Liu Erlong Savors Two Phantom Dragons! Accepting the Mission.

The next morning.

Liu Erlong was still wearing that Venom black latex suit, her figure explosive.

Compared to the previous few days, there was a touch more maturity between her brows.

"You bastard, it was bad enough that you trained me to death for a day and two nights."

She furrowed her brows, "And you even conjured up two Phantom Dragons! I'm so unaccustomed to this!"

"That is exactly why you need to adapt more. After all, the training volume will only increase from here on out."

Liu Erlong curled her lips, "Where do you come up with so many tricks? I can't even take a single day off; the intensity is just too high."

"Rest? How can you become stronger if you rest? From now on, we stick to this intensity."

"It's so you can adapt anytime, anywhere. Real combat won't give you time to prepare."

Jiang Ce chuckled with a sinister, grating laugh.

If it weren't for the fact that he still needed her to hunt soul beasts today to continue devouring genes and completely seal away her weaknesses to fire and sonic waves, he had a whole new set of training plans he wanted to roll out slowly.

Liu Erlong took a deep breath, lifted her feet, and headed toward the Mercenary Guild.

Mercenary Guild.

Seeing Liu Erlong walk in, several people instinctively took half a step back—

The image of Liu Erlong smashing Ma San's face into the table with one hand yesterday was still fresh in everyone's minds.

Moreover, Ma Biao and his group had vanished without a trace.

Ma San was his cousin, and that guy was usually arrogant and domineering; he would never let a beating go unavenged.

Yet, for the past two days, there hadn't been a single whisper of news about Ma Biao's entire team.

There was only one explanation:

Liu Erlong definitely had a powerful force backing her, one that had either warned Ma Biao into silence or simply made them vanish from the face of the earth.

In this world where might made right, the consequence of kicking a steel plate was total ruin.

Liu Erlong ignored all these gazes, which were rife with undercurrents.

She walked straight to the bulletin board, skipped all the Soul Elder-level missions, scanned the top row, and reached out to tear off a bounty notice.

Target: A five-thousand-year fire-attribute dragon-type soul beast.

Requirement: Kill and bring back the complete carcass.

Mission Difficulty: Recommended for teams of four-ring Soul Ancestors or higher.

Bounty: Thirty thousand gold soul coins.

The mercenaries nearby saw the notice in her hand and collectively gasped.

"That's a Soul Ancestor-level mission. Isn't she only a three-ring?"

"Didn't she take a Soul Ancestor-level one yesterday, too?"

"How is that the same? Last time it was just picking herbs, and you could just lure the soul beast away to pluck them. This time it's a real, head-on kill—it's not even the same level of difficulty."

A few oblivious ones were still whispering there.

It wasn't until those crimson vertical pupils slowly swept over them that their expressions changed in unison.

"Ahem, I just remembered, my kid is waiting for me to go back and teach him how to farm—"

"Haha, me too, me too, my old man at home is about to start reading—"

The few of them took to their heels and ran, not even daring to look back.

Liu Erlong glanced at their retreating backs, gave a light huff, and turned toward the counter.

The manager's hand paused when he saw her approach.

The memory of being unable to squeeze out a single word after being shut down yesterday was still stuck in his throat.

But when he took the bounty notice to verify it, he hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice, "This mission carries high risk; it would be best to bring a few more companions."

He then completed the registration for her.

Liu Erlong nodded slightly, saying nothing more.

Sunset Forest outskirts.

A pitch-black figure darted rapidly through the jungle like a leopard.

Liu Erlong scanned her surroundings, searching for every soul beast she could encounter.

An entire morning passed, and aside from casually swatting a few hundred-year-old small fry that didn't know any better, the mission target hadn't even shown a shadow.

"Three miles to the east-northeast; there is a fluctuation of soul power over there." Jiang Ce's voice rang out in her mind.

Liu Erlong immediately adjusted her direction, lowered her body, and moved quickly through the forest.

The deeper she went, the clearer the fluctuations of soul power in the air became.

She stopped behind a large tree and pushed aside the branches—

A grey-brown, bat-like soul beast hung upside down from the branch of a dead tree ahead, its wings folded as it dozed.

It was about half a person's height, its belly rising and falling slightly.

A Phantom Sound Bat. It possessed both mental and sonic attributes; judging by its size and soul power fluctuations, it was at least fifteen hundred years old.

"Don't let it make a sound." Jiang Ce's voice suddenly dropped, his tone carrying a disgust Liu Erlong had never heard before. "Kill it in one strike. Don't give it a chance to open its mouth."

Liu Erlong stared at the bat and nodded.

It seemed this guy, Jiang Ce, hated sonic waves.

No, not just hated—judging by his reaction when they faced the Red Flame Earth Dragon, where he had deliberately made her avoid the flames, the symbiote had an innate weakness to certain types of attacks.

The effect of sonic waves on him was likely no less severe than that of fire.

But that made sense; for a symbiote with such heaven-defying amplification abilities, it would be unreasonable if it didn't have one or two natural enemies.

However, she kept this thought to herself.

Now that she and Jiang Ce were symbiotically linked, they thrived or perished together. What he feared was what she feared.

She didn't yet know exactly how much sonic waves affected the symbiote.

But if they were hit head-on by a sonic wave during battle, causing the symbiote to stop providing its boost—

That would be equivalent to losing all her trump cards in an instant.

The fifteen-hundred-year-old Phantom Sound Bat before them was manageable; even without the symbiote's boost, she could kill it solo with her strength as a three-ring Soul Master.

But what if they encountered a stronger sonic soul beast in the future?

Being forced back to her original state in the middle of a fierce, life-or-death battle would be a true dead end.

Jiang Ce sensed Liu Erlong's train of thought and let out a satisfied, low chuckle in her consciousness.

She was truly worthy of being the mount he had chosen.

He would definitely reward her well later.

Liu Erlong lifted her right hand silently. Pitch-black liquid condensed in her palm into a short blade half an arm's length.

She locked her eyes on the Phantom Sound Bat—this thing had to die without a sound.

With a sudden push from her toes, her figure vanished from where she stood.

Covering the ten-meter distance, the short blade in her hand extended mid-dash, instantly piercing the Phantom Sound Bat's half-open mouth and driving straight through its skull.

The Phantom Sound Bat didn't let out a single shriek; its wings twitched once before it went completely still.

Black liquid surged from the puncture wound, covering the entire carcass and beginning to devour it.

Liu Erlong landed steadily on the dead tree branch. A moment later, the Phantom Sound Bat had completely vanished from the tree.

"How was it?" She retracted the short blade.

"Sonic resistance increased by a layer. Though it's still far from immunity, it's at least not zero anymore." Jiang Ce's tone was satisfied. "Also, I obtained its skill."

Phantom Sound Wave—releases a mental-attribute sonic wave from the mouth, spreading in a fan shape.

Targets hit suffer mental shock, experiencing brief dizziness and disorientation. Targets of the same level or lower are stunned for about five seconds.

This skill possessed the dual characteristics of sonic damage and mental impact.

At the same time, Devouring this fifteen-hundred-year-old Phantom Sound Bat converted about one hundred and fifty years of soul beast age for Jiang Ce.

Liu Erlong also felt a surge of warm energy flowing into her body.

"This is about fifteen years' worth of feedback, equivalent to nearly a week of your hard cultivation in soul power."

Liu Erlong flexed her wrist.

The sensation of that soul power surging into her meridians was distinct, tempering her body bit by bit.

Killing just one thousand-year soul beast was equal to a week of her sitting in meditation.

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly. She didn't say a word, but her eyes brightened.

At this rate, She would soon reach the threshold of level thirty-five.

Jiang Ce was truly the greatest opportunity heaven had ever bestowed upon her.

"The greatest?"

Jiang Ce let out a sinister, low chuckle in her mind.

The next second, The black bodysuit on her body suddenly surged, and a black palm formed out of thin air, slamming hard against her rounded, firm buttocks.

Smack.