By the time sunlight spilled into the cave, Su Yan rubbed his neck and climbed to his feet.
How had he ended up lying on the ground?
He saw the spiderweb sealing the cave entrance and instantly came fully awake.
"Master?"
Su Yan looked around, but Bibi Dong was nowhere to be seen.
Zhu Zhuqing, who had meditated through the night, was the first to open her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Master's gone." Su Yan pointed at the spiderweb over the entrance. "She must have left it to keep Soul Beasts from attacking us. That means she went outside."
"Where did the instructor go?" Zhu Zhuqing asked, her cool gaze sweeping around the cave.
Su Yan shook his head. On the ground, he spotted two belts, a roll of parchment, and a dagger.
"Su Yan, Tang Chi, Zhu Qing, I've been recalled to the Main Martial Soul Hall. I can't stay with you. The three of you need to work together and survive in the forest. I'll probably come back for you in a year.
"Bibi Dong."
"Friendly reminder: leave the cave as soon as possible. There are signs that a bear has been here."
The parchment also helpfully included a map of the area around Soul Hunting Forest, marking the territories where most of the powerful Soul Beasts roamed. Aside from a way out, it had pretty much all the information they needed.
Su Yan understood.
From this moment on, the real second stage of Bi's Training Method had begun: the Survival Training Method.
He really wanted to ask if his master's training method had been passed down from some great demon king surnamed Bi—or if it was even worse.
That demon king surnamed Bi had once dumped some four-year-old kid surnamed Sun in the wilderness to fend for himself for half a year before teaching him how to fight.
His master had left the three of them, only six or seven years old, in the wilderness for a whole year. By then, the grass on their graves would probably be half a meter high.
At least the kid surnamed Sun had Saiyan blood. On that backwater planet where even someone with a gun had a measly battle power of only five, he could pretty much do whatever he wanted.
But what about the three of them?
They were One-Ring Soul Masters. That was all.
Soul Hunting Forest was teeming with century-old, thousand-year-old, and even ten-thousand-year-old Soul Beasts. There were more than enough that could kill them.
Unless his master was secretly protecting them from the shadows.
Remembering the last line on the parchment, Su Yan woke Tang Chi, who had meditated himself to sleep on the ground.
"The Saintess Instructor went back?" Tang Chi said, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "The Spirit Hall recalled her. There was nothing she could do, right?"
Su Yan and Zhu Zhuqing looked at him at the same time, as if he were an idiot.
"We need to move camp." Su Yan rolled up the parchment, handed a belt to each of them, picked up the dagger, cut through the spiderweb, and headed out.
Zhu Zhuqing followed behind him, alert to their surroundings. "Where are we going?"
Tang Chi yawned, shouldered the Thunderclap Hammer, and brought up the rear.
"Water is the source of life," Su Yan said, pointing at the map. "We'll head to the river first, then decide what to do."
The three of them made their way through the woods toward the river.
The trees and undergrowth in Soul Hunting Forest were dense, but Soul Masters had come here to hunt for so many years that the most heavily traveled route had gradually become a path.
As Su Yan and the others walked, they passed a small clearing.
They checked the map. The river was close, and the clearing looked like a good place to set up camp.
But before the three of them could step out, another group beat them to it.
There were only two of them: a sturdy, middle-aged man in silver armor, with the words "Heaven Dou" engraved across his chest, pushing a wooden wheelchair. A girl of about six sat in it.
The girl was dressed in finery. Her hair was as white as snow, and her face was just as pale.
"A Yao, why did you bring me here?" the girl asked, glancing around nervously. "It's so gloomy. Let's go back."
The man suddenly dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Princess."
Then he rose, lifted the Princess out of the chair, and set her on the ground. A long sword appeared in his hand, its point aimed at her.
Four Soul Rings circled the blade, radiating a killing intent as he advanced on the Princess.
"A Yao, what are you doing?" The Princess kept shuffling backward with her hands.
The man said nothing. He gripped the sword and moved closer and closer.
Hidden in the shadows, the three exchanged glances and released their Martial Souls.
Just then, A Yao slashed the hem of the Princess's skirt, cutting off a piece of fabric and tossing it onto the wheelchair.
Then he went into the woods. Before long, he had killed a Fire Boar. He dug out its heart and liver, placed them in a box, then tossed the Fire Boar onto the wooden wheelchair. He took a flint from his pocket and set it alight.
The flames slowly devoured the wheelchair and the Fire Boar, sending the smell of roasting meat into the air.
After a long while, the Fire Boar and wooden wheelchair had both burned to charcoal. A Yao selected some ashes and placed them in a new box.
"Princess, stay here and don't move," A Yao said. "Someone will come for you soon. Leave the Heaven Dou Empire, and never come back."
"A Yao, did Mother tell you to do this?" the Princess asked, her lips pressed tightly together until they turned white.
"Princess, please don't ask any more." A Yao shook his head and let out a deep sigh before turning to leave.
The sky suddenly darkened.
"Ke ke ke. Just as Her Majesty the Empress predicted, you little guard would try to help the Princess escape."
A sinister, low voice came from above.
A short, thin man in a black robe stepped on a leaf and landed on the ground, his shadowy eyes like those of a venomous snake.
Five Soul Rings circled him. He was a Soul King.
A Yao gripped his sword and shielded the Princess with his body. In a low voice, he said, "The Princess's legs are already crippled. Why go so far as to kill her? Let her live."
"Can't do that," the short man said. Several tentacles had appeared behind him. "Her Majesty the Empress said that no one more beautiful than her is allowed to exist in the Heaven Dou Empire. Not now, and not in the future."
With that, the short man charged. Two tentacles blocked A Yao's sword, then two more slammed into him and sent him spitting blood.
The last two tentacles shot straight for the Princess's vital points.
"No!" A Yao shouted.
Just as the tentacles were about to reach the Princess, a fiery-red figure shot out and knocked them aside.
A hammer brimming with Soul Power smashed into the ground, unleashing countless bolts of lightning. The short man couldn't find anywhere to step.
A gust of wind swept past, and the Princess had vanished.
Before the short man could react, two figures raced into the woods and disappeared.
"Run with everything you've got!" Su Yan urged them again and again, pouring nearly all his Soul Power into moving faster.
The trees rushed past them. Their only chance of survival was to keep running forward.
Before long, the four of them burst out of the woods into another small clearing. They looked back, saw no one following, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ke ke ke. Did you really think you could get away?" The short man's voice suddenly echoed in their ears.
Su Yan shuddered. The short man had appeared right in front of them, grinning menacingly.
A Yao struggled to his feet and stood in front of Su Yan and the others. "Let them go. They pose no threat to the Empress."
"If you don't pull out the roots, the weeds will grow back in the spring," the short man murmured. Several tentacles shot toward them all.
Zhu Zhuqing shielded the Princess and dodged with her speed. Tang Chi hurriedly blocked with his hammer. Only Su Yan managed to narrowly dodge at the last moment.
Feeling a sharp pain in his arm, Su Yan glanced down. A tentacle had grazed it, and blood was seeping from the wound.
It seemed Master really wasn't here.
"Don't hurt innocent people!" A Yao swung his sword and cut off two tentacles, but it made no difference.
"Ke ke ke. You're all going to die." Two more tentacles sprouted from the short man. "Give up. Within my Martial Soul's Dark Domain, you have no chance of defeating me."
"We won't know until we try." Su Yan's eyes narrowed.
Looks like I have to use this!
Before you continue