The Silver Howl Divine Dog

Douluo Continent, Star Dou Great Forest.

A girl in a green robe crouched on the ground, carefully scattering beast-repelling powder. Only after she had emptied the packet in her hand did she look up at the young man in white standing nearby.

The young man was handsome and refined, his movements calm and elegant. He held a little dog with snow-white, silky fur in his arms, yet even that failed to draw the eye as much as his pair of silver eyes.

Noticing the girl's gaze, Yang Jian turned his head. His voice rang clear and bright. "Have you finished scattering it?"

Looking at his handsome face, Ye Qingyuan's cheeks flushed slightly.

"I've finished. Now ordinary low-level Soul Beasts won't come bother us."

As she spoke, Ye Qingyuan seemed to complain as she lightly pounded her fair arm. "Second Brother, I could understand your Soul Ring being hard to find, but why is mine so difficult to find, too? We've been in the Star Dou Great Forest for three days, and we haven't even seen a single bird Soul Beast that fits my Soul Ring."

At that, Yang Jian gave the girl beside him a serious look.

Ye Qingyuan was the great-granddaughter of Ye Yu, head of the Star Luo Empire Offering Hall. Her Martial Soul, inherited from Azure Luan Douluo, was the Azure Luan Divine Bird. Though her Martial Soul was powerful, the conditions for cultivating it were exceptionally demanding—all her Soul Rings had to come from top-tier bird Soul Beasts.

They had come here to help Ye Qingyuan obtain her third Soul Ring. Unfortunately, after three straight days in the Star Dou Great Forest, they had found nothing.

"Let's keep looking patiently. The Star Dou Great Forest is so vast, we'll find a Soul Beast that's right for you."

"All right... I still want to get my Soul Ring soon and go to Shrek to find Brother Gongyang. I haven't seen him in ages. I wonder how he's doing now."

That was a lie.

Though Ye Qingyuan said she missed the Brother Gongyang she spoke of, in truth, she wished they could stay in the Star Dou Great Forest for a few more days, so she could spend more time alone with Yang Jian.

As soon as she finished speaking, the little puppy nestled in Yang Jian's arms poked its head out. A tuft of bright silver hair stood up on its head, but the strangest thing of all was its pair of silver eyes, which glimmered with a faint light.

Yang Jian and Ye Qingyuan both froze at the sight.

The next instant, a clear, piercing cry suddenly split the night sky.

"Caw—"

Almost the moment he heard it, Yang Jian pinpointed the direction of the sound with the little dog's help.

"Nine o'clock, and it shouldn't be far. Follow it!"

As he spoke, Yang Jian pushed off with both legs. A pale yellow glow suddenly lit up beneath his feet, and he shot forward in an instant.

Ye Qingyuan didn't dare delay either. She activated her Martial Soul and used the Azure Luan Divine Bird's ability to fly, quickly following Yang Jian.

Before long, the two of them found the source of that clear cry.

Beneath the night sky, a blue-and-white bird Soul Beast perched on a branch. It was somewhere between a medium-sized raptor and a small bird, roughly three meters long, with a tall, slender frame that still had a powerful air about it. Though its wings were folded at the moment, its layers of overlapping feathers were still visible.

In its beak, it held a Mandala Snake roughly seven or eight meters long. That clear cry just now had been the bird's joyful call after catching its prey.

"Is that... a Cloud Wing Luan?"

Having grown up alongside Ye Qingyuan, Yang Jian was familiar with bird Soul Beasts. He quickly identified it.

The Cloud Wing Luan had cloudlike wings growing from its back and could control the wind. It fed on Mandala Snakes.

"That's right. Judging by its feathers, its fourth layer of cover feathers hasn't grown in yet, so it should be around three thousand three hundred years old. That's just right for my Soul Ring."

"Second Brother, let me handle it myself?"

Ye Qingyuan lowered her voice as she looked at Yang Jian, her eyes full of eagerness.

"Be careful."

Yang Jian didn't refuse. He simply set the little white dog in his arms down on the ground.

The next instant, the little white dog underwent a dramatic transformation.

In the blink of an eye, a divine hound over three meters long, its whole body covered in silver-white fur, landed on the ground. The tuft of fur on the little dog's forehead had disappeared, replaced by a diamond-shaped mark that shimmered faintly with silver light.

Behind Yang Jian, three Soul Rings appeared: purple, purple, and black.

Ye Qingyuan's gaze fell instinctively on the divine hound, and a glimmer flashed through her eyes.

So this was Second Brother's Martial Soul... the Silver Howl Divine Dog!

Though this wasn't the first time she'd seen Second Brother's Martial Soul, Ye Qingyuan still couldn't help feeling her heart tremble.

In the outer reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest, this Cloud Wing Luan was a reigning overlord with Ferocious Beast blood. It hadn't been very wary of its surroundings, and now that it was eating, its guard was almost entirely down. This was undoubtedly a perfect chance for Ye Qingyuan to strike.

Behind Ye Qingyuan, the first yellow Soul Ring suddenly began to shine.

Ye Qingyuan's figure transformed into a streak of blue-gold light and sped toward the Cloud Wing Luan.

"First Soul Skill, Wind Luan Swift Dash!"

With the Soul Skill's boost, Ye Qingyuan reached the nearby Cloud Wing Luan almost instantly. Her approach finally caught its attention.

"Squawk!"

A fierce cry, entirely unlike the clear one from before, rang out. As if enraged, the Cloud Wing Luan spat out the Mandala Snake, a quarter of which it had already eaten, then spread its wings and flapped them violently.

A small whirlwind suddenly appeared along the path Ye Qingyuan would have to take to reach the Cloud Wing Luan!

Yet Ye Qingyuan, already transformed into a streak of blue-gold light, didn't slow down at all. She slammed straight into the small whirlwind.

Besides increasing Ye Qingyuan's movement speed by a hundred percent, the first Soul Skill, Wind Luan Swift Dash, had a second effect: it let her pass through the first skill she touched!

With a clear, melodious cry, Ye Qingyuan appeared right in front of the Cloud Wing Luan!

At the same time, the only purple Soul Ring behind her began to glow.

"Second Soul Skill, Phoenix Feather Slash!"

Thirty-six sharp Phoenix Feathers shot out in a fan-shaped spread!

"Squawk—"

Another fierce cry rang out.

Though the Cloud Wing Luan was shocked that Ye Qingyuan had passed straight through the whirlwind to reach it, it was still a Soul Beast over three thousand years old, with Ferocious Beast blood coursing through it. Its reaction was naturally swift.

Its enormous wings, spanning seven meters when spread, beat rapidly once more, and in an instant it had gathered another whirlwind!

Along with the whirlwind, dozens of wind blades appeared.

A distinctly humanlike look of smugness surfaced in the Cloud Wing Luan's eyes.

In its view, the wind blades created by beating its outstretched wings were more than enough to tear the human before it to shreds.

As for the other side's Phoenix Feathers?

She could pass through the whirlwind, but there was no way the Phoenix Feathers she conjured could pass through it too, was there?