I Once Dreamed of a Scorched Earth, and a New Bud Breaking Through the Soil

Lu Jiang nearly cried again, moved by Firefly.

How could there be such a perfect girl in this world?

She was practically a miracle bestowed by heaven!

The two walked side by side through the forest.

Lu Jiang constantly identified the types of spirit beasts around them, while Firefly guarded his side like a protective knight.

Unfortunately, ever since entering the forest, all they had encountered were worthless ten-year spirit beasts.

They could only produce the lowest-quality white spirit rings.

After all, the Spirit Soul System did not exist yet. Once a spirit ring was set, there were very few chances to change its quality.

Unless one received a god's inheritance, or used techniques like the Clear Sky Sect's method of blowing up spirit rings, which offered a chance to obtain new ones.

Otherwise, a spirit ring's age was fixed for good.

Lu Jiang did not want to be so careless with his first spirit ring. It had to be of the highest quality!

"I wonder if I can absorb a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring?"

Before coming here, Lu Jiang had already calculated it for himself.

His Soul Power had already broken through level 20.

On the Douluo Continent, there were quite a few people with Innate Full Soul Power, but those who directly reached level 20 were practically nonexistent.

So theoretically, the spirit ring he could absorb should be twice that of someone with Innate Full Soul Power.

If Tang San's first spirit ring could absorb a maximum age of just over two hundred years—

Then he should be able to absorb a spirit ring around five hundred years old.

Perhaps he could even consider a Thousand Year Spirit Beast for his second spirit ring.

A Thousand Year Purple Spirit Ring as his second spirit ring—wouldn't that be unprecedented?

However, Lu Jiang's ambitions did not stop there.

Since he could withstand the Stellaron, he should be able to withstand an even higher-level spirit ring.

If his first spirit ring were at the ten-thousand-year level... he barely dared to imagine it.

While traveling, Lu Jiang asked Firefly what her dream was to relieve the boredom.

"My dream?"

Firefly raised a finger to her lips, looking a little adorably ditzy.

"Let me think. Eating delicious desserts, curing Entropy Syndrome, and being able to move about freely."

Firefly rattled off a whole list in one breath.

Yet in Lu Jiang's eyes, those dreams were merely the kind of life an ordinary person should have.

Even such an ordinary life was impossibly far away for a girl suffering from Entropy Syndrome.

Before Lu Jiang could sigh with emotion, Firefly suddenly turned to him and smiled.

"And you. I want to live on with you."

Garen had just built Last Whisper—silent, yet his defenses were shattered.

Lu Jiang had never imagined that a girl he could not even dream of before would now truly be standing before him.

And her eyes were filled entirely with him!

Before he could even be moved, a burst of disorderly noise broke out around them at the worst possible moment.

Clearly, a powerful spirit beast was nearby.

Damn it, what spirit beast had such terrible timing?

It had ruined such a beautiful moment!

The moment Lu Jiang turned around, his gaze met that of a massive black panther.

The black panther slowly opened its jaws, and a dazzlingly bloody stench surged from its mouth into Lu Jiang's nostrils.

A hundred-year spirit beast, a Mysterious Panther!

And judging from its size, this Mysterious Panther was at least three hundred years old!

Holding her Transformation Device, Firefly stepped in front of Lu Jiang.

"Don't be afraid, Trailblazer. I'll protect you!"

However, before Firefly could make a move—

Another commotion came from behind the Mysterious Panther.

There was another spirit beast?

Lu Jiang's heart jolted, but in the next instant, a graceful figure leaped high from the trees.

After nimbly spinning several times in midair, she pounced toward the Mysterious Panther before them.

"First Spirit Skill, Hell Stab!"

The girl turned into a phantom-like figure and instantly flashed beneath the Mysterious Panther.

Then she dealt a fatal blow to its throat.

Accompanied by a miserable cry, the three-hundred-year Mysterious Panther fell before Lu Jiang.

The girl then slowly walked over to Lu Jiang and asked in an icy, glacier-like tone.

"Are you two all right?"

Lu Jiang recognized her at once. She was Zhu Zhuqing, one of the Shrek Seven Devils.

Her martial soul was the speed-type Hell Spirit Cat.

What surprised Lu Jiang was why she had appeared here.

Zhu Zhuqing saw the confusion in Lu Jiang's eyes and immediately explained.

"I tracked this Mysterious Panther for a long time. It previously fought another hundred-year Netherflame Wolf until both sides were badly injured, so I had the opportunity to strike."

"This place is dangerous. Even if your Soul Power is full, you should not have come here to hunt spirit beasts without a teacher accompanying you."

After saying that, Zhu Zhuqing raised her head and looked at Firefly.

With just one glance, Zhu Zhuqing froze in place.

What a beautiful girl.

Even when she met Xiao Wu, she had never felt this way.

Firefly's beauty was the complete opposite of hers.

If Zhu Zhuqing was beauty refined into pure seduction, sharp and aggressive—

Then Firefly was beauty as pure and flawless as a piece of fine jade.

Even Zhu Zhuqing, another girl, could not help repeatedly marveling after seeing Firefly.

Still, neither of them looked like they had much fighting ability.

So Zhu Zhuqing urged Lu Jiang and Firefly to leave quickly.

"But why are you here?"

Lu Jiang asked curiously.

Even if Shrek Academy was on break, Zhu Zhuqing should not have come here alone, right?

After all, she had not yet reached the stage of obtaining a spirit ring.

Zhu Zhuqing told him that she had come here to train.

But even so, she only dared to wander around the outskirts.

If she had not spotted the injured Mysterious Panther, she would not have ventured this deep.

Lu Jiang extended his hand to Zhu Zhuqing in thanks.

However, she merely glanced at it before turning and walking away.

"Ice-cold beauties really are hard to win over."

Lu Jiang sighed.

Still, Zhu Zhuqing's figure truly surpassed that of others her age.

Just the sight of her back—her waterfall-like black hair and long, slender legs—

Was enough to send one's imagination running wild.

At that moment, Firefly stepped in front of Lu Jiang, puffing out her cheeks in displeasure until they resembled a bun.

Lu Jiang awkwardly scratched his head.

Then, he prepared to inspect the Mysterious Panther's spirit ring with Firefly.

At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing's scream came from the distance.

"What happened?"

Lu Jiang and Firefly exchanged a glance, then swiftly ran toward Zhu Zhuqing.

They soon saw Zhu Zhuqing sitting on the ground in terror, her face drained completely pale.

Before them stood a massive blue-and-pink butterfly.

Its wings stretched more than ten meters wide, radiating a faint glow like a brilliant moon.

It was a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast, the Bright Dragon God Butterfly!

Why was a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast here???

Before they had time to think, Zhu Zhuqing beside them began trembling as she spoke.

"We... will all die here."

Her words were filled with despair.

Two soul masters and a girl without Soul Power facing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast was practically a guaranteed death sentence.

Yet at that moment, Firefly slowly stepped in front of them and pressed the remote in her hand.

"I once dreamed of a scorched earth, and a new bud breaking through the soil. It bloomed toward the morning sun and whispered softly to me."

As her words fell, flames instantly rose around Firefly.