Reunion with Xiao Yulü (Seeking Follow-ups, Meow)

"Xiao Yulü, if you aren't dead yet, give me a shout!"

Xiao Yan shouted aloud. Xiao Yulü felt a surge of joy and hurriedly responded to Xiao Yan's call.

"Xiao Yan!"

Reuniting with a lost companion is usually a good thing, but Xiao Yulü overlooked one critical issue.

That was the fact that he was still surrounded by a pack of wolves.

When he responded to Xiao Yan, his focus and defenses faltered. The prowling wolf beasts seized the opportunity, lunging forward with claws tearing through the air, aiming straight for his back.

"Watch out!"

Tang Ya and Beibei arrived just in time to witness the scene, but due to the distance, they were completely unable to intervene in time.

Rip—

Xiao Yulü only felt a malicious wind at his back. Realizing something was wrong, he tried to twist his body to defend, but he failed to do so in time.

In the next instant, his already tattered clothes were shredded further. A bloodstain deep enough to reveal bone extended from his shoulder blade down to his waist, and blood soaked half his body almost instantly.

"Little Fire Dragon, Blazing Sun Domain!"

Xiao Yulü let out a muffled groan, nearly knocked unconscious by the blow, and could only rely on his giant ruler to barely support himself. Just as the surrounding wolves circled him with predatory intent, at this critical juncture, a wave of heat enveloped him.

Hum!

A scorching heatwave centered on Little Fire Dragon erupted outward, instantly shrouding the ten-meter battlefield. Within this heat, the air seemed to ignite, and even the light appeared slightly distorted.

The pack of wolves, just about to pounce on Xiao Yulü, froze in unison, and soon after, wisps of blue smoke began to rise from their bodies.

When Xiao Yan had called out to Xiao Yulü, he had already summoned his martial soul, Little Fire Dragon, and sent it to provide support.

At this moment, Little Fire Dragon had already sprinted to Xiao Yulü's side and activated its first soul skill, Blazing Sun Domain.

To protect the severely injured Xiao Yulü, Xiao Yan even activated the soul-power-draining Scorching Land, igniting the weaker wolf beasts within the domain while the stronger ones suffered the relentless baptism of the heatwave.

Fearing the power of the blazing sun, the wolf beasts no longer dared to approach, and the situation was temporarily stalemated.

However, Xiao Yan, Beibei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao—who was following behind despite having exhausted his soul power and mental strength—were not suppressed and were rapidly rushing over to support Xiao Yulü.

"Little Fire Dragon, Dragon Breath!"

Seeing they were about to reach Xiao Yulü's side, Xiao Yan immediately shouted, ordering Little Fire Dragon to use Dragon Breath to carve out an opening. The golden little creature took a deep breath and then spewed out a large mouthful of purple breath.

Beibei's eyes widened sharply. There was no doubt that what Little Fire Dragon spat out was true Dragon Breath, which meant it was indeed a dragon-type creature. Then, which branch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan did this Xiao Yan come from to possess such a mutated martial soul?

"Brother Bei, those three on the left are yours!"

Xiao Yan's timely reminder snapped the distracted Beibei back to reality. He responded instantly, striking out with a Thunder Dragon Claw.

Under the amplification of the Blazing Sun Domain, the electric light on the dragon claw was nearly fifty percent thicker than usual. With one strike, he electrocuted a three-to-four-hundred-year-old wolf beast until it was charred black, foaming at the mouth, and completely incapacitated.

"This..."

Beibei felt the speed of his soul power circulation suddenly increase, and his overall strength had received a significant boost. He couldn't help but marvel once again at the monstrous nature of Xiao Yan's first soul skill.

Xiao Yulü also seized this moment of respite, took a deep breath, and poured the remaining soul power in his body into the Flame Splitting Wave Devouring Ruler in his hand.

The flames on the giant ruler burned even more fiercely under the influence of the scorching environment, and the blade itself took on a crimson hue.

"First soul skill, Thousand Jun Momentum!"

With an angry roar, he swung the ruler backhand, smashing a soul wolf that tried to sneak an attack from the side. Its bones shattered, and it flew over ten meters away, landing without a sound.

The moment the domain was deployed, the battle turned into a one-sided affair.

The remaining soul wolves saw the situation was dire, let out a whimper of frustration, tucked their tails between their legs, and fled in terror, disappearing into the depths of the dense forest in the blink of an eye.

As his tense nerves relaxed, Xiao Yulü could no longer hold on. With a thud, he leaned on his giant ruler and knelt halfway, gasping for air.

Xiao Yan stepped forward slowly, fished an Essence Replenishment Pill from his robes, and handed it over: "Eat this first."

Xiao Yulü did not stand on ceremony, taking the pill and tossing it into his mouth. The pill melted upon contact, turning into a gentle medicinal force that nourished his parched meridians.

Xiao Yan's gaze, however, did not linger on his wounds, but fell upon the yellow soul ring slowly pulsing around him.

It seems that even though the escorts were wiped out, Young Master Xiao Yulü still managed to hunt his first soul ring on his own.

Seeing Xiao Yan staring at his soul ring, Xiao Yulü smiled bitterly and raised his head:

"It's a long story."

He allowed the medicinal power of the pill to disperse, and after a moment, his soul power recovered and his complexion improved significantly, at which point he began to recount his experiences.

It turned out that after being scattered by the giant waves of the Kan-Water Profound Turtle that day, he had also lost consciousness and was swept away by the current to an unknown location.

When he woke up, he found himself lying on a riverbank, covered in wounds, and not far from him lay a soul beast that had also been knocked unconscious by the giant waves—a five-hundred-year-old Scorched Earth Lizard.

To gain the strength to protect himself and find others in the perilous Star Dou Forest, he made a crazy decision.

In his severely weakened state, he used every ounce of his strength to kill the equally injured Scorched Earth Lizard, and then, risking the danger of his body exploding, he forcibly absorbed the five-hundred-year soul ring that far exceeded his physical limits at the time.

"At that moment, I only thought about surviving, finding Xiao Yan, and returning alive together. I had no other choice."

"Back then, I thought I was a dead man, but I never expected to actually pull through in the end."

Xiao Yulü's voice was very calm, but everyone present could hear the mortal danger hidden within those words.

Forcibly absorbing a spirit ring while severely injured to restore one's state, especially an over-limit spirit ring, was no different from walking a tightrope over a cliff.

One wrong step, and it would mean being smashed to pieces.

But, he had endured it.

"What is your first spirit skill?"

Xiao Yan asked curiously.

Xiao Yulü nodded, stood up, and activated his spirit ring. As the yellow halo flashed with light, the Flame Splitting Wave Devouring Ruler in his hand suddenly sank downward!

"Thud!"

With a muffled sound, the hard ground was actually smashed into a shallow pit by the ruler's body.

"My first spirit skill is called [Thousand Jun Momentum],"

Xiao Yulü explained.

"The effect is very simple: it can significantly increase the weight of this ruler of mine, making every attack heavy and powerful. After absorbing this spirit ring, my spirit power also broke through to level twelve."

Huo Yuhao, standing to the side, felt his eyelids twitch.

He looked at Xiao Yan, then at Xiao Yulü, his heart churning like a stormy sea.

These two... were they monsters?

One was nine years old, his first spirit ring was a purple thousand-year level, and it even came with such a perverted domain skill.

The other was also nine years old, relying on the obsession to find his friend, he had forcibly absorbed a spirit ring he shouldn't have been able to absorb while severely injured.

Compared to them, he, a contestant possessing a million-year spirit ring, seemed... not so special after all?