Qian Renxue's situation took a turn for the worse. Her Soul Power was depleted, and wave after wave of weakness washed over her. She was on the verge of defeat.
"I came alone to the Heaven Dou Empire, gave up my family and everything else, and spent my life in hiding. I never thought I'd fall here!"
A bitter smile tugged at her lips. Qian Renxue's pretty face grew dim, but she wasn't afraid. Still, she couldn't accept such an ending.
She'd had the talent to astonish the world, yet she'd wasted it, burying the finest years of her youth.
How could this be the life she truly wanted?
"Roar!"
A wolf's howl rang out. The Blood Tower crashed down around her with a thunderous rumble, intent on crushing Qian Renxue and destroying her Soul Power.
"Hmph! You mangy curs think you can hurt my friend?"
"Meteor Fall!"
Brilliant meteors blazed with fury as they hurtled after their target. They flashed across the sky with lightning speed, like real stars crashing down.
A deafening boom erupted. The sturdy crimson tower and the phantom wolves vanished inch by inch. The shockwave sent the two Soul Emperors flying, their blood and energy churning as they spat blood. Their faces were filled with horror.
"Qin Chuan!"
Qian Renxue was delighted. Even at the final moment, she hadn't been willing to accept her fate. She'd kept swinging the Angel Sword, trying to buy enough time for Pufferfish and Snake Lance to finish their battle.
But she never expected Qin Chuan to arrive first—the stranger she'd always regarded as a key.
In an instant, a hundred different feelings stirred within her.
"Miss Xue, don't talk yet. We need to get out of here!" After injuring two Soul Emperors with one strike, Qin Chuan felt his wounds stir once more.
But he had no time to worry about that. He swept the unsteady Qian Renxue into his arms and, ignoring her astonishment, spun around and sprinted into the distance.
The sudden intimate contact left Qian Renxue, who was usually cool and proud and had never once been close to a man in her life, completely rigid.
"Qin Chuan, what are you doing? Put me down!" The tips of Qian Renxue's ears turned red.
"Miss Xue, forget about that for now. The Titan Giant Ape is chasing us. If we don't run, we'll end up dead like those two!"
Qin Chuan's scalp prickled. A terrifying aura erupted behind them, closing in fast and making his heart pound.
"The Titan Giant Ape... isn't that the Forest King? It lives in the Forbidden Land in the Star Dou Great Forest and rarely leaves that area. Why would it show up here?"
Qian Renxue cried out in surprise, covering her red lips with her fair hand. She was astonished and confused, and had even forgotten her current position.
"I'm not sure, but it seems to be heading here with a purpose. It was probably drawn over by the battle between those Titled Douluo."
Qian Renxue fell silent. The whole situation was growing stranger by the moment.
Suddenly, she came to her senses. Her cheeks flushed, and she scolded him in a flustered, awkward voice, "Put me down! I've only run out of Soul Power. I'm not crippled, and I can still walk. Why do you need to carry me?"
"And if the Titan Giant Ape isn't here because of us, why are you panicking? We just need to hide. Why run off and lose our heads?"
She'd been lost in thought and had let him carry her for so long. His hand had rested on her smooth, pale thigh, warm and burning. His pounding heartbeat seemed to echo deep inside her, unsettling her calm.
Embarrassment, fluster, and a seed of dependence she hadn't even noticed herself tangled together in her heart, completely disrupting her thoughts.
Qin Chuan froze at her words, his steps slowing. When he realized, he quickly set Qian Renxue down and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, sorry. I was in such a hurry that I forgot."
Qian Renxue rolled her eyes at him. Her eyes shimmered as she stood up from his arms, but she quietly put a little distance between them before changing the subject.
"The Titan Giant Ape is a legendary Ferocious Beast, the king of the Star Dou Great Forest. Could the battle between those Titled Douluo really have drawn it here?"
Even in the Soul Master World, the Titan Giant Ape was the stuff of legend.
Its fame was immense, but few people had ever seen it. It had almost never left that Forbidden Land, shrouded in mystery.
Without thinking, Qin Chuan recalled the girl in the pink dress. She'd stood on the Titan Giant Ape's shoulder, yet she was clearly human and hadn't been attacked.
The three Soul Saints who'd chased him had nearly been beaten to death by the enraged Titan Giant Ape.
It was obvious that the beast had no particular fondness for humans.
"What's wrong? You've been looking down and haven't said a word," Qian Renxue asked curiously. Her expression had already returned to normal, but the warmth on her thigh hadn't yet faded.
"Miss Xue, do you think that guy called Luo Lie knows the Titan Giant Ape? That beast doesn't have a very good temper."
Qin Chuan smiled, a glint in his eyes that hinted at mischief. He assessed the situation and had already thought of a plan.
At his words, Qian Renxue's phoenix eyes brightened. That man was arrogant and overbearing, looking down on everyone as if all living beings were ants.
There was no way he'd back down and compromise with a Soul Beast, even if it cost him face.
"Those outsiders are arrogant and conceited. Even if he knows what's coming, he probably won't back down. With how brazen he was, treating everyone as beneath him, he might even try to hunt the Titan Giant Ape to show off his divine might."
"That would give Snake Lance and Pufferfish a chance to escape, too!"
The old man beside Luo Lie, from the God-Demon Realm, was extraordinarily powerful. The Titan Giant Ape also possessed a hundred thousand years of cultivation, a fearsome body, and monstrous strength. If the two fought, it would be a clash of dragons and tigers, with both sides badly wounded!
And that was exactly the situation Qin Chuan wanted.
He could sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, using the Ferocious Beast to grievously injure—or even kill—the arrogant outsider genius!
Qian Renxue's thoughts matched Qin Chuan's perfectly.
Qin Chuan pondered for a moment, but still felt the plan wasn't foolproof. After all, the old man was from the God-Demon Realm! He asked, "Miss Xue, I heard there's another Ferocious Beast deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, one far stronger than the Titan Giant Ape. Is that true?"
He'd carefully looked into all this before entering the Star Dou Great Forest. But the old man he'd asked had been drinking and mumbling, so Qin Chuan didn't know how reliable his information was.
"There is indeed another Ferocious Beast living deep in the Star Dou Great Forest. It's a terrifying beast called the Sky Azure Bull Python! Everyone knows the Titan Giant Ape's fearsome reputation, but few realize that the Sky Azure Bull Python is the true supreme ruler of the Star Dou Great Forest."
"Do you know how it regards humans? Or what its temperament is like?" Qin Chuan pressed.
"There aren't many stories about the Sky Azure Bull Python, but it should be less hostile toward humans than the Titan Giant Ape."
Qian Renxue shook her head slightly and explained the secret. "According to ancient records, decades ago, a Titled Douluo wandered into the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest and encountered the Sky Azure Bull Python."
"But it didn't attack. It merely warned him and ordered him to leave. Its temperament is far gentler and more restrained than the Titan Giant Ape's."
Qian Renxue's backing held immense power across the continent. She knew many secrets, including everything there was to know about these powerful Ferocious Beasts.
At that point, she suddenly realized what he was getting at and eyed Qin Chuan suspiciously. "Why are you asking?"
"Nothing."
Qin Chuan smiled faintly. "Since he's a powerhouse from the God-Demon Realm, and he came from the stars, he might have some kind of protective treasure. Just one Titan Giant Ape might seem a little inadequate."
Although he already had a plan, he felt the pressure mounting.
The martial strength of this continent wasn't especially high. He only needed to be wary of the legendary gods.
But the arrival of the Starry Sky People had thrown his plans into disarray.
Now that they'd discovered Douluo Continent, it wasn't safe anymore, even if only the younger generation had come searching for opportunities, accompanied by their guardians.
"Once this trouble passes, I'll have to use the Transmigration Talisman and find a better world to plant the Dao Seed in," Qin Chuan thought.
After the Dao Seed assimilated a world and he had the most basic means of protecting himself, he could turn around and slowly take control of this one.
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