Porcupinefish Douluo froze, his fleshy brows instantly knotting together as he looked at him in disbelief.
"Reckless Man, are you sure you didn't sense it wrong? This is the inner region of Star Dou Forest, where ten-thousand-year soul beasts roam everywhere. That kid is only a Soul Grandmaster. How could he possibly come to a place like this alone?"
"Believe it or not."
Snake Lance Douluo could not be bothered to argue with him. His curiosity had long become unbearable, and his figure turned into an afterimage before vanishing into the dense forest.
A sharp gleam flashed through Qian Renxue's gilded eyes, and she did not hesitate in the slightest.
The golden Angel wings behind her abruptly spread open, carrying a faint holy radiance as she tore through the air after Snake Lance Douluo.
She had personally experienced Soul Recovery Pavilion's almost heaven-defying Soul Power recovery speed. If this child's martial soul talent truly was as terrifying as that, then no matter what, she had to bring him under her command.
Meanwhile,
"Awoo!"
Seeing Lin Feng trip over an outstretched branch and slow for half a breath, the Ghost-Faced Beast Monkey immediately let out two excited shrieks.
Its muscular arm swung hard on a vine, launching its entire body like a cannonball. Its sandbag-sized fist smashed viciously toward Lin Feng's back.
"Bang!"
Before the fist even arrived, its fierce wind had already pressed down on him, making Lin Feng's robes flap wildly as every hair on his body stood on end.
He had no time to dodge completely. He could only whirl around, cross his arms tightly before his chest, and activate Thornmail's active skill at once.
"Thorn!"
He had even prepared for the worst-case scenario of instantly switching to Resurrection Armor.
"Crack!"
The crisp sound of overloaded bones rang out. The agonizing pain in his arms brought cold sweat to Lin Feng's forehead, and he could not help letting out a muffled groan.
Without pausing for even a moment, he borrowed the tremendous force of the punch to send himself flying backward like a kite with its string cut. He kicked hard off a tree trunk, turned around, and continued fleeing desperately into the depths of the forest.
The entire sequence flowed smoothly, without the slightest wasted movement.
"Awoo! Awoo!"
Seeing such a tiny human actually take one of its full-force punches head-on, the Ghost-Faced Beast Monkey found it incredibly novel and excitedly beat its chest as it shrieked twice.
Watching Lin Feng run farther away again, it was just about to swing after him on the vines when it could not help lowering its head to touch its muscular chest. A trace of confusion flashed through its vertical pupils.
Strange. It had clearly been the one to hit him, so why did its chest feel as though it were being pricked by needles?
This entire scene was witnessed by Qian Renxue and the other two, who had quietly arrived and concealed themselves in the shadows of the treetops.
The small figure sprinting through the woods had a childish face and could not have been more than nine years old.
Then, after seeing the familiar azure halo around him, the three instantly confirmed his identity.
He was the mysterious soul master hidden on the second floor of Soul Recovery Pavilion, the secret of Soul Recovery Pavilion who had never shown himself.
Snake Lance Douluo could not help sucking in a cold breath, his lowered voice filled with shock.
"An eight-year-old Support System Soul Grandmaster... This kid is a peerless genius seen only once in a century."
Porcupinefish Douluo, meanwhile, was astonished by Lin Feng's calm response to danger. His face was full of admiration as he said "good" three times in a row.
"What a composed little fellow. Ambushed at close range by a thousand-year soul beast, he not only didn't panic, but even used the force of its punch to escape. That level of composure and adaptability is not something an eight-year-old should possess."
Only Qian Renxue kept her eyes fixed on Lin Feng.
Besides the familiar azure halo, she had also noticed the ring around Lin Feng that she had never seen before, one suffused with blazing red light.
A gleam flashed through her gilded eyes, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curved upward.
"The blue halo grants terrifying Soul Power recovery. Then what does this red halo represent?"
Her indifferent tone carried both curiosity and interest.
Watching the tiny figure race through the forest, refusing to break down even while trapped in a desperate situation, the interest in her heart grew deeper. She murmured softly.
"Little fellow, let me see just how many secrets you're hiding."
Three hours later,
Qian Renxue and the other two hid within the crisscrossing shadows of the canopy. They had followed Lin Feng's frantic flight for three full hours, and the surprise on their faces had long since vanished, leaving only numbness after repeated shocks.
Absurd. Utterly absurd.
They had watched that eight-year-old child flee for three entire hours while a thousand-year Ghost-Faced Beast Monkey relentlessly pursued him.
No one knew how many times the first soul ring on his body had lit up. Each time its radiance circulated, the azure halo surrounding him condensed anew, instantly restoring his slightly depleted Soul Power to its peak.
This was simply not something a normal Support System soul master could do!
Support System soul masters were inherently weak in Soul Power endurance and poor at sustained combat, but on Lin Feng, that azure halo had formed a perfect endless loop.
Whenever his Soul Power was consumed, it was immediately restored. Whenever his soul skill entered cooldown, it was instantly refreshed. Forget three hours—even if he kept running for three days and three nights, his Soul Power would never run dry.
What shook them even more was the configuration of Lin Feng's soul rings.
Those two glaring rings, one yellow and one purple—the second ring was unmistakably a genuine thousand-year purple soul ring!
He was like a treasure trove that could never be fully excavated. Whenever one thought they had seen all his trump cards, he would deliver another surprise the next moment that overturned everything they knew.
The teasing look on Porcupinefish Douluo's face had long since disappeared, replaced by unprecedented seriousness and solemnity as he said word by word,
"This child's temperament, talent, and mind are all exceptional. At the very least, his future achievements will begin at Rank 94 Title Douluo."
Snake Lance Douluo, beside him, rarely offered no rebuttal. He stared at the small figure stumbling through the forest yet never stopping, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration.
"His arm bones are fractured, yet he endured that piercing pain and kept going for three hours under the pursuit of a thousand-year soul beast. That willpower is terrifying."
"Young Master, this kid's martial soul talent is too heaven-defying. If he can support you in the future, he alone could rival an army of thousands."
As he spoke, Snake Lance Douluo looked at Lin Feng, whose breathing had gradually become ragged in the forest but who still gritted his teeth and held on. He could not help smiling.
"Come to think of it, trying to recruit such a proud peerless genius under normal circumstances would probably be harder than ascending to heaven."
"But now, heaven has given us the perfect opportunity."
Qian Renxue had remained silent the entire time, her gilded phoenix eyes never leaving Lin Feng.
Watching this child, whose body was already nearing its limit, whose little face was deathly pale yet whose gaze remained clear and calm, the desire to conquer in her heart spread wildly like wildfire.
She had been born as the Angel God's inheritor, standing at the pinnacle of talent on the continent, and she had seen countless brilliant prodigies.
Yet never before had anyone made her feel such a powerful urge to hold them firmly in the palm of her hand like this child before her.
Nothing delighted her more than conquering a peerless genius destined to astonish the continent.
Her gaze fell upon the purple thousand-year soul ring beneath Lin Feng's feet, and her red lips parted slightly.
"I truly want to know how you managed to absorb a thousand-year soul ring as your second ring..."
"Even I, back then, couldn't accomplish something like that."
Before you continue