Entering Danger Again!

Returning to the matter at hand, the group tidied themselves up before refocusing their attention on the three slain Evil Eyes before them.

Meng Hongchen tapped her toes against the ground and drifted forward.

With a flick of her slender, fair hands, two diamond-shaped crystals floated up from the carcasses and landed in her palms.

"What are these?"

Seeing the objects, Ye Luochen was slightly taken aback.

"Could they be spirit bones? But their shape doesn't quite look like one."

"They aren't spirit bones. They are products of the soul sublimation that occurs once the Evil Eye race reaches a certain level of cultivation."

Beside him, Meng Hongchen explained.

"The Evil Eye race can hide their soul essence within them. That way, even if their physical body is killed and a spirit ring has already manifested, they can still escape using the sliver of soul remaining inside."

As she spoke, a hint of confusion crept into her tone.

"But how are there only two crystals? Could one of the Evil Eyes have had insufficient cultivation to condense one?"

Ye Luochen did not respond to Meng Hongchen's confusion.

Because the Evil Eye was a spirit beast species unique to the Sun Moon Empire, even Shrek Academy only had records of Evil Eyes up to the thousand-year level.

As for ten-thousand-year specimens, or the crystals dropped after the death of the ones before them, these were entirely uncharted territories.

However, after sensing the three spirit rings that had fully solidified on the ground, Ye Luochen spoke slowly:

"These three spirit rings are all black, symbolizing the ten-thousand-year level, and from what I can perceive, there is no significant difference in their energy intensity.

Logically speaking, the situation you described shouldn't be possible."

"That is indeed the case." Xiao Hongchen, who had been silent until now, nodded from the side.

Although he still harbored some resentment that Ye Luochen, despite being the weakest, had been the first to kill his opponent, he could be certain that there was no significant power gap between these Evil Eyes. It was impossible for one to have been exceptionally weak, allowing Ye Luochen to simply pick up the scraps.

After another thorough search yielded nothing, a single thought surfaced in everyone's minds simultaneously.

Could it be...

That one crystal had already managed to escape without them noticing?

The group exchanged glances, their expressions, which had only just relaxed, turning serious once more.

It was rumored that all the Evil Eyes in the Evil Demon Forest originated from the Evil Eye Tyrant Lord.

In other words, every individual of the Evil Eye race was, to some extent, related.

Under these circumstances, if the remnant soul of one of the Evil Eyes had truly escaped, it was easy to guess what it would do, given the mortal grudge it held against them for killing its kin.

"We shouldn't stay here any longer. The Evil Demon Forest feels strange today.

If we end up attracting an even stronger Evil Eye to seek revenge, we'll be in trouble."

As his voice fell, the expressions of the group grew increasingly grave.

Having lost the protection of their team-leading Level 9 soul engineer, assuming the worst-case scenario was undoubtedly the safest course of action.

Fortunately, the bodies of the Evil Eye race held nothing of value, and their attributes were not compatible with the group.

Facing these three pitch-black spirit rings—which would have caused a frenzy in the outside world—none of them felt a shred of regret.

They moved their feet and quickly fled into the distance.

However, as time passed, Ye Luochen, who was focused on the journey, suddenly felt an inexplicable emotion.

It was a negative feeling, a fusion of anger, resentment, and other turbulent sentiments.

Why?

Why did Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen insist on tagging along when this soul-hunting mission was clearly his own?

And the two of them had been bickering the entire way, annoying the Level 9 soul engineer leading the team to no end.

If not for that, how could a Level 9 soul engineer have failed to notice the approach of that fifty-thousand-year Evil Eye Tyrant?

How else could they have ended up in this current situation?

And that Xiao Hongchen—he had honed his combat skills through countless life-and-death crises, yet this nepotist dared to question him...

In the midst of his resentment, Ye Luochen suddenly froze.

He immediately realized something was wrong, and his brows furrowed tightly.

How could he have such an absurd thought?

Given his personality, such thoughts would never have crossed his mind.

Thinking this, Ye Luochen shook his head violently, forcing the strange sensation down.

He then spoke up to offer a warning:

"Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, be careful. I have a bad feeling about this!"

Yet, there was no response from the surroundings, not even the slightest sound of movement.

Noticing this bizarre situation, Ye Luochen came to an abrupt halt.

He turned his head to look.

The Hongchen siblings, who had been right beside him, were nowhere to be seen.

Not only that, but while the scenery remained the same, it felt to Ye Luochen as if he were in another world, as if he had been stripped away from reality by some eerie power.

Could it be that he...

Had entered some kind of mental illusion?

To be able to create a large-scale mental illusion meant the user possessed immense spiritual power.

In the Evil Demon Forest, there happened to be a type of soul beast known for its powerful spiritual strength: the Evil Eye.

Coincidentally, not long ago, they had killed three ten-thousand-year Evil Eyes but only found two soul crystals, with one suspected to have escaped.

Fearing that the escaped Evil Eye might seek revenge by bringing a more powerful entity, they had chosen to relocate.

As it turned out, during their relocation, they had unknowingly plunged headlong into a mental illusion.

It was easy to deduce the origin of this illusion.

After briefly analyzing the situation, Ye Luochen's expression turned grim.

"This is going to be a massive problem..."

Meanwhile, a similar situation was unfolding for the other two.

As Xiao Hongchen sped along, his expression gradually darkened.

Why?

Why did that Ye Luochen get into Mingde Hall the moment he enrolled, and why was he so highly regarded by their grandfather that he even sent a Level 9 soul engineer to lead their soul-hunting team?

That Ye Luochen had clearly never touched a soul tool before; how could he have progressed so rapidly in such a short time?

And that bizarre strength of his—he was only level forty, so how could he take down a ten-thousand-year Evil Eye in a single move?

And his own sister, why was she always siding with...

Before any further negative emotions could surface, Xiao Hongchen's body came to a sudden stop.

Something was wrong!

Why would he have such thoughts?

As a once-in-a-millennium genius of the Sun Moon Empire, how could he possibly care about such trivial matters?

The same was happening to Meng Hongchen.

As time passed, feelings of anger and resentment began to rise within her chest.

Why, when they were both geniuses with innate full soul power, did everyone only pay attention to Xiao Hongchen?

And why was she only ever referred to as "Xiao Hongchen's sister"?

When her own martial soul was clearly more...

No!

Meng Hongchen's pretty face turned cold in an instant, and a faint icy mist emerged, bringing her back to her senses.

She and Xiao Hongchen had grown up together; although they often bickered, the bond between them was incredibly deep.

How could she possibly harbor such negative feelings toward her brother?