Fierce Tigers Ahead, Pursuers Behind

A streak of purple-gold light cut through the air and returned to Mu Qian's body.

At the same time, a slightly aggrieved voice echoed in his mind: "Honestly, just to help you impress a little girl, the soul energy I had just recovered has been completely drained. From now on, if you find anything good, you must think of me first."

Mu Qian curled his lips into a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, Jinyu. Don't worry, I wouldn't forget you for anyone."

That's right, the one who had just acted to create the distraction was none other than the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum, who had transformed into a special spirit entity.

She had been in a deep slumber, recovering the soul essence lost during her heavenly tribulation, and she had discovered that the soul energy in the special space within Mu Qian's martial soul allowed her to recover extremely quickly.

She hadn't expected to be suddenly called out by Mu Qian.

The task Mu Qian gave her was simple: distract the Earth King.

After all, not to mention the Amethyst Imperial Epiphyllum in her current bodiless state, even in her prime, she possessed no defensive or offensive capabilities.

Now, she could only create a simple mental illusion to simulate the aura of a top-tier fierce beast; she couldn't help with anything more than that.

However, for Mu Qian, this was already enough—it gave him just enough time to grab the Star Fruit and make a run for it.

"ROAR!" An angry bellow from the Earth King erupted from behind.

Realizing it had been played, it immediately tracked Mu Qian's silhouette and gave chase.

Even though Mu Qian tried his best to mask his aura while flying at full speed, he still couldn't hide from his pursuer.

The Earth King's small eyes were filled with venom as they locked onto the youth who had acted so insolently before it twice now.

Mu Qian didn't dare to slack off for a second, pushing his speed to the absolute limit.

One didn't need to imagine how terrifying the destructive power of an enraged 80,000-year soul beast could be.

Mu Qian darted rapidly through the forest, his Dragon Wings carving a cyan-gold afterimage through the air.

The Earth King's movement speed was not considered fast among soul beasts of the same cultivation level.

Feeling the distance between them widening, Mu Qian let out a long, relieved breath.

At this rate, he would be able to completely shake off the pursuit in less than a quarter of an hour.

"Zhuqing, I've got the item. Let's find a place for you to consume the Star Fruit, and then we can go search for a suitable thousand-year soul beast." Mu Qian's expression relaxed as he said this with a light chuckle.

Zhu Zhuqing nodded, her beautiful eyes filled with excitement, yet her gaze never left Mu Qian's face.

"Thank you."

"Why say thank you? I promised you, so naturally, I have to deliver."

"We can change our target now. We don't need to focus our energy on hundred-year soul beasts anymore. We can try to find those suitable thousand-year soul beasts we encountered earlier; I wonder if they are still in the same place."

Mu Qian said with a smile. Regardless, this was good news for them.

Yet, for some reason, the progress of his affairs seemed a bit too simple, and he had a strong intuition that things were far from over.

As he thought about it, Mu Qian couldn't help but laugh at himself, wondering if he was being overly sensitive.

Isn't it a good thing that things are going smoothly?

Could it be that he actually wanted to increase the difficulty for himself?

"Hm? No!" Mu Qian's gaze suddenly sharpened, and he abruptly steadied his figure, stopping his advance.

As far as his eyes could see, a clear black dot was floating in the mid-air in the distance. Was that... a person?

"Zhuqing, something is wrong. Be careful," Mu Qian warned.

Flying through the air—among human soul masters, if one didn't possess a flight-type martial soul, it could only mean one thing.

A Soul Saint!

It was at least a Soul Saint-level soul master, if not even more powerful.

Since he didn't know if the person was a friend or foe, Mu Qian didn't act rashly. He turned his body to fly toward the side, intending to avoid the black dot in the distance.

But because of this delay, the Earth King, which had just been left behind, caught up once again.

"Damn it, this is cursed. Some things really shouldn't be overthought," Mu Qian cursed under his breath, but he had no choice but to hurry on.

"That person... I feel like I've seen them somewhere before," Zhu Zhuqing said, struggling to make out the features of the person in the distance. Unfortunately, the distance was too great, and she could only see a blurry outline.

"Seen them before?" Mu Qian replied, "Could it be someone from Star Luo City?"

Zhu Zhuqing shook her head; she couldn't be sure.

If it were someone from Star Luo City who had tracked them here, besides members of her own family, it could only be... the Imperial Family!

"I was careless. I should have gone to a more distant soul beast forest..." Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help but feel a bit regretful.

Mu Qian tightened his arm around her waist and said comfortingly, "If we had done that, we wouldn't have encountered this opportunity. Don't worry, I'm here for everything."

Although his tone was relaxed, his gaze toward the distance became a bit more solemn.

Zhu Zhuqing didn't say anything, leaning against Mu Qian's shoulder with a calm expression.

Following Mu Qian, she felt an unprecedented sense of peace; she didn't have to face anything alone.

"No!" Suddenly, Zhu Zhuqing's expression changed. "That person disappeared!"

"Hm?" Mu Qian exclaimed in surprise, though he didn't need to ask, because that figure had already appeared directly in front of them.

"That's a member of the Offering Hall of the Star Luo Empire!" Zhu Zhuqing exclaimed in shock.

As the distance closed, she finally recognized the other party's identity: "Members of the Offering Hall must possess at least the strength of a Soul Saint!"

"Be careful, Mu Qian. They must be coming for me. If it really comes to it... just hand me over..."

At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing felt an unprecedented sense of sorrow in her heart.

She had already left, so why wouldn't they let her go?

With an imperial official blocking their path, Zhu Zhuqing could think of no other possibility than that they had come to capture her.

"What are you saying! In my dictionary, there has never been a word for betrayal or selling someone out!" Mu Qian shouted, his eyes filled with firm, cold resolve.

"The Offering Hall, is it? So what if they're a Soul Saint? Let me be the one to test them!"

Mu Qian's resolute voice caused Zhu Zhuqing's sorrowful heart to tremble once more.

But while she was moved, she truly did not want Mu Qian to be buried along with her.

Once dragged back to Star Luo City, the charge of abducting the prince's fiancée would be enough to have him torn apart by five horses...

"Don't think so much. I said it before: from the day I took you out of Star Luo City, we would face everything together." Mu Qian softened his tone, smiling as he looked at this heartbreaking girl.

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes grew moist, shimmering with a unique luster. Her delicate body trembled slightly as she looked at Mu Qian's handsome face, as if she wanted to carve his image into her mind.

"Since you recognized the other party, do you know what his martial soul is?" Mu Qian asked.

The distance between the two sides was growing closer, close enough to see the wrinkles on the other man's face.

It was an old man nearing his seventies, his long hair already gray, draped in a magnificent golden robe, staring fixedly at the girl in Mu Qian's arms.

Zhu Zhuqing shook her head, temporarily setting aside the agitation in her heart: "I'm not sure. Members of the Offering Hall are all very mysterious. I only saw him once at the Emperor's birthday banquet."

Not having received the answer he wanted, Mu Qian's heart sank once again.