The Bi-Wing Bird Was Taken Care Of? That Kid Had a Trump Card?

But Yang Jian had not absorbed a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring for the first time. Besides, with the Heavenly Eye, his Body Martial Soul, his spiritual power had long surpassed that of a Soul King, perhaps even higher. A mere soul shock could not affect him at all.

The Bi-Wing Bird's Soul Power continuously battered Yang Jian's body, but his meridians stood firm as mountains. Not only did they not waver in the slightest, they instead absorbed and fused with that violent Soul Power.

At his feet, the first three Soul Rings slowly spun with waves of pulling force.

Among the mountains and forest, the dust gradually settled.

Yang Jian stood amid the ruins, his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear piercing through the black Soul Ring. Golden light from the spear and black light from the Soul Ring reflected each other.

Meanwhile, thousands of meters away, three figures darted rapidly through the forest canopy.

Nearly the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed since they had brushed past that spear-wielding youth.

The three Soul Kings fled several thousand meters in one breath. Only after the commotion from the area behind them had completely faded did they finally slow down.

The first to stop was Blood Eagle, the winged Soul King.

His broad grayish-brown feathered wings spread in midair as he used the airflow to slow down, eventually landing on a horizontal branch of a giant tree.

His chest rose and fell slightly, and his breathing was somewhat more hurried than usual. Even a Soul King-level body could not avoid exhaustion after prolonged high-intensity flight.

Yet there was no relief at surviving a disaster on his face. In its place was a faint, lingering doubt.

"Miles, did you hear anything?"

Blood Eagle turned toward the bat-winged Soul King catching up behind him, his expression questioning.

There was a reason he asked Miles. The other's Martial Soul was the Blood Moon Bat, a Martial Soul extraordinarily sensitive to sound waves, far surpassing ordinary flying-type Martial Souls.

Miles also folded his Bat Wings and landed on a branch beside Blood Eagle.

He cocked his head to listen. His bat-like face tilted slightly backward, his nostrils flared, and the skin around his ears took on a faint blood-red hue—the sign that he was using his Martial Soul's sensory ability.

After a moment, he gently shook his head.

"No."

Miles's voice carried the low hum unique to bats.

"There are no sounds of fighting from that area behind us, nor are there any fluctuations from Soul Power collisions. It's too quiet."

"Too quiet..."

Blood Eagle repeated the words under his breath, his brow gradually furrowing.

"Boss Blood Eagle, did you notice something?"

Lost Butterfly, the only female Soul King among them, caught up as well.

Her mottled butterfly wings trembled slightly in the sunlight. Once she folded them, they revealed her somewhat pale face.

As the weakest of the three, the prolonged escape had drained her greatly. Not only was she breathing heavily, but her ample chest heaved violently, snow-white flesh trembling. Yet no one paid attention to the spring scenery she inadvertently revealed.

Blood Eagle did not answer immediately. He remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

"With that kid's strength, if he ran into a twenty-thousand-year Bi-Wing Bird, he couldn't last more than five breaths."

His voice was low and his speech slow, as though he were thinking while talking.

"But even now, no commotion has reached us from behind. Don't you find that strange?"

Lost Butterfly froze slightly and instinctively glanced back.

Behind them lay a lush, dense forest, layers of canopy completely obscuring the ground.

Since they could be attacked by flying Soul Beasts at any time in the air, they never dared rise above the canopy, always moving through the branches and leaves.

As a result, no matter how they looked, they could not make out what had happened behind that impenetrable green barrier.

"Boss Blood Eagle, do you think... that kid took care of the Bi-Wing Bird?"

Miles caught the implication in Blood Eagle's words. His Bat Wings lightly flapped behind him, and disbelief appeared on his bat-like face.

"How could that be?"

Without a second thought, Blood Eagle shook his head in denial, his tone as certain as if he were stating an obvious fact.

He turned around and leaned against the tree trunk, his gaze directed toward the distant sky. His voice carried the certainty of someone experienced.

"That Soul Beast was one five Soul Kings working together couldn't take down, and we even lost two men because of it. He's just a Soul Ancestor-level brat. There's no way he could take it down—unless all of his Soul Rings are ten-thousand-year ones."

At the final sentence, a trace of mockery even entered Blood Eagle's voice.

Ten-thousand-year Soul Rings? A boy who looked no more than twelve or thirteen, with nothing but ten-thousand-year Soul Rings? Such absurdity was something even storytellers would not dare make up.

"Boss Blood Eagle, you mean... there were others behind that kid?"

Miles seemed to understand Blood Eagle's unstated meaning and slowly spoke.

His eyes also grew wary as he instinctively scanned the surroundings.

"That's right."

Blood Eagle nodded, his expression turning serious.

"That kid looks no older than twelve or thirteen, yet he already has Soul Ancestor-level Soul Power. Someone like that must be a genius from a major clan. How could such a genius possibly travel without guards? Perhaps his guards stepped in and took care of the Bi-Wing Bird just now. That would explain why it became so quiet."

The speculation sounded perfectly reasonable.

In the world of Soul Masters, it was entirely normal for one or two guards to secretly accompany direct descendants of major clans when they went out to train.

Those guards usually remained hidden nearby, only stepping in when the descendants faced genuine mortal danger.

"Not necessarily."

A voice from nearby interrupted Blood Eagle's train of thought.

Blood Eagle's brow creased slightly as he turned toward the speaker.

A chill had already appeared on his somewhat gloomy face, and his blade-like gaze fell upon Lost Butterfly.

"What do you mean?"

His voice was not loud, but the coldness in his tone seemed to lower the temperature of the surrounding air by several degrees.

Lost Butterfly's body stiffened slightly as she instinctively sensed danger.

She knew Blood Eagle too well. The reason this man had survived in the world of Soul Masters until today had never been through honorable means, but through ruthlessness and cruelty.

She had not failed to notice the looks he and Miles gave her while they were fleeing for their lives.

"I'm not denying your guess, Boss Blood Eagle. It's just that..."

Lost Butterfly hurriedly spoke, faster than usual, afraid that speaking too slowly would further provoke Blood Eagle's displeasure.

"When I unleashed my fifth Soul Skill, my spiritual power rose to its peak. At that moment, my spiritual power entered the realm of a Soul Emperor, yet I did not detect any sign of other Soul Masters hiding nearby."

She paused, carefully observing the changes in Blood Eagle's expression before continuing.

"Either that kid really was alone, or the Soul Master behind him was above the Soul Emperor level. But... I'm more inclined toward the first answer."