Making a Move

The Thunder Pattern Leopard racing toward them wasn't after Chu Ruolan. It was chasing a thousand-year-old Soul Beast: a Dark Rock Bear.

As luck would have it, the Dark Rock Bear was fleeing in the direction where Su Qing was absorbing her Spirit Ring.

Chu Ruolan wasn't afraid of the Thunder Pattern Leopard, but she knew very well that she wouldn't be able to take it down quickly.

If she fought it, the disturbance could easily draw other Soul Beasts.

So she hid in the shadows and quietly activated her second Soul Skill, Mist Vine, hoping to change the Dark Rock Bear's escape route.

She'd been extremely careful, yet the Thunder Pattern Leopard pursuing the bear from behind still spotted her.

The moment it caught sight of a human, the Thunder Pattern Leopard abandoned the badly wounded Dark Rock Bear. It turned and faced Chu Ruolan.

A Soul Beast over three thousand years old was roughly equivalent to a level forty-six or forty-seven Soul Ancestor. It already possessed rudimentary intelligence and could sense that the human before it was no easy opponent.

The Thunder Pattern Leopard crouched motionless, and Chu Ruolan likewise didn't dare make a careless move.

She held her breath, hoping Su Qing would hurry and finish absorbing her Spirit Ring.

As Chu Ruolan and the Thunder Pattern Leopard remained locked in a standoff, a figure raced toward them.

Xiao Chen had spotted Ma Yan and the others from far away, but not Chu Ruolan. He immediately understood that she had probably gone ahead alone to scout.

He didn't stop. He went straight around them and continued racing forward.

A moment later, the figure and beast facing off came into Xiao Chen's view.

"Thunder Pattern Leopard, a three-thousand-six-hundred-year-old Agility Attack System Soul Beast! The Host is far weaker than its opponent. Immediate retreat is advised!" The System Spirit appeared in a flash and warned Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen knew perfectly well that he was no match for the Thunder Pattern Leopard. But if he simply left, the beast might attack Chu Ruolan, and the fight would very likely affect Su Qing, who was absorbing her Spirit Ring. It could also attract other Soul Beasts.

"System, if I share Shadow Step Dash between both Martial Souls, can I burst into even greater speed?" Xiao Chen asked.

"Of course. But the Host hasn't mastered this skill yet. If you fail, even if you aren't struck by the backlash of the Soul Skill, your Soul Power and mental strength will be completely drained in an instant. I don't need to explain what kind of situation you'd be facing then, do I?" the system replied.

Xiao Chen understood the consequences. But sharing Shadow Step Dash between both Martial Souls was different from shooting arrows. Archery involved too many variables, making it difficult to control.

Shadow Step Dash, however, was only for escaping. Xiao Chen needed only to pick a general direction. As long as he could put some distance between himself and the Thunder Pattern Leopard, he'd have a good chance of getting away.

Besides, he specialized in ranged attacks. Even while retreating, he could shoot arrows as he ran, slowing the Thunder Pattern Leopard's pursuit.

And this was only the outer reaches of the Star Dou Forest. The Thunder Pattern Leopard couldn't chase him beyond the forest.

With that in mind, Xiao Chen made up his mind: he would lure the Thunder Pattern Leopard away.

Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to show himself and provoke it outright.

Even if he was going to lure the beast away, he had to find a way to wear it down first.

Xiao Chen approached while adjusting his position. Once the Thunder Pattern Leopard came within range, he hid and waited for his chance.

Before long, the Thunder Pattern Leopard finally lost patience and launched a fierce attack.

It was incredibly fast, and Chu Ruolan's vines couldn't keep up.

But most Control System Soul Masters' skills covered a wide area. Though she couldn't catch the Thunder Pattern Leopard just yet, it also struggled to get close to her.

Soul Power surged at Chu Ruolan's fingertips as she successively activated Vine Bind and Mist Vine, disrupting the beast again and again.

Supple vines burst out, entangling and blocking its path, while Mist Vine released a pale purple haze that muddled its senses. She drew it in step by step, luring it into the trap she had prepared.

When the moment came, her Soul Power surged, and she activated her Fifth Spirit Skill: Thousand Silk Cage!

Countless fine, tough strands of Soul Power wove together into a giant cage and crashed down, trapping the Thunder Pattern Leopard firmly in the center.

But unlike Tang San, she wasn't a Soul Master whose control skills also carried powerful offensive force. Beyond restraining, controlling, and disrupting her opponent, she had no potent means of dealing damage. Without teammates to help, her only option was to slowly tighten the Thousand Silk Cage and exhaust the Thunder Pattern Leopard.

That process would inevitably take a long time.

Besides, the Thunder Pattern Leopard was fighting more and more wildly. Every collision and bite battered the Thousand Silk Cage, and maintaining the restraint for so long consumed a great deal of Chu Ruolan's Soul Power.

The trapped Thunder Pattern Leopard's shrieks were piercing and miserable, echoing through the forest.

The violent commotion could draw other nearby Soul Beasts at any moment.

The longer the delay, the worse things would become for Chu Ruolan.

Just as Chu Ruolan was trying to figure out how to break the deadlock, she suddenly sensed a surge of Soul Power.

She looked up and saw a streak of black light shoot out of the dense forest. Before she could make out what it was, the black light burst apart above the Thousand Silk Cage, turning into a shower of needles that rained down.

Chu Ruolan reacted swiftly. She didn't know who had attacked from the shadows, but the skill was clearly aimed at the Thunder Pattern Leopard.

The instant she saw the needles falling, she withdrew the vines above the Thousand Silk Cage without hesitation.

She timed it perfectly, pulling back the vines at the very moment the Thunder Pattern Leopard, after a fierce charge, was about to break out.

This let the arrows fly unimpeded toward the Thunder Pattern Leopard without letting it fully escape the restraint, creating a perfect opening for Xiao Chen to attack.

The rain of needles poured down, engulfing the Thunder Pattern Leopard in an instant.

At the same time, an arrow shot out of the dense forest at incredible speed. It passed through a gap between the vines of the Thousand Silk Cage and struck the Thunder Pattern Leopard's left eye with pinpoint accuracy.

This was Xiao Chen's real killing move.

With his bow and Arrow Martial Soul fused, and the three Soul Skills Brute Force, Arrow Speed Boost, and Piercing Wound, this was without a doubt the strongest attack Xiao Chen could unleash without using Spirit Skill Sharing.

Xiao Chen knew the arrow wouldn't kill the Thunder Pattern Leopard, which was why he had aimed for its eye.

He had intended to blind both of its eyes, but the Thunder Pattern Leopard reacted quickly, throwing the arrow slightly off course. It hit only the left eye and failed to pierce all the way through.

The arrow sent the Thunder Pattern Leopard into a fury.

With a roar, it leapt out through the part of the Thousand Silk Cage that hadn't been fully sealed above.

It didn't even glance at Chu Ruolan. It charged straight toward where Xiao Chen was hiding.

His goal achieved, Xiao Chen turned and ran, not forgetting to call back to Chu Ruolan, "This Thunder Pattern Leopard is mine. You'd better not follow!"

Chu Ruolan had been thinking of helping whoever had attacked from the shadows. Hearing those words, she immediately stopped.

Someone had stepped in to help her out of trouble, and she was more than happy to accept.

Seeing the Thunder Pattern Leopard chase that figure into the distance, she didn't hesitate. She turned and hurried back to Su Qing and the others.