The sky gradually darkened.
In his room, Jiang Lin planned to meditate instead of resting.
Ever since his Martial Soul Awakening, he had rarely slept.
Though this sometimes left him feeling tired, whenever he experienced the thrill of growing stronger, he couldn't stop himself.
Just as Jiang Lin had been sitting cross-legged on the bed, meditating for a while, a commotion came from downstairs.
"Boss, how many rooms do you have left? We'll take them all."
Three tall figures stood proudly in the lobby.
The young man on the left was tall and slender. Beneath his red bangs, his sharp eyes held a sinister, feminine cast that made people wary of meeting his gaze.
The young man on the right was as broad and sturdy as granite. His long, fiery red hair fell down his back, and his whole body radiated explosive masculine power.
But the young woman in the middle was the most striking. She had a graceful figure and stunning features, and her limpid eyes brimmed with natural allure. Even standing still, she exuded a mature, deadly charm.
Behind the three of them followed more than a dozen Spirit Hall Soul Masters.
These three were, of course, the Golden Generation of the Spirit Hall: Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan.
The one who had spoken was Yan, on the right.
After speaking, Yan turned to Hu Liena and said softly, with a hint of ingratiation, "Nana, it's getting late. How about we rest here for the night?"
Xie Yue surveyed the hotel. "This place is fairly clean, a bit better than the ones we've come across so far."
"That works."
Hu Liena didn't refuse. Earlier, while the three of them were out training, they had discovered a group of Wolf Bandits preparing to attack a nearby village.
As Soul Masters of the Spirit Hall, the three of them naturally couldn't stand by and do nothing.
But the leader of the Wolf Bandits was at Soul Emperor level, far beyond what the three of them could handle.
So they had sought help from a nearby Spirit Hall Branch.
After they presented their credentials, several nearby Spirit Hall Branches had immediately dispatched an impressive force: one Soul Saint, four Soul Emperors, and a number of Soul Kings and Soul Ancestors. Together, they had joined forces to wipe out the Wolf Bandits.
Wolf Bandits were deformed hybrid offspring born when Gale Demon Wolves violated human women.
They had upright human torsos, wolf heads, and claws. They inherited their fathers' formidable physiques and speed, and could skillfully control the wind element to unleash green blades of wind.
These half-human, half-beast monsters were vicious and bloodthirsty by nature. Every adult Wolf Bandit had the combat ability of a Soul Master around level twenty or thirty, and they were adept at fighting in coordinated groups.
After several days of pursuit, they had arrived here.
The Soul Masters behind them were exhausted, too.
But the outcome was promising. The Wolf Bandits had suffered heavy losses, and the only Soul Saint in the group had placed a tracking Soul Skill on them.
Once they had rested, they could wipe the creatures out in one fell swoop.
"W-well... honored sirs and madam, this inn only has four rooms left. There simply isn't enough space for all of you."
The hotel owner approached Yan, looking troubled.
"That's fine. We'll take the four rooms," Xie Yue said. He had no intention of making things difficult for the owner.
Hu Liena turned to the only Soul Saint in their group.
"Bishop Riels, you can rest here with us."
Then Hu Liena looked toward another person.
"Deputy Hall Master Mi, take the others and find somewhere else to rest."
"Yes."
The two men replied.
Before long, the four of them had taken the room keys from the hotel owner and headed upstairs.
In Jiang Lin's room, Elder Chen sat across from him.
"Elder Chen, you're saying a Soul Saint and three Soul Elders have checked in here?"
"That's right. I just examined them. The Soul Saint's aura is unstable; he must have just come through a battle."
Elder Chen nodded, then added, "The scent of blood on them doesn't seem to be human."
Jiang Lin furrowed his brow slightly. "Not human blood? I don't remember there being any Soul Beast forests nearby."
On the Douluo Continent, aside from major Soul Beast gathering grounds like the Star Dou Forest and Sunset Forest, there were naturally other places where Soul Beasts gathered.
For example, the Soul Hunting Forests kept by the Empire and the Spirit Hall.
But there were also other wild forests.
The Soul Beasts there were generally of poor quality. A forest with even a thousand-year Soul Beast counted as fairly large.
Jiang Lin shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it. Perhaps some Soul Master family had come to help their juniors hunt Soul Rings.
It had nothing to do with him, and he didn't want to meddle.
After explaining that he didn't want to get involved, Elder Chen stood and returned to his own room.
He had just turned and closed Jiang Lin's door when he ran into Hu Liena and the others.
Elder Chen showed no reaction. He glanced at them casually, then continued toward his room.
The hotel corridor wasn't very wide. As Elder Chen passed them, the Soul Saint instinctively shrank his neck.
When he came to his senses, he quickly turned to look in Elder Chen's direction.
Unfortunately, Elder Chen had already returned to his room.
"What's wrong, Bishop Riels? Is something the matter with that man?" Hu Liena asked, puzzled.
Riels took a deep breath and shook his head. "No. He might be a powerful expert no weaker than I am."
"An expert?" Yan was surprised. "You're a level seventy-three Soul Saint. Could that person be a Soul Douluo?"
"But how could someone at Soul Douluo level possibly be in a backwater place like this?" Xie Yue asked, also perplexed.
Hearing this, Hu Liena thought for a moment before speaking.
"We still have a mission to complete, so it's best not to meddle for now. Whatever his level, as long as he doesn't interfere with us, he has nothing to do with us."
As the Pope's disciple, Hu Liena naturally had no reason to fear some unknown person.
She had seen plenty of Titled Douluo, let alone Soul Douluo.
And she was certain that her teacher had arranged for powerful experts to protect them from the shadows during this training.
She just didn't know who they were.
The next day, when Jiang Lin left his room, the sun was already high in the sky.
After checking out downstairs, he happened to see Elder Chen returning.
"I've found a carriage. Shall we leave now, or have breakfast first?"
Given the choice, Jiang Lin decided to eat first.
The town might not have much good food, but even so, it was better than their trail rations.
On the Douluo Continent, trail rations existed solely to keep people alive; they naturally didn't taste very good.
After breakfast, Jiang Lin and Elder Chen climbed into the carriage they had arranged in advance.
The driver was a friendly middle-aged man.
"My lords, the road around here is pretty rough. It'll get better after we cross that slope. Hold on tight, and try not to throw up in the carriage, all right?"
After warning them, the driver flicked his whip and set off.
Neither Elder Chen nor Jiang Lin took his words to heart.
Throw up? No way.
With their physiques, that was absolutely impossible.
After the carriage had been traveling for a while, the town was no longer visible behind them.
Just as the driver had said, the road was indeed rough.
With all that jolting, Jiang Lin couldn't meditate and cultivate, so he discussed the Immortal Herbs with Elder Chen in detail instead.
"Whoa—"
The carriage suddenly stopped.
Elder Chen frowned, and a third eye appeared on his forehead.
It was an ability that came with his Martial Soul, the Three-Eyed Fire Leopard.
This third eye didn't need Soul Power to activate; it could only be controlled with spiritual power.
After his spiritual power passed through the carriage and revealed the scene outside, Elder Chen froze. Then, almost unconsciously, anger showed on his face.
"Wretch! How dare you run amok!"
He shouted and appeared outside the carriage in an instant.
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