The Scarlet King

Xue Qingwu's footsteps were light, making almost no sound as she crossed the soft earth.

But Xue Yuheng's spiritual sense had been covering the entire camp. He opened his eyes almost the instant she lifted the tent flap.

He stepped out of the tent and met Xue Qingwu's icy blue gaze.

The usual cool composure was gone from her eyes. In its place was a rare trace of solemnity.

"What's wrong?" Xue Yuheng asked quietly.

"Something's coming from the direction of the core area." Xue Qingwu's voice carried a hint of chill. "A powerful fire attribute. It's the Scarlet King."

Xue Yuheng's expression changed.

The Three-Headed Red Demon Mastiff, ranked eighth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, with a cultivation of 260,000 years!

Why had it left the core area and come to the edge of the mixed area?

"Wake them." Xue Yuheng made his decision at once and turned toward the tent Xiao Xiao and Yu Mengdi shared.

He didn't ask permission. He simply lifted the tent flap.

It was still oppressively hot at night in the Star Dou Forest at the end of August.

The tent was even more stifling. Neither girl had been sleeping well, and they had long since taken off their outer clothes, leaving them in their underwear.

Xiao Xiao was sprawled across her bed, her long black hair spread over the pillow and her fair arms exposed. Yu Mengdi, by contrast, slept more properly, lying on her side with her golden hair draped over one shoulder.

The sudden light woke them both.

"Who is it?" Xiao Xiao sat up, rubbing her eyes, her voice thick with sleepiness.

When she saw Xue Yuheng standing at the entrance, she froze.

Yu Mengdi came to her senses as well. She looked down at what she was wearing, and her cheeks instantly turned scarlet. She hurriedly pulled the blanket over herself.

The air in the tent grew awkward in an instant.

Xue Yuheng acted as if he hadn't noticed. His expression remained unchanged as he said evenly, "Get dressed first. The Scarlet King is here. We're in trouble."

With that, he stepped back out of the tent and pulled the flap closed behind him.

Xiao Xiao and Yu Mengdi exchanged a look, both of them incredulous.

They had been about to complain that Xue Yuheng had barged in without knocking, but when they saw how utterly serious he looked, the words died on their tongues.

"The Scarlet King..." Yu Mengdi's voice trembled. "The Three-Headed Red Demon Mastiff among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts?"

Xiao Xiao nodded as she hurriedly got dressed. "Who else could it be? Don't just stand there. Hurry up and get dressed, or no one will be able to protect you when the fighting starts."

The two hurriedly finished dressing and rushed out of the tent. By then, the ground had already begun to tremble.

At first, it was only a slight rumbling, like distant thunder rolling across the sky.

But soon, the tremors grew more and more violent.

The ground beneath their feet rose and fell like waves. The trees all around them shook violently, their leaves rustling as countless frightened birds burst from the forest and blotted out the sky.

A hot, domineering aura rolled toward them from the south, like an erupting volcano. The air warped from the heat wherever it passed.

The forest, usually cool and damp, turned unbearably hot in an instant. Even their breaths came with waves of scorching air.

The grass on the ground withered and curled at a visible speed, then turned to ash.

"What a powerful aura..." Yu Mengdi paled and instinctively gripped the short sword at her waist.

She could clearly feel that this aura was far more terrifying than that of any Soul Douluo she had ever encountered.

Xue Yuheng looked toward the dense forest to the south, his expression grave.

A massive red figure was charging through the woods at full speed. The towering trees in its path snapped like paper, leaving a trail of destruction behind it.

It was getting closer.

At last, the figure burst out of the forest and appeared before the four of them.

It was a Tibetan mastiff of immense size.

It stood over ten meters tall and measured more than twenty meters from nose to tail. Dark red scales covered its body, and fierce flames blazed between them.

Most striking of all, it had three identical heads. Each head bore a pair of blood-red eyes that glinted with savage, bloodthirsty light.

Its six thick legs pounded the ground. Every step made the earth shudder and left behind a flaming footprint.

"Humans?!"

The middle head opened its enormous jaws and let out a roar that shook the heavens. Its voice boomed like a great bell, making the four of them wince in pain.

The Scarlet King had come out looking for the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

The little one had been getting more and more mischievous lately, always sneaking out of the core area to play. Every time, the Scarlet King had to come looking for it.

It hadn't found the Three-Eyed Golden Lion this time, but it had run into four humans instead.

All three heads turned at once, their gazes sweeping over the four of them.

When its eyes fell on Xiao Xiao, it paused briefly.

The next moment, a surging green aura burst from Xiao Xiao.

Roar!

A clear dragon's cry rang through the clouds.

A pair of green dragon wings, more than ten meters long, suddenly spread from Xiao Xiao's back. Fine green scales covered the wings, each one gleaming with a metallic sheen.

Green dragon scales rapidly spread over her body as well. A small pair of horns sprouted from her forehead, and her black pupils turned into green, vertical slits.

Divine Dragon Transformation!

A terrifying dragon's might radiated from Xiao Xiao, pressing down until the air around them seemed to solidify.

Yu Mengdi stood to one side, so shocked her eyes nearly popped out.

Was this a seven-year-old girl?!

That dragon's might, that aura—she was far more powerful than any Dragon-type Martial Soul user Yu Mengdi had ever seen! She might even surpass some Soul Emperors and Soul Saints!

The Scarlet King merely glanced at Xiao Xiao before looking away.

All three of its heads, all six blood-red eyes, fixed on Xue Qingwu, who stood beside Xue Yuheng.

This white-haired little girl...

There was something inexplicably familiar about her.

The feeling was faint, yet profound, as if it had been carved into the depths of its soul.

It couldn't remember where it had seen her, but the wariness rising from deep within its blood couldn't lie.

Its instincts told it that this white-haired girl was a Soul Beast in human form.

Why did it feel that way?

"Who are you?" The Scarlet King's middle head spoke, its voice low and hoarse, filled with confusion.

Xue Qingwu stared at it without expression, not a ripple in her icy blue eyes. "Who I am has nothing to do with you."

"Nothing to do with me?" The Scarlet King sneered. All three heads rumbled with low growls. "Human, this is the Star Dou Forest, not a place for you to be.

"Especially prodigies like you. You should never have come here."

It had lived for tens of thousands of years and seen countless human prodigies.

These humans were exceptionally gifted and grew at a terrifying pace. Given enough time, they would sooner or later become the nightmare of the Soul Beasts.

The four humans before it were all young, yet each had an unusually strange aura. The white-haired little girl in particular felt the most dangerous.

It couldn't let them leave!

A murderous glint flashed in the Scarlet King's eyes.

"Since I've found you, you'll all stay here."

As the words left its mouth, the Scarlet King suddenly stepped forward.

Terrifying fire-attribute Soul Power erupted. The ground around it melted in an instant, turning into boiling lava.

All three heads opened their jaws, and three pillars of scorching flame shot toward the four of them.

The flames distorted even space itself as they streaked past.

Xue Qingwu's eyes turned cold.

At last, a world-shaking chill erupted from her.

It was completely different from Xue Yuheng's Ultimate Ice—purer, more domineering, and imbued with an air of absolute command.

God-Level Martial Soul, Godly Ice.

Xue Qingwu's body began to change.

She grew taller, her white hair lengthening until it fell to her ankles.

Her clothes transformed into a pure white gown, its hem adorned with crystalline ice flowers.

Her skin turned almost translucent, and pale blue mist swirled around her. Her icy blue eyes were like the purest sapphires.

Awakened divine skill, Descent of the Snow Maiden.

At the same time, the Soul Rings around Xiao Xiao began to shine.

With the Power of Creation no longer suppressing them, they were no longer the ordinary yellow Hundred-Year Soul Rings from before. Instead, two emerald-green rings revolved slowly beneath her feet, the color of jade.

They were the color of the Wind Dragon King!

The first green Soul Ring suddenly lit up.

First Soul Ring, first skill: Dragon King True Body!

Xiao Xiao threw her head back and roared, her dragon's cry shaking the forest.

Her body grew at a visible speed, and in an instant, she had become a gigantic green dragon tens of meters long.

Her scales gleamed with a cold light beneath the moon. Her enormous wings blotted out the sky, and her terrifying dragon's might pressed down on the Scarlet King like a physical force.

Immediately afterward, the second green Soul Ring lit up as well.

Second Soul Skill, first ability: Thirty-Three Heavens Storm!

The Wind Dragon King's signature technique!

Countless green blades of wind gathered in the sky, forming a massive vortex. It spun with a piercing howl, sweeping up the trees and stones around it and grinding them to powder in an instant.

At last, the true colors of the Soul Rings beneath Xue Qingwu's feet were revealed.

Two red Soul Rings.

250,000 years! 300,000 years!

The two terrifying Soul Rings revolved slowly beneath her feet, radiating an aura that made the heart quail.

Yu Mengdi stood rooted to the spot, completely dumbfounded.

She stared blankly at the scene before her, her mind a total blank.

Xiao Xiao, a seven-year-old Soul Grandmaster? No—that was a seven-year-old dragon!

And Xue Qingwu... were those two red Soul Rings?

Had the world gone mad?

Although Yu Mengdi's Martial Soul had already reached the quasi-God Level and her first two Soul Rings had advanced to the thousand-year level, they were nothing compared with Xue Qingwu's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings.

Xue Yuheng moved just then.

His pale yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring slowly lit up, still looking as ordinary as ever.

Only the three of them—everyone except Yu Mengdi—knew that beneath that Soul Ring lay the terrifying power of a 400,000-year-old Ice Jade Empress Scorpion.

He didn't attack. Instead, he transformed into a streak of pale blue light and instantly merged into Xue Qingwu's body.

This was the unique combat method of his Wordless Heavenly Book Martial Soul: fusion support.

In her Snow Maiden state, all of Xue Yuheng's attributes were increased by 200%.

After Xue Yuheng infused her with the Power of Creation, the boosts stacked, bringing the total increase to 400%!

Xue Qingwu's aura surged once more.

She slowly raised her right hand, gathering a mass of pale blue mist in her palm.

Within the mist, it seemed that an entire frozen world lay hidden.

Pride of the Ice and Snow Emperors!

She had drawn upon the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's origin, fused it with Xue Yuheng's Power of Creation, and unleashed her most powerful attack.

The pale blue mist drifted forward. It moved slowly, yet carried an irresistible force.

Wherever it passed, time seemed to freeze. Even the pillars of fire the Scarlet King had breathed out froze into ice in an instant.

All three heads of the Scarlet King stared wide-eyed. Confusion and shock filled all six blood-red eyes.

The Snow Maiden? The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion?

How could these two human girls wield the powers of the two overlords of the Far North?!

And what was the Martial Soul of that human boy supporting them? How could he boost them to such a terrifying degree?

Now it was even more important that they didn't leave!

The Scarlet King's murderous intent reached its peak.

If it let these three humans leave the Star Dou Forest alive today, it wouldn't be long before the entire Soul Beast world faced annihilation!

It threw its head back and roared. Flames surged across its body to their limit, and it unleashed the full power of its 260,000 years of cultivation.

Far away, in the Far North.

An endless, snow-covered wasteland stretched beneath the sky.

This was the Snow Empress's former home, where the vessel's aura had briefly appeared.

A young man in a gray robe stood atop an iceberg, gazing at the distant horizon.

His face was expressionless, and his black eyes were as deep as an abyss.

Suddenly, he turned toward the south, his voice cold:

"My lord's vessel..."

"I've finally found you."

He flickered and vanished into the void, racing toward the Star Dou Forest.