Yan and Xie Yue exchanged a glance, their hearts roiling with shock.
A level-twenty one-ring soul master had killed the Goliath Ant King?
That was simply impossible.
If the Goliath Ant King had truly been killed by Sun Sheng,
then it would undoubtedly be terrible news for the two of them.
Especially for Yan.
He had been the one to block Sun Sheng's retreat with a punch, forcing him into the Goliath Ant swarm.
If Sun Sheng were allowed to grow stronger,
who knew what would happen?
If Sun Sheng came seeking revenge, wouldn't there be no escape?
Hiss!
At that thought, Yan sucked in a sharp breath, regret filling his heart.
He should not have acted so rashly.
Yet he still did not believe Sun Sheng had done it.
Someone must have appeared and lent a hand, killing the Goliath Ant King and saving him.
Or perhaps Sun Sheng had already died at the Goliath Ant King's hands and been swallowed by it.
But a powerful soul master passing through this place had happened to kill it.
Yes!
It had to be that.
The more Yan thought about it, the more panicked he became. In the end, he refused to accept reality.
After all, such a thing was impossible in his eyes.
"He's fine. He must be fine."
"Brother, let's search nearby. Maybe we can still find him."
Emotion flickered across Hu Liena's face. She immediately left the area and began searching nearby.
But Sun Sheng had long since left, without a trace.
How could she possibly find him?
"Little sister, it's getting late. We should hurry back and report."
"If Sun Sheng is all right, he'll surely appear again."
"If that doesn't work, we can send people to search for him after we return to Spirit Hall."
Xie Yue followed Hu Liena the whole way before finally persuading her with some reluctance.
"That's right, Sister Liena. His Holiness the Pope is still waiting for us."
Yan hurried over to persuade her as well.
"Right, we'll go back and ask Teacher for help."
Hu Liena's eyes shone brightly as she hurried back.
After she had gone some distance away, Yan walked to Xie Yue's side and asked in a low voice, "Xie Yue, do you think that brat Sun Sheng killed the Goliath Ant King?"
Xie Yue pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Impossible. A level-twenty one-ring soul master, no matter how capable he is, couldn't possibly possess such ability."
"I think so too. Someone must have passed through here and killed it."
"The only question is whether that brat Sun Sheng is still alive."
After hearing Xie Yue's answer, Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Whether he's alive has nothing to do with us. Little sister is already beginning to suspect that the two of us did this deliberately, so we'd better provoke her less for a while."
"Given enough time, she'll naturally forget."
"I really don't know what methods Sun Sheng used to make little sister so fascinated by him."
"It's truly strange."
Xie Yue frowned deeply. Clearly, he was wary of Sun Sheng as well.
"Mm, all right. Let's hurry and catch up."
Yan nodded and sped after her, with Xie Yue close behind.
Within the inner region of the Star Dou Great Forest, Sun Sheng had gotten lost.
He had originally wanted to retrace his route.
But the paths in the Star Dou Great Forest all looked more or less the same, and before long, he was lost.
Left with no other choice, he relied on his instincts, picked a direction at random, and continued forward.
Unbeknownst to him, he was heading toward the core region.
Bang! Boom! Crack! Clang!
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Sun Sheng heard faint, repeated sounds in the distance, drawing his attention.
Curious, he stealthily approached.
Before long, he saw two people fighting a massive tiger. Its entire body was pitch-black, with a white king-shaped marking on its forehead. It was over five meters long and nearly two meters tall at the shoulder; though enormous, it was exceptionally agile.
Five or six human corpses lay around them.
"A Ghost Tiger!"
"And a Ten-Thousand Year Ghost Tiger at that."
Hidden in the shadows, Sun Sheng was greatly startled when he saw the black tiger.
A Ghost Tiger's speed and attack power were terrifying. It was one of the strongest and fiercest Soul Beasts, and it possessed the innate ability Shadow Clone.
It would fight to the death against any opponent who dared invade its territory.
Its speed was so terrifying that even Soul Beasts with cultivation comparable to its own were unwilling to fight it.
Even powerful soul masters preferred not to clash with it, avoiding it whenever they encountered one.
"Huh, it's them!"
Sun Sheng looked at the two people fighting the Ghost Tiger, slightly surprised.
One of them was the Burly Man who had treated him fairly well when he first arrived in the Star Dou Great Forest.
The other was the Sharp-Faced Man.
At this moment, both men had suffered serious injuries, while the Ghost Tiger was badly wounded as well. Its body was covered in wounds, blood pouring from them.
"Old Li, this Ghost Tiger is too fast. We should retreat immediately."
The Burly Man dodged the Ghost Tiger's sneak attack and spoke while panting heavily.
"No. It wasn't easy for me to find a suitable Soul Beast. I can't leave just like this."
"This Ghost Tiger is badly injured. If we hold on a little longer, we can kill it."
"I won't accept leaving like this."
Seeing that the Ghost Tiger had also been severely wounded, the sharp-faced middle-aged man could not bear to leave.
"But..."
The Burly Man saw that he was already exhausted. If this dragged on, even if the Ghost Tiger did not kill him, he would die from exhaustion.
"No buts. Succeed or die trying. We can't worry about that now."
The Sharp-Faced Man gritted his teeth. His fourth Purple Soul Ring flashed, and he transformed into a feline shadow that charged toward the Ghost Tiger.
He intended to make a desperate final stand.
Unfortunately, heaven did not favor him.
At that very moment, the Ghost Tiger used its innate ability, Shadow Clone, and killed him instantly.
"Old Li..."
When the Burly Man saw the Ghost Tiger's claw pierce through the Sharp-Faced Man's heart, his face changed drastically as he cried out.
The Ghost Tiger had now locked onto him and pounced at him.
Seeing this, the Burly Man hurriedly fought back.
Though he dodged the Ghost Tiger's claws, its tail still struck him, sending him crashing into a giant tree nearby. He spat out a mouthful of blood and suffered grave injuries, unable to fight any longer.
Seeing this, the Ghost Tiger pounced again.
Thousand-Jin Strike!
At that moment, Sun Sheng, hidden in the shadows, made his move. His Million-Year Spirit Ring and Thousand-Year Spirit Ring lit up simultaneously, and he activated the spirit skill of the Goliath Right Arm Spirit Bone. Seizing the moment, he brought his staff down.
The Ghost Tiger suddenly sensed a terrifying force from the staff rushing toward it. Startled, it hurriedly retreated.
But Sun Sheng had already locked it down with the Seal spirit skill. How could he let it escape?
Feeling itself bound by a powerful force, the Ghost Tiger immediately used Shadow Clone, transferring the binding force to its clone and breaking free from the lock.
At that moment, the Ruyi Jingu Bang came crashing down.
However, Sun Sheng's strike hit the Ghost Tiger's shadow clone.
Fortunately, Sun Sheng's strike was immensely powerful. Though it struck only the shadow clone, the force it unleashed still blasted the Ghost Tiger's true body away, smashing it through several giant trees in succession.
Already at the end of its strength and grievously wounded, the Ghost Tiger could no longer fight. It lay nearby, barely alive and unable to rise.
"Big brother, are you all right?"
Sun Sheng did not pay attention to the Ghost Tiger. Instead, he went to check on the Burly Man's injuries.
In his eyes, this man's character was fairly good and worth saving.
If he could use this opportunity to make him follow him, that would be a good choice as well.
As long as he let the man kill the Ghost Tiger and absorb its soul ring,
he would effectively have a Spirit King-level subordinate at his side.
Ding! Congratulations, Host, for activating the random mission: Subdue this person.
Before you continue