Everyone Step Back, Watch Me Walk My Bird

At the southern foothills of the Sunset Forest, before a steep, grey-white cliff.

"ROAR--!"

A violent, thunderous roar erupted from a massive cave high up on the cliff face.

Immediately following, a colossal cyan hurricane surged out from the cave, slamming heavily into the clearing before the cliff.

The ground trembled violently as dust and debris billowed into the air.

As the dust settled, a terrifying giant beast with a massive frame covered in cyan-gold scales appeared before everyone's eyes.

It was over eight meters long, with a pair of broad, fleshy wings sprouting from its back. Its thick hind legs resembled two pillars supporting the sky, its sharp claws dug deep into the rock.

On its hideous, sub-dragon head, a pair of inverted, dark-gold vertical pupils stared fixedly at these uninvited guests, while two visible streams of sharp air hissed from its nostrils.

This was a top-tier wind-attribute sub-dragon species—a five-thousand-year-level Wind-Breath Dragon!

The moment this behemoth appeared, a terrifying dragon's might, mixed with the violent, murderous aura of a five-thousand-year soul beast, rushed toward them like a tsunami.

The warhorses of the Royal Knights stationed a mile behind began to stir restlessly, while Xue Lang and Gao Nianzhen, standing at the very front, turned pale.

Even though Gao Nianzhen was a Soul Saint, she could still feel the bone-deep oppression when facing such a noble-blooded sub-dragon.

"What terrifying pressure! This is definitely a top-grade Wind-Breath Dragon approaching five thousand five hundred years!"

Feng Cang's expression was grave to the extreme; his face, which usually looked somewhat comical due to his plumpness, was now filled with a murderous aura.

Without hesitation, he stepped forward, shielding Xue Yao.

"Martial Soul Possession!"

Feng Cang let out a low shout, and the formidable aura of an eighty-second-level Soul Douluo erupted instantly.

Cyan gales gathered around him as two yellow, three purple, and three black—eight dazzling soul rings in total—rose from beneath his feet.

"Young Master Yao, this beast is too ferocious. Let this old man go up first to dismantle its wings and beat it half-dead; then you can deliver the final blow!"

As Feng Cang spoke, his arms had already transformed into cyan wings, ready to charge in for a head-on confrontation.

"Wait."

A fair, slender hand rested gently on Feng Cang's shoulder.

Feng Cang froze for a moment, only to see Xue Yao walking past him with measured, unhurried steps.

Xue Yao looked at the Wind-Breath Dragon ahead, which was radiating violent, cutting currents of air, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

There was not a trace of fear in his eyes; instead, they held a hint of playfulness.

He raised his right hand and gave a light wave to the group behind him who were ready to provide support at any moment.

"Please, everyone, fall back and hold the line," Xue Yao's voice carried clearly through the silent forest. "I will handle this big guy myself."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The entire scene fell into a deathly silence.

Feng Cang remained in his Martial Soul Possession stance, stunned in place. Behind him, Xue Lang and Gao Nianzhen gasped, nearly fainting on the spot.

"Yao'er! Have you lost your mind?!" Xue Lang's eyes turned red with anxiety, and he roared, disregarding his royal dignity. "This is a five-thousand-year Wind-Breath Dragon! It's a sub-dragon! Even a Soul Ancestor would lose a layer of skin fighting it; what are you, a quasi-Soul Elder who just hit level thirty, going to use to fight it one-on-one? How is this any different from suicide?!"

Gao Nianzhen also shouted urgently, "Yao'er, don't be reckless! Come back! Let Elder Feng handle it!"

Feng Cang also urged him desperately, "Yao'er, this isn't a sparring match! One claw from this beast could tear even refined steel to shreds!"

An eight-year-old quasi-Soul Elder claiming he would single-handedly take on a five-thousand-year sub-dragon.

In the history of the Douluo Continent, this was an unprecedentedly insane act!

However, facing his parents' anxiety and Feng Cang's obstruction, Xue Yao turned a deaf ear.

What the group found most incomprehensible was that, facing such a formidable enemy, Xue Yao hadn't even activated his Martial Soul Possession!

According to common knowledge on the Douluo Continent, the first step for a Beast Martial Soul master in battle was always Martial Soul Possession, using the power of the beast soul to strengthen the body for close-quarters combat.

Yet Xue Yao just stood there quietly, not even a glimmer of soul power fluctuation shining from his body.

He slowly raised his right hand, his fingers brushing lightly against the storage ring on his left hand.

"Hum—"

Accompanied by a crisp sword hum, a beautifully crafted Soul Tool longsword appeared in his hand.

Xue Yao flicked his wrist, deftly spinning the blade into a graceful arc.

"Swish, swish, swish—"

Then he lowered his wrist, the tip of the sword pointing diagonally toward the ground.

He stood there, appearing not like a soul master preparing for a life-or-death struggle, but like a peerless swordsman watching the world with cold detachment, or perhaps more like a commander looking down from on high.

Seeing this, everyone was stunned once more.

No Martial Soul Possession? Drawing a sword and standing in the back? What exactly is he trying to do?!

Just as everyone's minds were in total chaos.

Xue Yao slowly lifted his eyelids, his gaze locking onto the restless Wind-Breath Dragon ahead, and he calmly spat out two words.

"Go."

The words had barely left his lips.

"Skree--!!!"

A piercing eagle cry suddenly exploded beside Xue Yao!

The palm-sized "little bird" that had been resting on Xue Yao's shoulder, its aura perfectly concealed, suddenly flapped its wings and shot into the sky like a golden-cyan streak of light!

The moment it surged into mid-air, a shocking scene unfolded.

The "little bird's" body seemed to grow against the wind, expanding at a terrifying, visible speed!

In just one second, its once petite frame transformed into a majestic, awe-inspiring Royal Griffin with a wingspan of nearly two meters!

Its golden-cyan feathers, like countless sharp metal blades, refracted a bone-chilling light under the sun.

With the body of a lion and the head of an eagle, its four sharp talons glinted with a heart-stopping coldness. A sense of absolute, high-ranking oppression belonging to a god-tier martial soul descended with a boom!

Even the five-thousand-year cultivation Wind-Breath Dragon felt an instinctive flash of shock and suspicion in its eyes when faced with the aura of this god-tier martial soul.

But what made Xue Lang, Gao Nianzhen, and Feng Cang's scalps tingle was this—

Those two soul rings—one yellow, one purple—which defied all common sense, did not appear on Xue Yao's body. Instead, they manifested directly, circling the body of the Royal Griffin in mid-air!

Although it was still in the form of a Little Griffin and had not yet evolved into a Holy Griffin, it still possessed a hint of the charm of the mythical creature after its growth in size.

"Watch its blind spots. Don't let it run."

Standing in the rear, Xue Yao calmly issued his first combat command.

The Royal Griffin in mid-air let out an excited screech, as if responding to its master's order.

Immediately after, Xue Yao's mind stirred, and his vast spiritual power instantly linked with the griffin in the sky.

"Second soul skill." Xue Yao's voice was extremely steady, without a hint of fluctuation.

The deep purple thousand-year soul ring circling the Royal Griffin suddenly erupted with a blinding light like a scorching sun!

[Ride the Wind]!

This was the second soul skill Xue Yao had obtained after absorbing a 1,200-year Mutated Green Wind Falcon. Its effect was simple and brutal—an all-around increase in speed!

"Hum!" The first cyan wind track instantly formed beneath the Royal Griffin's feet. Its speed skyrocketed by 120% in an instant!

The numerical value might not seem high, but the brilliance of this soul skill lay in its stackability; using it twice in a short period meant a 240% increase in speed.

The Wind-Breath Dragon felt the provocation and roared, its thick hind legs pushing off the ground with force as it opened its blood-filled maw and lunged at the griffin in the sky! It moved as fast as a cyan cannonball fired from a chamber!

"Too slow." A cold arc curled at the corner of Xue Yao's mouth.

He stood in the back, his fingertip tapping lightly on the hilt of his sword. "Activate again."

Following Xue Yao's command, the purple soul ring in mid-air erupted with an even more intense purple light before it had even dimmed!

Dual casting! Stacked release!

This was an extreme maneuver Xue Yao had developed after two years of study in the Heaven Dou Royal Academy library, combined with his own freakish, micro-level control over soul power.

"Boom!" The second layer of [Ride the Wind] stacked! The 120% boost doubled once more!

A 240% surge in speed!

This had reached the absolute limit that the Royal Griffin's current powerful physical body could withstand!

The surrounding air even emitted a piercing sonic boom because it couldn't handle such a sudden acceleration!

In the horrified eyes of the onlookers, the Royal Griffin in mid-air vanished into thin air.

No, it didn't vanish.

It was simply too fast—so fast that even the eyes of Xue Lang, a Soul King, could only capture a blurry afterimage!

The griffin was gone from the sky, leaving behind only a blinding, cyan lightning bolt that frantically wove and refracted around the Wind-Breath Dragon!

"Shing! Shing! Shing! Shing!"

Dense, piercing sounds of flesh being sliced suddenly rang out in mid-air.

The Wind-Breath Dragon's pride—its cyan-gold dragon scales, which even the blades of ordinary soul masters couldn't leave a mark on—shattered instantly into countless fine bloody gashes under the extreme cutting speed of the cyan lightning, as if they were made of paper!

"Roar--!!!"

The Wind-Breath Dragon let out a roar of extreme pain and fury.

It swung its sharp claws frantically and spat out *Wind Blade*s, trying to tear apart the "bird" that was toying with it.

But it was all in vain.

At 240% of its limit speed, the Wind-Breath Dragon couldn't even touch the griffin's tail feathers!

Xue Yao remained standing quietly where he was, his sword tip pointing diagonally at the ground, not having moved a single step.

He watched the five-thousand-year sub-dragon ahead, which was being spun around and driven into a helpless rage, a nonchalant, cold sneer playing on his lips.

"Everyone, please step back."

"Watch me walk the bird."