Hey, What Are You Doing?!

"What did you say? Say that again?"

Hu Liena ground her teeth, wanting nothing more than to pounce on him and bite him to death.

A few days ago, they had agreed that once they set out, he would listen to her. That was why she had gone to ask her teacher, Bibi Dong, to allow Xu Yuan to come along and see the world.

Yet they had barely left Spirit City when this guy changed his tune!!!

"I'll listen to you, I'll listen to you."

Xu Yuan did not argue with her and simply strolled ahead at an unhurried pace.

With nothing going on, of course he would listen to Hu Liena. But if they ran into an emergency, then whoever had the bigger fist would have the bigger say.

"Hmph, that's more like it."

Hu Liena raised her fist and waved it at Xu Yuan. "I've already planned out our route for this trip.

We'll head to Star Dou Forest to obtain a Spirit Ring first. Then, on the way back, we can take a longer route and look around. After all, it's not often that we get to come out.

Hey, I'm telling you, there are plenty of fun places over there. When the time comes, we..."

Listening to Hu Liena chatter away beside him and watching the anticipation on her face, Xu Yuan's lips curled up slightly.

He let her happily imagine the future, chiming in now and then.

The journey did not feel all that tedious.

The group had not taken a carriage, choosing instead to travel on foot.

They were all Soul Masters with excellent stamina, and with Soul Power enhancing them, they were no slower than a carriage.

Besides, they had set out to enjoy the scenery in the first place. If they brought a carriage, there would be plenty of places they could not go.

They continued onward.

As they chatted, the topic somehow shifted to the relationship between Spirit Hall and the two great empires.

Xu Yuan was quite interested in this as well. He was now a member of Spirit Hall, sharing its fortunes and misfortunes, so naturally he wanted to understand more.

He had read many books on the subject.

But many practical matters were simply not permitted to be written in books.

However, several Red-Clad Bishops and an Archbishop were traveling with them. Naturally, they knew these matters inside out.

One Archbishop cleared his throat.

"If we're talking about the conflict between our Spirit Hall and the two great empires, we have to start at the root.

From the moment Spirit Hall was founded, it established the principle of seeking welfare for commoners—letting everyone awaken a Martial Soul and giving all commoners an opportunity to rise in the world.

Over all these years, that is exactly what we have done, from the northern snowfields to the shores of the eastern sea.

Spirit Hall has traveled across the entire continent, offering every commoner a chance to make something of themselves.

But the two great empires are fundamentally different from us.

They revere bloodlines and kinship, establishing a class system ruled by nobles. Without noble blood, there was no way to enter their circles.

In their eyes, commoners were lowly, cattle and horses to be enslaved. They, meanwhile, were nobles who wielded power and stood high above in the clouds.

After all these years of Spirit Hall's existence, aside from First Elder's branch, the vast majority of us have come from commoner backgrounds.

You can see it now as well. Spirit Hall has already begun to stand above the two great empires.

A group with no noble blood, a group of lowly commoners, now wanted to ride over the heads of the two great empires. It would be strange if those nobles were happy about that.

Some of them were prestigious clans that had been passed down for centuries, even descendants of royal houses, with noble blood flowing through their veins. How could they tolerate a group of lowly commoners lording it over them?

Therefore, in the near future—or perhaps in the distant future—Spirit Hall and the two great empires were bound to fight!

There was no other reason. Their ideals differed, and neither side could stand the sight of the other."

When those words fell,

the small group immediately sank into silence.

Spirit Hall wanted everyone to have the chance to become a Soul Master, but the two great empires needed peace and stability.

Soul Masters possessed too much power. If their numbers grew too large, they would become difficult to control, easily breeding unrest and threatening the empires' rule.

Although it was difficult for commoners to awaken as Soul Masters, there were simply too many commoners. Even if only one emerged from every thousand, the sheer population base would still produce an incomparably terrifying number.

This was an irreconcilable knot!

Only the complete destruction of one side could settle it.

Everyone felt rather heavy-hearted.

Soul Masters were powerful, and Spirit Hall was enormous, but compared to a state machine like an empire, it was still insignificant.

And the two great empires had existed on the continent for so many years. Could they truly win in the end?

Especially with the current Pope...

No one voiced anything that would harm unity. After a period of silence, everyone tacitly moved past the topic and began discussing other things.

Such as recent strange tales and amusing stories, or the recently popular Immortal Happy Water.

They traveled and rested along the way.

It took a full seven days before the group reached the outer perimeter of Star Dou Forest, near Spirit City.

Within this massive mountain range, which stretched across half the territory of both great empires, countless rare treasures and exotic beasts could be found. If one wanted to obtain a suitable Spirit Ring, this was the right place.

By the time they arrived, it was already evening.

The sun was about to set, the earth was about to fall asleep, and the forest at night was a paradise for soul beasts.

The vast majority of soul beasts came out to hunt at night.

Because the team was so powerful overall, even though night was approaching, they did not stop. Instead, they marched straight in.

The forest had already been dimly lit, and with the sun about to set, it grew even darker. They had only taken a few steps inside

before their figures were swallowed by endless darkness.

However, whether Red-Clad Bishops or the Archbishop, all of them possessed senses far beyond the ordinary. Even under these circumstances, they could easily find a path forward.

Leading the way at the front was a seven-ring Archbishop. Hu Liena and Xu Yuan walked one before the other in the middle, while several six-ring Red-Clad Bishops followed behind them.

As for Gui Mei, he vanished from sight the moment they entered the forest.

He was already adept at concealing his tracks, a true assassin who loved to lurk in the shadows. Coupled with the current environment, if he did not wish to reveal himself, he would be difficult to find.

Star Dou Forest in the daytime and Star Dou Forest at night were completely different places.

The last time Xu Yuan had come with Yue Guan, they had spent the night outside the forest. Entering it in the dark was a first for him.

The surroundings were extremely dark, and visibility was very low.

Yet countless glowing larvae fluttered through the air, beating their wings as they danced gracefully.

They lent a trace of light to the dark forest while also presenting Xu Yuan and the others with a picturesque sight.

Many glowing ores were scattered haphazardly across the forest floor.

Together with the dancing insects and the immersive tranquility of the surroundings,

the beauty was simply unreal, the atmosphere reaching its peak.

And at a time like this, women were emotional. As the only girl in the group, Hu Liena's beautiful eyes had already filled with starlight, and her steps faltered slightly.

It was just that...

the occasional howls and screams of soul beasts, some near and some far, rather ruined the mood.

They were hurrying along, and the surroundings were so dark. Xu Yuan, a measly one-ring rookie, naturally could not compare his senses to the Soul Emperors and Soul Saints around him.

When Hu Liena paused, Xu Yuan, walking behind her, did not notice at all and ran straight into her.

A startled cry and a sharp gasp of pain rang out from the darkness.

"Ow, what are you doing?!"