An Unexpected Encounter with Ye Lingling, First Meeting

At the source of the commotion, a young girl dressed in black with a veil covering her face stood quietly.

It was Ye Lingling.

However, she was currently surrounded by five men in matching attire, clearly members of the same spirit master squad.

Spirit master squads were a relatively common profession, usually composed of freelance spirit masters with average talent. They earned a living by taking on escort or spirit beast hunting missions, which could be quite lucrative.

These spirit masters lacked exceptional talent; otherwise, they would have joined a sect rather than living a life of licking blood off the edge of a blade.

Ye Lingling appeared to be only twelve or thirteen years old, with a slender, delicate figure. Like Liu Erlong, she was dressed in black.

However, their temperaments were worlds apart. Liu Erlong was cold, beautiful, and domineering, while Ye Lingling was aloof and icy.

A waterfall of ice-blue hair cascaded down her back, and her eyes matched the color of her hair—a clear, pale blue that revealed a sense of indifference.

Even though she was surrounded by five men, her gaze remained steady, as if everything around her had nothing to do with her.

Although Mo Li did not know what was happening, since he had encountered it, he could not let the opportunity pass.

He said a few words to Liu Erlong and quietly moved to the edge of the crowd. After listening for a moment, he roughly understood the situation.

It turned out that the squad leader had noticed Ye Lingling standing outside the city for a long time, seemingly waiting for someone.

The leader, driven by lust, had approached her under the guise of asking if she had any interest in hunting spirit beasts.

Although they had been surrounding the girl for a while, she had ignored them entirely, yet they were unwilling to give up.

After all, it was their first time seeing such a rare beauty. Ye Lingling's pale blue eyes alone were breathtaking, and they could only wonder how stunning the face beneath the veil might be.

Her mysterious, cold temperament overwhelmed their reason, breeding the desire to harass her.

Ye Lingling's expression had remained calm from start to finish. Since Mo Li had arrived, he hadn't heard her say a single word, as if the person being harassed wasn't her at all.

This dismissive attitude thoroughly infuriated the five men.

They were somewhat well-known outside the city.

Almost everyone in the team was a Great Spirit Master above level 20, though they were quite old and their potential was nearly exhausted.

Despite failing to join a sect, in the eyes of ordinary people, Great Spirit Masters were formidable existences.

Yet, the girl before them ignored them completely.

Finally, the leader of the group could no longer restrain himself and reached out to grab Ye Lingling's veil.

"Stop acting so cold! Let me see what you look like!"

The sudden aggression from the man caused Ye Lingling's calm eyes to turn icy, as if they could kill.

However, her spirit did not grant her any combat ability, and she was unable to dodge the attack of a Great Spirit Master.

The person she was waiting for had not yet returned.

Watching the veil within his grasp, the leader wore a wild, triumphant grin, already imagining the panicked, beautiful face hidden beneath the fabric.

"Haha."

As the leader's fingertips were about to touch the veil, his triumphant laughter escaped his lips.

At this critical moment, a cluster of black flames suddenly shot out from behind him, flying straight toward his arm.

"Who's there!"

Sensing the dangerous aura of the black flames, the man recoiled in shock. He could feel that if he were to touch those flames, the consequences would be dire.

When he turned around in a rage, the other four members of the squad looked with uncertainty at Mo Li, who stood behind him, as if confirming whether the seven or eight-year-old boy had really been the one to strike.

Ye Lingling's veil trembled slightly, and her eyes lifted to land on the smiling boy behind the group.

From her perspective, it was clear that Mo Li had intervened to help her.

Mo Li had been standing behind them the whole time, but the group had been too focused to notice his presence.

Being stared at by everyone was a bit awkward, so Mo Li feigned surprise and laughed, "Oh? I missed."

The leader was clearly incensed, gritting his teeth as he snarled:

"You little brat, how dare you ruin my fun!"

"Your reflexes are pretty fast. You're perfectly fine, aren't you?" Mo Li replied.

Only when the leader turned around did Mo Li get a clear look at his face. He looked ordinary, save for a scar on his face that gave him a fierce appearance.

The scarred man's expression was hideous. His team had seen him being toyed with by Mo Li, and being scared off by a little kid had caused him to lose all face.

"A brat who hasn't even grown his hair out yet dares to meddle in other people's business!"

Mo Li smiled and, without wasting words, summoned his spirit ring. A bright yellow ring rose from beneath his feet, flickering around him.

Looking at his fist, which was gradually being covered in black flames, Mo Li felt eager. He wanted to see just how far his strength had reached after obtaining his first spirit ring.

"Meddling requires the ability to meddle, but I think I have that ability."

Mo Li smiled at the scarred man, then suddenly lunged forward, his flame-covered fist smashing toward the man's face!

Across from him, when the scarred man saw Mo Li's spirit ring, his expression turned to one of shock and uncertainty. The boy before him looked only six or seven years old, yet he was already a Spirit Master!

What kind of talent was this?

Before he could process any further thoughts, he suddenly realized that Mo Li had already arrived right in front of him. With no time to ponder, he hurriedly summoned two spirit rings—one white and one yellow—and the second, yellow ring lit up.

"Second Spirit Ability, Hardening!"

Accompanied by the man's low growl, his body expanded slightly, his muscles bulging as his skin took on a rock-like, grayish-white hue, radiating a sense of heavy density.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, and under the stunned gazes of Ye Lingling and the rest of the squad, both figures retreated several steps simultaneously.

The scarred man let out a muffled groan. His arms were crossed, and he was panting heavily; a distinct red mark was branded onto his arm—it was the imprint of Mo Li's fist!

On the other side, Mo Li's hand trembled slightly. When he had struck the scarred man, he felt a not-insignificant recoil force that had dispersed the spirit power in his hand.

However, Mo Li didn't take it to heart. One had to realize that his punch had relied purely on physical strength, while the scarred man before him was at least level twenty or higher and had even utilized his second spirit ability.

The scarred man felt the power of Mo Li's punch most profoundly. If he hadn't reacted at the last possible second to activate his second spirit ability—a ring he had obtained from a four-hundred-year-old bear-type spirit beast that granted him enhanced defensive capabilities—he truly feared he would have been sent flying by that single blow!