Made a Scapegoat-Want Me to Be Smarter in My Next Life?

Yet Yang Jian's expression remained as calm as ever. He did not choose to flee, merely tightening his grip on the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear.

He stood tall and straight, his robes lightly stirred by the mountain wind. Golden Soul Power surged around him, making him seem like a youthful deity who had stepped out of an ancient mural.

His Soul Rings had yet to be released. Three Soul Rings lay quietly dormant within him, not a trace of their aura leaking out.

Yet the oppressive feeling of power poised to strike was like a fully drawn bow, ready to loose a fatal arrow at any moment.

In the distance, three figures were fleeing wildly through the forest.

The Eagle-Wing Soul King's face was ashen. Every beat of his broad grayish-brown eagle wings sent him dozens of meters forward, but there was none of the composure a flying-type Soul Master should have worn on his face. Instead, there was only the fear and agitation of prey being hunted.

The Bat Wings male Soul King beside him looked equally tense. His black membranous wings beat at an astonishing frequency, emitting a faint hum as he nimbly weaved between the tree trunks.

Bringing up the rear was a butterfly-winged female Soul King. Her brilliantly colored butterfly wings refracted dazzling light beneath the sun, yet even that radiance could not conceal the pallor on her face.

The three of them were extremely fast.

From the moment Yang Jian sensed their auras, less than five breaths had passed before they streaked from five hundred meters away to within two hundred meters of him. On open ground, such speed would leave the vast majority of Soul Beasts far behind.

But the figure pursuing them from behind was no slower than they were.

With every kick off the ground, the Bi-Wing Bird launched itself dozens of meters ahead, like an arrow fired from a powerful bow.

Though it was still some distance from the three, the Soul Kings did not dare relax in the slightest. The Bi-Wing Bird's domain covered a full hundred meters; once caught within it, they would instantly lose their ability to fly. Then they would be lambs awaiting slaughter, with no chance of escape.

Damn it, this can't go on! Once that freakish bird closes the distance, its bizarre domain will make my death inevitable! Unless...

The Eagle-Wing Soul King casually glanced at the female Soul King in the rear, a hint of ruthlessness surfacing in his somewhat gloomy eyes.

Perhaps their thoughts had coincided, because the Bat Wings male Soul King also turned his gaze toward the female Soul King.

Their eyes met in midair. The instant they exchanged looks, both understood what the other was thinking.

The female Soul King was the weakest among the three.

Although her Dream Butterfly Martial Soul granted her flight as well, she was a spiritual-type Soul Master, and her flying ability was unremarkable. Her Soul Power was also the weakest. If they truly turned on her, she would be the easiest to control.

The two men exchanged a knowing glance and quietly adjusted their flight paths. Slowing slightly to the left and right, they inconspicuously allowed the female Soul King's position to gradually fall behind.

But just as they were about to act, the female Soul King suddenly cried out.

"There's someone ahead!"

There was a trace of surprise in her voice, but even more desperate urgency, like someone in a hopeless situation grasping at a straw.

The two male Soul Kings immediately looked ahead.

Sure enough, atop a large tree roughly a hundred meters in front of them stood a youth holding a strange long weapon.

The youth looked only twelve or thirteen years old. He was tall and slender, with cold, stern features, his black hair fluttering lightly in the mountain wind.

The three Soul Kings swiftly swept their eyes over Yang Jian. Almost at the same instant, they all came to the same conclusion.

The Soul Power fluctuations on this youth were, at most, at the Soul Ancestor level. To Soul Kings like them, he was nothing more than an ant they could crush at will.

And that ant happened to be standing between them and the Bi-Wing Bird.

"That freakish bird is chasing us closely. Why not let him draw its hatred for us?"

Before either male Soul King could speak, the female Soul King voiced her idea, her tone filled with self-righteous certainty.

She did not even lower her voice. At a distance of a hundred meters, this volume was no different from whispering directly into Yang Jian's ear given his senses, yet she did not care whether he could hear her.

"Let's do as you say."

The two male Soul Kings exchanged a look and did not object.

Their thoughts ran deeper than the female Soul King's. If they could use this youth to draw the Bi-Wing Bird's attention, even gaining just a few seconds would be enough for them to escape its pursuit range.

And if they could not shake it off, they still had one final option: the female Soul King could remain the sacrificial pawn.

The three of them accelerated in unspoken agreement, charging straight toward Yang Jian.

They were incredibly fast. With their Soul Skills enhancing them, in less than three breaths they had closed to within ten meters of Yang Jian.

At such close range, Yang Jian could clearly see the undisguised maliciousness on their faces.

A cold curve tugged at the Eagle-Wing Soul King's lips. The Bat Wings Soul King's eyes brimmed with disdain and mockery, while the butterfly-winged female Soul King even wore a faint smile, smug in her own cleverness.

"Kid, blame your bad luck."

As the Eagle-Wing Soul King swept past Yang Jian, he tossed out those icy words.

"In your next life, be a little smarter."

As his words fell, the three Soul Kings had already brushed past Yang Jian.

But at the instant they passed his side, the butterfly-winged female Soul King suddenly turned her head back. As the fifth ten-thousand-year Soul Ring beneath her feet flashed, she gently blew a cloud of colorful mist toward Yang Jian.

The mist spilled from her lips and dispersed in the wind, transforming into dozens of vividly colored Spotted Butterflies that beat their wings as they flew directly at Yang Jian's face.

Mesmerizing halos flowed across the butterflies' wings. A single glance was enough to make one dizzy.

This was her strongest illusion-type Soul Skill, and the trump card she relied on to survive—Dream Butterfly Illusion Mist.

Those Spotted Butterflies could invade a target's senses. So long as their spiritual power was weaker than hers, even a Soul King would instantly fall into a stunned state for a full five seconds.

Five seconds was enough for an enraged Bi-Wing Bird to tear an unsuspecting person into pieces.

Having done this, she confidently turned back and continued accelerating away.

In her eyes, the spiritual power of someone who was supposedly a Soul Ancestor could never surpass her own as a Soul King. Those five seconds of hallucination would be enough to turn that youth into a lamb awaiting slaughter.

What she did not know was that, just as the swarm of Spotted Butterflies was about to touch Yang Jian's face, the faint golden divine mark between his brows suddenly split open.

Heavenly Eye, open.

An invisible surge of spiritual power burst from Yang Jian's brow. Like blazing sunlight melting snow, the vividly colored Spotted Butterflies exploded the instant they touched that power, turning into clouds of colored smoke that were promptly scattered by the mountain wind and vanished without a trace.