Departure, Sand Gold Valley!

To be honest, Dai Mubai felt nothing much about the fiancée his family had forced upon him.

They had no emotional foundation whatsoever. They had barely even met a few times before Dai Mubai was suddenly informed that he had a fiancée.

What was more, he was supposed to fight a duel alongside this fiancée he had only met a handful of times against his elder brother Dai Weisi and sister-in-law Zhu Zhuyun in the future—a duel where losing meant death.

Who could handle that?

In fact, Dai Mubai had even begun considering finding an opportunity to escape from his family someday.

The main reason he had brought Zhu Zhuqing out to clear her mind this time was that he did not want the little girl to be dragged down by him and truly become depressed.

Otherwise, even if Dai Mubai escaped in the future, he would not be able to feel at ease.

While Dai Mubai's expression kept shifting over his family's nonsense, Chen Yun had already brought him and Zhu Zhuqing over to Chen Feng's group.

After introducing themselves and exchanging greetings, they each took their seats.

"I never thought I'd see one of the once-famous Golden Iron Triangle here," Chen Yun said.

"Just an empty reputation," Grandmaster replied blandly.

Uncle Chen smiled and looked at Chen Feng's group of three. "Are these three children here to hunt Soul Beasts as well? They don't seem very old."

"Yes. They're seven this year, and they came out to obtain their First Spirit Rings." Grandmaster did not hesitate to add a year to Chen Feng's group's ages.

Neither Chen Feng nor Tang San said anything, tacitly accepting the false age. Xiao Wu was clever enough to keep quiet as well.

And Su Yuntao, who knew their real circumstances, watched his nose and focused on his heart, as though he had entered meditation.

"I see. They're all talented children." Chen Yun smiled.

He did not consider the possibility of Innate Full Soul Power. After all, it was simply too rare; one might not encounter a single case in many years.

"And these two children? Are they here to hunt Soul Beasts too?" Grandmaster asked.

"Mubai is here to hunt Soul Beasts. Zhuqing only came along to clear her mind," Chen Yun said.

"Clear her mind? Did something troubling happen?" Chen Feng asked at that moment.

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze shifted to him, then quickly moved away again, her eyes vacant.

Clearly, she did not want to pay attention to anyone right now, because all she could see before her was darkness.

Dai Mubai coughed lightly. "That's an internal matter of our family."

"I see." Chen Feng quietly observed the expressions of the Tiger Cat pair, trying to gauge their emotions as thoughts known to no one else turned in his mind.

Before long, the food was served. The dishes Dai Mubai's side had ordered were clearly far more lavish than Grandmaster's.

But neither side paid much attention to it. They chatted as they ate, and the atmosphere gradually grew more harmonious.

Early the next morning, Chen Feng's group met outside their rooms and went downstairs, only to see Dai Mubai's group of three checking out at the front desk.

"Hey, morning. What a coincidence." Chen Feng greeted them.

"Morning. Are you setting out now? Why don't we go together?" Dai Mubai suggested.

"Would that be convenient? If it is, we'd be more than happy to." Chen Feng's eyes lit up.

He had been wondering what excuse he could use to tag along with Dai Mubai's group.

"Of course it's convenient. The more, the merrier." Dai Mubai smiled.

The main reason he wanted to travel with Chen Feng's group was because they had a little girl with them as well.

Dai Mubai felt that both he and Uncle Chen were men and were not suited to comforting Zhu Zhuqing, so he wanted to set out with Chen Feng's group.

That way, Zhu Zhuqing might get along with the girl named Xiao Wu during the journey. Maybe having a playmate would improve her mood.

If even that did not work, then Dai Mubai truly had no idea what else to do.

Grandmaster and Su Yuntao had no objections to traveling with Dai Mubai's group. They had learned the night before that Chen Yun was a Spirit King, and getting a Spirit King fighter for free was naturally a good thing.

Thus, the group of eight, excluding Old Liu the coachman, left Sand Gold City and headed for Sand Gold Valley.

Along the way, Dai Mubai curiously asked about the targets Chen Feng's group of three had come to hunt. Tang San and Xiao Wu did not hide anything and told him.

Tang San's target was easier to find, so it was their first priority. As for Xiao Wu's Moon-Drawing Fox, they could only leave it to chance.

But Xiao Wu did not mind. She did not need to actually kill a Soul Beast to obtain a Spirit Ring anyway; she only needed to see a Moon-Drawing Fox once before she could form a Self-Condensed Spirit Ring.

That was also why she had come to Sand Gold Valley this time. There were no Moon-Drawing Foxes in the Star Dou Great Forest, so even if she wanted to form a Self-Condensed Spirit Ring, she could not find suitable material.

"What's your target Soul Beast, then?" Dai Mubai asked Chen Feng.

"My target is a Heavy Mud Horse," Chen Feng answered. "This Soul Beast possesses a skill called Heavy Trample, which allows it to increase its own weight when trampling an enemy, greatly enhancing its lethality."

"That Soul Beast sounds more suited to Beast Spirit masters. Your Spirit is a sword, so aren't you worried you'll get a spirit skill that increases your own weight?" Xiao Wu asked curiously from the side.

"No." It was Grandmaster who answered her. "The spirit skills Tool Spirit masters gain are, for the most part, applied to their Tool Spirits rather than to the spirit masters themselves. Only a very small number of special Soul Beasts can grant spirit skills that apply to the spirit master."

"That's right." Chen Feng nodded. "I looked through materials on Heavy Mud Horses and found that the spirit skills Beast Spirit masters gain make their own bodies heavier, while the vast majority of Tool Spirit masters make their Spirits heavier. As for this, I actually have a conjecture."

"A conjecture? Isn't this simply due to the inherent differences between Tool Spirits and Beast Spirits?" Grandmaster asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Perhaps, but I would rather believe this is influenced by a spirit master's will," Chen Feng said.

"A spirit master's will? What do you mean?" Grandmaster asked thoughtfully, stroking his chin.

"As I said before, when the vast majority of Tool Spirit masters absorb a Heavy Mud Horse's Spirit Ring, the spirit skill they gain makes their own Spirit heavier. But there was one spirit master whose Spirit was a pair of boots, and the spirit skill he gained instead made his own body heavier. Boots are undoubtedly a Tool Spirit.

"Both Spirit Rings came from Heavy Mud Horses, and both spirit masters had Tool Spirits, yet they gained spirit skills with completely different enhancement targets. That made me start to wonder: was this truly caused by the difference between Tool Spirits and Beast Spirits?

"I would rather believe that this spirit master, whose Spirit was a pair of boots, believed that increasing his own weight would benefit him more than increasing the weight of his boot Spirit. Thus, his will caused the spirit skill to change," Chen Feng said in a low voice.

"Will can alter spirit skills? That doesn't sound very reliable." As soon as Dai Mubai said that, he saw Chen Feng looking at him with a rather subtle expression.

"Big Brother Dai, do you hear yourself?"