A Real Clash! (Please Follow, Please Vote)

"Forget it. Since you didn't attack me with flying knives when I entered the tree hollow, I'll let you off this once. If you dare ambush me again, I'll smash you to pieces with my hammer!"

Tie Xiong shook the Heaven Breaking Hammer.

Meng Yiran immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Tie Xiong's face rapidly enlarged in her vision.

Smack!

My first kiss... my first kiss... it's gone?

Meng Yiran lay there blankly.

"Bastard!" Meng Yiran abruptly jumped to her feet.

She felt that there was something extra in her mouth.

"Big sis, this is a healing Sugar Bean. Eat it. My hammer carries Vibration Force—if your internal organs were injured, don't blame me for not warning you!"

Tie Xiong grinned.

Meng Yiran's expression shifted repeatedly. He hadn't called her big sis when he was hammering her.

She then looked at the Heaven Breaking Hammer in Tie Xiong's hand, which he still held defensively.

In a fit of irritation, she sat down, swallowed the Sugar Bean, and began meditating to recover from her injuries.

Even now, her arms and body still ached.

"You really just obtained your Soul Ring? How are you so strong? You didn't even use a soul skill, yet you knocked back my Tongue Blade!"

After a while, Meng Yiran gritted her teeth and asked.

This battle had dealt her too great a blow.

This little bastard was more than three years younger than her.

Tie Xiong patted off his clothes. "Those eight phantasmal serpent canes of yours should be an effect of your first soul skill, right? That skill works against Soul Masters weaker than you, but against a weapon Martial Soul with superb technique, it's nothing special!

Besides, you're too weak, and your snake venom was neutralized by me. Naturally, you're no match for me.

"But you don't need to be discouraged. Geniuses like me aren't common, either. Here's some advice: don't practice Hidden Weapons anymore. Raising your Soul Power is what matters most!"

As he spoke, Tie Xiong walked to the entrance of the tree hollow, raised his head at a forty-five-degree angle to gaze at the sky, and left Meng Yiran with only his back.

Meng Yiran stared blankly at Tie Xiong.

Why is this little bastard's skin so thick? Who praises himself like that?

Meng Yiran remembered how he had just stolen her first kiss.

Looking at Tie Xiong's upright back, her mind became a tangled mess.

I'm nearly four years older than him.

Just then, the two of them sensed intense Soul Power fluctuations.

Tie Xiong looked into the distance. The ground seemed to be shaking.

Meng Yiran hurried to the entrance of the tree hollow as well and looked outside nervously.

This was the Star Dou Great Forest.

"A powerful soul beast is approaching!"

As Tie Xiong spoke, he grabbed Meng Yiran's hand.

Meng Yiran's pretty face flushed. She struggled slightly, but failed to pull free.

Before long, the two saw a crocodile-type soul beast covered in blood running toward them.

Tie Xiong's heart skipped a beat. Could it be the Golden Crocodile?

But several figures seemed to be chasing after the Golden Crocodile.

"Star Luo Illusion!" Tie Xiong heard Lu Qibin's voice.

Then, the Golden Crocodile seemed to start circling in place, trapped within an Illusion Realm and unable to break free no matter what it did.

Several people appeared to the Golden Crocodile's left and right, all with their Soul Rings fully activated. They were clearly locked in a standoff.

On the left stood a tall, thin old man and an energetic old woman.

"It's Grandpa and Grandma," Meng Yiran said excitedly.

"Our headmaster and three teachers are beside them. They really ran into each other!" Tie Xiong said as he watched the scene.

Dragon Duke Meng Shu looked to be in his sixties. His head was full of silver hair, and the wrinkles on his face were arranged in an orderly pattern. It was obvious that he had been a handsome man in his youth.

He held a gleaming silver Dragon Head Cane over four meters long. Its dragon head was lifelike and looked exceptionally splendid.

Two yellow, three purple, and two black Soul Rings rose and fell around him. He was a Soul Saint.

Beside him, Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang held a three-meter-long Serpent Head Cane. She was a Soul King.

Meng Shu was about to speak as he looked at the restrained Golden Crocodile.

Then his sharp gaze turned toward the Sky-Gazing Tree.

He saw his granddaughter holding hands with someone.

"Yiran, come here!"

Chao Tianxiang naturally saw it too and called out to her granddaughter.

Meng Yiran nodded at Tie Xiong, pulled free of his hand, and ran toward Chao Tianxiang and Meng Shu.

Tie Xiong naturally hurried over to Flender and the others. He had been holding someone's granddaughter's hand right in front of her grandparents.

If Dragon Duke and Snake Granny got unhappy and struck him, he would not be able to withstand it.

"Teachers, greetings, seniors!" Tie Xiong said with an awkward smile.

Flender, Zhao Wuji, and the others looked at Tie Xiong in surprise. This kid was impressive—he had managed to hold hands with her in such a short time.

Tie Xiong wanted to say that he had even kissed her.

"He didn't bully you, did he?" Chao Tianxiang asked her granddaughter with concern.

Meng Yiran clenched her silver teeth. Thinking of their intimate contact in the tree hollow, she thought, How could he not have bullied me? He hammered me, and he even kissed me.

But when the words reached her lips, she glanced at Tie Xiong. Her face flushed slightly as she said, "No. It's not what you think, Grandma. We sensed Soul Power fluctuations and got scared, so we held hands."

Meng Shu and Chao Tianxiang exchanged a glance. How could they fail to see that something must have happened between their granddaughter and that boy?

But since their granddaughter was unwilling to say anything, they naturally would not ask here.

With their granddaughter's strength, that boy presumably could not have taken much advantage of her.

Dragon Duke Meng Shu gave Tie Xiong a deep look.

He said to Flender, "Flender, are you certain you want to keep fighting? We've been lying in wait around here for a long time to hunt this Golden Crocodile.

If the Golden Crocodile weren't so skilled at hiding in swamp terrain, it would have become my wife's Soul Ring long ago.

You came here and immediately wanted to snatch this Golden Crocodile away. How could there be such a good thing? Do you really want to taste the fusion skill of my wife and me?"

Flender's expression changed. They had already tested each other earlier, and they were not afraid in a one-on-one fight.

But they all knew the reputation of Dragon Duke and Snake Granny. Legend said that the Dragon-Snake Combined Strike could rival a Title Douluo.

They could not contend with that right now.

However, Flender had not been frightened into submission. Chao Tianxiang was still only a Soul King, and legends were still just legends.

Flender also had a fusion skill with Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong. With his experience using fusion skills, he did not believe the Dragon-Snake Combined Strike could stop them from swiftly defeating the pair.

There were four of them, including Lu Qibin, a control-type Soul Master, as well as a food-type Soul Master who could provide supplies.

"Senior Dragon Duke has been famous for a long time, and I, Flender, have always admired you greatly. But this Golden Crocodile is extremely important to us. Moreover, the soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest belong to no one. When we arrived, Senior had not yet made a move. More than half of the Golden Crocodile's injuries were inflicted by us. We are determined to obtain this Golden Crocodile!"

Flender refused to give an inch.

It was not easy to encounter a suitable soul beast.

More importantly, the Golden Crocodile had already been severely injured by both sides' attacks and was now trapped here.

In truth, Dragon Duke and his wife had discovered this Golden Crocodile first and had remained nearby to hunt it.

But the swamp was enormous. Later, Flender discovered the Golden Crocodile as well and immediately fought it upon arriving.

Dragon Duke and Snake Granny rushed over as soon as they heard the commotion, and the two sides had already clashed for some time.

However, it seemed that both sides had prioritized preventing the Golden Crocodile from escaping.

That was why the Golden Crocodile had suffered such grave injuries.

In the end, it fled here despite its wounds.

But unless the two sides reached an agreement, neither side could absorb its Soul Ring.