Kidnapping Xuan Ziwen

Just as Cao Xin was savoring this poem from another world, Ju Zi stood up and walked toward the two of them.

"Many thanks to you, Senior, for saving my life." Ju Zi bowed to Cao Xin in gratitude.

"Little girl, it wasn't this old man who saved you." Cao Xin smiled and pointed toward Lin Yuan beside him.

When Ju Zi looked at him, she suddenly blushed and turned her head away.

Lin Yuan gave a helpless smile, took the storage ring from Cao Xin, and with a light tap, changed into a new set of clothes in an instant.

This one-touch outfit change was a Soul Tool function Lin Yuan had mentioned in his letters with Ning Tian, originally designed with potential Battle Armor in mind.

To this day, he hadn't even seen a strand of Battle Armor, but the advent of such gear was not far off.

"Many thanks to you, young hero, for your intervention. Your great kindness is impossible to repay; if there is a next life, even if I must serve as an ox or a horse, I will repay you for saving my life today."

"You're welcome, you're welcome. I am Lin Yuan; it was just a small effort." Lin Yuan laughed awkwardly.

Isn't there a saying that goes like this?

If the young hero is handsome, the maiden offers herself; if he is ugly, she offers to be an ox or a horse in the next life.

Lin Yuan had already been certified as someone who didn't look bad, and Ju Zi, in this state, must have already been betrothed to Xu Tianran.

That's right, the moment Lin Yuan had intervened, he had recognized the girl before him as Ju Zi.

If this were a novel or an anime where the faces were as generic as background characters, Lin Yuan truly wouldn't have been able to identify her.

But this was a manga world, and every character's appearance was quite distinct.

Since they had met here, Lin Yuan decided he would see if Xuan Ziwen was around.

If he was, he would just pack them all up and send them to the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect; regardless of the circumstances, Lin Yuan had the bigger fist here.

"By the way, little girl, even as Soul Engineers, you are only at the Soul Ancestor level, right?" Cao Xin asked.

"If that is the case, why would you dare to venture deep into this place, where three-thousand-year-old soul beasts are everywhere, without any teachers or elders?"

Hearing this, Ju Zi hurriedly said with anxiety, "That's right, Senior, please go and help my teacher. He is just ahead, locked in a struggle with a twenty-thousand-year-old Red Iron Earth Dragon."

"There is no need." Xuan Ziwen's voice rang out.

The somewhat disheveled middle-aged man walked out from an underground tunnel, carrying a soul cannon.

He cast a scrutinizing gaze toward Cao Xin, and upon finding that he couldn't see through him at all, he concluded that this was a Title Douluo.

"This junior, Xuan Ziwen, thanks you, Senior, for saving my students." Xuan Ziwen cupped his hands toward Cao Xin.

"You're mistaken, Teacher, you're mistaken." Ju Zi hurriedly ran over in a difficult position, pointing toward Lin Yuan to correct him.

"It was this young brother, Lin Yuan, who struck and drove away the Red Iron Earth Dragon."

"What?" Xuan Ziwen wore an expression of disbelief.

Even if Xuan Ziwen's cultivation as a soul master was somewhat inflated, he was still a Soul Douluo.

With that foundation of cultivation, he could easily see that Lin Yuan's current Soul Power Level was only just past thirty.

He was being told that a thirty-level Soul Elder had beaten back a twenty-thousand-year-old Red Iron Earth Dragon?

Looking at Lin Yuan, who was scratching his head in embarrassment, Xuan Ziwen could only think of one possibility.

A Soul Tool—he must have used a Soul Tool!

"Young brother, you truly are a hero among the youth. Might you let this Xuan see that sword-shaped Soul Tool in your hand?" Xuan Ziwen pointed to the Jade Dragon-Slayer in Lin Yuan's grip.

Ju Zi and Ke Ke also looked at Lin Yuan with anticipation; they also believed that the reason Lin Yuan had been able to display such might earlier was due to the Soul Tool in his hand.

They didn't think what Lin Yuan had was a Martial Soul, because no soul rings had been revealed.

"My apologies, but this is not a Soul Tool." Lin Yuan waved his hand, and the Jade Dragon-Slayer vanished back into his body.

"What? This is actually a Martial Soul?" Xuan Ziwen felt his worldview collapsing.

One had to know that a twenty-thousand-year-old soul beast had combat power equivalent to some powerful Soul Emperors.

And this young man, barely over level thirty, had actually defeated the soul beast before them using only his Martial Soul.

Following this, the expression on Xuan Ziwen's face became incomparably grave.

Not to mention whether a Soul Elder had this kind of strength, it was impossible for any Soul Elder within the Sun Moon Empire to unleash such combat power.

Xuan Ziwen was a medicine-taker himself, and he knew exactly what level the soul masters within the Sun Moon Empire were at.

In other words, this Lin Yuan and the elder beside him were soul masters from outside the Sun Moon Empire.

And for two such soul masters to appear in the heart of the Sun Moon Empire, specifically in the Rust Wasteland—a place rarely entered by outsiders—meant their origins were anything but simple.

"You two, I don't think your accents sound like locals of the Sun Moon Empire?" Xuan Ziwen asked with a very serious expression.

Since both had helped his students, they shouldn't be bad people.

Since they weren't bad people, he figured there would be no harm in probing for a bit of information.

If Lin Yuan knew what was currently going through Xuan Ziwen's mind, he would definitely have made a snide remark about the naivety of researchers.

"Naturally not. My master brought me into the Sun Moon Empire to gain experience," Lin Yuan said with a smile.

"I just came up from the magma zone below, and we are preparing to leave for the next location."

Hearing that the two had no malicious intent, Xuan Ziwen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"In that case, it was rather abrupt of me to pry into your affairs," Xuan Ziwen said, cupping his hands in apology.

"What's so abrupt about that?" Pin Pin waved his hand, looking troubled.

Suddenly, Lin Yuan's gaze sharpened, and his tone turned serious.

"I noticed your accent sounds a bit like someone from the Heaven Dou Empire. Is your ancestry from the Heaven Dou Empire, sir?"

"To tell you the truth, my parents did indeed migrate from the Heaven Dou Empire." Xuan Ziwen didn't notice the change in Lin Yuan at all, assuming it was just casual chatter.

"Oh? Then, are you perhaps named Xuan Ziwen? The Level 8 Soul Tool Master of Mingde Hall?"

"You know me?" Xuan Ziwen looked surprised.

Ju Zi, who had been listening to their conversation, felt her expression shift; she could clearly sense something hidden within Lin Yuan's tone.

"Naturally. To be honest, Teacher Xuan, you are my idol. Could you sign my clothes?" Lin Yuan leaned in and handed a pen to Xuan Ziwen, while his hand, hidden behind his back, signaled to Cao Xin.

"No, Teacher, it's a trap! Run!" Ju Zi suddenly screamed.

"What?" Xuan Ziwen looked at Ju Zi in confusion, not understanding why she was acting so erratically.

The moment Xuan Ziwen turned his head, the previously smiling Cao Xin suddenly lunged forward and knocked him unconscious.

By the time Xuan Ziwen regained consciousness, he had already been brought to the surface.

He and his students were tied together, and Lin Yuan was standing in front of them, watching him with a smile.

"What are you doing? Why did you suddenly attack me?" Xuan Ziwen demanded furiously, discovering that his Soul Power had been completely sealed.

"We were all just waiting for you to wake up. Isn't this just to prevent you from suddenly attacking us, Teacher Xuan?" Lin Yuan smiled.

Xuan Ziwen listened, completely bewildered, having no idea what Lin Yuan was talking about.