Departure, Core Zone

The next morning, Qian Yuhan, who lived with an incredibly disciplined routine and had always preferred early nights and early mornings, packed his tent into his storage Soul Tool ring while the sky was still dim.

Then, he walked alone to an open area and began practicing his swordsmanship, using the Heaven-Measuring Sword—a blade that his junior descendant Qian Daoliu had spent over a century tempering—as his training weapon.

As a grandmaster-level figure of ancient swordsmanship on the Douluo Continent, Qian Yuhan's sword skills had long since reached the pinnacle; every swing and every step he took achieved a subtle, mysterious balance with everything around him.

It was only after Qian Yuhan sheathed his sword, sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes to regulate his breath that Xu Yu and the others emerged from their tents one after another.

"Young friend, good morning," Xu Yu said with a smile, greeting Qian Yuhan.

"Good morning, Senior," Qian Yuhan replied with a nod.

"Yuhan, we're about to set off. Since we're all heading to the Mixed Zone to hunt for soul rings, why not join us?" Xu Yu asked again.

"It's just a fourth soul ring; I can handle it myself, so I won't trouble you all," Qian Yuhan said with a smile, nodding at Xu Yu without any intention of rising.

Nearby, Xu Yan, who was busy devouring a large bag of dry rations, muttered in admiration: "I really couldn't tell, kid. You're so young and already on the verge of becoming a Soul Ancestor. Truly, heroes are born in youth!"

"Senior is too kind. Farewell."

With those words, Qian Yuhan cupped his hands in a formal salute, turned, and walked toward the deeper reaches of the Mixed Zone.

Such a crisp and decisive departure left the Sun-Moon Empire group, who had yet to set off, staring at each other in silence.

"He just left? This young man is quite... free-spirited," Xu Yan said, smacking his lips as he finished his rations and chuckled teasingly.

To this, the others said nothing.

They were either lost in thought or lacked the standing to speak in this situation.

The black-haired girl narrowed her eyes, watching Qian Yuhan's figure gradually disappear from view. She crossed her left hand over her chest while her right hand gently propped up her chin, lost in deep, pensive thought for a long time.

It wasn't until Xu Yan whispered a reminder: "Princess, he's already out of sight; no need to keep looking," that she snapped back to reality. She gave a thin, insincere smile and issued an order to her distant relative:

"Out of sight is fine. You follow him now and find out exactly what his background is."

"Huh??!"

Perhaps because the contrast between his little princess's previous and current behavior was too jarring, Xu Yan lowered his head in shock, asking in confusion: "Princess, are you talking to me?"

"Who else?" The princess dropped her smile and looked up. The expression that had previously made it so easy for others to lower their guard—the one that might lead people to mistakenly judge her as a naive girl—had vanished completely.

In its place was the calculating nature ingrained in the bones of a royal:

"The soul rings Xiao Yun and I are hunting aren't high-level; a Level 8 Soul Engineer like Xu Yu can handle it."

"As for you, your task is to follow him. It would be best if you could lend him a hand when he hunts his soul ring. If he asks... just say you were worried about his safety and decided to help out. Then, build a good relationship with him and see if you can pry some secrets out of him."

"You don't need this Princess to teach you how to do the rest, do you!"

"..."

Hearing this, Xu Yan instinctively blinked his comical peach-blossom eyes. He scratched his head and stammered:

"Princess... maybe you should teach me. I, Xu Yan, am a straightforward person. If you don't explain it in detail, I might end up getting played by that kid instead..."

"Hiss..." The princess bit her lower lip gently and took several deep breaths.

Judging by the throbbing veins on her forehead, she really wanted to hit someone.

But... considering that this big oaf was also a member of the royal clan, the repercussions of acting rashly would be poor, so she could only suppress the fire in her belly.

"After you pry some background out of him, go and investigate him thoroughly for this Princess. If there are no issues, invite him to visit the Sun-Moon Empire. If there are..."

The princess slowly closed her eyes and said with a hint of regret: "Then tell me. I will have the Emperor continue to dig along the clues to see if we can use other means to pull him to our side."

"Understood."

Before the words had even faded, Xu Yan's figure flashed and vanished from the princess's side. The next instant, he appeared in the sky hundreds of meters away.

After Xu Yan left, Xu Yu, who had been standing by and watching his princess issue orders without saying a word, slowly stepped forward and whispered: "Princess, is it a bit too rash to leave such delicate work as building a relationship to Xu Yan?"

"Rash? I don't think it's rash at all." The princess gave Xu Yu a meaningful look and teased: "Don't let his boorish, reckless appearance fool you. In reality, Xu Yan hides his little schemes very deeply."

"Since you have a plan, then this subject is relieved."

After saying this, Xu Yu looked at the bright sky in the distance and said: "The weather is nice today, it's time for us to set off. I hope... everything goes smoothly."

"Yuhan, tell me, which direction should we head in to find a high-quality, ten-thousand-year soul beast that matches your first martial soul?"

"If you ask me, those light-attribute soul beasts with divine bloodlines are becoming rarer by the day. It's unlikely we'll encounter one in the Mixed Zone."

"I'm afraid we'll have to head deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest."

"How about it? Should we go to the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest and take a look?"

The Rakshasa Phantom remained as restless as ever, circling Qian Yuhan without a moment's pause.

Fortunately, the mental cultivation Qian Yuhan had practiced over the past few years was truly effective; not only did he refrain from interrupting the other's nonsense from start to finish, but he even expressed approval and affirmation for the few constructive suggestions the Rakshasa Phantom offered.

After walking for another three-quarters of an hour, the Rakshasa Phantom grew annoyed. It flew impatiently to Qian Yuhan's side and complained:

"Qian, are we going to the core area or not? Give me a straight answer. What kind of good stuff could there possibly be in the Mixed Zone?"

"Go to the core area, just the two of us?", Qian Yuhan glanced at the Rakshasa Phantom with a complex expression, unable to help but ask:

"Rakshasa, is your mind... clear?"

"Of course it's clear. Good soul beasts live in the core area; isn't that common knowledge?"

"But at least look at our current capabilities!", Qian Yuhan rubbed his aching temples in frustration, spread his hands, and said:

"Right now, we are a four-ringed reincarnation of a god's remnant soul and a three-ringed semi-corporeal martial soul. Even with a divine artifact in our possession, if we run into a five-thousand-year soul beast that's hard to deal with, we'll still have to fight and retreat."