Oh, an Old Acquaintance?

"Teacher, actually, my Second Soul Skill..."

"Bzzzz—bzzzz—"

Just as Su Luoheng was about to explain things to Ran Yuming, a rapid, dense buzzing suddenly rang out, rushing toward them from far away!

"This is... Hm?!"

At the sound, Ran Yuming turned his head and narrowed his eyes toward the distance.

Far away, a dense swarm of bees was flying toward them. His brow furrowed slightly; this seemed like a bit of a nuisance, but nothing more. Then his gaze settled on the giant bee in the swarm's midst, nearly half a meter long. A flicker of wariness crossed his eyes, and his expression instantly grew grave!

"..."

Su Luoheng had spotted it too. He asked in surprise, "Teacher, are those Blood Flame Bees? Why is the one in the middle so much larger? Is it a thousand-year one?"

Ran Yuming shook his head, his eyes fixed on the bee. "That's no thousand-year Soul Beast. It's a Ten-Thousand-Year Blood Flame Bee King!"

"A t-ten-thousand-year Bee King?!"

Su Luoheng's heart jumped, and he couldn't help taking another look.

At that same moment, the giant Blood Flame Bee glared at the two of them, its eyes bloodshot!

When enemies met, their eyes burned red!

These two had destroyed its nest while it was away, then killed its mate, whom it had deliberately left in the cave!

The moment he saw the Ten-Thousand-Year Bee King, Ran Yuming finally understood why the Royal Jelly and honeycomb in the treetop had been so extraordinary, far surpassing ordinary thousand-year Royal Jelly. So that hadn't been a thousand-year honeycomb at all. It was a ten-thousand-year honeycomb made up of two separate nests!

That was why the Royal Jelly had been so potent.

As for the Bee King he'd killed in the nest, it must have been this one's subordinate. Now the real deal had followed the scent of its nest here to take revenge!

A Ten-Thousand-Year Blood Flame Bee King and a swarm of thousands were a bit of a handful for Ran Yuming, but he could manage.

Su Luoheng, however, couldn't.

Forget the Ten-Thousand-Year Bee King—even one ordinary bee sting would be too much for him.

After a moment's thought, Ran Yuming made his decision: he would draw the entire swarm away on his own.

Su Luoheng understood that his presence would distract his teacher, so he didn't argue.

While the swarm was still some distance away, Ran Yuming took out a large pile of Soul Tools for protection. Among them was, of course, the Breath Concealment Soul Guidance Device, along with three bottles of Royal Jelly in case of emergency. He also carefully explained how to use each Soul Tool.

"Luoheng, protect yourself!"

"Once I've dealt with them, I'll come find you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ran Yuming unleashed his full strength and launched the first exchange against the swarm. Dozens of long-range Soul Tools on his body opened fire at once, sending countless energy beams toward the bees.

Facing the enormous Blood Flame Bee swarm, Ran Yuming fought while retreating.

In an instant, the beams lit up the whole forest, bright as day, while the air filled with the stench of burning.

"..."

With the Blood Flame Bees now gone, the forest fell quiet once more.

A quarter of an hour later.

Su Luoheng appeared where he'd been hiding.

The swarm had arrived too quickly for him to retreat, so while Ran Yuming held them off, he'd found a concealed spot and activated the Breath Concealment Soul Guidance Device.

That way, ordinary Blood Flame Bees couldn't detect him.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Bee King's attention had been fixed on Ran Yuming, so it hadn't noticed Su Luoheng hiding nearby either. He'd stayed put, and to be safe, didn't reveal himself until every last Blood Flame Bee had left.

Looking in the direction Ran Yuming had gone,

Su Luoheng thought, I hope Teacher can shake them off soon.

He had absolute faith in his teacher's abilities. Soul Engineers excelled at fighting groups!

He activated the Breath Concealment Soul Guidance Device again and headed toward the outer reaches of the Jingyang Mountain Range.

This was the route he and his teacher had agreed on earlier.

With the Breath Concealment Soul Guidance Device, as long as he stayed careful, he should have no trouble.

Once he got out of danger, he would leave the Jingyang Mountain Range. After shaking off the Blood Flame Bees, Ran Yuming would follow the location signal from the Breath Concealment Soul Guidance Device on Su Luoheng and catch up. Unless the device broke, Ran Yuming would be able to find him.

Before long, Su Luoheng had left the forest.

Southern Jingyang Mountain Range.

Su Luoheng suddenly stopped as he walked.

"Awoo—awoo—"

Following the howls, he saw a Gold Wolf over a meter long, off to his front right, throwing back its head and howling. Before long, a pack of Gold Wolves came into view. Including the one that had howled, there were five in all. The leader, the oldest among them, appeared to be around seven hundred years old; the others were roughly five hundred.

They had formed a circle around a dark, indistinct shape.

Su Luoheng raised his head and narrowed his eyes, studying it carefully.

Could that thing... be a person?

Chapter 63: Oh, an Old Acquaintance?

He could just make out that the blackened shape in the middle seemed to be a human lying on the ground. They were probably badly wounded and unconscious—or perhaps already dead.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have remained motionless with a pack of wolves surrounding them.

After watching for a while, Su Luoheng looked away and continued on his way.

This kind of thing was common in the Jingyang Mountain Range. People died here every day.

He'd seen it so often over the past half-month that what had initially unsettled him had become commonplace, and he'd gradually grown numb to it. If the person was still alive, he wouldn't mind helping. But they were either gravely injured or already dead. Even if he drove off the wolves, it wouldn't change anything. There was no need to get involved.

At the same time, the smell of blood had become too much for the five Gold Wolves to resist.

"Awoo~"

The Gold Wolf leader, over seven hundred years old, glinted with savagery. At its lead, they all opened their bloody jaws and pounced on the body.

But just as the pack was about to tear into it, dazzling white light suddenly burst from the body.

"Bang—"

In an instant, the wolves, led by their Gold Wolf leader, were blasted several yards away. They smashed through several thick trees and crashed to the ground with a rumble.

The wolves had been about to attack the body, but one blow had taken them all out instead.

They were spitting blood and howling in agony. They probably wouldn't last much longer.

Su Luoheng had heard the noise and sensed the energy fluctuation.

"Was that a triggered Soul Tool?"

After a moment's thought, he carefully turned back and approached.

Anyone who could use a Soul Tool like that had to be well-off. The person was already on their last legs, so leaving anything valuable here would be a waste.

Soon, Su Luoheng reached the body.

"Looks like someone was hunting him down..."

The man was thin, his face smeared with blood, his eyes tightly shut.

His black clothes were in tatters and covered in mottled bloodstains. He'd clearly been through a brutal battle.

A ring on his right hand glimmered faintly with silver light.

The energy blast just now must have come from the ring.

Its energy was probably almost depleted by now.

Still, just to be safe, Su Luoheng dragged over a Gold Wolf that wasn't quite dead yet and tossed it onto the man in black.

This time, nothing happened.

Seeing that the Gold Wolf was unharmed, he felt safe approaching to search the body.

Just as he was about to remove the Soul Tool from the body, the man's chest suddenly rose and fell.

"Hm? He's still alive?"

Su Luoheng looked surprised. He stopped and examined the man carefully.

Although the man in black was badly wounded, his breathing was extremely faint—so faint it was almost nonexistent. But he was indeed still alive.

His abdomen was still bleeding, yet he was hanging on. This man had an incredible will to live.

"That's some life force..."

Su Luoheng clicked his tongue in admiration, though his hands kept moving.

This was quite normal in the Soul Master forest.

His technique for dismantling Soul Tools was a little clumsy, but he still deftly removed the ring from the man's hand. Then he looked him over.

Let's see what else here is worth something.

Since he was already searching the body, he might as well leave no stone unturned~

"Huh? What's this..."

As he searched, Su Luoheng happened to glance at the young man in black's face. Suddenly, it struck him as familiar.

He'd definitely seen him before—and they'd even crossed paths.

Curiosity took hold, and Su Luoheng wiped the blood from the young man's face.

The next moment, a familiar face came into view.

"It's him!"

Su Luoheng immediately remembered: he really did know this man!

It was that young noble he'd met briefly on his first night in the Ming Capital. The bag of candied hawthorns he'd had back then had left a deep impression on Su Luoheng!

"You're lucky I found you~"

Since he knew the man, he had to help him.

After all, he was a kind-hearted person. Of course, that was also for the sake of those candied hawthorns.

After roughly bandaging the wound, he took out some healing pills and put them into the young man's mouth, helping him refine them into medicinal energy to nourish his damaged organs and body.

Before long, the wounds had stopped worsening, and the young man's breathing had gradually steadied.

Then Su Luoheng made a simple bamboo stretcher and dragged him along.

It wasn't realistic to carry a seriously wounded person out of the Jingyang Mountain Range. Leaving aside the difficulty, the heavy smell of blood on the man would easily attract Soul Beasts.

So he planned to find a concealed place and wait for the man to wake up.

There was no need to worry about Teacher Ran. Once he was out of danger, he would follow the location signal and catch up.

Su Luoheng came to a hollow in the hills.

After confirming the area was safe for a hundred meters around, he set about making camp.

He was always good at surviving in the wilderness.

From absorbing his Second Soul Ring, to the Blood Flame Bee King's revenge, to rescuing the young man in black—after all that commotion, it was now the middle of the night.

Whenever a Soul Master absorbed a Soul Ring, their body went through another growth spurt.

Su Luoheng was now about one and a half meters tall, roughly five centimeters taller than before.

But that process took energy.

So he was in urgent need of nourishment. To put it simply—he needed to eat!

Before long, Su Luoheng lit a campfire.