A Righteous Five-on-One? No! It Was Four-on-One!

Lin Ze'an obediently nodded. "I understand, Master."

Just then, Yue Guan's gaze suddenly fixed on Little Sprout, a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes.

He carefully sensed the Soul Power fluctuations emanating from Little Sprout, and his expression gradually turned strange.

A thousand-year Soul Beast?

He turned to look at Lin Ze'an, then at Little Sprout, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

This Soul Beast's Soul Power seemed even higher than his disciple's...

After temporarily bidding farewell to Dugu Bo, the group set off to continue their training.

After all, Hu Liena still hadn't obtained her fourth Soul Ring. Yue Guan and Gui Mei had also quietly returned to the shadows to continue protecting them in secret.

As they walked through Sunset Forest, Hu Liena turned to Lin Ze'an and said, "Junior, after thinking it over, I still feel we should get my fourth Soul Ring before taking the Immortal Herb."

"If I take it now, I'll be stuck at my Soul Power bottleneck and unable to break through. In the end, a lot of its medicinal effects will go to waste."

Lin Ze'an nodded at her words. "That's true. The Immortal Herb contains powerful energy and can even change a person's potential. We'd better not waste it."

Yan scratched his head beside them and said awkwardly, "Junior, Nana, take a look ahead."

"What?" Hearing Yan's cry, the two turned to look at the same time, then both froze.

Before them stood a Soul Beast with its back turned to them. Judging from the Soul Power fluctuations it gave off, there was no doubt it was a thousand-year Soul Beast.

Its entire body was snow-white, and its fur was sleek. Most striking of all, three fluffy tails swayed gently behind it.

"A Three-Tailed Spirit Fox!" A flash of delight appeared in Hu Liena's eyes. "And it's a thousand-year one!"

But her expression soon turned grave again. "This Spirit Fox has been cultivating for at least six thousand years. Be careful."

Lin Ze'an grimaced. "Should I say we're lucky or unlucky?"

If you called it luck, they kept running into such bizarre things.

If you called it misfortune, everything they encountered was practically an opportunity.

Just then, the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox turned around gracefully.

A sinister glint flashed in its fox eyes. It gave its three fluffy tails a light swish, and a powerful aura of bewitchment spread instantly.

"Careful!" Hu Liena shouted. "Its bewitching ability is very strong!"

Seeing this, Lin Ze'an hurriedly circulated his Soul Power, and a green glow enveloped the four of them.

The gentle green light dispersed some of the bewitchment, but the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox's ability was simply too strong.

Only Lin Ze'an remained unaffected. The other three, Hu Liena included, all felt dizzy.

Xie Yue shook his head hard and called out to the others. "Yan, keep it occupied head-on. Lin Ze'an, keep supporting us. Nana, look for an opening..."

Yan roared, his fists igniting with blazing flames. "Second Soul Skill—Granite Rock!"

His Second Soul Ring lit up, and he charged at the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox, trying to draw its attention.

But the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox leaped nimbly aside, easily evading Yan's attack.

At the same time, it flicked its three tails, sending three beams of pink light shooting toward them.

Lin Ze'an hurriedly raised a hand. Thick vines erupted from the ground, rising to shield the group.

"Boom—!"

The Three-Tailed Spirit Fox's attack slammed into the vine barrier, unleashing a deafening crash.

The four of them and the fox fell into a drawn-out battle.

Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan took turns attacking, but they still couldn't inflict a fatal wound on the nimble Three-Tailed Spirit Fox.

Meanwhile, although the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox was powerful, it couldn't escape while the four worked together, and could only keep circling them.

"This isn't going to work," Yan panted. "We're using up too much Soul Power!"

The junior could absorb Soul Power as he fought, but he couldn't restore theirs.

Hu Liena looked exhausted as well. "It's too fast... It's hard for me to land my control skills."

"It must be stalling for time, hoping to wait until our Soul Power runs out."

Just then, the cornered Three-Tailed Spirit Fox suddenly let out a roar.

Its form flashed, transforming into a streak of white light as it instantly circled behind Lin Ze'an!

"Look out!" Hu Liena cried. "It's targeting Junior!"

The Three-Tailed Spirit Fox raised its three tails high, ready to lash them down hard across Lin Ze'an's back.

Feeling the danger behind him, Lin Ze'an hurriedly tried to turn and defend himself.

At this critical moment—

"Vmmm—!"

The necklace around Lin Ze'an's neck suddenly burst into dazzling light, and a tiny figure flew out of it.

"Dou!" Little Sprout blocked Lin Ze'an from behind, its eyes gleaming with fury.

The next moment, countless emerald leaves burst violently from Little Sprout's body.

With a shrill whistle, they swept toward the ambushing Three-Tailed Spirit Fox, blotting out the sky.

"Awooo!" The Three-Tailed Spirit Fox clearly hadn't expected this sudden attack. Caught off guard, it had no choice but to abandon its ambush on Lin Ze'an and retreat in disarray.

The leaves fell like a rainstorm, pelting the spot where it had just been and leaving countless marks in the ground.

Seeing this, the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox stared at Little Sprout in disbelief.

What was that thing? It was a Soul Beast, wasn't it? Why was it helping a human?

On the other side, Hu Liena and the others' eyes lit up, since they could feel that Little Sprout's strength had already surpassed level thirty.

That meant the gap in strength between the two sides had narrowed considerably.

Finally, after another hour, the exhausted group managed to kill the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox.

Lin Ze'an was so tired that he slumped straight down onto the ground.

He glanced at Hu Liena, who was absorbing her Soul Ring, then said to Xie Yue beside him with a sigh, "This one's a lot harder to deal with than that Soul Ancestor earlier."

"It kept interrupting your Demon Charm with mental suppression, and even Senior Sister's control skills were useless against it."

Counting Little Sprout, you could call it a righteous five-on-one, but in reality, it was more like four-on-one.

Once her control skills proved useless, Hu Liena's attack power was even lower than his, despite him having no offensive Soul Skills. She'd basically become dead weight.

By contrast, the Soul Beast had mental attacks, physical attacks, and magic attacks covered.

Hearing Lin Ze'an's words, Xie Yue nodded. "True. The Three-Tailed Spirit Fox has high mental resistance, and it's too fast. It's a real handful."

As he spoke, he looked at Hu Liena, who was absorbing her Soul Ring, and a trace of worry crossed his eyes. "I hope Nana can absorb this Soul Ring safely."

Only at the very end did they realize that the Soul Beast wasn't six thousand years old, but seven thousand.

He thought Nana had seen Lin Ze'an's two thousand-year Soul Rings and felt pressured. That was why she was determined to absorb this Soul Ring despite the danger.

Lin Ze'an said thoughtfully, "Senior Sister's Martial Soul is also fox-type. The species are different, but their attributes should still be compatible."

He reached out, enveloping Hu Liena in a gentle green glow to help her stabilize the violent Soul Ring energy within her.