Leaving

Having spent his childhood in Sunset Great Forest, an idea began to take root in Li Yuan's mind: The world is so vast. I want to see it.

Li Yuan had grown tired of life in Sunset Great Forest. He truly wanted to see the outside world, and especially after obtaining his third spirit ring, that desire became even stronger.

Although his Soul Power was only level thirty-three and he was merely a Three-ring Soul Master, his combat strength could not be judged simply by his spirit rings.

Even in his ordinary form, without revealing his true appearance, Li Yuan's strength was enough to rival the vast majority of Six-Ringed Spirit Emperors. If he truly went all out and did not care about being exposed, he could even fight a Seven-Ringed Spirit Sage.

With strength like this, he could no longer be considered weak on Douluo Continent. Well, as long as he did not provoke the imperial families of the two great empires, the seven great sects, Spirit Hall, or the Protagonist Group, he could basically swagger around as he pleased.

Alright, that still sounded pretty lame. There were so many people he could not afford to provoke. Trash. Leave the group!

Fine, leaving the group was impossible. Although his strength was still lacking and there were quite a few people he could not afford to provoke, he still had to leave the mountain.

He could not just keep holed up in Sunset Great Forest forever. He could not possibly wait until he became a Titled Douluo before going out, could he?

That might have been safe, but it was far too boring, and it completely went against his style as a Keyboard Knight.

At most, once he went out, he would just be more careful and avoid provoking people who were hard to deal with.

So it was decided. I, Li "Steady" "Keyboard King" Yuan, am leaving the mountain!

"What the hell, Xiao Yuan, you're leaving?!" However, the moment Li Yuan voiced the thoughts in his heart, someone—no, some beast—raised an objection.

The four soul beast brothers besides Juhua all gathered around him. The most honest and simple-minded among them, the White Jade Mammoth, directly said, "But Xiao Yuan, if you leave, what are the rest of us supposed to eat?"

Heh, listen to that. Was that even something a person would say? So I was just a cook here? Sure enough, I should leave as soon as possible!

Hmph!

Li Yuan's face darkened, but looking at the White Jade Mammoth's guileless elephant face, he did not know how to complain.

In the end, he could only say, "Haven't you guys more or less mastered my cooking already? Before I leave, I'll prepare some seasonings and such for you. It'll be enough to last you a few years."

"Besides, it's not like I'm never coming back. Once I get tired of playing around in the human world, I'll come back to see you and bring you other delicious food."

"How could cooking for ourselves compare to having you cook for us?" The White Jade Mammoth continued speaking blunt truths, blurting out what the other soul beasts wanted to say but were too embarrassed to voice.

That left Li Yuan even more speechless.

Sure enough, this place was cursed. He could not stay any longer, or he really would become a cook.

Over the past few years, his strength had barely improved, but his cooking skills had advanced by leaps and bounds. It was all their fault!

Li Yuan instinctively shifted the blame.

"Boss, what do you think? Are you really just going to let Xiao Yuan leave like that?" The soul beasts had also noticed the resolve in Li Yuan's tone, so they hurriedly asked Juhua, who had remained silent beside them.

After all, among the brothers, the one who truly had the final say was Juhua. After all, Juhua was the only Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in Sunset Great Forest.

If Juhua had not been there, with the personalities of the others, peaceful coexistence would have been impossible. If they gathered together, they would probably start fighting within a few days at most.

"Let him go. Little Slave wants to go out and see the world. This kitty sees nothing wrong with that." Juhua remained exceptionally calm, flicking his tail as he said, "Oh, right. When the time comes, this kitty will go out with Little Slave. With this kitty around, no one will dare bully Little Slave."

Li Yuan: ⊙△⊙?

The soul beasts: ⊙△⊙?

Did I hear wrong, or am I hallucinating? What did Juhua—Boss—just say? He wants to go out together with me—Xiao Yuan?

For a moment, Li Yuan and the soul beasts all stared dumbfoundedly at Juhua beside them.

Juhua, meanwhile, remained perfectly calm and said, "What? Is it surprising?"

"Actually, this kitty does not really want to go outside and enjoy all kinds of delicious food. This kitty is going out mainly to protect Little Slave's safety. Otherwise, this kitty is worried that he'll suffer out there."

"But Juhua, you're a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. A soul beast like you would be in great danger once you leave Sunset Great Forest. The Titled Douluos of Spirit Hall have always been hunting Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts."

Li Yuan said worriedly. As a transmigrator who had read the original work, Li Yuan knew very clearly just how dangerous the situation of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts was during this era.

Take the Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python, powerful Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts like them did not meet good ends either. In the end, they could only choose to sacrifice themselves.

Although Juhua was also a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, his combat strength was far inferior to that of powerful soul beasts like the Titan Giant Ape.

Once his identity as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was exposed outside, the consequences would be unimaginable. He would certainly be surrounded and killed by Spirit Hall's Titled Douluos.

Therefore, it was better to be cautious about this. Li Yuan had spent four years with Juhua, and they had developed some feelings for each other. Li Yuan did not want to watch Juhua die an unnatural death and become a spirit ring in the end.

"Heh, Little Slave, at least you still have a bit of conscience. You know to worry about your master."

"But don't worry. This kitty's disguise is not so easily seen through."

"Little Slave, do you know what ability a Hundred-Thousand-Year Void Orange Cat excels at most?"

Juhua asked with an assured expression.

"Could it be disguise?" Li Yuan truly did not know what strange abilities Juhua had gained after becoming a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

There was no helping it. Over these four years, Juhua had basically never truly made a move. Although he had sparred with Li Yuan before, the gap in their strength was far too great.

Li Yuan simply could not force Juhua to reveal his true strength. In fact, relying solely on the absolute suppression of Soul Power, Juhua could already crush Li Yuan.

That was quite normal. After all, Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts corresponded to Titled Douluo-level spirit masters. Even if Juhua was not a soul beast that excelled in combat, his Soul Power was still at the Titled Douluo level. It was nothing strange for him to crush Li Yuan.

Therefore, despite having lived with Juhua for four years, Li Yuan truly did not know what ability Juhua was best at.