Star Dou Town

This was both a crisis and an opportunity, an unavoidable step on his path to the summit...

The carriage gradually slowed.

The clamor of people came from outside the window.

Star Dou Town. They had arrived.

It was the closest place to the Star Dou Great Forest, and the only place nearby where people entering and leaving the forest could rest, replenish their supplies, and trade.

Qian Renxue lifted the curtain and looked at the crowds milling around the various stalls. Her eyes lit up. "Wow, there are so many people! It's so lively!"

"Anyone looking to team up and hunt Soul Beasts? Our group has an auxiliary Soul Master and a healing Soul Master..."

"Fine century-old ginseng..."

"Antlers just taken from the head of a 110-year-old Blazing Sun Deer! Women can eat them to nourish yin and replenish their energy; men can drink them to strengthen their kidneys and boost their yang~"

The main road of Star Dou Town was packed with people, and the shouts of vendors rang out without end...

Lie Xu followed the sounds and looked outside. The scene made him pause. It was just as lively as the country fairs he had visited as a child in the northern countryside in his previous life.

Many people who had gone into the mountains to forage spread out a cloth, sat down on the ground, and started selling the fresh mountain produce they had gathered...

Lie Xu glanced at Qian Renxue, who was leaning against the window with a face full of curiosity and excitement, and chuckled to himself. So this was what it looked like when a child went to a street market for the first time...

The carriage stopped in front of a hotel. Before long, a steady voice came from outside.

"The family head has already made arrangements. We'll rest here for the night."

"Mm."

Qian Daoliu answered.

Lie Xu stood and pulled Qian Renxue away from the window.

"Come on, let's go look around."

"Maybe we'll stumble across some treasure."

As he spoke, he pushed open the carriage door and hopped out.

Everyone inside watched the two of them hurry off and couldn't help shaking their heads with a laugh.

"Grandpa, Great Enshrined, I'll go keep an eye on them."

Chi Yuan gave a small bow, then hurried after the two little ones.

"Big brother, should I quietly follow them and keep watch from the shadows?"

Mighty Lion Douluo asked, a little worried.

"No need. With Chi Yuan there, and Soul Masters secretly following them for protection, there won't be any major problems. Even if something happens, they can hold out long enough for us to arrive."

Mighty Lion Douluo glanced out the window and said nothing more...

The main road of Star Dou Town bustled with passersby. Stalls lined the street, and vendors' cries rang out without end.

The surrounding stalls offered a dizzying variety of goods: medicinal herbs, ores, Soul Beast meat, and even Soul Beast cubs. But to people like Lie Xu and Qian Renxue, who had practically been born at the top of the continent, few of them were worth a second look.

Only Qian Renxue, the sheltered "city girl" who had never seen the world, was so curious. It was a new experience for her, and she happily carried Xiao Jiu around, looking this way and that, stopping to inspect every stall...

Lie Xu quietly followed behind. Though he seemed to be strolling along, his spiritual perception had already spread out unnoticed.

After all, who didn't like finding a bargain? Better safe than sorry. It wouldn't cost much Soul Power, and if he happened upon something, wouldn't that be a huge windfall?

After wandering for a long while, Lie Xu still hadn't found anything worthwhile. Just as he was about to call Qian Renxue back, a peculiar fluctuation from a stall diagonally ahead reached his senses at the very moment he turned around.

Suddenly, a faint yet intensely scorching fluctuation slipped into his perception.

It came from a shabby stall up ahead, run by a disheveled vendor.

"Xiao Xue, wait here a moment."

Lie Xu hurried over to the stall and crouched down.

A jumble of goods lay scattered across it. Most had been stripped from Soul Beasts: antlers, hides, teeth, claws, a few medicinal herbs, and some ores...

Amid all the stalls, this one looked utterly unremarkable. No one would give it a second glance.

Lie Xu carefully examined the items, trying to identify the strange fluctuation that had just stirred a reaction from his Martial Soul.

Seeing that he was just a child, the disheveled man grew impatient. "Hey, brat, if you're not buying, don't touch! These are all good stuff, real valuable. You break anything, you can't afford to pay for it!"

Lie Xu ignored him and continued lowering his head, sensing the other items on the stall...

"Hey! I said, can't you understand what I'm saying...?"

Just as the disheveled man was about to scold Lie Xu, an argument nearby drew a crowd.

"I already told you, I'm not selling. Why do you keep pestering me?"

Qian Renxue, holding Xiao Jiu, glared angrily at the men closing in around her.

"Little girl, I really like this little lion cub. Name your price."

The leader stepped forward, then bent down in front of Qian Renxue and lowered his voice. "Little girl, you'd better know what's good for you and hand over the lion cub. I might even toss you a few coppers. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?"

Lie Xu rushed over and pulled Qian Renxue and Xiao Jiu behind him. He stared coldly at the few men before him, their faces covered in knots of flesh, snorted, then took Qian Renxue by the hand and turned to leave.

"Stop! Leave the lion cub in that little girl's arms!"

Several Soul Masters with vicious faces blocked their way. The scar-faced man in the lead stared greedily at Xiao Jiu.

Lie Xu came to a halt, his gaze growing even colder.

"Kid, hand over that lion cub and I'll spare your worthless life!" The scar-faced man sneered.

Qian Renxue shrank behind Lie Xu in fright.

Xiao Jiu let out a low growl in her arms, its golden fur bristling.

Lie Xu slowly raised his head, his eyes icy. "What did you just say?"

"What, are you deaf?" The scar-faced man snickered. "You two are dressed so well, you must be from a major family. I've changed my mind. You'll both stay here with the lion cub..."

Before he could finish—

Boom!

A burst of blazing Soul Power descended from the sky amid a piercing eagle cry!

Chi Yuan stepped forward, her red robes fluttering. The Flowing Fire Kite Eagle Martial Soul circled above and behind her, while her gaze remained fixed on the group ahead.

Six Soul Rings lit up beneath her feet, one after another: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black!

A Level 66 Power Attack System Battle Soul Emperor!

"A Soul Emperor?!"

The crowd around them cried out in alarm. People often came to hunt Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, but Soul Emperors were pillars of the major factions, and it was rare to see one on an ordinary day. At least eight out of ten Soul Emperors one encountered were accompanying young masters or young ladies from powerful families who needed Soul Beasts.

Chi Yuan folded her hands in front of her stomach, her face cold as a frozen lake, and walked step by step toward the scar-faced man and his companions.

"Picking on the weak? Level 66 Power Attack System Battle Soul Emperor—do your worst!"

The scar-faced man and his companions turned deathly pale.

"Boss, what do we do?"

"Don't be afraid. She's only one person; she can't protect both of them. You and I are both Level 56 Soul Kings, while the third, fourth, and fifth brothers are all at the peak of the Soul Ancestor realm, on the verge of breaking through to Soul King. We'll grab them and run..."