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 left Star Luo City.
Outside the city gate, Jing Hongchen activated the Flight Soul Tool, enveloping the three of them in a membrane of light. They rose into the air and flew toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
Jing Hongchen's voice came from ahead:
"When the time comes, hunt the Soul Beasts yourselves. I'll protect you from the sidelines. I'll only step in if you encounter a Soul Beast you can't handle."
"Mm, we know." Xiao Hongchen opened his eyes, his tone as casual as if he were ordering from a menu. "Grandpa, could you keep an eye out for any thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bears? I'm in the mood for bear paw."
"Sure. I'll keep an eye out."
"Xiao, have you really turned into a glutton?"
Meng Hongchen turned her head and pretended to be astonished.
Xiao Hongchen ignored her.
He wanted to snatch the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Right Palm Bone that Huo Yuhao had obtained in the original story.
Jing Hongchen layered another seven-colored membrane of light over the Flight Soul Tool. This was a Level Nine concealment Soul Tool of his own invention.
In the original story, he had used it to infiltrate Shrek Academy without anyone noticing, and Mu En and Xuan Zi had only discovered him when he got close to Sea God Pavilion. It was an extremely useful Soul Tool.
Just like that, they flew right into the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest in broad daylight without encountering any Soul Beasts to stop them.
Jing Hongchen set the three of them down, then stayed nearby to protect them.
Feels like we've flown too far. The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear that dropped the Soul Bone in the original story was in the outer zone. Ah, whatever. I'll help Ye Guyi get her Soul Ring first.
The three advanced in a triangular formation.
Meng Hongchen walked at the front. As a close-combat Soul Engineer, she activated seven points on her body, each glowing with icy-blue light.
The seven points were her forehead, both shoulders, chest, abdomen, and both hands.
The seven clusters of icy-blue light quickly transformed into a delicate half-body suit of icy-blue armor that covered Meng Hongchen.
A pair of slender, three-foot-long icy-blue swords extended from her hands.
Behind her, three pairs of folded wings, each barely over a foot long, spread open at the same time.
The moment she donned the Soul Tool armor, a dense chill radiated from her.
This was a Level Six full-body Soul Tool armor set, complete with weapons and a Flight Soul Tool.
It was also a Level Six Soul Tool that a Level Five Soul Engineer could wear and use.
But Meng Hongchen was only Level Forty-Six, so she could wear only half the armor. It protected her vital points, leaving some areas uncovered.
Ye Guyi was on the left. She remained on guard, ready to release her Martial Soul at any moment.
Xiao Hongchen was on the right. The instant he activated his Brain Martial Soul, his Spiritual Power spread out ahead of them in a fan shape.
He had no Soul Rings attached and no Spiritual Detection Soul Skill. But with his powerful Spiritual Power and his Brain Martial Soul's ability to process information, he could sense even the slightest stir within five hundred meters ahead.
The three had not gone far when Xiao Hongchen suddenly jerked his head up.
"There's a horde of Red Fire Monkeys four hundred meters ahead. There's 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 short-tempered, aggressive, and spiteful. As agility-type Soul Beasts, they excelled at ranged attacks and were very difficult to deal with.
The Red Fire Monkeys moved at incredible speed through the treetops. They seemed almost organized as they quickly darted from branch to branch and surrounded Xiao Hongchen and the others.
The three of them each activated their Martial Souls.
Meng Hongchen's eyes, originally icy blue, turned bloodred in an instant, as though blood might drip from them. A spectral image slowly emerged behind her.
It was a jade-white toad, its eyes bloodred just like hers.
Her First and Second Soul Rings lit up. Ice Toad Poison and Ice Poison Ring activated together. A white stream of air, a foot in diameter, spread in all directions, while an icy-blue ring of light expanded from beneath her feet, covering the entire horde of Red Fire Monkeys in the blink of an eye.
Within the Ice Poison Ring's range, every deadly poison belonging to her Vermilion Clear Ice Toad grew much more potent.
At the same time, Meng Hongchen swept the slender swords in her hands through the air.
Two icy-blue streaks of light appeared like lightning, crossing into an X as they slashed toward the Red Fire Monkey King.
The blades of light flew through the air without dispersing, almost like a Soul Skill.
On a distant treetop, the biggest and most powerful Red Fire Monkey had reached ten thousand years of cultivation. It pounded its chest with both fists, and flames immediately flickered across its scarlet fur. It sprang up like lightning, sending a massive fireball, over a meter in diameter, hurtling straight toward them.
"Pfft—" The cross-shaped slash shattered, but burst into a sky full of white mist. There was no need to ask: the mist was filled with the deadly poison of the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad.
The fireball shrank, but still came crashing toward Meng Hongchen.
"I'll help you."
A pair of white wings appeared behind Ye Guyi, and a Seven Star Longsword appeared in her hand, its entire length radiating brilliant golden light.
A burst of holy light suddenly shone from Ye Guyi, falling over Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen. Meng Hongchen was astonished to discover that the Soul Power she had just expended was rapidly recovering, and her attacks had grown considerably stronger.
First Soul Skill: Holy Light Illumination. It could heal while also strengthening the attacks of her allies and herself.
At the same time, Ye Guyi gripped the longsword with both hands and raised it above her head. Her Second Soul Ring lit up.
A Six-Winged Angel flashed behind her, and the sword's radiance surged.
A massive sword beam, three meters long and over a meter wide, plunged from the sky like a rainbow, splitting the fireball apart in midair.
Holy Spirit Slash! The Angel Martial Soul's Second Soul Skill.
As the Red Fire Monkey King attacked, the other Red Fire Monkeys leaped through the forest as well. Moving at tremendous speed, they sent fireballs raining down on the trio in a concentrated barrage.
"Bro! Are you going to do anything?"
Meng Hongchen's Ice Poison Ring had already spread to its limit, and the Ice Toad Poison filled the air. But there were too many fireballs for her twin swords to intercept them all.
The white wings behind Ye Guyi suddenly spread wide. She stood back-to-back with Meng Hongchen, repeatedly swinging her golden longsword. The radiance of Holy Spirit Slash still shimmered along its blade, and every swing shattered a fireball.
"You're... surrounded by me."
Even now, Xiao Hongchen couldn't resist making a chuunibyou declaration.
He held his hand like a blade in front of his storage belt. A flash of golden light, and countless metallic particles floated around him. His First, Second, and Third Soul Rings lit up together, forming a huge spherical metal barrier around the three of them. It continued to thicken.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
The explosions of the fireballs rang out incessantly from outside, but not a single one caused the three of them any real harm.
Even against the Red Fire Monkey King's massive fireball attacks, Xiao Hongchen could sense their landing points in advance with his Spiritual Power and reinforce the defense in those areas.
"How come I've never seen you use that before, brother?"
"Good. You're not supposed to know everything yet. You still have a lot to learn."
Xiao Hongchen smugly raised an index finger at his younger sister, then spoke slowly:
"It's time to put an end to this farce. Give me one minute. In one minute, I'll crush them completely!"
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