However, as the thousand-year-old Unicorn Dragon slid away, its tail happened to sweep across the spot where Lan Kai and Gu Yue were standing.
Gu Yue had already noticed this. She immediately used the wind element to make herself lighter on her feet, quickly putting a considerable distance between herself and the beast. She had no need to worry about the Unicorn Dragon crashing into her.
Then she and Leng Yaozhu, watching from outside the screen, stared in shock as Lan Kai, without dodging, grabbed the tail of the thousand-year-old Unicorn Dragon as it swung toward him. He dug in with his legs and, after sliding back a short distance, steadied himself.
Then a red glow seemed to flare around Lan Kai. Still clutching the thousand-year-old Unicorn Dragon's tail, he began spinning around in place, bringing the entire beast with him.
After a few turns, Lan Kai hurled the whole thousand-year-old Unicorn Dragon away. Whether by coincidence or not, he threw it toward the direction with the fewest trees around them.
And toward Gu Yue.
"**** (Douluo profanity)!"
Seeing the thousand-year-old Unicorn Dragon about to crush her, Gu Yue couldn't help cursing up a storm. She also used the power of space to instantly move some distance toward Lan Kai, then swiftly returned to his side with the wind element's help. She marched up to him, cheeks puffed out, and stared him right in the eyes. They were close enough to summon a whole squad to hold their heads together at any moment.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"Did what on purpose? I just happened to toss it away after completing a whole number of spins. I didn't pay any attention to what was around me. Besides, if you wanted to hide, shouldn't you have picked the direction with more trees?"
Lan Kai replied, looking utterly innocent.
By King Ultra and Ultraman Noa, even if Gu Yue's astonishing wisdom had made Lan Kai somewhat displeased with her, there was no reason for him to "deliberately" make her "die to friendly fire" in the Spirit Ascension Platform, a place where nobody could actually be killed, right in front of Leng Yaozhu and Juggler.
Did she really think Leng Yaozhu was an idiot, or Juggler was blind?
Besides, if Lan Kai really wanted to square off against Gu Yue, he'd have to go to the dance studio—scratch that, somewhere more spacious.
Surely this Ultraman could find a secluded spot for a showdown.
"Who'd want to hide somewhere with such a poor view? How am I supposed to attack from there? Besides, nothing can stop a charging Unicorn Dragon. Do you really think hiding behind trees is a good idea when facing one?"
"Is your Light-Dark Elemental Wielder Martial Soul really so inconvenient? Besides, using suitable cover in the surroundings to fight is a Battle Soul Master's instinct, isn't it?"
As he spoke, Lan Kai's expression changed. He hurriedly pulled Gu Yue aside with his left hand, then threw the Ultra Slash he'd just formed with his right toward the Unicorn Dragon, which had gotten back up and was charging at them again.
However, this Unicorn Dragon seemed quite intelligent. Faced with Lan Kai's Ultra Slash, it slammed on the brakes and narrowly dodged the disc, which would otherwise have struck its neck.
But Lan Kai still chopped off its horn.
With its horn severed, the Unicorn Dragon let out a pained roar, then charged toward Lan Kai even faster than before.
Gu Yue had been about to keep arguing with Lan Kai and demand an explanation for the way he'd roughly yanked her aside. But when she saw him slice off the Unicorn Dragon's horn with a single Ultra Slash, she felt inexplicably pleased. Even Lan Kai looked a lot more agreeable to her now.
"I'll let you off this time," Gu Yue thought. She once again predicted where the Unicorn Dragon's foot was about to land and used the earth element to create a pitfall trap.
The thousand-year-old Unicorn Dragon stepped right into it, and its lower leg got stuck in the pit. But a beast as massive as that couldn't stop so easily, and it pitched forward.
The thousand-year-old Unicorn Dragon's leg was sturdy enough not to break when it fell into the pitfall Gu Yue had hastily made, but it was clearly in bad shape. For the moment, it looked no different from a broken leg.
"Shall I leave this thousand-year-old Unicorn Dragon to you, then?"
Seeing that Gu Yue seemed to be in a better mood and her fighting spirit had risen, Lan Kai asked without thinking.
His first Soul Spirit was already a Thousand-Year Soul Spirit, so he had no need to seek out one of the few thousand-year-old Soul Beasts in the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform.
If it were up to him, he'd head straight for the depths of the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform, take on its guardians, and use the Weitian Magic Wand to settle them all in one go. Then he could go to the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform and fight even stronger Soul Beasts.
The hundred-year-old Soul Beasts in the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform could at best give Lan Kai some practice. They might not even qualify as speed bumps. There were few thousand-year-old Soul Beasts, and even fewer larger ones.
"No problem! Just watch and see what I can do!"
As she spoke, Gu Yue controlled the various elements and unleashed them upon the Unicorn Dragon, whose horn had already been chopped off.
It had lost its iconic horn and the mobility it had once prided itself on. The thousand-year-old Unicorn Dragon was reduced to a target for Gu Yue.
Ten minutes later, the Unicorn Dragon's painful life came to an end. It turned into warm spiritual energy, boosting the age of Gu Yue's Soul Ring.
"So, where are we going next? You seem eager to fight thousand-year-old Soul Beasts. You don't even care about the hundred-year-old ones."
After ending the Unicorn Dragon's life, Gu Yue proudly boasted to Lan Kai, then asked where they should go next.
"Looks like you want to fight hundred-year-old Soul Beasts. I can take you to fight as many as you like. But do you really want to hunt a bunch of hundred-year-old Soul Beasts?"
"Earlier, I was the one drawing their attention head-on in both fights against those thousand-year-old Soul Beasts. If you're ready to manage without me holding the line for you, I have no objections."
Lan Kai asked calmly, checking Gu Yue's intentions once more.
Even though Gu Yue had great hidden strength, Lan Kai didn't think that, as a one-ring Gu Yue facing a pack of hundred-year-old Soul Beasts, she could handle them with composure while Leng Yaozhu and Juggler watched from outside the screen and he was just standing around beside her.
Yet Gu Yue stubbornly insisted on hunting more hundred-year-old Soul Beasts, even choosing to overlook the part Lan Kai had played in the previous two fights.
And then a peerless masterpiece appeared:
The Master of Soul Beasts, chased by a pack of hundred-year-old Flame Lions, tears streaming down her face.
"Lan Kai, why are you just watching?"
"Why aren't you helping?"
"Weren't we supposed to be partners?"
"Have you betrayed me already?"
Before you continue