around.

Roar!

The two Soul Beasts both gave low growls, yet neither stepped forward. Instead, they warily watched each other.

The Ice Flame Demon Wolf and the Flame Maple Wolf Beast were mortal enemies. The Spirit Ascension Platform had not only replicated the environment of the Star Dou Great Forest, but had also initially recreated its ecosystem.

After a brief standoff, the slightly smaller Ice Flame Demon Wolf retreated and disappeared into the woods behind it.

A smug look flashed through the Flame Maple Wolf Beast's eyes as it proudly strode toward Xu Xiaoyan atop the boulder.

"Don't come over! It's really dangerous."

Xu Xiaoyan spoke to the approaching Flame Maple Wolf Beast, her tone this time carrying a hint of sincerity.

The Flame Maple Wolf Beast could not understand what Xu Xiaoyan was saying. With two leaps, it arrived before the huge boulder, and then... the ground collapsed beneath it.

Bang!

With a splash, it fell straight into a pit three or four meters deep.

Immediately afterward, a flaming fruit was tossed down from above. With a thunderous boom, the Flame Maple Wolf Beast was blasted into the air and crashed to the ground, unable to rise.

"Hehe, I told you not to come over. You just wouldn't listen."

The fear faded from Xu Xiaoyan's face, replaced by a sly smile. She climbed down from the boulder, walked over to the unconscious Flame Maple Wolf Beast, and raised the Ice Staff in her hand.

A yellow Soul Ring rose up. An ice-element spell condensed above the Ice Staff, then slowly dissipated after a long while.

"Xu Xiaoyan! You're so useless."

A trace of frustration appeared on Xu Xiaoyan's cute little face.

She tossed the Ice Staff aside and used all her strength to shove the Flame Maple Wolf Beast into the deep pit ahead.

Then Xu Xiaoyan carried out a large pile of things from behind the boulder. Pink liquid, black powder, and all sorts of strange items were tossed into the pit one after another.

"Illusion Flower Dew, Sleepy Flower Powder..."

Lin Xuan pulled the sword embedded in the Ice Flame Demon Wolf free and watched Xu Xiaoyan with an odd expression.

None of those were particularly proper things, and judging by Xu Xiaoyan's practiced movements, she had clearly done this plenty of times.

"All right! It probably won't wake up within a day now."

Xu Xiaoyan clapped her hands in satisfaction and prepared to climb back onto the boulder to squat there again.

But at that moment, a White Sword Qi shot down from the sky into the pit. A yellow spiritual power rose afterward and entered Lin Xuan's body in the distance.

"Hm?"

Xu Xiaoyan paused. Watching Lin Xuan's departing figure, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she hurried after him.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

Xu Xiaoyan ran after him on her short little legs and blocked Lin Xuan's path.

"Big brother! Can I stay with you for one day? Please, just one day!"

Xu Xiaoyan pressed her hands together, her big adorable eyes blinking rapidly.

"No time."

Lin Xuan glanced at Xu Xiaoyan and answered flatly.

He had come to improve his soul spirit, not to babysit. Besides, no one could really die here.

He walked straight around Xu Xiaoyan, and his figure vanished into the forest ahead.

"Okay..."

Xu Xiaoyan watched Lin Xuan disappear, speaking in disappointment. Her big thigh had run off, so she would have to figure out how to muddle through today again.

"Come on, Xu Xiaoyan! Staying alive is victory!"

Xu Xiaoyan clenched her little fists and cheered herself on. She had originally been an insignificant nobody in the Xu Family, living a wonderful life of eating, sleeping, then eating again every day.

Until the family test some time ago, when the elders discovered her talent and put an end to her carefree slacking days.

Before that, the Xu Family had never raised Xu Xiaoyan as a soul master. Because she was timid, she could never bring herself to attack Soul Beasts.

To change that, the Xu Family had directly thrown her in here alone. Her task was to survive here for one day.

If she failed, they would directly deduct this year's allowance.

Several hours later, Lin Xuan sat on the ground, questioning his life.

Why was his luck so awful?

Since entering, he had killed fifteen Ten-Year Soul Beasts and three Hundred-Year Soul Beasts in total. Aside from the first Hundred-Year Soul Beast at the beginning, the other two had both been killed when he ran into Xu Xiaoyan.

"Ahhh! Help me!"

Just as Lin Xuan was nursing a headache, a familiar voice drifted over faintly, accompanied by repeated beastly roars.

"Hundred-Year Soul Beasts!!!"

Lin Xuan's eyes lit up as if he had spotted gold. He sprang to his feet and raced toward the sound.

On a towering tree over a hundred meters tall, Xu Xiaoyan clung to the trunk with both arms, her entire body wedged midway up the tree.

Below her, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight Soul Beasts circled around Xu Xiaoyan.

Xu Xiaoyan's hands weakened, and her body slipped partway down the tree. But the moment she heard the Soul Beasts roaring below, she wriggled back upward like an inchworm.

"Someone save me! Wuwuwu..."

Xu Xiaoyan cried out in despair.

In the few hours since separating from Lin Xuan, she had been chased nonstop by Soul Beasts, as if she had kicked a hornet's nest.

As a Support System soul master, how could she possibly fight so many Hundred-Year Soul Beasts? She had even seen a few Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. If she had not been quick-witted and fast on her feet, her allowance would have flown away long ago.

Brothers, I write seven or eight thousand characters every day. I'm about to lose my mind.

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