...Three years later, Sunset Forest.
Murong Wanyue hovered among the twisting branches of a green cypress. The sluggish Soul Power inside her erupted with a thunderous boom. A pale-golden Soul Ancestor's pressure spread from her Nine Profound Sword Martial Soul, and three Spirit Rings—yellow, purple, purple—revolved around her.
Before her aura had even settled, a tiger's roar that shook the mountains crashed through the forest. A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul-Breaking Saber-Toothed Tiger burst from the undergrowth, scattering grass as it pounced. Two sword-shaped bone blades above its brow gleamed with a chilling light.
"First Soul Skill: Sword Qi Unsheathed!"
Murong Wanyue cried out. Nine translucent, dark swords spun out from her Martial Soul and shot straight at the saber-toothed tiger's face. Their fine sword qi slashed until the giant beast could barely open its eyes, and a deep gash, nearly to the bone, opened across its shoulder and neck.
The saber-toothed tiger roared in pain and fury, its paws tearing up the earth as it swept a foul-smelling claw at her. The gale sent Murong Wanyue's hair whipping behind her.
"Second Soul Skill: Sword Light Protection!"
A pale-golden shield sprang up before her. The tiger's claw slammed squarely into it, and the shield shattered inch by inch with a muffled boom. Murong Wanyue used the recoil to drift three zhang away, but the claw's wind still carved a bloody gash along her left arm.
She tightened her grip on the solid Nine Profound Sword in her hand. Her third Spirit Ring revolved, and her Soul Power was fully charged. Pointing the sword tip diagonally at the ground, she cried out in a low voice:
"Third Soul Skill: Sword Rises, Wind and Clouds!!!"
A thousand flecks of dark sword qi surged from the blade. Sweeping away everything in their path, they wove into