Early the next morning, Qin Yao led Qian Renxue deeper into the mixed zone.
Yesterday's battle with that forty-eight-thousand-year Green-Eyed Golden Eagle had shown him where his limits lay. He could take two or three hits from a fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast, but it drained him too quickly. He needed to fight smarter.
Today's goal was clear: find a Soul Beast over fifty thousand years old.
Qian Renxue had no objections. She had just broken through to Soul Emperor, and she hadn't yet used her sixth Soul Skill, Angel's Roar, in a real battle. This was the perfect chance to test it against a worthy opponent.
They followed a dried-up streambed east for about three li. Suddenly, Qin Yao stopped and raised a hand to signal Qian Renxue not to move.
Among a stand of fallen trees ahead, a massive, dark-green python coiled atop a pile of rubble. Its body was as thick as a water vat, and its scales reflected a dull, metallic sheen in the morning light.
Its head was triangular, with a diamond-shaped, dark-red marking on its crown.
"Green-Patterned Python King," Qian Renxue murmured. "At least fifty-three thousand years old."
Qin Yao nodded.
A Soul Beast of this age was probably on the level of a Soul Saint, but Soul Beasts had stronger defenses. It was just what he needed to hone himself against.
"Do you want to go first, or should I?" Qin Yao asked.
"You go first." Qian Renxue took two steps back. "I'll watch from the side. If you can't hold out, I'll take over."
Qin Yao nodded. His first Soul Skill, Amethyst Lion King Body, activated in an instant.
He deliberately crushed a stone beneath his foot. The crunch startled the Green-Patterned Python King.
The giant serpent raised its head, its vertical pupils fixed on Qin Yao. A foul-smelling hiss of air spilled from its mouth.
Without a word, Qin Yao activated his third Soul Skill, Lion King's Might, and boosted all his attributes to their peak.
The Green-Patterned Python King fought in a completely different way from the eagle.
It didn't rely on speed. It relied on crushing constriction and clouds of poison.
When its tail swept across, the nearby tree trunks snapped in unison like stalks of wheat.
Qin Yao dodged the blow and closed in, unleashing a Lion's Fang at point-blank range.
A purple-flamed lion's head slammed into the Green-Patterned Python King's abdomen. A patch of scales burst apart, exposing charred, torn flesh, but the wound wasn't deep.
A fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast had far stronger defenses than a Soul Master.
The Green-Patterned Python King recoiled in pain, its whole body suddenly coiling tight. Its head snapped toward Qin Yao, and it lunged to bite him.
Qin Yao activated Amethyst Body Protection and crossed his arms in front of him.
The serpent's fangs struck his Amethyst Armor with a dull thud, driving him back seven or eight meters.
Two clear fang marks dented the armor, but it hadn't been pierced.
"Damn, this Green-Patterned Python King is strong." Qin Yao shook out his numb arms and steadied his breathing.
He changed tactics, no longer meeting the Green-Patterned Python King head-on. Instead, he kept his distance and wore it down with Lion's Fang, watching for a weak spot.
After about ten minutes, Qin Yao spotted a pattern. Whenever the Green-Patterned Python King tried to constrict him, the scales three feet below its neck briefly flared open. That was its weakness.
He seized an opening and charged Amethyst World-Destroying Claw to its limit, tearing through that vulnerable patch.
The Green-Patterned Python King thrashed wildly, gaping its jaws to spew a cloud of dark-green poison.
Qin Yao quickly fell back. Qian Renxue stepped in at that moment.
Her fifth Soul Skill, Holy Sword, descended from the sky. Golden holy light cleaved through the poison cloud and struck the Green-Patterned Python King's head.
The blow didn't kill it, but the python was clearly badly wounded. It began fleeing into the depths of the forest.
Neither Qian Renxue nor Qin Yao had fought at full strength, and neither pursued it.
After all, they had agreed this was training, not a Soul Beast hunt. Otherwise, any Soul Ring it dropped would go to waste.
Qin Yao sat down, panting. The fight had consumed nearly seventy percent of his Soul Power, and more than half the armor from Amethyst Body Protection had broken away, but he hadn't suffered any real injuries.
After Ice and Fire Body Tempering, Qin Yao was immune to all poisons. The Green-Patterned Python King's venom was no threat to him.
Qian Renxue came over and crouched to check him for injuries. After examining him, she looked even more astonished. Qin Yao wasn't hurt at all; he had only spent some Soul Power.
"Xiao Yao, your physique and defensive Soul Skill are ridiculously strong. You took several hits from the Green-Patterned Python King and weren't even injured?"
Qin Yao smiled. "Xue'er, I have a mutated Beast Martial Soul. I'm tough as nails and have strong defenses."
Watching Qin Yao speak so casually, Qian Renxue grew even more curious about his true strength. He still hadn't used his domain, or the skill of his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
If he fought at full strength, just how powerful would he be?
Over the next three days, they fought two or three battles almost every day.
Their opponents ranged from fifty to sixty thousand years old. A sixty-nine-thousand-year Iron-Armored Rhinoceros nearly sent Qin Yao crashing into a cliff wall.
That time, Qian Renxue drove the rhinoceros back with Angel's Roar, and Qin Yao managed to crawl out from the rubble, looking as if he'd been dredged up from the mud.
Qian Renxue stood nearby, watching him in such a sorry state. She said nothing, but her eyes were unmistakably amused.
Qin Yao brushed the stone chips off himself. "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm not laughing."
"You clearly are."
"I'm not." Qian Renxue turned away, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Qin Yao couldn't be bothered to argue. He dropped to the ground and began circulating his power to recover.
But truthfully, he was pretty happy.
Qian Renxue usually showed only her cool, decisive, deeply calculating side.
She had started infiltrating the Heaven Dou Empire at nine, navigating a palace full of sly old foxes. Anyone who spent long enough in that environment would grow wary and suspicious.
But over these past few days in the Star Dou Great Forest, she had clearly relaxed.
She would lift her chin a little after winning against a sixty-thousand-year Soul Beast. When he was hurt, she would come over, press his wound, and ask if it hurt. And sometimes, she would even tease him.
This was how a woman in her early twenties ought to be.
Qin Yao had lived for more than twenty years in his previous life. In terms of experience and emotional maturity, he was actually about the same age as Qian Renxue.
He knew perfectly well why Qian Renxue was willing to let her guard down around him. He had done something no one else had ever done...
Qin Yao had seen what she truly wanted and hadn't used that knowledge to control her. Instead, he had chosen to stand by her side.
Once established, that kind of trust was stronger than any bond forged by mutual interest.
On the evening of the third day, after the two of them defeated a sixty-eight-thousand-year Storm Hawk, Qian Renxue was nearly out of Soul Power. She sat by the stream, meditating to recover.
Qin Yao stood guard nearby while preparing an ordinary wild rabbit they had caught that day.
He propped two thick branches into a simple roasting rack, used Purple Fire to control the temperature precisely, and slowly roasted the cleaned rabbit on top.
He'd lived alone for several years in his previous life. He wasn't much of a cook, but he could at least roast meat until it was cooked through and fragrant.
Since coming to this world, he'd found Purple Fire much more convenient than a stove. He could turn the heat high or low at will, controlling it down to the last inch.
The rabbit's skin slowly turned golden. Fat dripped into the flames with a sizzle, and the aroma of roasted meat drifted on the breeze.
Qian Renxue was meditating when her nose twitched.
She opened one eye and saw Qin Yao crouched by the fire, solemnly sprinkling something over the rabbit.
"What are you doing?"
"Roasting a rabbit." Qin Yao didn't even look up. "You're hungry, right? Just wait a little longer."
Qian Renxue opened both eyes. She was hungry, all right. For the past few days in the forest, they'd been eating nothing but rations—hard biscuits and water. They filled her stomach, but they were utterly tasteless.
"You know how to roast meat?"
"A little."
Qian Renxue stopped meditating and went to sit by the fire.
She stared at the rabbit on the rack for a while. Its skin had crisped up and gleamed with oil. The powder Qin Yao had sprinkled over it was salt and some unknown spices he'd taken from the Ruyi Treasure Pouch.
"Where did you get the seasonings?"
"I had Dugu Yan prepare them before we left." Qin Yao turned the rabbit over. "How are we supposed to last a few days in the wilderness without something good to eat?"
Qian Renxue said nothing more and waited quietly.
A few minutes later, Qin Yao took the roasted rabbit off the rack and handed it to her on a broad leaf.
Qian Renxue accepted it, hesitated, then tore off a small piece and put it in her mouth.
After that, she couldn't stop eating.
Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, seasoned just right. The juices burst between her teeth. It was nothing like the exquisite dishes she ate at the Crown Prince's Residence. This rough-and-ready roast had the fresh, savory taste unique to the wilderness.
When Qin Yao saw how quickly she was eating, he roasted another one.
Qian Renxue finished half the rabbit before finally stopping, oil on her fingers. "Did you roast things often before?"
"Once in a while." Qin Yao gnawed on his own rabbit leg. "Next time, I'll roast you some fish. There are plenty in the stream."
Qian Renxue nodded.
She didn't say anything, but the next morning, she went to the stream of her own accord, caught three fish, and brought them to Qin Yao.
Qin Yao looked at the fish flopping on the ground, then at Qian Renxue's calm expression, and couldn't help laughing.
The young lady of Spirit Hall herself had gone down to the stream to catch fish.
All so he could roast them for her.
Qin Yao didn't say anything. He dutifully cleaned the fish, wrapped them in mud, and buried them in the fire to roast.
Up in the treetops, Qin Xiong watched the scene, his expression a picture.
He'd followed Qin Yao the whole way. Every day, after fighting Soul Beasts, the kid turned into a cook and came up with new things to make for Qian Renxue: roast rabbit, mud-roasted fish, mushroom soup, and even a sweet soup made from stream water and wild fruit.
Qian Renxue cleaned her plate every time.
The two of them were starting to look more and more like a married couple.
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