Saving the Beauty from the Beast's Mouth, Hu Liena

After more than a dozen bombardments, Ghost Leopard was covered in wounds. Golden light rained down, directly dispelling the Power of Destruction clinging to its injuries before healing them.

After a long while, Ghost Leopard recovered and began attacking the cage formed by black lotuses.

Yet no matter what Ghost Leopard did, the lotuses remained unchanging and indestructible. Inside the cage, Ghost Leopard used every trick it had, roaring repeatedly, until it finally smashed a spiderweb-like crack into the curtain of light formed by the black lotus leaves.

However, it was already too late.

World-Destroying Black Lotus's second soul skill: Obliteration Cage! The first effect of this soul skill was naturally the black lotus cage before them, and its control effect was already obvious. Although the ten-thousand-year Ghost Leopard specialized in speed, its attack power also surpassed that of an assault-type Soul Ancestor. Yet Ghost Leopard could not break the black lotus cage.

Obliteration Cage's second effect was obliteration. Within the cage, everything could be obliterated, but the second effect could only be activated three seconds after Obliteration Cage was cast. Luo Chuan did not activate the second effect. Instead, he lit up his purple soul ring once more.

A fiery-red lotus bloomed outside Obliteration Cage and fused with the cage.

Then, raging flames began to burn within the cage.

The instant the crimson karmic fire ignited, Ghost Leopard let out a heart-rending howl.

Luo Chuan immediately extinguished the karmic fire.

He shook his head slightly. This Ghost Leopard was far too weak. It had been heavily injured the instant it entered the Red Lotus Fire Array.

"Looks like my strength has reached the level of a Soul Emperor. I might even be able to crush one!"

Luo Chuan continued through Sunset Forest, intending to find a powerful soul beast to test his strength against.

The Guillotine Mantis was considered one of the more dangerous soul beast species. It naturally loathed humans, and it was one of the soul beasts that soul masters who ventured deep into soul beast forests feared encountering most.

Guillotine Mantises were incredibly fast, possessed natural camouflage that made them adept at hiding, and had exceptionally powerful attacks. Their pair of guillotine-like iron arms could slice through iron as though it were mud.

At that moment, Luo Chuan encountered a ten-thousand-year Guillotine Mantis. However, this one was currently pursuing three young men and women fleeing in disarray.

Among the three, the leader was a tall, slender young man wielding two Moon Blade scimitars, with two yellow and one purple soul rings circling his body. Behind him was a beautiful young woman with alluring curves and short golden hair. There was also a burly young man in red who looked like a miniature giant.

"Xie Yue, let's throw away this young Guillotine Mantis!" Under Martial Soul Possession, the red-clad youth resembled a Magma Giant, carrying a dying young mantis over his shoulder.

The mantis appeared to be two meters tall. Its blade-like forearms were green, each extending a full meter.

"Five thousand years!" Luo Chuan instantly identified the young mantis's cultivation age. But this was clearly not the time to assess its age, because just as Luo Chuan noticed the twenty-thousand-year Guillotine Mantis, it vanished in an instant. When it reappeared, it was already beside Hu Liena.

"We're done for!" Xie Yue's face twisted in fury as he hurled the Moon Blades in his hands, only for the Guillotine Mantis to knock them away with ease. Its other blade arm slashed viciously at Hu Liena. It was this human who had used mental attacks to interfere with its ability to end the battle quickly.

Yet at that moment, a black lotus appeared before Hu Liena. Luo Chuan instantly swept Hu Liena into his arms, followed by a sharp tearing sound. Luo Chuan's body jolted, and he rolled to the side with Hu Liena in his arms.

Hu Liena stared at Luo Chuan in disbelief, unable to understand why a young man had suddenly appeared in this soul beast forest. And at that critical moment, he had saved her from beneath the Guillotine Mantis's blade.

"Hrraah—"

Behind them, the Guillotine Mantis roared, giving Luo Chuan no chance to speak. Waving its guillotine arms, it rushed at Luo Chuan and Hu Liena at tremendous speed.

Luo Chuan's gaze turned cold. He scooped up Hu Liena and flashed forward, leaving trail after trail of afterimages. He narrowly evaded the Guillotine Mantis's two strikes, then quickly moved several more steps away, opening some distance between them.

Black lotuses, thin as cicada wings, clung to Luo Chuan's body. Yet those frail-looking lotus leaves had forcibly blocked one strike from the Guillotine Mantis without being shattered.

World-Destroying Black Lotus's third soul skill, Indestructible Lotus Robe! An absolute defensive soul skill.

Luo Chuan placed Hu Liena beside Xie Yue before saying, "Be careful."

With that, Luo Chuan turned to face the Guillotine Mantis. He took one step forward and covered seven or eight meters.

Whoosh!

A blade arm swept past half a centimeter from Luo Chuan's forehead. Luo Chuan spun, grabbing the mantis's forelimb with one hand while pinching a black lotus leaf between two fingers of the other. The lotus leaf stood straight as a blade and slashed down fiercely.

"Hrraah—"

A miserable scream came from the Guillotine Mantis. Luo Chuan held a blade arm like a cleaver in his hand and moved again.

However, the mantis's reaction speed was equally terrifying. The moment Luo Chuan severed one of its arms, it decisively sprang away with its powerful hind legs. It moved so quickly that even Luo Chuan could not keep up.

Luo Chuan remained where he was, using the severed blade arm in his hand as a weapon.

Behind him, Hu Liena stared blankly at everything that had happened in that lightning-fast exchange. Her red lips parted, but she could not say a word. Her beautiful eyes held both the relief of surviving a disaster and disbelief that shattered her understanding of the world.

"Little sister!" Xie Yue supported Hu Liena, his gaze likewise fixed on Luo Chuan. He could not believe that a boy who looked only eleven or twelve years old had managed to remove a forelimb from a ten-thousand-year soul beast in an instant.

Nor could he believe that the boy's soul ring configuration was an unprecedented yellow, purple, and black!

Luo Chuan was still covered in a layer of black lotus robes. Holding one of the Guillotine Mantis's forelimbs, he confronted the Guillotine Mantis, which now had only one forelimb remaining.

This twenty-thousand-year mantis was too fast. Luo Chuan had more than enough ability to evade it, but he could not catch up to it. In other words, if the mantis chose to leave now, Luo Chuan was not confident he could keep it there.

A little blood flowed from the Guillotine Mantis's severed arm. Mantises were arthropods with pitifully little blood, especially between their joints, where there was even less.

Luo Chuan stared at the Guillotine Mantis twenty meters away. The first soul ring beneath his feet lit up, and several black lotus leaves shot forth like lightning.

Yet the lotus leaves failed to harm the mantis at all. Without exception, they were all evaded.

Luo Chuan tried the same tactic again, but the mantis was too fast. Moreover, it seemed unwilling to give up on killing Hu Liena and the others, charging at Luo Chuan once more.

Luo Chuan no longer used his first soul skill. Light flowed across the lotus robe on his body, making it appear almost solid.

Clang!

Luo Chuan raised his blade and clashed head-on with the Guillotine Mantis. The mantis retreated after a single strike, refusing to engage Luo Chuan in close combat.

Clang—

Another collision. Luo Chuan did not yield an inch.

Losing one limb did not seem to have affected the Guillotine Mantis's combat strength much. It remained vigorous as ever, exchanging blows with Luo Chuan's short blade.

The sounds of clashing metal rang out without pause, and the Guillotine Mantis grew faster and faster, until Xie Yue, Hu Liena, and the others behind them could only catch a fleeting afterimage. Yet Luo Chuan remained completely at ease amid such speed.

But could a twenty-thousand-year soul beast really be this weak?