Kid, Help Me Hold It Off

"Beast, take this!"

Seeing this, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang brazenly struck. She swung the three-meter-long Serpent Cane in her hand, and a nearly ten-meter-long serpent blade extended from its snake head, slashing toward the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.

Faced with such an attack, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent immediately felt an extreme chill.

Under this immense threat, the crest atop the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's head lit up with red light, and its speed instantly rose to another level, allowing it to narrowly evade Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang's attack.

Seeing this, Meng Yiran immediately grew anxious and shouted excitedly to Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang, "Grandma, we can't let this Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent escape."

Phoenix-tail Crested Serpents were already rare, and this one also met her age requirement. If they missed this one, they would probably have a hard time finding another Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent that suited her needs.

"Hmph! Trying to run?"

Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang knew this as well. She snorted coldly and continued pursuing the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent in the direction it had fled, with Meng Yiran in tow.

Meanwhile, Qing Mu had finally changed locations and had just begun using Sweet Scent to lure Soul Beasts when he discovered a pink snake flying toward him at astonishing speed.

"So fast. This Soul Beast is at least twice as fast as I am at full speed."

Qing Mu was inwardly shocked as he watched the strange serpent rapidly charge toward him.

With the enhancement of Chlorophyll, Qing Mu's current speed was enough to rival that of a fine warhorse. Yet compared to this strange serpent, he was still far too slow.

More importantly, it could fly!

Qing Mu could not help but feel somewhat helpless. Why did the opponents Bulbasaur attracted always turn out to be this kind?

He even found himself missing that first Crimson Blood Battle Pig.

"Bulbasaur, use Seed Bomb to stop it!"

Although he did not particularly want to attract this type of Soul Beast, Bulbasaur had already lured it over. He still had to make a move—it was experience, after all.

"Da Na~"

Upon hearing Qing Mu's command, Bulbasaur immediately fired several enormous seeds glowing with green light from its back, sending them toward the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's projected path.

At the strange serpent's current speed, ordinary attacks would be difficult to land. Only an area-of-effect attack like Seed Bomb had a chance of hitting it.

The seeds quickly reached the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's flight path. Naturally, it noticed these strange green-glowing seeds and slightly altered its direction, unwilling to touch them.

But to its surprise, as it passed by the seeds, they exploded directly—and the blast radius was not small.

Unable to evade in time, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent immediately let out a pained cry. Unable to maintain its flight posture, it slowly fell from the sky.

Just as Qing Mu was about to have Bulbasaur use Growth and attack with all its strength, a hoarse voice interrupted his plan.

"Good job, kid! Hold it off for me—I'll be there right away!"

As soon as the voice fell, an elderly woman in her sixties or seventies appeared in the distance, dragging along a young girl in fitted clothes as she rushed toward Qing Mu.

In only a few breaths, the two caught up with the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.

Seeing that it had been caught, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent instantly snapped awake and immediately adjusted its body, intending to flee again.

But how could Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang, who had already caught up, give it that chance? She swiftly struck with her Serpent Cane, directly smashing the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent to the ground.

No matter what, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang was a Soul Emperor-level powerhouse. As long as her attack landed, it was more than a Thousand-Year Soul Beast like the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent could withstand.

If not for the fact that Soul Masters needed to personally kill Soul Beasts in order to absorb their Soul Rings, and Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang had held back, that blow alone would have been enough to kill the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.

After knocking out the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang let out a sigh of relief. She then turned toward Qing Mu and said, "That little brother over there, may I ask which faction you are a disciple of? This old woman is Chao Tianxiang. Thank you for your help just now."

In Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang's view, if Qing Mu had not intervened just now, it would likely have taken her quite some time to catch up with this Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.

"Hmm?"

But when Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang got a clear look at him, she could not help but freeze. Wasn't this the kid they had encountered before entering the Star Dou Great Mountain Range?

"This junior is Qing Mu. Greetings, Senior Snake Dowager!"

Seeing that she had addressed him, Qing Mu cupped his hands toward Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang, though he felt rather strange inside.

Chao Tianxiang... wasn't she the Snake Dowager from Dragon Duke and Snake Dowager?

Qing Mu then carefully examined the pink strange serpent on the ground. A crest on its head, a fan-shaped tail, pink wings—it was indeed a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.

He had never expected Bulbasaur's luring to draw in this Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent!

"Qing?"

Upon hearing Qing Mu's words, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang's gaze flickered. She had not heard much of any Qing family on the continent. Could he be from some small family somewhere?

"Eh? You're the one we ran into at the entrance to the Star Dou Great Mountain Range."

After seeing Qing Mu's Bulbasaur, a trace of surprise flashed through Meng Yiran's eyes. She had not expected to encounter Qing Mu here again.

Although they had been quite far apart at the time and she had not gotten a clear look at his face, Qing Mu's Martial Soul, Bulbasaur, was simply too distinctive. She recognized it at a glance.

Meng Yiran then asked somewhat curiously, "Little brother, why are you here? Don't you know it's dangerous?"

Since Qing Mu had helped them stop the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, Meng Yiran had developed a slight fondness for him, which was why she asked.

Although Qing Mu was still in the outer region of the Star Dou Great Mountain Range, he had already gone fairly deep inside. It was still possible to encounter Thousand-Year Soul Beasts here.

Meng Yiran was somewhat puzzled. Why would Qing Mu, a mere level twenty-three Soul Grandmaster, appear here?

After all, not every Thousand-Year Soul Beast had such weak offensive power as the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent!

Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang discreetly swept her gaze around as well, yet she found nothing at all. Unless the person hiding in the shadows was far stronger than she was, there was only one possibility: no one was secretly protecting him.

"The one we ran into earlier?"

Hearing Meng Yiran's words, Qing Mu's heart instantly tightened. He had not noticed those two observing him at the time.

Yet although a storm raged within him, Qing Mu remained perfectly composed on the surface. "My parents said they wanted to train my ability to face the dangers of the outside world alone, so I'm currently traveling and training by myself.

"As for why I'm here, it's because I'm planning to go to Exotic Beast Academy. This route is closer."

Lies were the easiest things to expose, and once exposed, they would make the other party think you were hiding something, needlessly provoking their displeasure.

But if the truth was presented in another way, then it was different.