Pervert

The first rose-colored ray of dawn had just kissed the highest silver-leaf treetops when specks of phosphorescence lit up among the veins, as though the entire forest had been set ablaze in an instant.

The girl in the tree stood and stretched, her long ink-black hair neatly tied behind her head.

Feifei stretched in exactly the same way.

"Thanks, Big Ox. When we get back, we'll see what you want to eat!" Shen Ranxi felt awkward about how many meals she had promised in just these few days... but there was nothing she could do. She didn't have any heavenly materials or earthly treasures to feed them... Then Shen Ranxi suddenly remembered the Soul Tool belonging to the Evil Soul Master they had killed. There should be something good in there, right...?

She had Feifei put Big Ox away, then took out the items from the Soul Tool.

A mishmash of things piled up on the ground like a small mountain.

"Ew..." Shen Ranxi disgustedly picked out a pair of Lace Panties... That man actually liked collecting women's underwear. What a slut... Pervert!

Feifei rummaged around beside her as well, clearly treating it like a treasure hunt, her face brimming with excitement.

Shen Ranxi spent a long while sorting through the pile with distaste before finally picking out the valuable items.

He was at least a Soul Ancestor, yet he only had this much money on him... Shen Ranxi curled her lip. There were only a little over a hundred Gold Soul Coins and a little over a hundred Silver Soul Coins. What a poor bastard!

Someone who currently had only a few dozen Gold Soul Coins in her pocket was actually looking down on him...

Feifei held up a Soul Tool with her little claws. "Little Ranran, I like this one!" It looked like a Cuckoo Toy. Pressing the button would make a delicately crafted little bird emerge from the cage inside.

Seeing Feifei's cute, innocent smile, Shen Ranxi sighed inwardly. She's still so innocent... She looks so pure, like she hasn't been corrupted by society at all.

Shen Ranxi packed everything away into her own Soul Tool, casually flipping the other Soul Tool over and over in her hand.

She needed to find Teacher as soon as possible, obtain her Soul Ring, and get out of the forest quickly. This place kept leaving her unsettled.

She had to get out soon!

After packing up, Feifei leaped onto her shoulder and curled her tail around herself.

Feifei still led the way, and they gathered some valuable herbs along the way.

Once Shen Ranxi felt they had collected enough, she had Feifei grow larger and climbed onto her back.

Dean Flender could fly, so he would be easier to find from the sky.

They flew higher and higher. The farther they got from the ground, the sparser the leaves became. Looking down over Sunset Forest, green waves rolled through the canopy, sunlight spilled down like gold, mountain winds brushed against her face, and the world stretched vast and open before her.

Dean Flender and the others must have been worried sick.

The moment they rose into the air, they spotted some commotion not far ahead.

"Fly in that direction!"

As they drew closer, they found Dean Flender and the others confronting a group of people.

More than a dozen mercenaries stood opposite five nobles in the center. Their clothes alone made it obvious—Gold Thread had been used for the stitching, and they radiated the aura of filthy rich upstarts.

"Don't go too far! We just want to pass through and find someone!" Flender's face darkened. Li Yusong beside him did not look any better.

The two of them had spent the entire night searching for Little Xi, forcing down the thought that she might already have met with disaster as they looked everywhere. When they passed through this area, the group ahead had stopped them and refused to let them through.

Those nobles did not want anyone passing through because the Soul Beast they wanted to capture was in this mountain region.

Flender had no time to waste on these useless pastries. He was about to reveal his Soul Rings and make them get lost!

"Dean! Teacher Li!"

At the sound of that familiar voice, both men froze instantly, their pupils contracting sharply. The next second, they whipped their heads around, their lips trembling as the wild joy of recovering what they had lost and lingering fear surged through them. Yet all they could manage in hoarse voices was, "...Little Xi?"

The two moved like lightning. Flender reached Shen Ranxi before Li Yusong, turning her this way and that as he inspected her. Li Yusong followed immediately behind and did the same.

They found no obvious wounds on her, only that she looked rather bedraggled. Both men let out heavy sighs of relief.

Among the nobles opposite them, a spoiled boy looked disdainfully at Shen Ranxi, who was dressed like a beggar. He frowned in disgust. "Where did this little beggar come from?"

He turned to the lead mercenary. "What are you doing? You've been wasting time here this whole time. Get them out of my sight! If you delay my search for a Soul Beast, I'll hold you accountable! Don't even think about getting a single coin!..."

Flender had been about to ask Shen Ranxi what she had gone through when that overbearing voice interrupted him. He already disliked nobles, and now his entire aura erupted as the oppressive might of a Soul Saint bore down fiercely on the group.

The nobles were like ducks with their necks seized. All strength vanished from their legs in an instant, and with a "thud," they smashed into the ground. Their kneecaps struck the hard earth with a dull impact that made teeth ache, yet they could not feel the pain at all.

Their faces were flushed red with terror and cowering fear. It felt as though an Iron Claws had gripped their hearts, every beat accompanied by searing pain.

All they could do was pray that their lives would be spared.

The three ignored them and left in the opposite direction.

The intimidated group remained unable to recover for a long time. They lay limp on the ground as though their souls had been pulled from their bodies, their eyes empty and faces pale, though they were also grateful to have kept their lives.

Shen Ranxi glanced at the people in the middle. What a pity... Gold Thread, too... I really want to strip them.

On the way, Shen Ranxi briefly explained what had happened after she was captured. She had no way to hide Feifei and the Soul Returning Tree's existence, because they spent every day together and she could not keep them from coming out forever.

Shen Ranxi said, "Feifei isn't a Soul Beast. She saved me. The vine that captured me was a tree. It was just too mischievous and didn't mean any harm. After that, we encountered an Evil Soul Master and were saved by a group of Soul Beasts..."

Shen Ranxi concealed the enormous role she had played in it all, downplaying her own intelligence and capability.

Shen Ranxi's account was as bland as plain water, but Flender and Li Yusong could see the raging storms concealed beneath the calm surface.

The two suppressed the urge to question her in detail. They would discuss it after returning. Flender and Li Yusong both felt that this trip to Sunset Forest had been far too strange... Truly far too strange... They needed to get out quickly and could not delay any longer.

While searching for Little Xi this time, Flender had happened to find a suitable Soul Beast: a herd of Blazing Earth Rhinoceroses.

Before long, Shen Ranxi and the others arrived at the territory of the Blazing Earth Rhinoceros herd.

The group of "Iron Armor Mounds" resembled oxen, their bodies covered in a layer of black hide armor. That "hide armor" was not keratin, but hexagonal Obsidian Shards, their edges thin as razors. A thick Black Unicorn Horn grew from each of their foreheads.

Flender pointed at several Blazing Earth Rhinoceroses at the edge of the herd and said to Shen Ranxi, "Look at those ones. The black flames curling around their horns are where their name comes from—the unique flames of Blazing Earth Rhinoceroses that are over a Thousand years old. These flames are extremely strange. They're black, and when you approach them, you won't feel a wave of heat rushing at you. Instead, it feels like reaching into a deep well. Your fingertips first turn icy cold, then sharp pain shoots through the gaps in your bones—before you can react, your flesh has already been burned away."

Li Yusong added, "That's also why their largest leader, despite being only thirty Thousand years old, can claim such a large territory in this area."

Shen Ranxi's eyes lit up. Wasn't this exactly the Soul Beast she needed?

Flender said, "Let's go with that one over six hundred years old. It suits you very well."

[Host, successfully obtained a Soul Ring exceeding the Second Soul Ring limit. Reward: 1,000 Merit Points. Soul Ring age increased to the body's maximum tolerance.]