A Dangerous Situation

The night passed without a word.

The next morning, everyone opened their eyes from their meditative state.

Jiang Jiu naturally wanted a good night's sleep, but seeing that everyone except him and Tang San had no such intention, he followed the crowd. As it happened, he could sleep while sitting, and the quality of his sleep wasn't even that bad.

Besides him, there were others who had fallen asleep while sitting.

Jiang Jiu nudged the small head Ning Rongrong had rested on his shoulder.

There was still a glistening trail of moisture on Jiang Jiu's clothes; she had certainly slept soundly.

"What is it?"

Feeling that Ning Rongrong still had the intention of "lingering in bed," Jiang Jiu had no choice but to help her wake up physically.

The result was very effective; once Ning Rongrong woke up, she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Having provided the morning's entertainment, it was time to return to the main quest of hunting for soul beasts.

"Our luck is running thin," Flender muttered, rubbing his chin.

They either couldn't find a trace of their target soul beast, or the age of the ones they did find was too low.

Jiang Jiu once managed to spot a ten-year Lightning Rabbit, but the rabbit scurried away in a panic, not even caring if it might crash into a tree.

Seeing this, it wasn't hard to understand how some rabbits managed to survive.

Even though Jiang Jiu and his group had a Soul Saint presiding over them, and the others were generally at the twentieth or thirtieth level, many ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts had still launched charges at them earlier.

Perhaps there really was some truth to the idea that "not attacking because the soul master is strong is the mindset of the weak."

Regardless, that Lightning Rabbit had escaped unscathed, unlike other soul beasts that, while not killed by Jiang Jiu and his group, had still been wounded; if they were injured, their survival prospects would be greatly diminished.

They walked and stopped along the way until noon, when the group paused to rest.

"Why are you still dazed?" Jiang Jiu asked, handing some food to Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong's body jolted, as if she had just come back to her senses.

"How embarrassing!" She gritted her teeth, not letting the sound escape, but her face was full of resentment.

To think that she, the dignified little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, would drool while sleeping and even get it on someone else.

Most importantly, others had seen it too.

She would just have to find someone to silence them when she got back!

Fortunately, the others were very considerate and were currently pretending that nothing had happened.

Self-deception was a good thing; at least it saved the young lady's face and avoided a tragedy, though Ning Rongrong was only thinking about it.

"How is it?"

When Jiang Jiu walked over to Flender's side, Flender gave him a meaningful look.

If Ning Rongrong remained dazed and distracted, the effectiveness of the training would be significantly reduced.

Jiang Jiu nodded at him, signaling that she was fine.

However, at this moment, Flender suddenly straightened his posture, his eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses turning grave.

"Our luck really is running thin!"

Jiang Jiu looked in the direction Flender was watching.

Good news: it wasn't the Titan Giant Ape.

Bad news: the approaching party consisted of two old people and one youngster.

Jiang Jiu roughly knew who these three were.

But to run into them even after coming to the Star Dou Forest ahead of schedule? The key was that in such a vast forest, they had to run into the Peerless Dragon and Snake couple.

It was more than a little unlucky.

"Everyone, gather round," Flender told the group.

Regardless of who the others were, one must be vigilant, vigilant, and even more vigilant when encountering other soul masters in a soul beast forest.

If soul beasts were things that naturally required caution, then one could never be too careful when dealing with other soul masters.

Flender's level 78 cultivation was definitely among the strongest in the outer reaches of the Star Dou Forest, but the sense of ease from the three people opposite them was a bit excessive.

If it were two Soul Saints or Soul Emperors protecting a junior, this would be expected, but Flender knew it wasn't that simple.

He recognized those two old fogies!

These two old things had become famous even earlier than their Golden Iron Triangle, and the reputation of their Martial Soul Fusion Skill was also very loud.

Of course, Flender believed that the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of their Golden Iron Triangle was absolutely not weak.

If Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong were by his side, Flender wouldn't fear them.

Or, if he were alone, Flender could say it didn't matter; at worst, he would just run. He was, after all, an extremely rare flying-type soul master.

But he was stuck with a group of students, so he had no choice but to play the humble servant.

As the newcomers approached, Flender brushed off his clothes.

"I am Flender, greetings to you both, seniors."

"The Flender from the Flying Horn?" The old woman among the pair was slightly taken aback.

Flender nodded.

"This is truly..." Chao Tianxiang, the old woman, had not expected to encounter someone who had vanished for twenty years in a place like this.

"Grandma, what is the Flying Horn?" her granddaughter, Meng Yiran, asked from the side, full of curiosity.

Could that man with the horse-face really be that impressive? She knew her grandmother was usually quite arrogant toward ordinary people.

"The Golden Iron Triangle, who suddenly retired twenty years ago. The old man and I felt quite regretful when we first heard the news back then."

"You are too kind, seniors," Flender replied with a polite smile.

Polite pleasantries were just that—pleasantries.

But in truth, his reputation as Flender still carried weight with these people who were decades his senior.

Unlike these ten-year-old brats, who had absolutely no respect for their elders.

"And your two companions?" the Dragon Duke, Meng Shu, also spoke up to ask.

"Ah, we've just been busy teaching our respective students, passing the days."

"In fact, this student of mine has reached level thirty, so I've come to help him hunt a thousand-year spirit beast."

Flender patted Jiang Jiu on the shoulder.

As for why it wasn't Tang San.

Flender was a shrewd man; he saw through the Dragon and Snake couple's purpose in coming to the Star Dou Forest immediately—it was nothing more than to help their granddaughter hunt for her third spirit ring.

Since both were level thirty and seeking a third spirit ring, Tang San's appearance, while unremarkable, still made his age group somewhat apparent.

Jiang Jiu, however, was far more deceptive.

If one didn't reveal his true age, who would guess he was only twelve?

Looking at the young girl opposite them, who appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen, saying Jiang Jiu was also fifteen or sixteen would save face for both sides, wouldn't it?

"What a handsome little girl, how old are you this year?" Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang exclaimed in admiration.

Sensing the sincerity in her words, Meng Yiran pursed her lips. Her grandmother had never praised her like that; she always said she was "cute," even though she wore short hair and a combat outfit.

Still, that blonde-haired, green-eyed fellow was indeed well-proportioned and refined; he was the type that elders naturally favored.

"Fifteen... sixteen."

Flender had wanted to offer a reminder, but he hadn't expected Jiang Jiu to be someone who knew how to hide his true colors as well.

Jiang Jiu felt quite annoyed himself; so much for being a "Snake Granny," had her sixty or seventy years of experience gone to the dogs?

Only Ning Rongrong was secretly stifling a laugh.

"That's about the same as my granddaughter, not bad, not bad at all."

"Your height is also excellent, and your development is, um, quite unique as well."

Sister, are you setting us up on a blind date? You don't even have a grandson, do you?

Jiang Jiu signaled to Flender with his eyes, but the man pretended not to see.

It wasn't that Flender didn't care; he was busy trying to think of a way to slip away, leaving the task of stalling for time to Jiang Jiu. Besides, the atmosphere seemed quite harmonious, didn't it?