A Single Arrow Kill, Three Different Thoughts!

The vegetation on the outskirts of Star Dou Forest grew increasingly dense. Towering ancient trees blocked out all sunlight, making the forest especially dim.

After Huo Yuhao decided to join the Tang Sect, the four of them traveled together at an unhurried pace.

As they proceeded, they finally began chatting properly and introduced themselves to one another.

Having taken in a promising recruit like Huo Yuhao, Tang Ya was in high spirits. Her lively eyes rolled about before her gaze landed directly on Yun Yi, who had remained quiet at her side.

"Hey, Little Yi, meeting is fate." Tang Ya stepped closer, clasping her hands behind her back as she smiled at him. "Since you're a free agent right now, why not consider joining our Tang Sect? If you agree, with your outstanding looks and bearing, I'll directly arrange for you to sit as deputy sect master. What do you think?"

The moment she said that, Bei Bei stumbled and nearly plunged headfirst into the nearby thorn bushes.

He spun around sharply, panic filling his deep-blue eyes.

Bei Bei hurriedly rushed between Tang Ya and Yun Yi, spreading his arms wide and stubbornly blocking Tang Ya's line of sight.

"Xiao Ya! Don't joke around!" Bei Bei broke out in a cold sweat as he hurriedly tried to stop her.

He was practically going mad inside.

My dear lady, do you seriously not know who you're dealing with?!

The person before them was the junior disciple personally accepted on behalf of the Sea God Pavilion Master—the little ancestor with the highest seniority in all of Shrek Academy!

Every elder of Sea God Pavilion had seen with their own eyes just how highly Elder Xuan regarded him.

If this great Buddha truly joined the Tang Sect, would the Tang Sect still be surnamed Tang, or would it be surnamed Yun?

If they really recruited him, Elder Xuan would probably leave the island overnight just to break his legs!

Tang Ya was startled by Bei Bei's enormous reaction and pouted in displeasure.

"How am I joking? The Tang Sect is in desperate need of people right now. What's wrong with recruiting more talent?"

Seeing Bei Bei panicking like an ant on a hot pan, Yun Yi's lips curved slightly.

He stopped walking and replied casually, "Thank you for the offer, Sect Master Xiao Ya, but I've grown used to living freely. For now, I don't want to be bound by sect rules."

Only after hearing Yun Yi refuse in person did Bei Bei finally let out a long breath. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly urged everyone onward, afraid that Tang Ya might come up with some other wild idea.

The farther inward they traveled, the heavier the dampness in the air became. It even carried a faintly fishy sweetness.

Bei Bei's expression grew solemn as he remained on high alert.

Just as they passed through a patch of low shrubs, an incredibly faint rustling suddenly came from the grass ahead.

Though the sound was soft, it was especially piercing in the silent forest.

"Stop! Something's coming!" Bei Bei barked, swiftly stepping in front of Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao.

The pink miasma ahead was forcibly parted as a massive snake nearly four meters long slowly slithered out.

The giant snake was an eerie pink all over, its scales covered in fine dark-purple patterns.

Its triangular head was raised high, and its scarlet vertical pupils stared fixedly at the four of them. Its forked pink tongue continuously flicked from its mouth, which was the source of that fishy-sweet stench.

"A Mandala Snake!" Tang Ya recognized the soul beast at once. Not only was she unafraid, her eyes instead erupted with blazing excitement. "Judging by its size and the depth of color in its scales, it has definitely cultivated for a thousand years! Great! Its venom and toughness are a perfect match for my Blue Silver Grass. I'll choose it for my third soul ring!"

Hearing his beloved speak, Bei Bei immediately decided to put on a good showing.

Yun Yi had utterly crushed him at Sea God Lake earlier, leaving him unable to hold his head up before Tang Ya. This was the perfect chance to regain some face and show off his manly side.

"I'll do it!"

Bei Bei shouted, clenching both fists as he stomped heavily on the ground.

Accompanied by a resounding dragon's roar, three soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple—rose from beneath his feet.

Violent blue-purple lightning instantly wrapped around him, and the air immediately filled with the sharp scent of ozone.

The sleeve on his right side burst apart inch by inch. Fine yet heavy dark-blue dragon scales covered his entire right arm, while his hand transformed into an exceptionally sharp dragon claw.

Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul Possession!

Bei Bei pushed his Soul Power to its peak, the muscles in his right arm bulging as he prepared to charge forward like a bolt of lightning and engage the thousand-year Mandala Snake in a brutal close-quarters battle.

Just one second before he exerted himself.

The temperature of the air behind them suddenly soared.

It was not a gradually rising heat, but a violent inferno capable of instantly igniting space and destroying everything.

The surrounding leaves, still beaded with dew, did not even have the chance to burn. Under that terrifying heat, they directly turned to ash and scattered away.

Bei Bei's charging motion froze stiffly in place.

The next instant, a crimson-gold streak of light shot past Bei Bei's shoulder!

It was an energy arrow entirely condensed from light and fire.

The arrow tore through the air with a deafening sonic boom. The extreme heat distorted the space along its path, leaving behind a vacuum trail.

Before the thousand-year Mandala Snake could even assume an attacking stance, the savage gleam in its vertical pupils completely froze.

Splat!

The crimson-gold arrow pierced with unstoppable force directly through the Mandala Snake's fatal point, seven inches below its head.

Its hard scales were as useless as paper before those ultimate flames and were instantly melted through.

The tremendous force sent the Mandala Snake's huge body flying backward several meters before ruthlessly pinning it to the thick tree trunk behind it!

Hiss—!

The Mandala Snake let out an incomparably shrill cry. Its thick tail frantically lashed the ground, smashing apart great swathes of rocks and trees.

Yet the crimson-gold arrow was like a pillar that stabilized the sea, firmly locking down its vital point.

The ultimate heat ravaged the life force within its body through the wound. Within only a few breaths, its struggles became weaker and weaker, and its scarlet vertical pupils gradually lost focus.

One strike. A thousand-year soul beast instantly killed!

Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao stood frozen in place as though they had been struck by a petrification spell.

They struggled to turn their stiff necks, following the arrow's trajectory as they looked behind them.

Yun Yi stood where he was, his feet not having shifted even half a step.

His left hand steadily gripped an incomparably magnificent longbow.

It was a crimson-gold longbow.

The bow was broad and heavy, its surface engraved with intricate ancient golden divine runes. Those patterns seemed alive, flowing with tangible true solar fire and giving off a terrifying pressure.

The bowstring was condensed from ultimate light in its purest form, and the taut string still trembled faintly.

Yun Yi's right hand remained in the posture of releasing the bowstring after firing.

Under the glow of the flames, his moon-white fitted outfit made him resemble a Sun God of War who had stepped out of ancient myth—domineering, dazzling, and impossible to look upon directly.

At this moment, the three of them harbored completely different thoughts.

Bei Bei still held up his lightning-covered dragon claw. His expression was beyond colorful, and his heart was filled with indescribable resentment.

He had gone through all that effort to release his martial soul and had even struck a charging pose, all because he wanted to show off his might before Xiao Ya and make a grand display of himself.

And what happened?

He had not even gotten the chance to attack before all the glory was snatched away by this little ancestor!

Could someone really steal a kill with such perfect timing?!

Tang Ya, meanwhile, had widened her eyes, her cherry lips slightly parted. She was completely caught between shock and lovestruck daze.

Yun Yi's stance as he held the bow was simply so handsome that she could not look away.

The aura radiated by that crimson-gold longbow made the Dark Blue Silver Grass within her tremble.

What she found most unbelievable was that not a single soul ring had appeared around Yun Yi!

Without even using a soul skill, he had relied solely on the power of his martial soul to pin a thousand-year Mandala Snake to a tree with one arrow!

That kind of strength was absolutely far, far greater than Bei Bei's, a Soul Elder in his thirties.

Standing off to the side, Huo Yuhao looked at the radiant Yun Yi, and that deep sense of inferiority welled up in his heart once more.

They were about the same age, yet the other party could casually kill a thousand-year soul beast in an instant. As for himself, he had nearly lost his life just fighting a ten-year Wind Baboon.

Just as he was quietly feeling dejected, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's arrogant voice sounded in his spiritual sea.

"Little Yuhao, don't be discouraged! The quality of that kid's martial soul is indeed terrifyingly high, but you're the one I chose! With my million-year intelligent soul ring supporting you, your future achievements will definitely be limitless. Catching up to him is only a matter of time! And once you obtain the ultimate ice martial soul, you'll definitely be able to suppress that bow of his."

Encouraged by Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Huo Yuhao clenched his fists tightly. Longing and determination rekindled in his deep-blue eyes.

Seeing the three of them standing there dumbfounded, Yun Yi put away the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow, and the violent heat around them dissipated as well.

He clapped his hands, his relaxed and casual tone instantly breaking the silence.

"Hey, wake up. Stop standing around. Go finish it off already. That little snake is about to breathe its last, and if you wait any longer, the soul ring will be gone."

His words instantly jolted the three of them out of their respective thoughts.

Tang Ya snapped out of her daze, her pretty face filled with barely contained excitement.

She turned to Yun Yi and loudly said, "Thank you!"

Then she immediately drew her shortsword and ran lightly toward the Mandala Snake, which had stopped struggling and was barely clinging to life, ready to deliver the final blow and absorb her third soul ring.