Sun Flame Crow

The moon shone bright and the stars were sparse. In the deepest reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest, within the Lake of Life, an enormous bull's head emerged from the water, mysterious light glimmering across its sky-blue scales.

As its body swam closer to the shore, the bull's head lowered and drew near a beautiful woman standing on the bank in a pink dress.

"Aunt Rou, Sister Xiao Wu will soon have to undergo the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Heavenly Tribulation, right?"

The woman stroked the Sky Azure Bull Python's head, her expression gentle. How could she not worry about Xiao Wu's Heavenly Tribulation? After all, they were only Soft Bone Rabbits.

"Da Ming, when the time comes, should we let Xiao Wu take human form and cultivate again?"

"Aunt Rou, you should know how short human lives are. Becoming a god is nothing more than an unattainable dream."

Yes, how could she not know it was only a dream? Yet as she watched her daughter playing and frolicking with Er Ming in the distance, sorrow could not help rising in her heart.

Xiao Wu had already lived for tens of thousands of years, yet her nature was still so innocent. Within the Star Dou Great Forest, she could still be protected by Da Ming and Er Ming.

After taking human form and cultivating again, she would only be able to improve by interacting with humans. Would she truly be able to protect herself then?

Having struggled through her own maturation within human society, the woman knew how terrifying human hearts could be. For Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts like them who cultivated again, one careless step could send them plunging into an abyss, becoming nourishment for humanity's advancement.

The pink rabbit standing on the Titan Giant Ape's shoulder in the distance seemed to sense her mother's gaze. She instantly teleported into the woman's arms and affectionately rubbed against her cheek.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar from afar shattered the warm scene. The woman's expression changed. She set down her daughter and vanished, reappearing a hundred meters away.

She had to go and see what had happened. She could not allow anyone to threaten Xiao Wu.

The Sky Azure Bull Python's tail swept up the pink rabbit who was about to follow, then it signaled to the Titan Giant Ape beside it with its eyes, telling it to go after her and make sure Aunt Rou was not hurt.

After Xu Mingxi and the others entered the Star Dou Great Forest, they searched along the route intelligence provided by the Mercenary Group. Only after entering the core region did they barely discover a trace of the Sun Flame Crow.

The Sect Master stroked the scorched earth beneath him. Though he did not know what kind of Soul Beast had caused it, following the burnt ground gave them a better chance of finding the Sun Flame Crow than searching blindly.

Unfortunately, after racing along the scorched trail, what they found was a seventy-thousand-year Blazing Fire Wolf. Once the Sect Master's aura drove it away, they no longer knew where to continue their search.

Just as everyone was at a loss, a piercing cry resounded through the heavens, accompanied by what sounded like somewhat weakened wolf howls.

With a glance from the Sect Master, the group swiftly moved in that direction. Even if it was not the Sun Flame Crow, it was better than standing around doing nothing.

The goddess of fortune once again favored Xu Mingxi. The Soul Beast fighting—or rather, hunting—the Blazing Fire Wolf was precisely the Sun Flame Crow he had been longing for.

The Sect Master raised a hand, stopping everyone. Starlight flickered in his eyes as he clearly made out the Sun Flame Crow's appearance.

It did not have six tail feathers, but seven. The seventh was far shorter than the other six and had obviously only recently grown in.

"Mingxi, the intelligence was wrong. This Sun Flame Crow is already over seventy thousand years old. Are you confident?"

The optimal age for a Seventh Soul Ring was around fifty thousand years. Not only did this Sun Flame Crow possess an exceptional bloodline, its age exceeded that limit by nearly twenty thousand years. The Sect Master truly feared that this momentary greed would cause the sect's future to perish before it could grow.

But only Xu Mingxi knew that his body had been nourished by the sect's resources since childhood, tempered by Moonlight Essence, and finally strengthened by Immortal Herbs and Whale Rubber. His physical strength was simply beyond comparison to that of ordinary Soul Masters.

Besides, how could his Martial Soul undergo a beneficial mutation without taking a gamble? The older the Sun Flame Crow was, the more advantageous it would be for Xu Mingxi.

Sensing Xu Mingxi's resolve, the Sect Master no longer tried to dissuade him and focused intently on the two Soul Beasts before them.

The Sun Flame Crow was even smaller than the Blazing Fire Wolf, but it was far more agile. More importantly, its flames were nothing the Blazing Fire Wolf could compare to.

Its entire body burned with brilliant golden flames as it shot straight through the Blazing Fire Wolf's orange-red fire, slashing out one of its eyes with a claw.

The Blazing Fire Wolf tried to flee, but how could it outrun the faster, more agile Sun Flame Crow flying through the sky?

Amid a despairing wolf howl, the Blazing Fire Wolf finally collapsed. A black Soul Ring rose from its body. It had not inflicted any effective damage on the Sun Flame Crow at all, only depleted some of its stamina.

The Sun Flame Crow tore open the Blazing Fire Wolf's skull with one claw and feasted on the delicious, energy-rich wolf brain.

Although attacking while someone was eating was rather immoral, this truly was the best opportunity.

Not caring that it was still daytime, the Sect Master directly activated his Martial Soul Avatar. The phantom image of an enormous Star Crown emerged around him.

Star Guiding Art, Star Radiance Bewitchment, Star Lock. Under the Sect Master's overwhelming strength, the Sun Flame Crow could not move at all.

Just when everyone thought it would end like this, an unexpected change occurred.

Dazzling golden light flashed in the Sun Flame Crow's eyes, and a golden phantom seemed to emerge behind its black body.

As it let out a piercing cry toward the sky, the sun above seemed to answer its summons and cast down a beam of golden light.

The starlight was dispersed, and the Star Locks snapped apart one by one before shattering completely. All the control the Sect Master had imposed on it was nullified.

Flames soared into the sky as the Sun Flame Crow broke through the blockade and flew toward the deeper reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Chase!"

Having carelessly allowed the Sun Flame Crow to escape, the Sect Master's expression was not pleasant. Leading the way, the group raced through the Star Dou Great Forest. The Sun Flame Crow's burst of power would eventually end, and night would soon fall. By then, it would be the Star Crown Sect's domain.

As Dugu Bo advanced, he laid down poison formations along the way. They were not afraid of the Sun Flame Crow, but they feared being surrounded by numerous powerful Soul Beasts.

The disturbance just now had not been small. Stronger Soul Beasts could arrive at any moment. These poison formations might be able to offer a little help when they retreated.

With the Sun Flame Crow's explosive burst of speed, none of the assault-type or control system Soul Masters present could catch up to it.

Fortunately, the head Soul Bone the Sect Master had once absorbed had granted him a special soul skill: Star Eyes. It could greatly enhance his range of observation and dynamic vision, consumed very little Soul Power, and could be maintained for long periods.

Relying on this soul skill, they could not catch up, but they could cling tightly to it. As the Sun Flame Crow gradually slowed, it descended from the sky and vanished into the vast sea of trees.

Even the Sect Master's Star Eyes could not see through the forest canopy. Everyone pushed their speed to the limit and rushed toward the place where the Sun Flame Crow had disappeared. There would certainly be traces there that could help them find it.