Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast

"What are you looking at? Keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Hu Liena flushed under the three of them's stares. Though she still hadn't fully recovered, she forced herself to glare back fiercely. Finally, her gaze landed on Xuan Hao, the culprit, and she threatened through gritted teeth:

"And you! If you ever try a move like that on me again, I'll tell our teacher you bullied your Senior Martial Sister! She'll put you under house arrest and beat your backside raw!"

"Don't, don't! I was wrong!" Xuan Hao folded instantly.

He really was scared. Bibi Dong was utterly unreasonable when protecting her own, especially when it came to Hu Liena, her "own daughter." If Hu Liena complained, his backside might truly be done for.

"Enough. We've got the Soul Ring. Let's get out of here," Xie Yue said. "There's too much blood in the air, and after that roar, every Soul Beast within several kilometers has probably been alerted."

The four had just packed up and were about to leave.

Suddenly—

Rumble—

A dense tremor rolled out of the forest depths. At first it was faint, like ten thousand horses galloping, but within a few breaths it became deafening. Even the ground beneath their feet began to shake violently.

"That sound..."

Yan's expression changed. He dropped to the ground and listened. "Something's wrong! There are too many of them, and they're moving fast!"

Without another word, Xie Yue sprang into a towering tree and peered into the distance.

The next instant, his pupils contracted sharply, and his face went deathly pale.

"Run! Hurry!!"

Xie Yue leaped down. "It's a Beast Tide! A huge group of frightened Soul Beasts is charging this way! They're all large Soul Beasts at least a thousand years old!"

"A Beast Tide?!"

Hu Liena and Yan cried out together.

"It must've been that roar of yours!" Xie Yue shouted back at Xuan Hao as he dragged Hu Liena into a sprint. "Golden Dragon Roar carries Dragon Might. Those Thousand Year Soul Beasts with weaker bloodlines were scared out of their wits and instinctively gathered to flee. That set off a chain reaction!"

"Once a small Beast Tide like this forms, even a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast in its path will be trampled into pulp! Run!!"

At that, Xuan Hao bolted.

He knew how terrifying a Beast Tide was. It was a flood of countless maddened beasts that had lost all reason and knew only to charge ahead.

Even a Soul Sage would have to flee from a charge by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Thousand Year Soul Beasts—let alone a few Soul Grandmasters like them.

Damn it! Where the hell did that effeminate Yue Guan go?!

Xuan Hao cursed inwardly and ran like the wind, leading the other three toward the forest's edge with everything he had.

But two human legs could never outrun four beast legs.

The thunder behind them drew closer and closer. They could even smell the choking dust and the foul musk of the Soul Beasts.

Looking back, they saw a dark mass of beasts sweeping toward them like a monstrous flood. Trees toppled and the earth split wherever it passed.

"We won't make it!"

Despair flashed in Xie Yue's eyes as he watched the beasts close in. "They're too fast! At this rate, they'll catch us in less than half a minute!"

Hu Liena's face was deathly pale. Her Martial Soul still hadn't recovered from the Golden Dragon Roar.

Xuan Hao drew a deep breath. "Xie Yue! Take them and run toward the cliff on the left! I'll draw the beasts away!"

"Are you insane?!" Hu Liena shrieked, trying to rush back. "That's a Beast Tide! You'll die!!"

"I won't! I have the Golden Dragon Body. I can take a beating! And with my Dragon Clan bloodline, I can hold them off for a while!"

"Besides, I caused this."

"Run!"

Xuan Hao roared, giving them no chance to argue. Golden light erupted around him. Instead of retreating, he charged forward, activated the Golden Dragon Body, and drove himself into the black torrent of beasts like a golden nail!

"ROAR—!!!"

Another earth-shaking dragon cry rang out!

Golden Dragon Might burst forth as if it had taken physical form, forcing dozens of the leading Soul Beasts to falter. In that instant of fear and hesitation, the herd's straight-line charge broke apart and spilled to either side.

"Go!!"

Xuan Hao's voice vanished beneath the deafening roars of the beasts.

"Xuan Hao!!"

He did not know how much time had passed.

A cool sensation brushed his face, carrying the faint, fresh scent of grass and trees.

Xuan Hao struggled to move his eyelids. His body felt as though it had fallen apart, every bone protesting.

"Hiss..."

He sucked in a sharp breath and slowly opened his eyes.

What greeted him was neither a sinister hell nor the bloody scene of the Beast Tide, but a small, tranquil lake.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves and scattered across the rippling water.

On the grass not far from him sat a woman who looked to be in her twenties.

She wore a simple pale-pink dress, and her long hair fell to her waist like a waterfall. Her gentle features radiated a comforting, motherly warmth.

She held a damp handkerchief, apparently having just wiped the blood from his face.

"You're awake?"

Xuan Hao tried to sit up warily, but the movement tugged at his wounds and made him grimace.

Instinctively, he activated Golden Dragon Perception to examine his surroundings.

But the next instant, his pupils contracted sharply.

He sensed none of the Soul Power fluctuations unique to a human Soul Master from this woman. Instead, she gave off an extraordinarily pure, vast aura that blended perfectly with nature.

He had read a description of that aura in the illustrated guide Bibi Dong had given him...

A Soul Beast?!

And one in human form?!

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast?!

"Don't move around. Several of your bones are broken. Your recovery ability is strong, but even it can't stand that kind of strain."

The woman seemed to notice his wariness, but she paid it no mind. She merely smiled, rose, and walked toward him.

"Who are you?" Xuan Hao asked, puzzled.

"You can call me Ah Rou." She crouched beside him, her gentle eyes studying him with a trace of curiosity and confusion.

"But what about you, little one?"

"You're so young. How did you end up alone this deep in the Mixed Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest? And how did you get caught in a Beast Tide that large?"

"If the commotion hadn't drawn me over, you'd probably be fertilizer for those Soul Beasts by now."

Xuan Hao rubbed his still-throbbing temples as fragmented memories surged back.

He had activated the Golden Dragon Body to meet the Beast Tide head-on. Though his Dragon Might had briefly scattered the herd, its unending force had still overwhelmed his body.

Just as his consciousness was fading and the violent powers of the Golden Dragon and Silver Dragon within him were about to run wild, as they had in Lan Yun Village...

He had felt a hand grab the back of his collar and yank him out.

Half-conscious, he had assumed that unreliable Yue Guan had finally found his conscience and come back to save him. His taut nerves had relaxed, and he had instinctively suppressed the restless power inside him before falling unconscious.

He hadn't expected the woman before him to be the one who saved him.

"Thank you."

Xuan Hao drew a deep breath. Fighting through the agony that made every bone feel out of place, he struggled to his feet and dusted himself off.

"But I have to go."

"Go?" Ah Rou froze, then hurried to her feet to support him. "You're in terrible shape. Your organs have been shaken, and your ribs are broken. You need to rest..."

"There's no time for that." Xuan Hao shook his head. "The people looking for me should be here soon."

At that, he turned and gave Ah Rou a long, searching look.

"If I stay here, you'll be in danger."

Ah Rou's hand stopped in midair. "Danger? I'm not afraid of that Beast Tide..."

"Not the Beast Tide," Xuan Hao interrupted. "The people looking for me."

"It isn't safe here, whether in the Mixed Zone or farther out."

"For your sake, and for the little one hiding behind that tree..."

"You'd best leave quickly. Hide in the Core Zone and don't come out."

With that, Xuan Hao lingered no longer.

He pulled out a handful of pills that restored Soul Power from his Storage Soul Tool and stuffed them into his mouth. With the last of his strength, he rushed toward the forest's edge.

He had to leave. Yue Guan was surely searching for him nearby.

As a Titled Douluo, Yue Guan's senses were exceptionally sharp.

If Yue Guan found him here...

Xuan Hao did not leave debts unpaid, least of all a debt for saving his life.

Ah Rou stood where she was, watching Xuan Hao disappear into the depths of the forest. For a long time, she did not move.

"Mommy..."

A small head peeked out from behind a towering tree nearby.

It belonged to a girl in pink clothes. Her delicate little face looked as if it had been carved from jade, and two rabbit-ear ornaments adorned her head. She appeared only five or six years old.

She edged up to Ah Rou and clutched her mother's skirt with both hands.

"That human... his aura is so scary..."

Ah Rou came back to herself and gently stroked her daughter's head, soothing her fright. Yet her gaze remained fixed on the direction Xuan Hao had gone, and she could not tear it away.

That child... saw through me?

How was that possible?

Although she was a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, she had now cultivated to Level 70 and entered her mature stage.

Once she reached maturity, even a Titled Douluo standing before her could not see through her true form without deliberately probing her essence with Spiritual Power.

But that child was only a little above level twenty. How had he seen through her?

"Mommy, are we still going to visit the human world?" Xiao Wu asked, looking up.

Ah Rou fell silent.

She had planned to take Xiao Wu to experience life in the human world. After all, a transformed Soul Beast needed contact with humans to continue growing.

But now...