Kid, Help Me Stop It!

"Beast, take this!"

Seeing this, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang boldly struck. She swung the three-meter-long Serpent Cane in her hand, and a nearly ten-meter-long blade extended from the snake's 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 enormous threat, the crest atop the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's head lit up red. Its speed instantly rose by another level, and it narrowly dodged Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang's attack.

Meng Yiran grew anxious at once when she saw this. She immediately said excitedly to Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang, "Grandmother, we can't let this Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent get away."

Phoenix-tail Crested Serpents were already rare, and this one's cultivation age also met her requirements. If they missed this one, they would probably have a hard time finding another Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent that qualified.

"Hmph! Trying to run?"

Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang knew this as well. She snorted coldly and continued chasing after the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent with Meng Yiran.

At the same time, Qing Mu had finally changed locations and had just begun using Sweet Scent to lure monsters when he discovered a pink snake flying toward him at incredible 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 snake rapidly approach him.

With Chlorophyll's enhancement, Qing Mu's current speed was enough to rival that of an excellent warhorse. Yet compared with this strange snake, he was still far too slow.

Most importantly, it could fly!

Qing Mu could not help but feel helpless. Why did Bulbasaur always lure opponents like this?

He even began to miss 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; after all, it was experience.

"Bulba~"

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

At the strange snake's current speed, ordinary attacks would be difficult to land. Only an area attack like Seed Bomb had any 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 changed direction, unwilling to touch them.

But what it had not expected was that as it passed beside the seeds, they suddenly exploded—and the blast radius was not small.

Unable to dodge in time, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent immediately let out a pained cry. It could no longer maintain its flight and 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 plans.

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

As soon as the words fell, an elderly woman in her sixties or seventies came rushing toward Qing Mu, dragging along a young girl dressed in fitted clothes.

In just 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 came to its senses. It immediately adjusted its body, wanting 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, smashing the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent straight to the ground.

No matter what, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang was a Soul Emperor-level powerhouse. As long as her attacks landed, a mere Thousand-Year Soul Beast like the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent could not withstand them.

In fact, if Spirit Masters did not need to kill Soul Beasts themselves to absorb Soul Rings, and if Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang had not 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 breath of relief. She then turned toward Qing Mu and said, "That young brother over there, may I ask which faction you belong to? 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 this Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.

"Hmm?"

But when Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang saw him clearly, she could not help but freeze. Wasn't this the boy they had encountered before entering the Star Dou Great Mountain Range?

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

When she 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 examined the pink strange snake on the ground more carefully. A rooster-like crest, a fan-shaped tail, and pink wings—it was indeed a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.

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

"Qing?"

After hearing Qing Mu's words, Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang's eyes flickered. She had not heard much about any Qing family on the continent. Could he be from some small family in a certain region?

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

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

Although they had been far apart at the time and she had not seen his face directly, she had not clearly seen Qing Mu's appearance. But Qing Mu's martial soul, Bulbasaur, was simply too distinctive. She recognized it at a glance.

Meng Yiran then asked curiously, "Little brother, why are you here? Do you know how dangerous it is?"

Because Qing Mu had helped them stop the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, Meng Yiran had developed a bit of goodwill toward 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. There was still a chance of encountering Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

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

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

Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang also covertly swept her gaze around the area, yet found nothing at all. Unless the person hiding in the shadows had cultivation far above her own, there was only one possibility: no one was secretly protecting him.

"The one we ran into before?"

Hearing Meng Yiran's words, Qing Mu's heart tightened. He had not noticed the two of them watching him back then.

But although a storm raged within his heart, Qing Mu remained calm on the surface and replied, "My parents said they wanted to train my ability to deal with external dangers on my own, so I'm currently traveling and training alone.

"As for why I'm here, I'm heading to Exotic Beast Academy. This route is shorter."

Lies were the easiest things to expose, and once exposed, others would think you were hiding something, needlessly making them dislike you.

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