"Heaven Burning Demon Pupil!" Qin Xuan murmured. Black light flickered in his eyes as he unleashed his full spiritual power. Before long, he spotted a Soul Beast suited to Zhu Zhuqing in the dense forest five kilometers away.
It was a huge black cat, about five meters long.
"A Nether Cat that's just broken through the thousand-year mark. It'll make a good third Soul Ring for you."
Zhu Zhuqing was taken aback. Then she released as much of her spiritual power as she could, looking puzzled. "Why can't I see it?"
"That beast is hiding in the dense forest five kilometers away. Come with me!" As he spoke, Qin Xuan took off toward the northwest.
"Five kilometers away!" Zhu Zhuqing was shocked and hurried after him.
With her current spiritual power, she could detect things at most a hundred meters away, while Qin Xuan could already pinpoint things five kilometers off.
What did that even mean?
Though Qin Xuan's Soul Power was only at level fifty, his spiritual power had already reached the Soul Saint level, more or less. It was truly astonishing!
Although the Hell Spirit Cat was renowned for its speed, Zhu Zhuqing couldn't keep up with Qin Xuan even when she gave it her all.
Qin Xuan kept thirty meters ahead of her, as if deliberately waiting for her. He wasn't even moving at his top speed.
A short while later,
the two reached the dense forest.
"First Soul Skill, Dark Wind Fire Blade!"
Without another word, Qin Xuan sent several black blades of fire shooting toward the Nether Cat.
The Nether Cat dodged two of them with nimble footwork. But the final blade struck it in the belly!
Boom!
The Nether Cat was blasted five zhang away in an instant. Its flesh had been torn open around its abdomen, leaving a clear two-meter-long gash!
It was fast, but the fire blades were even faster.
Qin Xuan hadn't expected it to dodge two of them.
"Zhuqing, put it out of its misery."
"To kill a thousand-year Soul Beast in one strike, Brother Qin, your strength is truly terrifying!" Zhu Zhuqing exclaimed. With a flicker, she appeared in front of the Nether Cat.
"Second Soul Skill, Nether Hundred Claws!"
As purple claw marks flashed down, more than a hundred strikes landed on the Nether Cat's head in an instant.
Whoosh!
The Nether Cat's face was shredded beyond recognition, blood streaming everywhere. Before long, it had stopped breathing.
A purple Soul Ring then rose from its corpse.
"Sorry for the trouble, Brother Qin. Please stand guard for me!" Zhu Zhuqing sat down where she was and began absorbing the Soul Ring.
Qin Xuan leaned against a nearby willow and watched her quietly.
About five hours later, Zhu Zhuqing slowly opened her beautiful eyes. She had successfully absorbed her third Soul Ring.
Her Soul Power had risen by two levels, breaking through to the Soul Elder realm. Her third Soul Skill was Nether Slash, just as in the original story; nothing had changed.
To Qin Xuan now, a thousand-year Soul Beast was no different from a fish he could casually kill.
"Brother Qin, your Soul Power has reached a bottleneck too. Why don't you hunt a Soul Beast while we're here?" Zhu Zhuqing asked curiously.
Qin Xuan didn't hesitate to refuse.
"No. Let's go back to Spirit City first."
"After all, I can't take on a sixty-thousand-year Soul Beast by myself."
"A sixty-thousand-year Soul Beast!" Zhu Zhuqing covered her mouth, her face full of disbelief.
If it were an ordinary ten-thousand-year Soul Beast, she might have been able to help a little.
But against a sixty-thousand-year Soul Beast, a little Soul Elder like her would be killed in an instant.
"No need to be surprised. Let's leave this place first." Seeing Zhu Zhuqing looking as if she wanted to say something but couldn't, Qin Xuan reminded her.
The two then left the Star Dou Great Forest.
Three days later, at dawn.
Qin Xuan parted ways with Zhu Zhuqing for the time being in the center of Spirit City.
He first sent Zhu Zhuqing to report to Spirit Hall Academy, while he went to Pope Hall to pay Bibi Dong a visit and ask her to assign a Titled Douluo to help hunt the Soul Beast.
A sixty-thousand-year Soul Beast was no ordinary foe. Even if a Titled Douluo could win for certain, it would still take a fair amount of effort.
A sixty-thousand-year Soul Beast with special abilities could pose a risk even to a Titled Douluo.
Qin Xuan pushed open the doors to Pope Hall.
Bibi Dong was seated on the papal throne.
Standing behind her were the two Elders, Ju and Gui.
On the right side of the hall stood Hu Liena and her two companions.
"Nana, for the next two years, you must focus on cultivation. You absolutely mustn't let the championship title of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament slip away. Understand?"
Bibi Dong glanced at Qin Xuan as he walked into the hall, then turned to Hu Liena and admonished her.
"Don't worry, Teacher. The Spirit Hall Team has won the championship many times in a row. This time will be no exception!" Hu Liena replied confidently.
"Your disciple pays her respects, Teacher!"
"Greetings, Elders Ju and Gui!"
Qin Xuan bowed respectfully.
"Mm." Bibi Dong nodded with satisfaction. "You've advanced quickly, boy. You've already reached the Soul Ancestor bottleneck."
At that, Yue Guan and Gui Mei both looked pleased.
"Xuan, thanks for giving me the Nether Demon Spirit Tiger's Head Soul Bone. It helped me break through to the Soul Ancestor realm ahead of time." Hu Liena smiled and greeted him.
"Don't mention it. It was nothing." Qin Xuan waved it off, then turned to Bibi Dong.
"I'm sure Teacher knows why I've come."
Bibi Dong chided him with a laugh. "You never come to the Three Treasures Hall without a reason. Do you think your teacher doesn't know you?"
With that, she ordered Yue Guan at her side, "Elder Chrysanthemum, sorry for the trouble. Please make this trip."
"As you command!" Yue Guan cupped his hands in reply, then glanced at Gui Mei, a trace of hesitation in his eyes.
"Oh?" Bibi Dong saw through Yue Guan's thoughts at once and said with a smile,
"Elder Chrysanthemum, you're a level ninety-five Super Douluo. Surely you're not worried about taking down a mere sixty-thousand-year Soul Beast?"
"That's not what I meant!" Yue Guan quickly explained.
"The Soul Beast Xiao Xuan needs has unusual attributes. Even with a cultivation of sixty thousand years, its true strength is likely close to that of an ordinary ninety-thousand-year Soul Beast."
"I'm certain I can help Qin Xuan hunt it, but it'll take quite some effort."
"If Gui Mei could come with me, that would be best. We'd save some time as well."
Upon hearing this, Bibi Dong furrowed her brows slightly and refused Yue Guan's request outright.
"Elder Gui has other duties to attend to. You'll go alone and accompany Xuan'er on his hunt."
"As you command!" Yue Guan replied, then swiftly moved to Qin Xuan's side.
He seemed somewhat subservient in Bibi Dong's presence. It wasn't so much because she was the Pope as it was because of her terrifying strength.
The battle in Sunset Forest, where Bibi Dong had crippled Dugu Bo with a single move, had already spread across the whole continent.
As one of Bibi Dong's trusted subordinates, Yue Guan knew just how formidable the woman Pope was. He hadn't expected her to be so terrifying.
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