"Chen Family of Huangshan!"
The leader was shocked to hear that, and fear flashed in the eyes of his underlings.
Seeing their reaction, Xu Bai thought the matter was settled. He was about to keep trying to talk them down when a vicious glint flashed in the burly leader's eyes. He shouted to the men beside him:
"Brothers, you know how vicious the Chen Family is. If we let this kid go back, there's no way we'll live.
"Better to kill him now than be hunted down later. Come with me and kill the kid, then find the Storage Soul Tool on him. Forget whatever's inside—even selling that Soul Tool alone would give us enough to live on for several lifetimes.
"Once we find some remote corner to hide in, the Chen Family may never learn we did it!"
His underlings thought that made sense. They'd already crossed the Chen Family, so they might as well make themselves enemies for good!
In an instant, every man looked at Xu Bai with malice, but not one dared take a step forward. None of them wanted to be the first to stick his neck out.
The burly man cursed inwardly. If he'd known it would be like this, he wouldn't have brought out this bunch of useless trash. They couldn't help him at all, and he'd have to go to the trouble of killing them all afterward...
Ordinary people might know the Chen Family was ruthless, but not just how ruthless. As a Soul Grandmaster, he'd seen with his own eyes how the Chen Family dealt with Soul Masters who crossed them. Even now, just thinking about it made him shudder.
So, no one could find out that he'd offended a Chen Family member. And the people best at keeping secrets were dead people.
With that in mind, the burly man decided not to waste any more time. A yellow Soul Ring flashed beneath his feet. He was about to unleash a Soul Skill and charge in, swiftly dispatching the kid and the coachman together.
On the other side, Xu Bai knew things couldn't be settled peacefully anymore. He was about to drop the iron balls he'd prepared earlier and let First make the opening move.
But then he saw the burly man use some kind of Soul Skill. One of its wind-up motions involved planting his cleaver into the ground.
A faint clang of metal rang out. The next moment, First moved inside the carriage.
The Iron Skewers shot out silently, streaking from both sides toward the burly man's temples at tremendous speed.
In theory, given how fast the Iron Skewers flew, even an opponent like the burly man—a Soul Grandmaster—might be unable to dodge them if he wasn't careful.
The problem was, after activating his Soul Skill, the burly man had focused all his attention on Xu Bai, a One-Ring Soul Master.
Xu Bai's hundred-year first ring had truly startled him, especially since Xu Bai was also a member of a great family.
As the saying went, even a lion used all its strength to catch a rabbit. And this was a genius, no less. He had no choice but to be cautious.
Unfortunately, this lion had kept its eyes on the rabbit and failed to notice the hunter behind it.
By the time he realized what was happening, he'd already been dead for some time.
Two Iron Skewers pierced his temples. Red and white seeped slowly through the wounds, dripping to the ground and staining a small patch of earth a dusky crimson.
"B-boss..." One of the quicker underlings noticed something was wrong. But he'd barely begun to speak when a flying knife came at him. In the blink of an eye, all the underlings fell, not one left alive.
It had all happened too quickly. After seeing the burly man killed, Xu Bai had meant to tell First to leave one alive, so he could ask how they'd found out he had a Space Soul Tool on him. But before he could say a word, they were all dead.
When ordinary people faced supernatural power, they truly weren't even as good as ants.
"S-sir, what should we...?"
The old coachman might have been dedicated to his work, or perhaps his legs had gone weak with fright. He'd remained standing on the carriage the whole time, and only dared speak in a trembling voice after every masked man on the other side was dead. His gaze held both respect and fear.
"Keep driving."
Xu Bai waved his hand and turned back into the carriage.
This was the first time he'd killed someone in either of his two lifetimes. It was true that he hadn't killed them himself, and he hadn't even given the order.
Still, he felt awful.
It was a physical reaction; he couldn't stop himself from wanting to throw up.
Fortunately, they were far enough away that the stench of blood hadn't reached him yet. Otherwise, Xu Bai might really have thrown up.
'Beast Tamer, I was amazing, wasn't I?'
As soon as Xu Bai came in, First shoved its face over to claim credit.
Looking at its smug expression, Xu Bai couldn't help smiling. He rubbed its head. "Well done. You didn't let me down. All that time I spent training you wasn't wasted."
Just then, the carriage began to move. Xu Bai's hand paused on First's head, and he involuntarily held his breath.
'Beast Tamer, what's wrong?'
Sensing something was off, First raised its eyes in confusion.
Xu Bai didn't reply. Only after a long while did he finally take a deep breath.
"It's nothing. I'll probably get used to it," Xu Bai said with a smile.
First didn't understand, but seeing that its Beast Tamer seemed out of sorts, it showed an unusually keen sense for once and didn't press him.
The rest of the journey passed in silence. Before long, they arrived at a town outside the Hengduan Mountain Range.
After paying the fare, Xu Bai returned First to the Beast Taming Space.
He found an inn at random and spent the night there. At dawn the next day, he headed straight into the Hengduan Mountain Range.
Only after reaching an uninhabited spot did he let First out.
Back in familiar surroundings, First felt somewhat downcast, recalling quite a few painful memories.
Seeing this, Xu Bai reached out and patted its head. "Your clan may have abandoned you, but now I'm here with you. Don't worry, First. With me by your side, you'll get your revenge one day."
Feeling the touch on its head, First gradually calmed down.
That's right. My clan doesn't want me anymore, but my Beast Tamer will stay by my side.
And those clan members who wanted me abandoned—I'll make you pay!
With First protecting him, Xu Bai wandered here and there, recording more than forty kinds of Soul Beasts in a single day.
Most of them were plant-type Soul Beasts, followed by insects and small Soul Beasts. He hadn't dared record any large ones, but he'd been fortunate enough to record two bird-type Soul Beasts.
Having recorded so many kinds of Soul Beasts, he received an extremely generous reward from the Manual. It raised his spiritual power by nearly three times, likely putting it above that of an average Soul Elder.
Actually, if Xu Bai had wanted to, he could have recorded more than ten additional kinds of Soul Beasts. But rapidly increasing spiritual power didn't bring only benefits; it also had its drawbacks.
For example, his Sea of Consciousness was close to its limit now. He could vaguely feel it starting to crack.
As the saying went, too much of a good thing could turn bad. Xu Bai stopped decisively, bringing the trip to a perfect close.
"With my spiritual power as it is now, I should be able to handle the Manual's unit of measurement, 'a large amount'..."
As Xu Bai pondered, a piercing shriek suddenly came through Telepathy from inside the Beast Taming Space.
The voice came from Little Blue Silver Grass. After sleeping for a month, it had finally woken up.
Well, it woke up to find the sky had fallen—it was in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by nothing but endless whiteness.
Forget a life-loving Soul Beast like Little Blue Silver Grass. Anyone would have lost it in that situation.