What a Coincidence, All Old Acquaintances, and They All Want to Beat Me Up

Xiao Mu had just finished his battle, the golden flames slowly dissipating around his body.

The third soul ring beneath his feet continued to shimmer with a faint light, reflecting the next fifteen seconds of the future within his golden eyes.

"Tang Wulin and the others are coming."

"Xiao Mu, how do you know?"

Before Wei Xiaofeng could finish his sentence, he heard four sets of chaotic footsteps.

The bushes were roughly pushed aside, and four figures burst out from the woods. Tang Wulin ran at the front, Xie Xie followed closely behind, while Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi brought up the rear.

"Xiao Mu, run!" Tang Wulin shouted, his voice hoarse, "There's a pack of Flame Lions behind us."

Before the words had even faded, a torrent of flame erupted from the forest.

Everyone looked up as a group of lions emerged from the shadows. Dark red flames danced upon their manes, and their orange-yellow eyes glowed terrifyingly in the darkness, lighting up one by one like lanterns deep within the woods.

Xiao Mu looked into the distance, his tone as calm as if he were asking what was for dinner. "How did you provoke a Flame Lion pack?" He tilted his head. "Gu Yue, how many?"

Gu Yue glanced over, her gaze sweeping rapidly across the pride.

"Twenty century-level, and the lion king leading them is a thousand-year soul beast."

"Don't worry, everything is under control."

As Xiao Mu spoke, his first soul ring lit up. A radiance spread out from beneath his feet like a silent proclamation.

"Everyone, engage directly."

He raised his eyes, his gaze passing over the pride to land on the largest beast in the center.

The creature's mane was like a mass of burning flames, its shoulders nearly three meters high, and every step it took left scorched claw marks in the earth.

It stepped out from the pride, a low growl rolling from its throat as a wave of heat washed over them.

The Thousand-Year Flame Lion King.

"Na'er, the Lion King is mine," Xiao Mu commanded directly. "You all clear out the century-level ones."

"Understood."

Na'er gripped her Silver Dragon Spear, her silver eyes brightening in the darkness.

Xiao Mu took a step forward. A force field expanded around him like a transparent film, spreading silently toward the lion pack.

The gravity beneath the Lion King's feet suddenly doubled, causing the giant beast to falter as its front claws gouged deep furrows into the scorched ground.

It roared, flames spewing from its maw to create a wall of fire as it struggled to break free from the invisible shackles.

But Xiao Mu's third soul ring remained lit.

Within his golden eyes, the future was unfolding.

Everything was perfectly clear.

He raised his hand, the force field twisting in his palm.

"Gravity Reversal."

The gravity beneath the Lion King suddenly inverted.

Down became up.

The giant lion's massive body was launched into the air by its own momentum like a thrown meteorite, its four claws flailing in the void, finding nothing to grip.

The flames twisted into bizarre shapes in the weightlessness, scattering in rings.

"Thousand-Year Flame Lion King, your strength is nothing special."

The force field beneath Xiao Mu's feet erupted, and he launched himself forward. He moved so fast that only a blur remained in the air. The dark-gold patterns on his right hand emerged beneath his skin, and five sharp blades extended from his knuckles—the Dark-Gold Dread-Claw.

The Lion King hung in mid-air, unable to find leverage. In those orange-yellow eyes, there was only one emotion.

Terror.

The claws struck.

"Pfft—"

The blades pierced into the Lion King's abdomen. Dark-gold blood gushed out, floating upward in the reversed gravity like a reverse rain of blood, rising drop by drop into the night sky.

Xiao Mu twisted his wrist, tearing through the internal organs before retracting his claws. He swept backward on the recoil and landed steadily.

The Lion King's carcass slammed down from the air, crashing into the ground with a boom. Dust billowed into the sky. The flames on its mane extinguished inch by inch, and those orange-yellow eyes faded into total darkness.

"Easily dealt with."

Xiao Mu landed, the beads of blood on his Dark-Gold Dread-Claw falling drop by drop in the sunlight.

On the other side, the battle ended in the same instant.

Na'er's Silver Dragon Spear pierced the throat of a century-level lioness, the tip protruding from the back of its neck and releasing a spray of blood.

Gu Yue's elemental storm sent several century-level lions flying simultaneously, wind blades and ice shards tearing dense wounds across their bodies.

Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw tore through the chest of a fourth, while Xie Xie's Light Dragon Dagger stabbed into the spine of a fifth.

Zhang Yangzi's Eagle Claw blinded a lioness, the beast collapsing to the ground with a miserable howl. Wang Jinxi's Bone Dragon Fist shattered the skull of the seventh; when his bone-armored fist landed, the very ground shook.

The lion pride, completely wiped out.

Specks of spiritual power drifted up from the corpses, dense and numerous, like an entire field of rising fireflies.

The light points merged into everyone's bodies, the luster of their spirit rings deepening by a fraction, their age limits jumping up a small notch.

Xiao Mu looked around; everyone was there. Some were catching their breath, others were wiping away blood, but they were all standing, presumably still at full capacity.

"Since everyone is here, let's keep moving."

Tang Wulin wiped the dust from his face and asked breathlessly, "Where are we going? Shouldn't we find a place to rest first and ensure we complete the assessment safely?"

Xiao Mu glanced at him.

"In the Spirit Ascension Platform, nowhere is safe."

The eight of them passed through the woodland, the lingering warmth of ashes still beneath their feet.

Xiao Mu, walking at the very front, suddenly stopped.

The air ahead rippled like the surface of a pond disturbed by a stone. A pitch-black leopard stepped out from the void, silver light patterns shimmering on its fur, its amber eyes staring at them coldly.

It was a Void Spirit Leopard.

"A thousand-year spirit beast," Gu Yue said.

The demon leopard let out a low growl and lunged, appearing on the flank of the group, its sharp claws tearing toward the back of Wei Xiaofeng's neck.

Wei Xiaofeng only had time to turn his head, his pupils reflecting a rapidly enlarging leopard claw.

Xiao Mu's force field arrived.

Gravity suddenly pressed down on the demon leopard, as if an invisible palm had fallen from mid-air.

The demon leopard's front claws stopped abruptly three inches from Wei Xiaofeng's neck, its entire body slammed into the ground. With a dull thud, a web of cracks spread across the earth.

"Still trying to ambush us? Everything within fifty meters is in my domain." Xiao Mu's voice was calm; a domain skill was a dimensional strike against those without spirit skills.

Na'er's Silver Dragon Spear had already been thrust out, the tip piercing the demon leopard's spine, running through it and pinning it to the ground.

The demon leopard struggled twice, its amber eyes gradually losing focus, and the silver light patterns on its body extinguished inch by inch.

Another swarm of spiritual power points drifted up, merging into everyone's bodies.

Before the light points had even dissipated, an Ice Wheel suddenly spun out from the depths of the dense forest.

Cold air spread along the ground, and wherever it passed, the grass blades were instantly covered in a layer of white frost.

The edge of the Ice Wheel was as thin as a blade, emitting a sharp whistling sound in the air as it sliced straight toward Xie Xie, who was on the outermost edge of the group.

Xie Xie didn't have time to draw his blades.

Xiao Mu raised his hand, opening his force field. The Ice Wheel collided with the invisible barrier and exploded in mid-air into a spray of ice crystals, refracting the sunlight like shattered glass scattered across the ground.

"No way, why is this Spirit Ascension Platform full of old acquaintances?"

"And they all want to hit me!"