The morning sunlight slanted across the road from Suotuo City to Star Dou Forest, dazzling countless passersby.
A luxurious carriage, drawn by four purebred Dragon Scale Horses, rolled along at an unhurried pace. Its entire body was carved from fragrant wood and shimmered with radiant colors.
Beside the carriage, Su Yun rode a snow-white Unicorn, dressed in white as pristine as fresh-fallen snow. He gently fanned himself, exuding the grace of a Holy Son.
Three girls with completely different personalities, yet all breathtakingly beautiful, surrounded him like stars around the moon.
Xiao Wu wore a pink outfit and sat behind Su Yun on the Unicorn, pressed close to him. Her rabbit ears flicked in the wind.
Zhu Zhuqing rode a black steed. Her tight leather outfit accentuated her heart-stirring curves, and she was as cold and striking as ink.
Ning Rongrong occasionally peeked out from behind the carriage curtain, curiously looking around.
Wherever this "best-looking team on the entire continent" went, passing caravans and Soul Hunting groups alike turned to stare, all wondering to themselves:
Just what divine young master was out on a trip?
However, about a hundred meters behind this harmonious scene, a deeply incongruous figure was stumbling along in pursuit.
Tang San carried his tattered bundle on his back. The straw sandals on his feet were so worn that his toes poked through.
He had no money to rent a horse, much less stay at an inn, so he'd spent the night in a dilapidated roadside temple, gnawing on hard, dry steamed buns.
His face was covered in dust, his eyes sunken. His gaze held a sickly determination born of utter exhaustion.
"Xiao Wu, just you wait. I'll get stronger and show you all."
Wiping away his sweat, Tang San pulled a cold flatbread from his bag, hard as a rock.
"Su Yun's only got where he is because of his good background. Once we reach a place as perilous as Star Dou Forest, a pampered young master like him is bound to show his true colors. That'll be when my Tang Sect Hidden Weapons can truly shine!"
He was certain that when Su Yun faced danger and didn't know what to do,
he would step in, and Xiao Wu would come around and realize who the man she could truly rely on was.
Up ahead,
Su Yun sensed the stalker behind them and curled his lips into an amused smile.
Unhurriedly, he took the black Diary from the System Space. With a slight movement of his spiritual sense, he began writing on a fresh page.
[X year, X month, X day. Sunny. Destination: Star Dou Forest.]
[Today's achievement: Outing with three beauties. Mood: Perfect.]
[Still, Tang San's a real character. He's so broke he can only gnaw on dry rations, yet somehow he's stuck to us like a dog-skin plaster for dozens of miles. Does he think he'll find some treasure in the forest, or that if a Soul Beast eats me, he'll get to play the hero and save the beauty?]
[Little San, you're still too naive. This trip to Star Dou isn't just about finding suitable Soul Rings for Rongrong and Zhuqing. I'm also going to take that grand gift that was supposed to be yours—the External Soul Bone, the Eight Spider Lances.]
[Honestly, I can't wait to see his face when he watches me snatch away his top-tier opportunity right before his eyes. That despair of "it was mine, but it flew into someone else's arms" must taste even more bitter than the cold flatbread in his hand.]
[Oh, right. I almost forgot that some people still think Hidden Weapons are invincible. When we get there, I'll show him that before absolute attribute suppression and a god-tier Martial Soul, his embroidery needles don't even count as a back scratch.]
The writing in the Diary gleamed with brilliant light.
Almost the instant Su Yun closed the book, the copies in Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing's arms glowed with golden light.
Ning Rongrong was leaning against the carriage window. She glanced down at the Diary, and her usually somewhat languid eyes instantly grew round as saucers.
"An External Soul Bone?"
Ning Rongrong couldn't help blurting out. She turned toward Su Yun, her beautiful eyes fixed on him, brimming with curiosity.
"Su Yun, just now you were... ahem, that External Soul Bone you mentioned—what exactly is it? Is it valuable?"
Zhu Zhuqing slowed her horse and drew closer as well.
As a noblewoman of the Star Luo Empire, she'd heard her elders mention the term, but it was something that only existed in legends.
Su Yun stopped fanning himself. Seeing the curiosity on both girls' faces, he felt his inner lecturer come out again.
He deliberately raised his voice so that the ears of the tailgater behind them could catch most of what he said.
"An External Soul Bone..."
Su Yun chuckled, his tone leisurely.
"It ranks second on a Soul Master's list of dreams. Its status is surpassed only by a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, and it's even a hundred times rarer than a conventional Soul Bone with a high year count."
"That incredible?!"
Ning Rongrong gasped.
"Of course. The most heaven-defying thing about an External Soul Bone is that it doesn't take up one of the usual Soul Bone slots, and it can evolve as its owner grows stronger."
Su Yun gazed toward Star Dou Forest, his eyes growing deep.
"You could say that having an External Soul Bone is the same as holding a Godhood Admission Ticket."
Zhu Zhuqing's heart began to race. She asked quietly,
"Then how can we get one?"
Su Yun glanced pointedly at the clouds of dust billowing behind them and smiled brightly.
"That depends on fate, and even more on your face. The lucky ones might just find one lying by the road.
"The unlucky ones could have an opportunity right in front of them, only for someone stronger to snatch it away."
"Some people, I suppose, are destined to go their whole lives without a treasure like that. After all, being 'pure and unblemished' won't get you a Soul Bone."
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing both caught the teasing in his words and couldn't help giggling behind their hands.
They knew exactly who Su Yun meant by "some people."
Meanwhile, Tang San, following behind them, couldn't make out the whole conversation. Still, he caught a few phrases: External Soul Bone, Godhood Admission Ticket, and some people don't stand a chance.
His heart lurched, and a powerful wave of anxiety swept over him.
"What's he talking about? An External Soul Bone? Has he already found out there's a treasure like that in Star Dou Forest?"
Tang San's hand trembled slightly around his steamed bun.
"Impossible! Something like that is so rare it's almost impossible to find. What gives Su Yun the right to say I don't stand a chance?"
Suddenly, Tang San felt a chill crawl down his back.
It was like a pair of malicious eyes in the darkness had already seen through the most secret and precious future waiting for him—and were now holding a scalpel, ready to carve it away with precision.
"What's with this feeling of unease?!"
Tang San stopped and looked around in alarm. There was nothing but the sound of the wind.
He looked at Su Yun's confident figure up ahead and heard the three girls' happy laughter. A sense of crisis unlike any he'd ever felt before nearly left him unable to breathe.
"Su Yun! What secret are you hiding?!"
Tang San gritted his teeth. Ignoring the blisters on his feet, he once more chased after them like a madman.
Meanwhile, Su Yun was leisurely enjoying the grapes Xiao Wu fed him, planning to himself:
Tang San, Tang San, keep up. This grand heist of an opportunity won't be nearly as exciting without you, its poor victim!
Before you continue