Encountering the Red Fire Monkey Pack

After breakfast, it was time to head to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Xiao Hongchen and the others checked out of the hotel, and the four of them walked out of Star Luo City.

Outside the city gates, Jing Hongchen activated a flight-type Soul Tool, enveloping the three of them in a membrane of light before soaring into the sky, heading toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

Jing Hongchen's voice came from the front:

"You will hunt the soul beasts yourselves when the time comes. I will protect you from the sidelines, and I will only intervene if you encounter a soul beast you cannot defeat."

"Understood." Xiao Hongchen opened his eyes, his tone as casual as if he were ordering a meal. "Grandfather, could you keep an eye out for a thousand-year-level Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear? I want to eat bear paw."

"Very well, I will keep a lookout for you."

"Xiao, have you really turned into a glutton?"

Meng Hongchen turned her head, feigning surprise.

Xiao Hongchen ignored her.

He wanted to intercept the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Right Palm Bone that belonged to Huo Yuhao in the original story.

Jing Hongchen applied another layer of iridescent light membrane over his flight-type Soul Tool; this was his self-developed level-nine stealth Soul Tool.

In the original story, he had used this very item to infiltrate Shrek Academy without anyone noticing, only being discovered by Mu En and Xuan Zi when he neared the Sea God Pavilion. It was an incredibly useful Soul Tool.

Just like that, they flew brazenly into the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest without encountering any obstruction from soul beasts.

Jing Hongchen returned the three of them to the ground while he remained nearby to protect them.

I feel like we flew too far, he thought. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear that drops the soul bone in the original story was in the outer zone. Oh well, never mind. I'll help Ye Guyi obtain her soul ring first.

The three of them moved forward in a pincer formation.

Meng Hongchen took the lead. As a melee Soul Master, an ice-blue radiance lit up from seven locations on her body simultaneously.

These seven locations were her forehead, shoulders, chest, lower abdomen, and hands.

The seven clusters of ice-blue light rapidly transformed, forming an exquisite half-body ice-blue armor that protected her entire frame.

A pair of ice-blue longswords extended from her hands; they were three feet long and slender.

Behind her, three pairs of folded wings, each only a foot long, unfurled at the same time.

The moment this set of Soul Tool armor was equipped, a dense, frigid aura radiated from her.

This was a set of level-six full-body armor, complete with weapons and a flight-type Soul Tool.

Furthermore, it was a level-six Soul Tool that could be worn and utilized by a level-five Soul Master.

However, because Meng Hongchen was only level forty-six, she could only wear half the armor, protecting her vital points while sacrificing other areas.

To her left was Ye Guyi, who remained on guard, ready to manifest her Martial Soul at any moment.

To her right was Xiao Hongchen. The moment his Brain Martial Soul was activated, his mental power spread out in a fan shape ahead of them.

He had no soul rings or spirit detection soul skills, but relying on his own formidable mental power and the processing capabilities of his Brain Martial Soul, every movement within a five-hundred-meter radius was within his perception.

The trio continued forward for a short time when suddenly, Xiao Hongchen jerked his head up.

"Four hundred meters ahead, there is a troop of Red Fire Monkeys. There is a ten-thousand-year Red Fire Monkey King among them. Be careful."

Red Fire Monkeys were fire-attribute soul beasts that lived in groups. They were extremely irritable, highly aggressive, and held grudges. As agility-type soul beasts, they were particularly skilled at long-range attacks and were very difficult to deal with.

The Red Fire Monkeys were incredibly fast. Moving through the treetops as if organized, they quickly maneuvered through the canopy and surrounded Xiao Hongchen and his companions.

The three of them activated their Martial Souls.

Meng Hongchen's eyes, originally ice-blue, turned blood-red in an instant—a crimson so deep it looked as if they were dripping blood. Behind her, a silhouette slowly emerged.

It was a toad as white as jade, its eyes just as blood-red as hers.

Her first and second soul rings lit up. The Ice Toad Poison and Ice Poison Ring were activated simultaneously. A white current, one foot in diameter, diffused into the surroundings, and an ice-blue ring of light spread out from beneath her feet, covering the entire troop of Red Fire Monkeys in the blink of an eye.

Within the range of the Ice Poison Ring, the potency of all the virulent toxins belonging to her Vermilion Clear Ice Toad would be doubled.

At the same time, the pair of slender swords in Meng Hongchen's hands slashed through the air.

Two ice-blue streaks of light appeared in mid-air like lightning, crossing into a cross shape as they slashed toward the Red Fire Monkey King.

The light blades flew through the air, remaining condensed and unscattered, just like a soul skill.

On a treetop in the distance, the most robust Red Fire Monkey, which possessed ten thousand years of cultivation, pounded its chest with its fists. Fiery light erupted from its red fur, and its body lunged forward like lightning. A massive fireball, over a meter in diameter, came crashing toward them head-on.

"Puff—" The cross-slash shattered, but it exploded into a sky full of white mist. Needless to say, this mist was saturated with the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad's virulent poison.

The fireball shrank slightly but continued to smash toward Meng Hongchen.

"I will assist you."

Two snow-white wings appeared behind Ye Guyi, and a Seven Star Longsword appeared in her hand, radiating a brilliant golden light.

A divine radiance suddenly erupted from Ye Guyi, shining upon Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen. Meng Hongchen was surprised to find that the soul power she had just expended was rapidly recovering, and her offensive capabilities had been significantly boosted.

First Soul Skill: Holy Light Illumination. It could heal while simultaneously enhancing the attacks of both the user and their teammates.

At the same time, Ye Guyi gripped the longsword with both hands and raised it above her head as her second soul ring lit up.

Behind her, the silhouette of a Six-Winged Angel flashed, and the sword radiance surged instantly.

A massive sword beam, three meters long and over a meter wide, descended from the sky like a heaven-shaking rainbow, cleaving the fireball apart in mid-air.

Holy Spirit Slash! The second soul skill of the Holy Angel martial soul.

Just as the Red Fire Monkey King launched its attack, the other Red Fire Monkeys began leaping through the woods. Accompanied by their rapid speed, clusters of fireballs rained down from the sky, concentrated and firing toward the trio.

"Brother! Are you not going to make a move yet!"

Meng Hongchen's Ice Poison Ring had expanded to its limit, and the Ice Toad Poison permeated the air, but there were too many fireballs for her twin swords to intercept.

Ye Guyi's snow-white wings unfurled abruptly from her back. Standing back-to-back with Meng Hongchen, she slashed her golden longsword repeatedly. The lingering glow of the Holy Spirit Slash still shimmered on the blade, and every strike shattered a fireball.

"You... are surrounded by me."

Even now, Xiao Hongchen did not forget to deliver his chuunibyou declaration.

He held his hand in a blade shape in front of his storage belt. With a flash of golden light, countless metal particles floated around him. His first, second, and third soul rings lit up simultaneously, and a massive, spherical metal barrier enveloped the three of them, continuing to thicken.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The continuous sound of fireball explosions came from outside, yet they failed to inflict any substantial damage on the three inside.

Even the Red Fire Monkey King's massive fireball attacks could be sensed by Xiao Hongchen through his spiritual power, allowing him to thicken the defense in those specific areas beforehand.

"How come I've never seen you use this move before, Brother?"

"It's good that you don't know; there is still much for you to learn."

Xiao Hongchen raised his index finger toward his sister with a smug expression, speaking slowly:

"It is time to end this farce. One minute—in one minute, I will completely crush them!"