Xie Yue's Fourth Soul Skill

The Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ant Queen's move left Xie Yue dumbfounded.

"Damn! That works too?" Xie Yue blurted out a curse in astonishment.

"Be careful! Judging by its size, it's probably an eight-thousand-year soul beast." Duanyu Fan warned Xie Yue.

However, after the Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ant Queen bit down on the Moon Blade Spirit, there was a sharp crack. The Moon Blade was forcibly bitten open with a notch, and a piece fell to the ground.

"Pfft! What a powerful mouth. It actually bit a notch into it." With his Martial Soul damaged, Xie Yue spat out blood.

"First Soul Skill, Healing Prayer. Are you okay?" Seeing Xie Yue injured, Duanyu Fan immediately treated his wounds.

"Much better! Getting the worse end of things against an ant is humiliating." Xie Yue immediately recalled the Moon Blade.

"Third Soul Skill, Break!" Xie Yue roared as he pushed his Soul Power to the limit and unleashed his Third Soul Skill.

The Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ant Queen reacted as well. Her two antennae sensed the threat, and she extended her two front legs, hard as steel and gleaming with purple light, to block Xie Yue's all-out strike.

Unfortunately, without the boost from Duanyu Fan's Second Soul Skill, she might have been able to withstand Xie Yue's attack. Instead, both of the ant queen's legs were severed.

The ant queen's head crashed heavily onto the ground. She let out a mournful cry, and the piercing sound reached the ears of all four.

Seeing the opening, Xie Yue struck again, landing squarely on the ant queen's head. She instantly lost the ability to resist, her body twitching faintly.

"Carry the ant queen and leave first. We made too much noise; we need to get far from here. There are also too many Soul Rings overhead. I'm afraid you might absorb the wrong one." Seeing that the ant queen was already on her last breath, Duanyu Fan immediately reminded everyone.

After hearing Duanyu Fan, Yan and Hu Liena withdrew their Martial Souls and Soul Skills. Xie Yue quickly went over to the ant queen, grabbed her remaining leg, and the four left the area.

The remaining Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants, having lost the scent of their queen, scurried about like headless flies. Before long, several soul beasts appeared and began preying on them.

After running several miles, the ant queen Xie Yue carried finally stopped breathing completely.

"Stop. The ant queen is dead." Xie Yue immediately called out to the other three after checking her condition.

"Fine, this should be far enough. Absorb the Soul Ring first; we'll stand guard. But let me continue treating you and restore our Soul Power first." After speaking, Duanyu Fan used his First Soul Skill three times in succession.

Looking at the cracked shell on the ant queen's head, Xie Yue delivered an ordinary strike that pierced straight through her entire head. This time, she had not a trace of life left, and a deep-purple Soul Ring rose from her body.

Duanyu Fan, Hu Liena, and Yan stood in a triangular formation, with Xie Yue in the middle as he began absorbing the Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ant Queen's eight-thousand-year Soul Ring.

Half an hour later, Xie Yue successfully absorbed the Soul Ring and stood up.

Duanyu Fan and the other two immediately gathered around him, firing questions from every direction.

"An eight-thousand-year one! How was it?" Yan asked with envy in his eyes.

"Haha! It was excellent. That injury was worth it. The effect is about on the level of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring."

"My Fourth Soul Ring gave me a support-type Soul Skill. It raises the attack power of my other Soul Skills by fifty percent, while also granting thirty percent defense penetration."

Xie Yue laughed smugly as he introduced his Fourth Soul Skill, practically showing it off.

"Tch! I thought it would be something special. With Milk Dad around, your Soul Skill's effect is only so-so. The thirty percent defense penetration is decent, though," Yan said disdainfully.

"Oh? Why do I smell jealousy?" Xie Yue did not believe Yan.

"Me, jealous? How is that possible? My Fourth Soul Skill will definitely be better than yours," Yan said indignantly.

"Enough, you two. Moon Blade, tell us, how many levels did you gain?" Hu Liena hurriedly stopped their bickering and asked Xie Yue about his Soul Power Level.

"My Soul Power Level is forty-four, the same as yours." Xie Yue deflated somewhat. He still had not surpassed Duanyu Fan's forty-fifth-level Soul Power.

"You too! Drinking Milk Dad's milk again." Hu Liena kicked at Duanyu Fan, who had been watching the show from the side.

"Why are you kicking me? I didn't drink your milk." Duanyu Fan hurriedly dodged and replied.

"What did you say?" Hu Liena widened her eyes in shock.

"Haha, slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue." Duanyu Fan realized what he had just said.

"Uh... How did those two start fighting again while we were talking?" Xie Yue and Yan exchanged glances and spoke helplessly.

"Alright, alright! Since Moon Blade's Soul Ring has been found, let's continue searching for Yan's Soul Ring. It's not dark yet, so we can keep looking." Duanyu Fan quickly spoke up, interrupting Hu Liena as she seemed ready to kick him again.

"That's right, that's right! Don't waste time. We only have seventeen days left! My soul beast still hasn't been found." Yan complained tearfully.

"Fine, fine! I'll stop playing around. We just had a big battle, so I was trying to liven up the mood." Hu Liena calmed down.

"Let's go. We'll keep heading south." Xie Yue took the lead, and the four resumed their journey in formation.

They had not gone far when Duanyu Fan sensed movement.

"Wait! Something's happening. People are coming this way, about five of them. Hide." Duanyu Fan urgently stopped the other three.

"Hmm! Could they have been drawn here by the commotion from us burning that ant nest earlier?" Yan guessed.

"Don't worry about that yet. Hide first." With that, Duanyu Fan pulled Hu Liena behind a large tree, one big enough to conceal both of them completely.

Not far away, Xie Yue and Yan also hid behind a tree. The four remained silent, and before long, the sound of conversation drifted over.

"How damn unlucky. I don't know who did it, but someone actually destroyed a Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ant nest. Ants are crawling everywhere now, and the seven-thousand-year Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion we carefully prepared to hunt ran off. What rotten luck." The voice of what sounded like a middle-aged man reached the ears of the four hiding nearby.

"Alright, stop whining! It's not like we don't know the Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion's range. We can come back in a couple days, once the Purple Armor Devouring Gold Ants settle down. But don't let me find out who did it," another person said, apparently the leader of the group.

"Mm! Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion!" Yan accidentally let out a faint sound, but immediately covered his mouth.

Duanyu Fan and Hu Liena both heard him and turned to look at Yan. Then they exchanged helpless glances.

"Who's there? Come out!"

Sure enough, they had heard it. Duanyu Fan signaled to Xie Yue, and they immediately stopped hiding and appeared before the five men.

All five were men. The leader appeared to be in his fifties, while the other four looked to be around thirty-five. Every one of them had released their Soul Rings: two Soul Kings and three Soul Ancestors.

"Oh? They're all children. Who are you? What are you doing hiding here?" The leading Soul King had three yellow, one purple, and one black Soul Ring. His Soul Power Level was fifty-eight.

The other Soul King had the same configuration, with Soul Power at level fifty-three. The three Soul Ancestors were respectively level forty-six, forty-seven, and forty-seven, each with three yellow and one purple Soul Ring.

"Please excuse us, seniors. We merely heard the commotion and thought it was a soul beast, so we hid," Duanyu Fan said with a smile.

"Hehe, that's right. But seniors, do you know where the Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion is? We know you are soul beast Hunters. Would you be willing to let us have it? Of course, we understand the rules," Yan said with a smile as well.

Duanyu Fan looked at Yan, knowing that he likely wanted that soul beast. Upon hearing the name Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion, Yan had been so startled that he had blurted it out without thinking.

It was already ninety thousand words in, yet the protagonist was still eight years old, while Tang San was still in Holy Soul Village. Do you think I'm dragging things out too much...

As always, if you spot any typos, please let me know. Thank you, everyone.