"Wu Ming, what nonsense are you talking about!"
Zhang Lexuan whipped around. A rare flash of anger crossed her delicate, injury-pale face.
Blood trickled slowly from the corner of her mouth. Her silvery-white hair hung in disarray over her shoulders, yet her eyes remained as resolute as ever.
"We're not just teammates. We're partners who can trust each other with our backs."
"If it truly comes down to someone staying behind, it should be me—the captain, the senior-most disciple of the inner court!"
Zhang Lexuan reprimanded her in a tone that brooked no argument.
Then she looked at Han Ruoruo, who was in relatively better shape.
"Ruoruo, take Wu Ming and Ling Luochеn with you. Go, now!"
"Leave Star Dou Forest and return to the academy."
At the thought of Xuan Zi, a trace of helplessness and pain flickered in Zhang Lexuan's eyes.
"As for Elder Xuan... don't bother looking for him."
"Who knows where he's wandered off to this time?"
Han Ruoruo's lips moved, as though she still wanted to say something.
But when she saw how resolute—almost defiant—Zhang Lexuan's gaze was, she ultimately chose to remain silent.
She understood that Zhang Lexuan had already prepared herself to die.
"Let's go!" Han Ruoruo gritted her teeth, helped Ling Luochеn up, called to Wu Ming, and started to leave.
Wu Ming clenched her fists so tightly that her nails nearly dug into the flesh of her palms.
She was consumed by unwillingness, but she knew even better that staying behind would only make her a burden and hold her senior sister back.
At last, she took a long look at Zhang Lexuan and said through her tears, "Senior Sister, you have to come back alive! You have to!"
The next second, with Zhang Lexuan covering them, the three women forced their way through the encirclement and raced toward the forest's outskirts.
As they left, the last concern weighing on Zhang Lexuan's heart finally fell away.
She slowly raised her head and looked at the Silver Moon Divine Wolf before her. It was drenched in blood, yet still radiated a terrifying pressure.
A look of relief instead touched her lips.
"Now it's just you and me. Let's fight to our hearts' content! I'll avenge our fallen comrades!"
As Zhang Lexuan's Seventh Soul Ring suddenly blazed to life,
brilliant silver light shot into the sky.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Silver Moon True Body!"
In an instant, a massive silver Full Moon rose slowly behind her, and powerful spatial energy enveloped the area.
Countless strands of silver moonlight streamed down from the heavens, making her seem like a goddess from the Moon Palace.
Facing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, she did not retreat a single step, even though she was gravely wounded. Instead, she charged straight at it.
The silver moon and wolf claws collided again and again, the clanging ringing out without pause,
while spatial rifts appeared one after another and terrifying Soul Power fluctuations swept across several hundred meters.
With the cultivation of an eighty-level Quasi-Soul Douluo, she fought a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast head-on without falling behind.
Zhang Lexuan's talent was dazzling even by the standards of the entire continent.
In the shadows, Kong Deming and Xu Tianyao quietly watched it all.
"She's quite a remarkable girl."
Admiration showed in Kong Deming's eyes. He did not hurry to intervene, instead silently observing from the sidelines.
He wanted to see just how far this girl with the Silver Moon Martial Soul could go.
As time passed, Zhang Lexuan's command of spatial energy grew ever more precise.
Every flicker of movement and every Moon Blade revealed her profound understanding of her Martial Soul.
Unfortunately, talent could not make up for an overwhelming gap in strength.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was still a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
Even though this Silver Moon Divine Wolf had already suffered severe injuries, it was still far beyond what a Soul Master below the Soul Douluo level could withstand.
Gradually, Zhang Lexuan's breathing grew ragged. Her Soul Power was nearly exhausted, and her injuries grew more severe by the moment.
Her movements slowed. The light of her Silver Moon True Body gradually dimmed, and defeat was already in sight.
Seeing this, Kong Deming finally looked away.
He had formed a general assessment of Zhang Lexuan's strength.
"With cultivation below the Soul Douluo level, she possesses combat strength close to that of a high-ranking Soul Douluo."
"She's developed her Silver Moon Martial Soul quite well."
"Reaching this point without anyone to guide her is truly remarkable."
Kong Deming gave a small, approving nod.
With proper guidance, and by combining it with the Soul Tool system to develop a personal soul tool like the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield,
Zhang Lexuan might yet possess the combat strength of a Titled Douluo.
At the thought, Kong Deming's admiration deepened. It had been a long time since he had encountered a genius like her.
In the end, though, he still shook his head gently.
"Forget it."
"Whatever the future holds, she'll have to walk that road herself. Since it's already happened, there's no point dwelling on it."
As he spoke, Kong Deming slowly raised his right hand.
Silver moonlight shimmered in his palm, and space itself froze in that instant.
"Fourth Soul Skill—Void Cage."
With a hum, invisible spatial energy descended in an instant.
The Silver Moon Divine Wolf, which had been about to deliver a fatal blow to Zhang Lexuan, suddenly went rigid.
Its razor-sharp claw stopped less than half a foot from Zhang Lexuan's forehead, as though someone had pressed a pause button.
Zhang Lexuan's pupils contracted at the sight. Before she could react, an even more terrifying surge of Soul Power descended.
"Sixth Soul Skill—Moon Blade Storm."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless silver Moon Blades appeared out of thin air in the void.
Every one was razor-sharp, and every one contained terrifying spatial cutting power.
The next second, ten thousand blades shot forth! A torrent of silver instantly swallowed the Silver Moon Divine Wolf.
Spurt!
A vast spray of blood gushed out. The Silver Moon Divine Wolf's powerful body, which had once seemed so formidable, was now pierced again and again like a sheet of thin paper, flesh flying everywhere.
In the blink of an eye, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that she had been unable to defeat despite giving everything she had was blasted to the brink of collapse.
Zhang Lexuan was utterly stunned. She stared blankly at the scene, a storm surging through her heart.
This kind of power... had to be at least Super Douluo level! Perhaps even stronger!
Once she recovered, she immediately scanned her surroundings.
Someone capable of using abilities related to the Silver Moon Martial Soul, and possessing such terrifying strength—
Could they be... a blood relative of hers?
Before she could think it through, two figures slowly emerged from the distant woods.
At the front was an old man in white robes, silver hair draped over his shoulders and an unfathomable aura about him. The space around him seemed to warp simply because he was standing there.
Behind him followed a young man of noble bearing.
Zhang Lexuan saw the two of them, her heart jolted, and she hurried forward to bow respectfully.
"This junior is Zhang Lexuan. Thank you, senior, for saving my life!"
"I will never forget your great kindness today."
"May I ask your honored name? I am a disciple of Shrek Academy. I will repay you in the future!"
Kong Deming did not answer. He merely gave Zhang Lexuan a brief, impassive glance.
Not a trace of emotion could be read in his deep eyes.
Then he stepped forward. Ripples spread through space, and he vanished from where he stood, as though he had never appeared at all.
Xu Tianyao did not hurry to leave. He remained where he was, looking at Zhang Lexuan for a few moments before glancing at the dying Silver Moon Divine Wolf. No one could tell what he was thinking.
His handsome, youthful face was also etched deeply into Zhang Lexuan's mind.
Then he let out a soft sigh and shook his head. His figure, too, slipped into the spatial rift and disappeared without a trace.
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