Luo Chen finished speaking and didn't even look at Tang San again. He tucked the Gulu Ball away, turned, and walked into the dense forest. His silver-white hair flashed between the shadows of the trees, then vanished.
Tang San stood rooted to the spot, his fingers still gripping the mechanism, his knuckles white. His lips were pressed tightly together, the muscles in his jaw twitching faintly. There was something in his eyes he couldn't put into words—not anger, not fear, but the resentment of being looked down on to his very core.
Yu Xiaogang recovered from the Ghost Vine's poison and used a tree trunk to help himself to his feet. His face was still green. He stared in the direction Luo Chen had disappeared for a long while before finally speaking. "That man is at least a Soul Ancestor. I've never seen a Martial Soul like his."
Tang San didn't answer.
He crouched down and picked up the fragments of the Hidden Weapon Luo Chen had crushed.
Metal powder sifted through his fingers and scattered in the wind. The Tang Sect Hidden Weapons he'd always been so proud of had been like paper in that man's hands.
But he soon shook his head. These were only the most ordinary Hidden Weapons in the Tang Sect Hidden Weapon Manual. Once he made some of the top-ranked Hidden Weapons... At the thought, his sense of defeat eased considerably.
Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "It's all right. He's much older than you, after all. Don't be discouraged. With your talent, it's only a matter of time before you surpass him."
Tang San got to his feet, put away the Zhuge Crossbow, and gazed into the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Teacher, I want to stay a few more days."
"You..."
"I won't provoke him. Xiao Wu is still missing. I have to find her first."
Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San's stubborn face and sighed, but didn't stop him.
After leaving the clearing, Luo Chen continued deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.
The Pocket Watch grew faintly warm against his chest, guiding him onward. Zhao Xi's presence lay deeper in the forest, in an area where Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts roamed. Even Soul Ancestors wouldn't dare venture there lightly.
But he had the power of time, the spiritual power of the Spirit Abyss Realm, and Evil Emperor, his old cheat. Evil Emperor could now use some of his former abilities again. As long as Luo Chen was careful, he should be fine.
He walked for about two hours as the sky gradually darkened. Nights in the Star Dou Great Forest were more dangerous than days. Soul Beasts that slept by day and hunted by night began to stir. Several deep roars sounded in the distance, shaking the leaves.
He kept his Spirit Abyss Realm spiritual power spread around him, covering a radius of several hundred meters. He could clearly sense the movements of every nearby Soul Beast.
Everything was normal.
Then his spiritual power caught an unusually powerful presence rapidly approaching from the southwest. It was as solid as a mountain, carrying the oppressive force of some ancient wilderness. It was at least a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast—perhaps even a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!
Another presence was light and agile, like a gust of wind, but no less powerful. It had cultivated for at least a thousand years.
Luo Chen frowned. Two Soul Beasts? And one of them was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? He was just about to slip away when both presences abruptly stopped, less than three hundred meters to his southwest.
Then a clear, girlish voice rang through the night.
"Er Ming, just take me to the edge of the forest. Then you can go back. Tell Da Ming I'll be careful!"
Da Ming and Er Ming?
Luo Chen's pupils contracted sharply.
The Titan Giant Ape. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and one of the overlords of the Star Dou Great Forest. In the original story, it was called Er Ming, and was the sibling of Xiao Wu, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit.
Da Ming, of course, was the Sky Azure Bull Python.
That girl's voice had to be Xiao Wu.
Luo Chen's heart sank. He was much too close to Xiao Wu and Er Ming.
With the Titan Giant Ape's hundred-thousand-year perception, there was no way he could retreat without being noticed. He could only take a gamble—bet that Xiao Wu meant no harm, and that Er Ming wouldn't attack a human without provocation.
But he lost that bet.
The mountain-like presence suddenly surged. The ground began to tremble faintly. A low growl came from the dense forest. It wasn't loud, but it left Luo Chen's chest tight.
He'd been discovered.
Luo Chen didn't hesitate. He leaped down from the treetops and sprinted in the opposite direction from the two presences. The power of time coursed beneath his feet, instantly increasing his speed. But the presence behind him was faster. Trees snapped with a series of sharp cracks as it barreled toward him like a bulldozer.
"Er Ming, wait!" Xiao Wu called from behind, but the Titan Giant Ape had already locked onto Luo Chen.
Less than ten seconds later, a massive black shadow burst out of the dense forest and blocked Luo Chen's path.
It was a giant ape over five meters tall, its body covered in black fur and its muscles knotted like a small, moving mountain.
Its golden eyes fixed on Luo Chen like a pair of lanterns in the night. An invisible pressure radiated from its body, bending the trees around it.
The Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming.
Luo Chen stopped and reached for the Gulu Ball at his waist. Silver-white time power had already gathered in his right hand. He knew he couldn't beat this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, but he still had a chance to escape.
"Human, you shouldn't have come here." Er Ming's voice was low, like distant thunder. "This is no place for you."
Luo Chen took a deep breath and was about to speak when a figure emerged from behind Er Ming.
She looked like a girl of eleven or twelve, dressed in a pink skirt. Her long hair was braided into a scorpion braid that hung over her chest, and she wore a pair of rabbit-ear ornaments on her head. Her features were delicate, and her large eyes glimmered with a faint pink light in the darkness. Standing beside Er Ming, she studied Luo Chen with curiosity.
Xiao Wu. The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit, transformed into human form.
"Er Ming, he doesn't seem like a bad person." Xiao Wu tilted her head and looked Luo Chen over. "But he smells like a lot of Soul Beasts."
Luo Chen's heart jolted. Could Xiao Wu sense the laws of space and time within him? As expected of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form—her senses far surpassed those of a human.
"Whoever he is, trespassing on our territory makes him an enemy." Er Ming clenched his fist, sending the pebbles on the ground hopping.
Luo Chen knew he had no chance of winning. Even with the power of time and the spiritual power of the Spirit Abyss Realm, against a hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape, he'd only last a few seconds longer. Without hesitation, he activated the Time Indicator's time acceleration—double speed, for three seconds.
Silver-white light surged from his chest and enveloped his body. Everything around him slowed: Er Ming's punch, Xiao Wu turning her head, the night wind stirring the leaves—all of it became slow motion.
Luo Chen seized this split-second opening and slipped under Er Ming's arm, sprinting deeper into the forest.
Three seconds later, the time acceleration ended.
Er Ming froze for a moment, clearly not expecting the human to slip away right under his nose. Then he let out a roar that shook the heavens and charged after him.
Xiao Wu stood there for a while, gazing in the direction Luo Chen had vanished. "The power of time... That man is rather interesting," she murmured thoughtfully. Then she lightly pushed off with her toes and followed Er Ming.
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