Reuniting with Xiao Yulü

"Xiao Yulü, if you're not dead, answer me!"

Xiao Yan shouted. Xiao Yulü was overjoyed and hurriedly answered his call.

"Xiao Yan!"

Reuniting with a companion they had been separated from was a good thing, but Xiao Yulü had overlooked one crucial problem.

He was still surrounded by a pack of wolves.

As he answered Xiao Yan, his focus wavered, and his guard dropped. The wolf that had been circling him seized its chance and lunged forward, claws slicing through the air as it struck at his back.

"Look out!"

Tang Ya and Beibei arrived just in time to witness the scene, but they were too far away to make it in time.

Riiip—

Xiao Yulü felt a malicious gust behind him. Realizing something was wrong, he hurriedly twisted around to defend himself, but he was too late.

In the next moment, his already-tattered clothes were torn apart once more. A gash deep enough to expose bone stretched from his shoulder blade down to his waist, and nearly half his body was drenched in blood in an instant.

"Little Fire Dragon, Blazing Sun Domain!"

Xiao Yulü groaned. He had nearly been knocked unconscious by that blow and could only lean on his Giant Ruler for support. Just as the wolves surrounded him, watching him like tigers eyeing their prey, and disaster seemed imminent, a wave of heat enveloped him.

Whoosh!

Scorching heat waves erupted from Little Fire Dragon, spreading outward and engulfing the entire battlefield within a ten-meter radius. The air within their reach seemed to catch fire, and even the light bent ever so slightly.

The wolves, which had been about to pounce on Xiao Yulü, all froze. Wisps of smoke began to rise from their bodies.

As soon as Xiao Yan had called out to Xiao Yulü, he had summoned his Martial Soul, Little Fire Dragon, and sent it to help.

Now, Little Fire Dragon had raced to Xiao Yulü's side and activated its First Soul Skill, Blazing Sun Domain.

To protect the badly wounded Xiao Yulü, Xiao Yan had even activated Scorching Land, which continuously consumed Soul Power. The weaker wolves within the domain caught fire, while the stronger ones were ceaselessly scorched by the heat waves.

Fearing the might of the Blazing Sun, the wolves no longer dared approach, and the situation was held in a stalemate for the moment.

But Xiao Yan, Beibei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao, who had run out of Soul Power and spiritual power but was still trailing behind them, were not held back. They were racing to Xiao Yulü's aid.

"Little Fire Dragon, Dragon Breath!"

Seeing that they were almost at Xiao Yulü's side, Xiao Yan immediately shouted, ordering Little Fire Dragon to use Dragon Breath to break through the encirclement. The little golden fellow drew in a huge breath, then exhaled a great plume of purple breath.

Beibei's eyes widened. There was no doubt about it: Little Fire Dragon had breathed actual Dragon Breath, proving it really was a dragon. So which branch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan did Xiao Yan belong to, and what kind of Mutated Martial Soul did he have?

"Big Brother Bei, leave those three on the left to you!"

Xiao Yan called out in time, snapping Beibei out of his daze. Beibei sprang into action, striking out with Thunder Dragon Claw.

Boosted by the Blazing Sun Domain, the lightning around his claw was nearly half again as thick as usual. One strike electrified a wolf with three or four hundred years of cultivation until it was charred black and foaming at the mouth, completely stripping it of its ability to fight.

"This..."

Beibei felt the Soul Power in his body circulate several times faster, and his strength had received a considerable boost. He couldn't help marveling once again at how absurdly powerful Xiao Yan's First Soul Skill was.

Xiao Yulü seized this chance to catch his breath. He drew in a deep breath and poured all the Soul Power he had left into the Flame Splitting Wave Devouring Ruler in his hand.

Fueled by the scorching environment, the flames on the Giant Ruler burned more fiercely, and its surface took on a crimson hue.

"First Soul Skill, Thousand Jun Momentum!"

With a furious shout, he swung the ruler backward, smashing a Soul Wolf that had tried to sneak up on him from the side. Its bones shattered as it flew more than ten meters before hitting the ground, lifeless.

The instant the domain unfolded, the battle turned overwhelmingly in their favor.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the few remaining Soul Wolves let out a series of unwilling whimpers, tucked their tails between their legs, and fled in terror, vanishing into the depths of the forest in the blink of an eye.

Once the tension left his body, Xiao Yulü could no longer hold on. With a thud, he planted the Giant Ruler on the ground and dropped to one knee, panting heavily.

Only then did Xiao Yan walk over. He pulled an Essence Replenishment Pill from his robes and held it out. "Eat this first."

Xiao Yulü didn't stand on ceremony. He took the pill and tossed it straight into his mouth. It melted instantly, its gentle medicinal power nourishing his parched meridians.

But Xiao Yan's gaze didn't linger on his wound. Instead, it settled on the yellow Soul Ring slowly pulsing around him.

It seemed that although his escorts had botched the job, Young Master Xiao Yulü had still obtained his First Soul Ring on his own.

Noticing Xiao Yan staring at his Soul Ring, Xiao Yulü raised his head with a wry smile.

"It's a long story."

He circulated the medicinal power of the pill. A short while later, his Soul Power recovered, and he looked much better. Only then did he slowly recount what had happened.

It turned out that after the giant wave from the Kan-Water Profound Turtle swept him away that day, he had also passed out and been carried by the current to who knew where.

When he woke up, he found himself lying on a riverbank, covered in injuries. Not far from him lay a Soul Beast that had also been knocked unconscious by the wave—a Scorched Earth Lizard with five hundred years of cultivation.

To gain the strength to protect himself and search for his companions in the perilous Star Dou Forest, he had made a desperate decision.

In terrible condition, he had given everything he had to kill the equally grievously wounded Scorched Earth Lizard. Then, risking death from an explosive backlash, he had forcibly absorbed its five-hundred-year Soul Ring, which far exceeded what his body could endure at the time.

"Back then, all I could think about was staying alive, finding Xiao Yan, and making it back home together. I had no other choice."

"I thought I was done for, but somehow I managed to pull through."

Xiao Yulü's voice was calm, but everyone there could hear how perilous it had been.

Forcibly absorbing a Soul Ring while badly wounded, and one that exceeded the age limit at that—that was no different from walking a tightrope over a cliff.

One wrong step, and he would have been smashed to pieces.

But he had made it through.

"What's your First Soul Skill?"

Xiao Yan asked curiously.

Xiao Yulü nodded, stood up, and activated his Soul Ring. The yellow halo flashed, and the Flame Splitting Wave Devouring Ruler in his hand suddenly sank downward!

"Thud!"

With a muffled boom, the hard ground was struck into a shallow crater by the ruler.

"My First Soul Skill is called Thousand Jun Momentum,"

Xiao Yulü explained.

"The effect is simple: it greatly increases the weight of this ruler, making every strike powerful and heavy. After absorbing the Soul Ring, my Soul Power also broke through to level twelve."

Huo Yuhao, standing nearby, listened with twitching eyelids.

He looked at Xiao Yan, then at Xiao Yulü, his thoughts churning like a storm.

Were these two... monsters?

One was nine years old, with a thousand-year purple First Soul Ring and an absurdly powerful domain skill.

The other was also nine, and through sheer determination to find his friend, had absorbed a Soul Ring far beyond what he should have been capable of absorbing while grievously wounded.

Compared with them, he, the one with a Million-Year Soul Ring, didn't seem... all that special anymore?