Questions

It had been five days since they left Star Luo City, and they had spent four of them searching Star Forest.

Not only had they failed to find a suitable Spirit Beast for Zhuqing, they had instead run into an Earth King with a full eighty thousand years of cultivation!

Mu Qian had never even heard of an Earth King with eighty thousand years of cultivation. For a while, he had suspected that this kind of Spirit Beast simply couldn't live that long...

But today, one had appeared right before his eyes.

An eighty-thousand-year Spirit Beast was more than Mu Qian could handle, no matter how formidable his strength and Soul Skills were.

He hadn't even reached the fourth ring yet, while a super Spirit Beast like this could contend with a top-tier Soul Douluo. Against a Titled Douluo alone, it would still be capable of fighting back.

Ordinary Spirit Masters' number of Soul Skills depended on their Spirit Rings, but Mu Qian was different. Thanks to various strokes of luck, along with a two-hundred-thousand-year Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum Spirit Bone, he now had seven Soul Skills.

Even so, at best he could only save his own life. As for hunting it?

Forget it... This wasn't like the Far North, where he had two top Ferocious Beasts backing him up.

Unless he was willing to expend all his Soul Power, endure the backlash, and use that trump card...

A quarter of an hour later, Mu Qian and Zhuqing had finally escaped the Earth King's pursuit. They found a secluded corner and decided to rest for a while.

It was the middle of the day, and they had only just begun searching. Neither of them had expected to run into such an unexpected danger.

"Zhuqing, are you all right?" As soon as they landed, Mu Qian ignored the injuries the Earth King had inflicted on his back when it attacked and checked Zhuqing over first.

In truth, Mu Qian had let his guard down. They were only in the middle zone; surely they couldn't run into anything life-threatening.

But he hadn't expected an eighty-thousand-year terror, powerful enough to dominate even in the Star Dou Forest, to appear here...

"I'm fine. How are you? Let me have a look." Anxiety shone in Zhuqing's beautiful eyes.

How could she be hurt?

The moment the danger appeared, Mu Qian had shielded her. He probably wouldn't have been injured if he hadn't been trying to protect her from a fatal blow.

Before long, Mu Qian's shirt was forced to meet its tragic and untimely end.

Still, it had managed to add a few bricks to Mu Qian's love life.

Looking at the terrible wound running down his back, Zhuqing could no longer hold back. Tears streamed down her face.

"This is all my fault..."

"How could it be your fault?"

"I was careless. I never thought such a terrifying Spirit Beast would appear in the outer reaches of Star Forest. I've been out training for so long, and yet, for the first time, the hunter has become the hunted."

Mu Qian forced a lighthearted smile, but accidentally tugged at the wound on his back and grimaced in pain.

"Stop talking. Why are you acting like such an idiot?" Zhuqing stroked his sturdy back, her voice trembling.

Mu Qian turned around and held her smooth shoulders. "Don't worry. I'm tough as nails. But how could such a terrifying Spirit Beast have appeared in this area?"

"Besides, the Earth King shouldn't have the potential to grow to this level."

He couldn't make sense of it.

Zhuqing was still wearing the school uniform she'd had on when they left. After several fights, it was now in tatters, exposing her smooth, pale skin.

Through the tear at her chest, Mu Qian could even glimpse the soft curves beneath...

Since she had never had any resources devoted to her while growing up, she naturally didn't have a Soul Tool to store supplies in.

"Ahem."

Mu Qian cleared his throat and took a fresh set of clothes from his Starry Sky Ring, handing them to her. "They're mine, but they're brand-new and unworn. We're in a pinch, so make do with them if you don't mind."

Zhuqing nodded and took them. In a Spirit Beast forest, having clothes at all was good enough. How could she possibly mind? She still couldn't suppress her worry, though.

"Go on. I'll recover some Soul Power. With my constitution, this injury might be completely healed by tomorrow." Mu Qian urged her to go, but couldn't bring himself to take advantage of the situation any further.

Still, Zhuqing noticed the look he gave her at the end.

"Hmph, you flirt~"

Following his gaze, Zhuqing blushed and gave him a feeble, playful scold before grabbing the clothes and hurrying behind a thick tree.

She remembered Mu Qian's warning not to go too far away from him in the Spirit Beast forest.

Mu Qian forced himself not to listen to the rustling sounds from behind the tree. He sat cross-legged and began restoring the Soul Power he'd used up.

The more he thought about it, the less it made sense.

An Earth King couldn't possibly grow this powerful. Even if it had mutated, an eighty-thousand-year Spirit Beast shouldn't normally appear in the middle of Star Forest, let alone near the Outer Zone.

Unless... there was something over there...

Zhuqing quickly changed clothes. Although they were about the same height, their builds were very different.

Mu Qian's clothes completely hid her stunning figure, but he had to admit they gave her a different kind of beauty.

She hurried back, worried about Mu Qian's injuries.

"Ah!"

When she saw the flesh around the wound on his back slowly writhing, Zhuqing gasped in surprise. But once she realized what was happening, she felt much more at ease.

She hadn't expected the wound to heal at a visible pace. Just how strong was this guy's constitution for him to recover like that?

No wonder he had three Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings.

She still didn't know that Mu Qian had Twin Martial Souls. If she saw that fiery red Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, who knew how she would react?

Time passed, and the sun gradually sank westward before disappearing below the horizon.

After watching Mu Qian all day, Zhuqing began to feel sleepy too.

She sat beside him, looking at his wound, which had nearly healed, and his almost perfect profile.

With her worries eased, Zhuqing unconsciously leaned her head against Mu Qian's shoulder and slowly closed her eyes.

In just five short days, she had felt more peace and happiness than she had in the past several years.

With him around, she didn't have to worry about anything. He shouldered every difficulty for her, and whenever he faced her, he wore nothing but a sunny smile.

"If only things could stay this way forever..."

Feeling the warmth against her cheek, Zhuqing drifted into a deep sleep, a faint smile on her lips.

In her dreams, it seemed she had found someone she could rely on.

The next morning.

Mu Qian slowly opened his eyes, a strange glint flashing in them.

Zhuqing wasn't beside him. Mu Qian panicked at first and looked around. Only when he spotted her figure in the distance did he finally relax.

"You're awake. Have some wild fruit."

Zhuqing held a handful of freshly picked fruit, a faint smile on her face.

The worry Mu Qian had shown when he woke up—and the way he had relaxed after seeing her—had made a deep impression on her.