The next moment, both Soul Rings lit up at once, and then he vanished.
His presence vanished with him.
It was Ethereal Defense, Ethereal Stealth, and the Ethereal Blue Emperor Domain.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Tang Hao's lips. Then he disappeared as well, following behind Tang Liu where Tang Liu could not see him.
His Mental Power was far stronger than Tang Liu's, so naturally, Tang Liu's Ethereal Stealth could not deceive his eyes.
While concealed, Tang Liu not only used the Breath Concealment Effect of the Ethereal Blue Emperor Domain to hide his aura, but also relied on the intangible state granted by Ethereal Defense to ignore terrain and travel in a straight line.
Since neither Ethereal Defense nor Ethereal Stealth required continuous activation to remain effective, they consumed very little Soul Power. As long as Tang Liu reapplied the skills when their durations were nearly up, he could basically maintain this state indefinitely.
Nor did he need to worry about failing to find the Jade Spirit Foxes' gathering place. After all, he had the system to guide him.
In his current state, Tang Liu had already avoided who knew how many Millennium Soul Beasts, as well as quite a few Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
After several years of training, Tang Liu's Mental Power was now roughly equivalent to that of an ordinary Soul King. Unless they had mental attributes, Soul Beasts of a thousand years or less had absolutely no chance of detecting him.
Most Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts could detect his presence, but because of the Ethereal Blue Emperor Domain, those that did merely regarded him as a plant-type Soul Beast. Seeing that he had no intention of attacking, they would at most let out a warning roar.
Thus, his journey remained safe.
After running for roughly half an hour, Tang Liu finally approached the Jade Spirit Fox clan that the system said was currently closest to him.
After crossing a small hill, Tang Liu saw the Jade Spirit Fox clan he had been searching for.
In an open meadow, sunlight slanted down from the sky.
Amid the lush green grass lay several dozen foxes, ranging in size from house cats and dogs to lions and tigers. Their fur was a jade-like bluish green, even gleaming faintly beneath the sunlight, and they lounged in twos and threes, basking in the sun.
Some were dozing, some were playing around, and some were even doing that sort of thing.
All in all, it was a harmonious scene.
"Damn, these Jade Spirit Foxes are seriously good-looking. Even the little ones are ridiculously cute. Back in my old world, they'd become internet celebrities in minutes and definitely win over all the young ladies." Tang Liu moved his gaze away from the Jade Spirit Foxes engaged in indescribable activities and thought to himself.
My first time watching fox porn. I'm a little nervous.
Though these Jade Spirit Foxes were also bluish green, theirs was a lustrous, vibrant color full of life. It differed from the sickly bluish green of the Demon Eye Demon Tree, like a dead man's skin.
Besides the Jade Spirit Foxes, other Millennium and Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were scattered sparsely around the area.
Among them, Tang Liu only recognized a Millennium Wind Baboon. He had never seen the rest.
The reason he could recognize the Wind Baboon was because he had encountered a ten-year-old one in the Soul Hunting Forest. After Tang San killed it, Grandmaster had taken them up close to observe it and explained its features.
Among these Millennium and Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, the one with the strongest aura was a tiger-type Soul Beast.
Indeed, no matter where they were, big cats like tigers and lions stood at the top of the food chain.
Tang Liu remembered that there was currently a tiger-type Soul Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest that was either one hundred thousand or two hundred thousand years old. It was the one Di Tian would later kill with a Soul Beast tide after the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's sacrifice, only for Xuan Ziwen to instantly blast it apart with an all-terrain Soul Cannon platform.
Right now, it was probably still asleep. Otherwise, it might still be a few years away from reaching the one-hundred-thousand-year level.
"That is a Giant Palm White Tiger with roughly fifty thousand years of cultivation. It excels at close combat, and its weakness is the cervical spine," the system briefly explained.
"Forget all that irrelevant stuff. Hurry up and tell me which fox here is the one I need," Tang Liu urged.
The system pondered briefly before speaking. "The target required by the host has been confirmed and specially marked within the host's field of vision."
"Where is it? Where?" Tang Liu looked around, eventually finding the Jade Spirit Fox marked by the system at his one o'clock.
It was a Jade Spirit Fox about the size of a cougar.
At the moment, the area around it was fairly empty. The nearest Jade Spirit Fox was three meters away, and its distance from the combat-capable guardian Soul Beasts was even more encouraging.
More importantly, it was currently lying down asleep, completely defenseless.
Delight filled Tang Liu's face as he quietly moved closer to it.
Heaven is helping me!
Of course, before taking action, he did not forget to refresh his Soul Skills.
The combined effects of concealment and Breath Concealment were truly formidable. Tang Liu reached the Jade Spirit Fox's side without alerting a single Soul Beast.
Along the way, to avoid drawing the attention of those Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, he even shrank his domain until it only covered an area of roughly one meter around himself.
That way, any Soul Beast that detected him would only think he was a tree or a clump of Blue Silver Grass.
At the same time, he slowed down as much as possible, lest those Soul Beasts that noticed him sense a tree or clump of Blue Silver Grass sprinting through the forest and get frightened...
Finally, Tang Liu reached a position where he could touch the Jade Spirit Fox by stretching out his hand. Then he switched Martial Souls—to Hao-Lan Spell.
Four blue-black Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet, rhythmically circling his body.
Perhaps because changing Martial Souls released a trace of unusual aura, the Jade Spirit Fox slowly opened its eyes.
Seeing this, how could Tang Liu dare delay? He swiftly touched the Jade Spirit Fox's fur, and his first Soul Ring flashed.
Hao-Lan Mark successfully activated!
Almost at the same time, his second blue-black Soul Ring lit up as well.
Hao-Lan Teleport!
Blue-black light flashed, and Tang Liu and the Jade Spirit Fox vanished from where they stood.
At the same time, the surrounding Jade Spirit Foxes and guardian Soul Beasts finally noticed the anomaly. They rose to their feet or lifted their heads, staring suspiciously at the place where Tang Liu had disappeared.
Elsewhere, where Tang Hao was.
The moment Tang Liu appeared beside Tang Hao, he secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Of course, he was not slow either. Before the Jade Spirit Fox could react, he unleashed the third Soul Skill of Hao-Lan Spell—Hao-Lan Force Field.
What you're seeing now is the protagonist preparing to obtain his third Soul Ring, but what the author sees is the protagonist already heading off to compete in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament. Hahahaha, hehehe, I have no idea why, but I'm just so happy. [Three Consecutive Smirks]
PS: Now that the title is missing two words, it looks so awkward! And it doesn't even read smoothly anymore, you know!
Before you continue