A man's voice and a woman's voice rang out. The boy sounded confident, while the girl was cheerful, though a little skeptical.
Soon, the two emerged from the forest.
"See? I told you I wasn't lying. There's a whole pack of Flame Demon Lions here..."
"Huh? Where'd my whole pack of Flame Demon Lions go?!"
The boy leading the way, a staff of ice in hand, stared at the empty lakeshore. His confident smile froze in an instant, and he stood there dumbfounded.
Beside him stood a petite girl with eyes as bright as stars, smooth, lustrous skin, a delicate nose, and rosy lips. Her blue hair was tied into two lively braids behind her head. She, too, held an ice-blue staff. Though still young, she was already showing signs of becoming a beauty.
"Big brother, all you ever do is lie to me. Just wait till I tell Dad when we get back. He'll make you eat your favorite 'bamboo-woven pork stir-fry.'"
A sly glint flashed in the girl's bright eyes. Her voice whispered in the boy's ear like a demon's.
"Xiaoyan, I really wasn't lying. I took note of this pack of Flame Demon Lions the last time I came here. How could they be gone?"
The boy looked close to tears. His gaze soon fell on Jiang Xiu and Na'er across the lake.
"Ice Staff Martial Soul? The Xu siblings?"
Jiang Xiu had spotted the two earlier. The Martial Souls in their hands immediately gave away their identities.
The girl was Xu Xiaoyan, who would one day be known as the "strongest controller under the stars," while the boy was her older brother, Xu Xiaoyu.
The two came from the Xu Family, one of Eastsea's most prominent families. Xu Xiaoyan's father was not only Eastsea City's chief financial officer, but also an important member of the Sun Moon Federation's legislature.
Xu Xiaoyan's Ice Staff Martial Soul was no ordinary one, either. It was the Star Wheel Ice Staff, a Martial Soul the Xu Family had only seen once in a thousand years.
"Hey, friends!"
"Have you seen a pack of Flame Demon Lions around here?"
Xu Xiaoyu waved the ice staff in his hand, sending out a surge of ice-attributed Soul Power. A path of ice formed across the lake. He then led his younger sister toward Jiang Xiu and Na'er, asking as he walked.
The Soul Beasts inside the Spirit Ascension Platform were made of energy. After dying, they turned into energy and were absorbed, leaving no remains behind. So Xu Xiaoyu naturally assumed that the Flame Demon Lions had moved elsewhere.
"No. We just happened to be passing through."
Jiang Xiu's gaze flickered as he answered.
"Boss, you're so mean. But I like it. He might even thank us for it, hehe."
Na'er held back a laugh and secretly sent Jiang Xiu a voice transmission.
"Really? Thanks, friend."
Xu Xiaoyu thanked him, then shook his head with a sigh.
Xu Xiaoyan, standing beside him, sniffed the air lightly. Her Ice Staff Martial Soul stirred, and a glimmer of starlight flashed within it, as if it had sensed something. She looked at Jiang Xiu in surprise but said nothing.
"Roar!"
A giant bear roared from deeper in the forest, startling a flock of birds and sending its cry ringing through the woods.
"Na'er, let's go."
Jiang Xiu's expression shifted slightly. He nodded to the Xu siblings, then immediately dashed toward the depths of the forest with Na'er.
He would have plenty of chances to get to know Xu Xiaoyan and the Xu Family later. For now, the most important thing was the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear in this Primary Spirit Ascension Platform.
Someone had clearly already engaged the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. Though Tang Wulin wasn't supposed to take the Dark Gold Terrorclaw until three years from now, things had already changed ever so slightly since Jiang Xiu arrived in this world.
He couldn't let anything happen to that Soul Bone.
"That urgent? That direction looks like where the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform's Guardian is. Aren't they just going to their deaths?"
Xu Xiaoyu watched them leave, frowning slightly as he muttered to himself.
"Never mind, little sis. Let's keep hunting Soul Beasts for you and look for that pack of Flame Demon Lions. Otherwise, Dad really will punish me when we get back."
Xu Xiaoyu shook his head and spoke.
His task this time was to help his younger sister advance. The Spirit Ascension Platform only had two periods of upheaval each year, and his sister was a once-in-a-thousand-years genius. They couldn't afford to waste this opportunity.
"Big brother, you fool. Why are you still looking for the Flame Demon Lions? Someone's already killed them all."
Xu Xiaoyan was worried about her brother's intelligence.
"What do you mean? Who killed them?"
Xu Xiaoyu stared at her in confusion.
"Well, those two we just met."
Xu Xiaoyan pursed her lips toward where Jiang Xiu had gone.
"Huh? Don't joke, little sis. How could two Soul Grandmasters take down a whole pack of Flame Demon Lions?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"If they could do that, I'll eat my—fine, whatever!"
Xu Xiaoyu waved his hand, refusing to believe it. Even with his Soul Elder cultivation, he would have struggled against the pack of Flame Demon Lions. How could two Soul Grandmasters manage it?
"Big brother, my Martial Soul can sense the rich fire-attributed energy here. Though Soul Beasts turn into energy when they die, the fluctuations of Soul Power won't disappear so quickly."
A sharp glint flashed in Xu Xiaoyan's eyes as she laid out her reasoning.
"So... you're saying those two just lied to me? And I even thanked them? How outrageous!"
Xu Xiaoyu's face flushed as he finally understood.
"Come on, big brother. Let's go take a look too."
Xu Xiaoyan pointed toward the direction Jiang Xiu had gone and spoke softly.
"No, Xiaoyan. That's where the Guardian is. There's a terrifying Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear there."
Xu Xiaoyu's expression turned grave.
"It's fine. Haven't you noticed it's about to get dark? We can take care of ourselves."
Xu Xiaoyan glanced at the approaching nightfall, hinting at something.
The Spirit Ascension Platform was a semi-virtual world modeled after the habitats of Soul Beasts. It had day and night just like the outside world.
"All right, but if anything seems wrong, we retreat immediately."
Xu Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment. Thinking of his younger sister's Soul Skill, which always worked, he finally agreed.
The two then followed the sound toward the depths of the forest. Many other Soul Masters inside the Spirit Ascension Platform had heard the giant bear's roar as well, and were heading toward it.
"Of all the rotten luck! Why did we have to run into this thing?!"
Xie Xie gripped the Light Dragon Dagger. Two Yellow Soul Rings hovered beneath his feet as he stood ready before a giant bear.
The bear looked unlike anything else. It stood over three meters tall, its entire body covered in dark golden fur as stiff as steel needles. Its eyes held no emotion, only coldness and cruelty.
Its arms were enormous and thick, and both forepaws were dark golden blades over a meter long. When it spread those muscular arms, its claws sliced through the air with nothing more than a movement of its body, as if they could cut the air itself.
"We can't beat it. Find a chance to retreat! We can't waste this precious opportunity to advance in the Spirit Ascension Platform."
Tang Wulin's expression was just as grim. His clothes were already ripped in several places, leaving him in a sorry state.
They had clearly been fighting the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear for a while, yet only a few patches of its fur had been damaged.
"Good point. Gu Yue, let's retreat."
Xie Xie agreed wholeheartedly. The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear had nearly killed him with a single swat. Taking a severe hit inside the Spirit Ascension Platform would also cause some damage to their Sea of Consciousness after they left.
There was no point wasting time against an enemy they couldn't defeat.
"Okay."
Gu Yue, hovering in the air, nodded. The three of them seized an opportunity and fled into the distance, but the enraged Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear pursued them relentlessly.
As a Soul Beast capable of matching a giant dragon, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was a five-transform powerhouse, and its speed was no slouch.
With the wind element at her command, Gu Yue had already moved behind Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, shielding them.
Just as the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was about to catch them, two figures suddenly appeared nearby.
"Jiang Xiu, run! That's a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear behind us! Get out of its way!"
When Gu Yue saw the two, her pretty face changed slightly, and she immediately called out a warning.
"Get out of its way?!"
Jiang Xiu stopped and looked at the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear behind the three. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as the towering Shadow Monarch slowly rose behind him, its crimson gaze flashing coldly.
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