Riot Erupts, Martial Soul Trembles

Following Chang Feng to the village entrance, what met Xiao Qing's eyes were three soul masters clad in armor, mounted on pure-bred steeds.

The lead soul master spoke first, shouting at the chattering crowd before him: "Call Chang Feng out! Lord Matthew has arrived; why has no one come to greet him yet!"

Hearing someone call his name, Chang Feng didn't even check if Xiao Qing was following; he ran forward with a fawning expression.

"My Lord, I am here! I was just going to fetch Xiao Qing, which is why I was slow to welcome the inspecting envoy."

Seeing Chang Feng emerge, Matthew spurred his horse forward, tilting his head to look down at Chang Feng.

"Since you say you went to fetch someone, then where is he? I don't seem to see this seven-year-old child with innate soul power that you spoke of?"

Matthew spoke slowly but his voice was loud, ensuring everyone present heard every word clearly.

Terrified that Matthew might be angry, the crowd hurriedly shoved Xiao Qing, pushing him from behind the throng to stand before Matthew.

Arriving before Matthew, Xiao Qing felt neither fear nor timidity; he calmly raised his head to meet Matthew's gaze.

Seeing Xiao Qing's composure, Matthew became interested. He had visited dozens, perhaps hundreds of villages, all of which had children with outstanding talent and unique martial souls like Xiao Qing.

Yet, none of the children in those places had ever been able to meet his gaze as calmly as Xiao Qing.

"Little one, what is your name? What is your martial soul?"

"Xiao Qing, martial soul Prism Ball."

"Xiao Qing? A fine name. Would you be willing to join our Martial Soul Hall and become one of us?"

Matthew looked Xiao Qing over with interest. He had read the files Chang Feng submitted, so he naturally knew Xiao Qing's name and martial soul, and he knew that besides joining Martial Soul Hall, Xiao Qing's only other path was to be sold to a great family as a servant.

Perhaps it was a dark sense of humor, or perhaps he simply wanted to add some amusement to his own smooth-sailing life, but Matthew wanted to give Xiao Qing the power of choice.

Suddenly, the surroundings went quiet. Everyone was baffled; shouldn't Xiao Qing be taking this opportunity to pledge his loyalty to Matthew? It was obvious that Matthew was recruiting him!

This was especially true for the two attendants following Matthew. The people of Clear Spring Village might think Matthew was just a minor inspecting envoy, but they knew his true identity.

Matthew was the most beloved and talented grandson of the Fourth Elder, Mighty Lion Douluo.

Although Matthew was currently only a soul king, he was barely over twenty-five years old!

Seeing that Xiao Qing remained silent, cold sweat broke out on Chang Feng's forehead, and he kept shoving Xiao Qing with his hand.

Xiao Qing ignored Chang Feng's prodding, staring straight at Matthew while silently counting in his heart: three, two, one!

A piercing wolf howl was the first to break the silence, followed immediately by tiger roars, bear bellows, and the cries of various soul beasts echoing from the direction of the creek.

Because everyone in the village was gathered at the entrance to watch the commotion, the soul beasts charged into the village in the blink of an eye, smashing open doors to scavenge for food.

"Help! Soul beasts are in the village!"

Someone shouted, snapping the stunned crowd out of their daze. They began shoving each other and running out along the main road leading from the village entrance.

Perhaps due to living near the Star Dou Forest for so long, not a single person from Clear Spring Village thought to return to their homes to retrieve their belongings.

The horses beneath Matthew and his two companions also became agitated by the stimulus of the soul beasts.

Matthew's two attendants had never encountered such a situation and struggled to control their mounts.

It took quite a while before they managed to guide their horses to Matthew's side to shield him as they retreated.

Matthew, however, calmly steered his horse to turn around, though he glanced back at Xiao Qing just before leaving.

At that moment, Xiao Qing was running toward his home, regardless of the danger.

"Is this your choice? Xiao Qing, I imagine your life ahead will be quite tumultuous!"

As a five-ring soul master, Matthew had every opportunity to grab Xiao Qing, but he didn't, because he knew this soul beast riot was definitely related to him.

Xiao Qing had answered Matthew's question with his actions, and Matthew liked that answer; he admired a life where one could make their own decisions.

However, Xiao Qing knew nothing of Matthew's thoughts; he was currently busy coating himself in a potion that would mask his scent.

After applying the potion, Xiao Qing rushed into the backyard, pushed aside the stacked firewood, lifted the wooden door hidden beneath, and jumped inside.

Once in the tunnel, Xiao Qing used the faint light from above to find a match, struck it, and lit the kerosene lamp he had taken from his cloth bag.

The tunnel was not high; if Xiao Qing stood up straight, he would be only four fingers away from hitting the ceiling.

This tunnel had been built by Xiao Qing's father so that if he weren't home and soul beasts entered the village, Xiao Qing and his mother would have a place to hide.

His father's martial soul was an Iron-Armored Pangolin, so digging a tunnel like this was naturally an easy task.

The end of the tunnel connected to a cave in the Star Dou Forest, the entrance of which was blocked by a stone his father had placed there.

That stone could not be moved from the outside, but even Xiao Qing could easily push it aside from the inside.

The tunnel was very long; according to his father, it would take him three or four hours to traverse, and it would take Xiao Qing even longer.

It was precisely because he had considered this that Xiao Qing had delayed his escape.

The result was as Xiao Qing had anticipated; by the time he reached the end of the tunnel and pushed the stone aside, the sky outside had already darkened.

Looking at the setting sun, Xiao Qing sat down on the ground, gasping for breath, realizing he had actually made it out!

"It seems no one will be coming to chase me. I'll sleep here tonight and set off tomorrow to find a safe shelter."

After steadying his breathing, Xiao Qing took two packets of medicinal powder from his cloth bag, sprinkling one near the cave entrance and the other on himself.

These two packets would ensure that Xiao Qing would not be targeted by soul beasts tonight.

After finishing all this, Xiao Qing retreated into the tunnel, ate a little something, and fell into a deep sleep against the wall.

The next day, just as dawn broke, a cold breeze blew in from the cave entrance, instantly jolting Xiao Qing awake.

Once awake, Xiao Qing grabbed a quick bite to line his stomach before gripping his blade and crawling out through the basin-sized opening.

In the morning Star Dou Forest, aside from the occasional bird call, there was only the sound of Xiao Qing's footsteps crunching on fallen leaves.

Xiao Qing scanned his surroundings vigilantly; according to his father's notes, if one exited the cave and headed left, a lake would appear after half a day's travel.

That lake was Xiao Qing's destination. He had to rely on it to survive in the Star Dou Forest; otherwise, the simple matter of finding a water source would be enough to give him a headache.

On the way to the lake, Xiao Qing did not let a single edible thing pass him by, stashing everything he found into his Cloth Bag.

The sun soon climbed directly overhead, and Xiao Qing began to feel parched.

After finding a safe spot, Xiao Qing took out a few pieces of rice cake and began to eat.

Just as Xiao Qing was eating, a faint wail drifted from the distance, causing him to instantly grow alert.

Xiao Qing put away the rice cake and gripped his long blade to observe his surroundings. At that moment, his Martial Soul suddenly pulsed, signaling a desire to emerge.

Though he did not understand why his Martial Soul was acting this way, Xiao Qing still summoned the Prism Ball.

Since the Prism Ball was showing signs of activity, Xiao Qing wanted to see what functions it might have.

The Prism Ball, once summoned, hovered above Xiao Qing's right hand, bobbing back and forth toward the direction of the wailing.

"Is there something over there attracting you?"

Xiao Qing did not hesitate; gripping his long blade, he followed the guidance of the Prism Ball and gradually crept toward the source of the wails.

As he drew closer, the wailing grew louder, and Xiao Qing realized it was the sound of a wolf.

The only thing Xiao Qing could not understand was why a wolf would be wailing in this place.