"Bang!"
Yu Hengqing, his whole body wreathed in golden lightning, lowered his raised left arm. The claws hadn't fallen on him as expected, because a figure had stepped in front of him.
"Xiao Qing, are you all right?"
Yu Hezai, partially transformed into a dragon and clad in dark blue armor, had blocked the shadow's attack for Yu Hengqing.
"Tsk, I didn't expect you to block that! Kid, you should be grateful I wasn't trying to kill you. Otherwise, a mere Soul Douluo wouldn't have been able to stop me!"
With Yu Hezai blocking his way, Yu Hengqing couldn't see what the speaker looked like. But just from the man's tone, his strength was definitely no lower than a Titled Douluo's.
"Senior, my boy and I haven't offended you, have we? Sorry for the trouble, but please show mercy and let the two of us go!"
Knowing their chances of winning were slim, Yu Hezai immediately clasped his hands and bowed, his tone respectful as he hoped to persuade the other man to let them go.
Looking at the human standing before him, so deferential, Xiong Jun burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, senior? I'm no senior to you hairless monkeys. I only want to know the name of the boy behind you!"
From Xiong Jun's tone, Yu Hengqing immediately realized that the person before them wasn't a Soul Master at all, but a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form.
But in this era, weren't Daming and Erming supposed to be the only Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Forest?!
Unless the Ferocious Beasts, who should have been sleeping beneath Life Lake, had awakened because of some mishap.
At the thought, Yu Hengqing's heart sank. He gripped the pendant at his waist.
If the man before them really was a Ferocious Beast, then he and Yu Hezai were surely doomed. After all, a Ferocious Beast's strength was at least equivalent to that of a level-ninety-five Super Douluo!
"My name is Yu Hengqing. May I ask what you want with us, sir?"
To avoid provoking the man before them, Yu Hengqing and Yu Hezai stood half a step apart and looked at Xiong Jun.
Seeing how politely the Thunder God's successor behaved, Xiong Jun felt a rush of satisfaction.
Xiong Jun hadn't forgotten what Di Tian had told him earlier. He crooked a finger at Yu Hengqing and ordered, "You seem polite enough. Come with me, and I'll leave this Soul Douluo alone and let him return safely."
Hearing that Xiong Jun wanted to take Yu Hengqing away, Yu Hezai didn't hesitate for a moment. He reached out and pulled Yu Hengqing back behind him.
"Sir, I'm terribly sorry! My boy is frail and often sick, and I need to take him home for treatment. If you take him with you, he'll only cause you trouble."
While Yu Hezai spoke with Xiong Jun, Yu Hengqing immediately questioned Leiyi in his spiritual space.
"Leiyi, is there a way to get both of us out of here?"
Leiyi didn't answer Yu Hengqing right away. The man before them was far stronger than Yu Yuanzhen, and he wasn't even trying to hide his hostility.
Forming the thunder armor with his power just now had already pushed him to his limit. If he used any more, Yu Hengqing's body would suffer irreversible damage.
"There is, but if you use it, your meridians will be severely damaged. Unless you come across a great opportunity, your cultivation speed will never recover to normal!"
Hearing this, Yu Hengqing didn't hesitate. At this point, what else could he worry about?
"Then tell me! I can only face the side effects if I survive!"
Besides, he only needed an opportunity to recover. There were so many Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well; surely one of them would suit him!
"All right. In a moment, I'll forcibly convert my power into your Soul Power. You just need to pass that Soul Power on to your second uncle."
"With that power, your second uncle can hold off the man before us for a short time. Then use the defensive Soul Tool your father gave you to buy time for you both to escape."
After hearing Leiyi's plan, Yu Hengqing didn't know how likely it was to work, but something was better than nothing!
As soon as Leiyi finished speaking, an immense wave of Soul Power appeared inside Yu Hengqing, filling his meridians and dantian.
"When I count to three, pass the Soul Power inside you to your second uncle."
Yu Hengqing endured the swelling pain in his meridians and placed a hand on Yu Hezai's back.
Yu Hezai and Xiong Jun, still locked in a standoff, both felt a powerful surge of Soul Power suddenly appear in Yu Hengqing.
Interesting. Did he get this power from the God Trial? Not bad, though with his current strength, he can't do much with it.
Considering that Yu Hengqing was the successor to a godhood, Xiong Jun naturally assumed that the power came from the God Trial.
But Yu Hezai didn't know Yu Hengqing was a godhood successor. He thought Yu Yuanzhen had left this power behind for him.
"One! Two! Three!"
As Leiyi counted to three, Yu Hengqing, already at his limit, finally transferred all the Soul Power in his body to Yu Hezai.
Xiong Jun had been standing there, watching the show. He hadn't expected the power inside Yu Hengqing to suddenly shift into Yu Hezai.
Before Xiong Jun could react, Yu Hezai's dragon-transformed right fist had already slammed into his face.
"Fifth Soul Skill, Thunderstorm!"
"Boom!"
Xiong Jun was sent flying, plowing a four- or five-meter furrow through the ground and smashing the rocks and trees in his path.
"Thunder Ring! Heavenly Thunder Attraction!"
The instant he received the power, Yu Hezai had no other thought but to temporarily stop the man before them from moving.
Dark blue lightning kept crashing down on Xiong Jun's position, kicking up clouds of dust.
"Swift Thunder Step! Wild Thunder Armor!"
Yu Hezai had no time to consider whether his Soul Skills had hurt Xiong Jun. He used a speed-enhancing skill, turned around, scooped Yu Hengqing into his arms, and ran as fast as he could.
The lightning and dust cleared. Xiong Jun rose from the crater and spat out a mouthful of blood, no longer able to hide the excitement in his eyes.
"Interesting, truly interesting! No wonder you're the Thunder God's successor. You can actually transfer your power to someone else. But how far do you think that power will get you?"
With his fighting spirit roused, Xiong Jun revealed his true form. The fifteen-meter-tall Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear shot forward like a cannonball, charging straight at Yu Hengqing and Yu Hezai.
Sensing Xiong Jun's presence, Yu Hezai immediately began taking a winding, twisting route.
"You think you're the only ones who can change direction?"
By rights, Xiong Jun's mountain-sized, muscular body should have been clumsy. That was exactly why Yu Hezai kept changing direction.
He hadn't expected Xiong Jun to be able to abruptly change direction while moving at high speed, maneuvering with a flexibility that didn't suit a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear at all.
Xiong Jun steadily closed the distance. Just as he was about to catch up, Yu Hezai crushed the defensive Soul Tool, forming a brown shield around Yu Hengqing.
"Heavenly Thunder Attraction!"
While Xiong Jun was distracted resisting the lightning, Yu Hezai threw Yu Hengqing into a nearby patch of bushes.
"Thunder Ring!"
As soon as Yu Hengqing got up in the bushes, he saw the enraged Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear chasing Yu Hezai away.
"A Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear! So the Ferocious Beasts really have awakened. But what made them wake up so much earlier than they should have?"
By then, the Soul Power inside Yu Hengqing had run dry. The swelling pain in his meridians kept sending jolts through his whole body.
"Xiao Qing, someone's behind you. Be careful!"
At Leiyi's warning, Yu Hengqing, who had been about to take some medicine to recover his strength, spun around. He tore off his pendant, gripped it in his hand, and stared fixedly at the bushes before him.
A graceful figure emerged from between the bushes. In an exceptionally gentle voice, she asked, "How did you get hurt so badly? Did Xiong Jun do this?"
Looking at the green-haired, green-eyed woman dressed in green, Yu Hengqing's heart sank.
With Bi Ji here, Di Tian must have awakened too. If I survive this, I'll do my best to avoid hunting Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Forest from now on!
Before you continue