Spirit Kite Douluo

Zhu Zhuqing looked at Xirui not far away and exchanged a glance with Mu Qian.

Mu Qian shook his head with a wry smile and stood up again, intending to bring a portion of food over to Xirui.

This girl truly had no experience surviving in the wild; she hadn't even brought food for the assessment.

If not for the supplies Mu Qian had shared along the way, she would likely have suffered quite a bit.

Zhu Zhuqing had ultimately helped Xirui braid her hair, though not into cat ears like her own, but into two buns that looked quite adorable.

"Thank you, Brother Mu Qian~"

The little girl's voice was sweet, and she radiated a fresh, natural fragrance. Completely unaware of where her own shortcomings lay, she took the dry rations and nibbled on them, occasionally making a "crunch, crunch" sound.

It wasn't that Mu Qian was reluctant to give her meat; a little food meant nothing to him.

Mu Qian wasn't that stingy.

Earlier on the road, when Mu Qian offered Xirui his secret roasted meat, the sweet little girl had refused it.

Mu Qian could sense that she seemed to have an aversion to meat, but everyone had their own preferences and things they disliked, so he didn't pry.

Everyone here was a newcomer taking a brief rest. Although the three of them had attracted a wave of attention due to their striking appearances, no one came to disturb them.

There were no fools here; everyone was busy trying to restore themselves to their peak state.

Soon, as the sky grew brighter, people began to recover from their meditation one after another and entered the territory of Death Canyon.

High in the sky, two figures were hidden side-by-side in the clouds, observing the three of them below.

One of them was the black-robed elder who had appeared at the gate of Martial Soul Hall Academy earlier.

Mu Qian had guessed correctly; he was indeed one of the elders of Martial Soul Hall, Ghost Douluo.

The other person was hidden entirely under a golden cloak, her face completely obscured by a wide brim, though one could judge she was a woman by her physique and the curves of her chest.

"Spirit Kite, I didn't expect you to come as well."

"What, is the Worship Hall also interested in this child?" Old Ghost's expression was ferocious; even when he smiled, it gave people a creepy feeling.

Although both were elders of Martial Soul Hall, there were factions among them.

He belonged to the Pope's faction, while the woman before him was closer to the Worship Hall and followed the orders of the Great Elder.

"Why, if you, Old Ghost, can come, why can't I?" The woman called Spirit Kite spoke in a cold tone, her face hidden within the cloak, making it impossible to see her expression.

"Heh." Ghost Douluo let out a cold laugh, looking at Mu Qian below, and sighed: "Eleven years and four months old, level 42..."

"Such a genius should belong to our Pope."

The woman adjusted her hat brim again, her tone neither sad nor happy: "Stingy and petty, hard to achieve great things. Rest assured, my orders are only to protect him, not to snatch people away from you."

"That would be for the best..." Ghost Douluo's voice still echoed in the space, but his figure had already vanished eerily.

Spirit Kite shook her head, unbothered, her gaze remaining fixed on Mu Qian.

After adjusting themselves, the three of them finally stepped into this newcomer trial ground.

They were considered the last batch to enter Death Canyon, but because they had sufficient confidence in their own strength, they didn't mind the delay.

"Zhuqing, Xirui, we have now entered the range where soul beasts appear. I will lead the way; you two follow closely behind me and keep an eye on the rear."

"Remember, follow my footsteps exactly and don't step wrong. Dangers can be hidden everywhere in the soul beast forest. You don't need to worry about the sides, just watch the rear," Mu Qian whispered a reminder.

The two girls behind him nodded in agreement.

Although Xirui had a simple personality, she couldn't be completely devoid of common sense.

Moreover, Mu Qian hadn't noticed that after entering the soul beast habitat, Xirui's expression had become much more solemn, no longer as naive and lively as before.

As for Zhu Zhuqing, she was already accustomed to Mu Qian's arrangements.

The three of them were not moving fast. This was Mu Qian's first time in Death Canyon, and his knowledge of the soul beasts here was limited to rumors from the outside. He wouldn't rashly increase their speed until he understood the situation.

They were still on the outskirts of the canyon, and the soul beasts nearby had almost all been swept through by the newcomers taking the assessment, but even so, they couldn't be too careless.

Under normal circumstances, a team of five Soul Grand Masters could only hunt century-level soul beasts and would struggle against thousand-year ones.

Let alone ten-thousand-year ones.

It could be said that Mu Qian's existence in this newcomer assessment was like a huge game exploit, completely breaking the rules.

"We've been deep inside for half a day now; why haven't we encountered a single soul beast over a thousand years old, other than some weak ones?" Mu Qian said in confusion, casually kicking a Lantern Lizard that was blocking their path away.

Lantern Lizards were very common on the continent; not to mention in soul beast habitats, they could even be found in many farmlands.

These soul beasts had no attack power and could at most cultivate to the century level. They were once captured by ordinary humans and kept at home to serve as lighting.

The three of them were naturally not interested in them; killing them wouldn't yield many points.

Zhu Zhuqing watched the surroundings vigilantly, her expression equally serious: "Based on our previous experience entering soul beast forests, we should normally be deep in the outer perimeter of the habitat by now. This shouldn't be the case."

Xirui nodded, her dark brows furrowed, looking extremely adorable: "That's right. Forget about thousand-year soul beasts; we haven't even encountered any century-level ones."

Mu Qian noticed the change in Xirui at this moment. She, who seemed like a novice in human society, appeared to be extremely familiar with soul beast habitats.

Perhaps it had to do with her past experiences. Mu Qian kept a mental note of it but didn't pry too deeply.

As long as Xirui held no ill intent toward them, perhaps after a month of getting along, the three of them could become friends.

With their doubts left unanswered, the three of them simultaneously raised their guard.

"Everyone, be careful. Let's keep moving forward while looking for a campsite to stay at for the night; we'll stop searching before it gets dark," Mu Qian suggested.

Neither of the two women had any objections; in fact, even with a new member added to the team, Mu Qian remained the soul of the trio.

Xirui appeared to be the type who wouldn't fight or scramble for anything, so expecting her to make decisions wasn't realistic.

Having no other choice, Mu Qian expanded the detection range of his spiritual power once again.

After a year of refinement, his control over his spiritual power had reached an extremely high level, and when pushed to its limit, he could achieve a detection radius of one thousand meters.

"Hm?" When his spiritual power swept across a distance of about five hundred meters to their front-left, Mu Qian suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Zhu Zhuqing and Xirui.

"Something's not right. There's a situation not far ahead. Stay close to me, let's go take a look."

With that, Mu Qian didn't give the two women a chance to refuse and was the first to change direction, rushing toward the side.