A Sudden Enemy

In the eyes of Xue Xing, although his nephew Xue Beng's tearful complaints were sincere, the opponent was, after all, nothing more than a "somewhat special" thousand-year soul beast.

Even if the crown prince Xue Qinghe showed some favoritism, Emperor Xue Ye had never truly considered it a matter requiring the full mobilization of the royal elite.

After obtaining Xiao Yu's general appearance and specific location from Xue Xing, he pondered for a moment and casually pointed at a few trusted subordinates: "You, you, and you—three soul kings. Hmm... Aoris, you take them on a trip and oversee the situation."

"The target is that white-furred beast in the Royal Forest. Since Prince Xue Beng has been wronged, you go and give it a 'decent' end, and by the way... restore Prince Xue Beng's face."

Xue Xing's tone was indifferent, as if he were ordering a trivial matter.

The soul emperor named Aoris nodded slightly, his eyes filled with nonchalance.

In his view, the prince was being far too cautious; why would a mere thousand-year soul beast require a soul emperor like him to take action? Three soul kings were enough to crush it ten times over.

But since the leader had spoken, he could hardly refuse, so he immediately took his men and left the Prince's Mansion.

Watching such powerful soul masters go to avenge him, Xue Beng seemed to already see the image of Xiao Yu dying a miserable death.

"Alright, Xue Beng, you are still under house arrest after all, so you should head back early. If you are discovered, I will plead for you tomorrow." After handling the matter, Xue Xing said to Xue Beng.

After all, it was an imperial decree, and Xue Xing could not simply turn a blind eye to it.

Xue Beng nodded as well; he knew Xue Xing's concerns and quickly left the place, but compared to when he arrived, Xue Beng's face was now full of smugness and excitement.

On the other side, in the Royal Soul Beast Forest, Xiao Yu had no idea that Xue Beng had sent people to deal with him again. At this moment, they had completed another part of the construction of the Royal Court and were enjoying the fruits sent by Qian Renxue at the top of the giant tree.

However, not long after, as Xiao Yu was enjoying the gentle breeze of the summer night, he suddenly smelled a disgusting scent in the air.

"Ao! (Who!)" Xiao Yu suddenly stood up and roared toward a patch of bushes below.

Yu Yi and the other beasts on the side also immediately assumed an offensive posture, quickly diving toward the direction of the bushes.

"Hmph, your vigilance is not bad!" A cold snort came from the bushes, and immediately after, four figures soared into the sky!

The leader had a steady and powerful aura; it was none other than the soul emperor Aoris! The three soul kings behind him also instantly activated Martial Soul Possession, their soul rings lit up, and a tyrannical soul power fluctuation surged outward.

"The information given by the prince was inaccurate, but it doesn't matter; they are just a few beasts." Aoris's eyes were contemptuous. Although Xiao Yu's appearance differed slightly from Xue Beng's description, he didn't think it was a big deal.

No matter how different a thousand-year soul beast looked, it was still just a thousand-year soul beast. He didn't take Xiao Yu or these avian soul beasts seriously at all.

The three soul kings received their orders and grinned as they pounced on the diving Yu Yi, Yu Er, and Yu San.

In their eyes, these three thousand-year soul beasts were nothing more than lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

However, having absorbed the "Primary Leader Bloodline Secret Medicine," Yu Yi and the others were no longer what they used to be!

"Woo--!" Yu Yi let out a piercing shriek that could shatter stone. Its wings flapped violently, and several condensed, translucent wind blades formed instantly, shooting toward one of the soul kings with a shrill whistle!

The speed and power were far beyond the scope of ordinary thousand-year soul beasts!

The soul king's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly used a defensive soul skill to block.

The wind blades collided with the soul power shield, emitting a violent explosion that caused the shield to shake intensely and its light to dim!

Yu Er and Yu San also displayed combat power far exceeding their age.

For a time, the three soul kings were actually entangled by Yu Yi and the others, becoming quite flustered!

"Hmm?" A flash of surprise crossed Aoris's eyes; he clearly hadn't expected these few soul beasts to be so difficult to deal with.

"Indeed, there is something to them; no wonder they could deceive the crown prince. However, this ends here!" He stopped watching, and the soul rings on his body suddenly lit up. A powerful soul power pressure enveloped the entire area, aimed directly at Xiao Yu on the treetop!

"Who exactly are they? The prince? Qian Renxue? No, it shouldn't be him, so that only leaves Xue Beng." Xiao Yu pondered Aoris's words, his brow furrowed.

Aoris didn't know that Xiao Yu could understand him, so he didn't avoid anything in his speech and directly revealed the identity of the person behind the scenes.

Seeing Aoris attacking him, Xiao Yu immediately met him head-on. So what if he was a soul emperor? He also wanted to know exactly how strong he was now.

Aoris's martial soul was a giant deer wrapped in flames. After Martial Soul Possession, he looked contemptuously at Xiao Yu, who was charging toward him.

"A beast is a beast, daring to charge at me—I am a soul emperor!" After Aoris spoke, a purple soul ring at his feet lit up.

"Rain of Fire!"

A fiery red sphere was thrown into the air by Aoris, then exploded, and countless flames rained down toward Xiao Yu like raindrops.

"Is that it?" Watching this AOE skill, Xiao Yu flapped his wings lightly, and the surrounding wind gathered rapidly. In an instant, a hurricane took shape.

"Tornado!"

The hurricane acted like a siphon, absorbing all the fire rain in the sky and turning it into a fire tornado that swept toward Aoris.

"You should taste this attack yourself!"

"What?!" Aoris's pupils shrank, and for the first time, astonishment appeared on his face. There was actually a soul beast capable of manipulating air currents?!

"Damn it!" Aoris was a soul emperor after all, with rich combat experience.

Though shocked, he was not panicked. The fifth purple soul ring at his feet suddenly lit up!

"Blazing Sky Wall!"

He pushed his palms forward violently, and a huge crimson barrier blocked the fire tornado in front of him.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu sneered: "A fire shield? Then it must be extinguished with water!"

"Water Blade!"

Swish!

A massive, water-blue blade of light, condensed into a tangible form with edges shimmering with a cold glint, instantly tore through the fire tornado and descended upon the barrier with undiminished momentum.

Water overcomes fire; the barrier was sliced open by the Water Blade in the blink of an eye, landing heavily upon Aoris.

The Water Blade was incredibly sharp, and this strike managed to carve a massive gash into Aoris's body, even with the soul power shield he had urgently deployed.

Had he lacked that defense, Aoris would likely have been sliced in two by now.

"How is this possible?! This beast..." The contempt in Aoris's heart vanished completely, replaced by deep wariness and disbelief.

This was no thousand-year soul beast; it was clearly a powerful existence capable of threatening him!

At this moment, Xiao Yu hovered in the air, firmly holding the upper hand, even though his opponent was the Soul Emperor and supposedly the stronger party.

Just as Xiao Yu intended to press his advantage, a miserable shriek suddenly reached his ears.

"Wooo!!!"