Unlucky

As Chen Xilin drew closer and closer to Dawn Forest, night had already fallen, with the moon hanging high overhead.

However, it was cloudy today. There were quite a few clouds in the sky, occasionally blocking out the moonlight.

Of the two people following Chen Xilin, one pulled aside the middle-aged man beside him and whispered, "Big Brother, forget it this time. It's dark now—what if Spirit Beasts show up?

We were planning to pick up scraps in the first place. With just the strength of two one-ring Soul Masters, it'll be hard for us to protect ourselves. Forget it.

We're not doing this. I've got this inexplicable chill, Big Brother. Let's forget it."

The middle-aged man beside him nodded and murmured, "Sigh, greed really knows no bounds. You're right. With what little strength we have, how could we possibly trouble a Soul Grandmaster?"

The other group tailing Chen Xilin left just like that. They had no idea what a wise decision they had made.

Chen Xilin walked to a denser patch of woods and surveyed his surroundings. Then he glanced at the sky, revealed a faint smile, and continued onward.

The group of three hiding in the distant grass was confused.

"Big Brother, what's that guy doing? Looking here one moment, there the next, and then at the sky? Did he spot us?" one of them asked doubtfully.

The leader said, "No idea. He probably hasn't noticed us. Maybe he's just enjoying the scenery. Come on, follow him. Since he isn't planning to rest, let's send him on his way!"

The three of them quickly closed in, Soul Rings appearing around them.

The two one-ring Soul Masters each had only one white ten-year Soul Ring, while their Soul Grandmaster leader had one white ring and one yellow ring.

All three possessed blade Martial Souls, though their forms differed: a woodcutter's knife, a kitchen knife, and a rusty knife.

A few breaths after they released their Martial Souls and advanced, the light abruptly dimmed.

"Where is he?" The Soul Grandmaster arrived at the spot where Chen Xilin had just been standing, looking puzzled.

"No idea. He was just here. Where did he go? Could it be too dark, and he's hiding somewhere?"

"Search carefully!"

Meanwhile, Chen Xilin stood atop a tree, his body concealed by branches and leaves. The Nine-Ring Broadsword on his back had already been placed inside his Storage Spirit Tool.

Looking at the four glowing Soul Rings below, Chen Xilin thought they were practically living targets.

Chen Xilin glanced at the sky. The moon had been covered by clouds, and they were in the woods—the visibility was terrible.

Sshing—

Chen Xilin drew the Short Dagger from his waist and carefully observed the positions of the three men.

Chen Xilin waited. An excellent hunter needed the perfect moment to enter the field.

Sure enough, the three split up to search for his traces.

Chen Xilin lightly approached the Soul Grandmaster.

Slash—

With one cut, he slit the man's throat. Chen Xilin straddled the Soul Grandmaster's shoulders, ending him with a single strike while covering his mouth with one hand to prevent him from making a sound.

A few seconds later, Chen Xilin carefully laid the Soul Grandmaster's corpse on the ground, then hid behind a tree. One of the Soul Masters was coming over.

"Seriously, where is he? How... mmpf—"

Slash—

Another throat slit. This Soul Master also died with his throat cut open.

"Big Brother, Second Brother, I can't find him! Have you found him? Big Brother? Second Brother? You aren't playing hide-and-seek, are you? I'm coming to find you." Only the fat man remained now.

Chen Xilin took off his mask and hung it from his waist. The blood of those two men had stained it crimson.

Watching the fat man gradually approach, Chen Xilin licked the blood from his dagger and revealed a chilling smile.

Chen Xilin steadily closed in on the fat man, the blood-dripping dagger in his hand drawing nearer and nearer to the man's vital points.

"Huh? Where's the—"

Chen Xilin struck again, cleanly and decisively dealing with the fat man. He had no interest in watching a man like this beg for mercy or tremble in fear.

He simply could not be bothered with people like him.

"Hm? Only these three? Did those other two run away? Hehe, interesting. Lucky you. Let's see what I got. Anyone bold enough to do this should have made quite a profit."

Chen Xilin began searching the bodies. At that moment, a gentle breeze swept through the forest, and the moon appeared once more, its light illuminating the woods.

Only under the moonlight did it become clear that the ground was covered in large pools of blood, with three corpses lying within them.

The bloody scene on the ground was utterly out of place against the tranquility of the forest. What should have been a beautiful sight had become so gruesome.

"Not bad. Two hundred Gold Soul Coins from three small fry. Looks like they've done this sort of thing quite often." Chen Xilin weighed the three men's coin pouches.

After wiping the blood from his dagger, Chen Xilin left just like that. The scent of blood had already drawn wild beasts and Spirit Beasts over, so there was no need for him to dispose of the bodies himself.

Chen Xilin put away his dagger and climbed a tree. While he had been up in the trees earlier, he had spotted one with a particularly broad branch. He planned to rest there for the night before venturing deeper into Dawn Forest.

Early morning

Golden sunlight quietly reached into the forest, scattering mottled patches across the ground and coating the trees and grass in a warm glow. Like a gentle stream, the dawn caressed the beautiful forest, bathing all things in soft, dreamlike golden radiance.

Chen Xilin, resting in the tree, was disturbed by the dazzling sunlight and opened his bleary eyes.

"Yawn... Mm... Mm... The weather's nice. Time to obtain my Soul Ring." Chen Xilin rose and nimbly stepped down through the interlocking branches to the ground.

Half a day later,

"According to the map, the Nether Demon Flood Dragon should be here. Looks like I came for nothing. I wasted so much money."

Chen Xilin arrived at a field of scattered rocks. There were not many trees in this part of Dawn Forest, making it rather open, and many tree stumps could be seen nearby. Judging from the marks, they had been snapped directly in half.

That meant something had crashed into them. Chen Xilin felt he could wait here for his prey—no, wait for a flood dragon. After all, there really was a huge cave among the rocks, and a foul smell wafted out from within.

This confirmed that it was indeed the dwelling of a massive Spirit Beast. He only needed to wait a little.

This Nether Demon Flood Dragon was currently Chen Xilin's favorite choice of Spirit Beast. The Nether Demon Flood Dragon and his nominal Martial Soul, the Dark Flood Dragon, were close relatives, both possessing a trace of Dark Holy Dragon bloodline.

After waiting for quite some time,

Roar—

At last, Chen Xilin heard a beastly roar.

"Hm? It's finally here. You've kept me waiting long enough." Chen Xilin stood up, climbed a tree, and took out the Nine-Ring Broadsword.

Before long, a ten-meter-long beast came into view. It was dark in color, walked on four limbs, and was covered from head to toe in jet-black scales. In the shadows, those scales flickered with a faint blue glow, giving off an eerie aura.

"Nether Demon Flood Dragon. I finally caught you. You made me wait so long—if I don't hunt you down, all the traps I set will have been for nothing."

Chen Xilin sneered. He had spent a long time setting traps to ensure he could successfully hunt this Nether Demon Flood Dragon.

The Nether Demon Flood Dragon leisurely returned to its nest, carrying a cow-like Spirit Beast in its jaws.

The first trap: a tripwire and a large net.

The Nether Demon Flood Dragon's massive body suddenly snapped a vine beneath its foot. It looked at the ground in confusion. Something had seemed to brush against it just now. It tickled a little.

The instant the vine snapped, a large net fell from above the Nether Demon Flood Dragon.

Roar—

The Nether Demon Flood Dragon flew into a rage. So it was another one of humanity's petty tricks! Only humans would do something like this.

"Second step." Chen Xilin cut through another vine beside him with his dagger, seemingly triggering something. Various sounds continuously rang out from high in the forest.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Countless sharp branches shot toward the Nether Demon Flood Dragon from all directions like spears.

Seeing this, the Nether Demon Flood Dragon let out a roar. An immensely powerful Dark Aura spread from its body and directly corroded those branches.

However, Chen Xilin had set up too many branch-spears, and a few still struck the Nether Demon Flood Dragon.

Clang, clang, clang—

Crisp ringing sounds echoed out. The spears made from branches could not penetrate the Nether Demon Flood Dragon's Scale Armor at all.

"Damn it, I forgot this is a Spirit Beast, not an ordinary wild animal. How could a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast be so easily killed? I was careless."

Chen Xilin cursed under his breath, triggering all the remaining traps before taking out the Nine-Ring Broadsword.

Below him, the Nether Demon Flood Dragon was poked by branches, pelted by stones, and tangled in nets. The damage was minimal, but the humiliation was immense!

The Nether Demon Flood Dragon roared and charged out of the traps, looking around and using its sense of smell to search. It wanted to find that human and eat him!

At that moment, Chen Xilin descended from the sky, gripping his blade with both hands as he chopped toward the Nether Demon Flood Dragon's neck. A descending Rising Dragon Blade, combined with his inner force and gravity.

This strike was bound to be powerful!

Clang—

A section of blade flew away.

"Damn it!"

The Nine-Ring Broadsword in Chen Xilin's hands had broken!

The Nether Demon Flood Dragon cried out in pain. Its neck hurt terribly, as though something had struck it. It hurt too much.

"Run!"

Chen Xilin stepped on the Nether Demon Flood Dragon's head, leaped forcefully onto a tree, and immediately fled.

Chen Xilin had not expected a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast's defense to be so strong. His broadsword had actually broken. This had been a good-quality, sharp blade, yet it had snapped.

If he did not run now, when would he?

The Nether Demon Flood Dragon also spotted the human. Its senses told it that this human was incredibly weak, yet he had managed to hurt it. This was intolerable! It had to eat him!

A ball of black flame suddenly gathered in the Nether Demon Flood Dragon's jaws, and it sprayed wildly toward the direction Chen Xilin had fled.

Chen Xilin dodged in a sorry state, nimbly weaving through the forest.

Chen Xilin's plan had indeed been sound, but the Spirit Hall Main Hall's Spirit Beast Compendium had not recorded in detail that once a Nether Demon Flood Dragon reached the thousand-year mark, its Scale Armor's defense would greatly increase.

Even a Nether Demon Flood Dragon that had only just entered the thousand-year level possessed scales hard enough to easily withstand a Soul Elder's strongest attack.

The blade in Chen Xilin's hand was not poor, but it had ultimately been forged by an ordinary blacksmith and could not break through the Nether Demon Flood Dragon's defenses.

However, the Nether Demon Flood Dragon had a weakness: there were no scales around its throat, making it relatively vulnerable. Disciples from major clans usually hunted Nether Demon Flood Dragons by attacking areas with fewer scales, such as the belly and throat.

After running for an hour,

Chen Xilin finally shook off the Nether Demon Flood Dragon with some slippery footwork.

Chen Xilin took out the broken Nine-Ring Broadsword again. Looking at the blade missing a section, countless complaints rose in his heart, but in the end, he merely sighed.

"Hm? More movement?" Chen Xilin's senses were extremely sharp. Perhaps that was a martial artist's instinct.

Chen Xilin crouched on a thick branch, using the surrounding leaves to conceal himself as he observed the approaching Spirit Beast.

Before long, a powerful and agile beast appeared. It moved on all fours, with a massive flexible tail and black scales covering its body. Faint black flames flickered around its limbs, setting this Spirit Beast apart, and a distinctive horn grew from its head.

"Black Flame Dragon Lizard, a Sub-Dragon Spirit Beast, around nine hundred years old. Hehe, I'm lucky. This Black Flame Dragon Lizard is also a Spirit Beast that suits me."

Chen Xilin looked at the lizard-like Spirit Beast. A Dragon Lizard was a Sub-Dragon species, a type of Earth Dragon. In terms of Dragon Clan bloodline, this Black Flame Dragon Lizard was likely inferior to the Nether Demon Flood Dragon from before.

After all, the Nether Demon Flood Dragon possessed a trace of Dark Holy Dragon bloodline, while the Black Flame Dragon Lizard carried the bloodline of an ordinary Dark Earth Dragon. There was some difference between them.

However, this Black Flame Dragon Lizard had a much stronger Dark Attribute. The Spirit Beast Compendium recorded that the Black Flame Dragon Lizard's black flames possessed extremely powerful corrosive properties. It was a type of dark flame, carrying both fire's burning heat and darkness's erosion.

In any case, Chen Xilin was very satisfied with this Spirit Beast. What pleased him even more was the vicious wound on the back of the Black Flame Dragon Lizard's neck.

The Black Flame Dragon Lizard was covered in wounds, with the injury on the back of its neck being the largest. Clearly, it had been injured.

"Heaven is helping me!"

Chen Xilin gripped the Nine-Ring Broadsword, waiting for the Black Flame Dragon Lizard to reach the tree beneath him so he could finish it with a single downward strike.

Step, step, step.

The Black Flame Dragon Lizard steadily approached the tree where Chen Xilin waited. Having just gone through a fierce battle and suffered severe injuries, it needed to return to its nest for a proper rest.

Fortunately, it was a Sub-Dragon Spirit Beast with Dragon Clan bloodline and strong vitality. Had it been an ordinary Spirit Beast, it would have long since died from such injuries.

"Now!" Chen Xilin leaped from the tree and drove the broadsword straight into the wound on the Black Flame Dragon Lizard's neck.

Hiss! Hiss!

The Black Flame Dragon Lizard let out miserable shrieks and twisted its body wildly, trying to throw Chen Xilin off.

Chen Xilin held tightly onto the broadsword and forced it deeper.

The Black Flame Dragon Lizard's struggles gradually weakened, and the light in its eyes dimmed further and further. A few breaths later, it collapsed.

A yellow Soul Ring tinged with a hint of purple emerged above the Black Flame Dragon Lizard's corpse.

Naturally, Chen Xilin saw the Soul Ring, and his face broke into a smile.

"Finally, my efforts weren't wasted. I can finally break through."

Just as Chen Xilin was about to sit down and absorb the Soul Ring, he suddenly heard something approaching. More precisely, many things were approaching.

Acting on his instinct for self-preservation, Chen Xilin did not hesitate before climbing straight up a tree.

Before long, a huge pack of gray wolves rushed out. There were nearly a hundred of them, most of them ten-year gray wolves, while the leading Wolf King was a Spirit Beast of around four hundred years.

"Damn it, it's a Wolf Pack. They're eating the Black Flame Dragon Lizard's corpse. Hurry up and leave so I can absorb the Soul Ring." Chen Xilin was frantic. After a Spirit Beast died, the Soul Ring that formed above its corpse would remain for one hour if it was not absorbed. After that, it would dissipate.

That was why Chen Xilin was so anxious. How could he miss such an excellent Soul Ring? He was too far from it to draw it over and could only absorb it from the ground.

The gray wolves continued wandering about below, as though they had no intention of leaving.

One hour later, Chen Xilin watched helplessly as the nine-hundred-year Soul Ring shattered and dissipated. Tears of frustration streamed down his face.

How could someone be this unlucky!