Escape!

"Bulbasaur, what do you think we should do in the Star Luo Empire?"

"Bulba~ Bulba!"

"Join another academy and keep learning?"

Lin Xia smiled after hearing Bulbasaur's answer.

"That could work. Although our Soul Power is only level fourteen right now, going to a junior Soul Master Academy would feel like a waste. After all, I didn't read all those books at Plant Academy for nothing. I've mastered most basic knowledge, and even some advanced knowledge!"

Hearing Lin Xia's reply, Bulbasaur lowered its round head in thought. A gleam flashed through its bright red eyes before it suddenly shouted at Lin Xia.

"Bulba—Bulba, Bulba!!"

"Go farm in a Soul Beast Forest with you??"

"Bulbasaur, what are you thinking? Going to a Soul Beast Forest just to get beaten up?"

After thinking about it, Bulbasaur realized that did make sense and gave an embarrassed smile.

Seeing Bulbasaur like this, Lin Xia gave up on asking it anything else. It had only been born for so long—not even a year old—so asking it was pointless.

"We'll take things one step at a time. The world is so vast; where can't we go?"

"Bulba!!!"

A day later, the first rays of morning sunlight pierced through Plant Academy's uneven canopy of broad leaves, casting dappled shadows across the ground.

Yue Hongsheng stood with his hands behind his back, savoring the emerald tea in his cup with satisfaction.

The plan was progressing steadily. The hope of breaking through the bottleneck that had troubled him for years had never been clearer.

He had even begun considering how to guide Lin Xia into the next stage of the "fusion" experiment.

"It's time to see how that boy is doing."

A barely noticeable curve appeared at Yue Hongsheng's lips. He set down his cup and headed toward Lin Xia's dormitory with steady steps.

The corridor was silent.

Out of habit, Yue Hongsheng released a faint thread of spiritual power to inspect Lin Xia's room—empty?

Only a trace of life aura remained, with no signs of activity whatsoever.

Yue Hongsheng frowned slightly. A flicker of unease crossed his heart, but he quickly suppressed it.

Maybe he had gone out for morning training?

"Knock, knock, knock."

He knocked symbolically on the door, but no one answered.

Yue Hongsheng waited no longer. A flash of dark purple Soul Power flickered at his fingertips, and the lock clicked open.

The room was excessively tidy.

The bed was empty, the quilt neatly folded into a square. But... Lin Xia's small bundle containing a few changes of clothes was gone.

A thin layer of night dew had gathered on the windowsill. Clearly, the window had been left open for a long time.

The air carried the cold, hollow feeling of a room abandoned by its occupant.

"Luggage?"

Yue Hongsheng's heart sank. His last shred of hope froze instantly.

He strode inside, his withered fingers brushing over the cold bed as his eagle-sharp eyes swept across every corner of the room.

The wardrobe was empty. There was not even a strand of hair on the floor, as though the room had been deliberately cleaned.

"He ran away?!"

Those words were like icy poisoned thorns, instantly piercing Yue Hongsheng's reason!

"Lin—Xia—!"

A low roar, suppressed to the extreme yet filled with towering rage, forced its way from the depths of his throat like the howl of a dying beast.

His usually kind and gentle face twisted instantly. His eyes turned bloodshot with fury, crimson veins spreading through them, while his withered body trembled slightly from overwhelming anger and disbelief.

He had painstakingly planned for this!

He had exhausted all his efforts!

To nurture him, he had spared no rare resources and risked danger to venture deep into the Emerald Forest!

He had paid four "materials" as tolls to hunt a Soul Ring for him!

All for that perfect body of Life-Poison Unity, capable of carrying his lifetime of research!

Once the time was ripe, he could devour it, and it would become his only hope of breaking through to Soul Douluo, or even Titled Douluo!

And now Lin Xia had run away?!

Right before the dawn when victory was within his grasp?

He had slipped away like some light-fearing rat?!

"Bastard! How dare you!"

Yue Hongsheng slammed his withered palm against the edge of the bed, reducing the solid hardwood to dust in an instant!

Yue Hongsheng whipped around. His spiritual power swept through every corner of Plant Academy like an invisible storm!

Classrooms, training grounds, the library, cafeteria, public baths, even the flower gardens behind the mountain... Nothing! Nothing! Still nothing!

The auras of Lin Xia and Bulbasaur had vanished completely from Plant Academy! Only the faint traces left in his room remained, like a silent mockery.

"When did he find out!!!"

Yue Hongsheng could not understand it. He had never revealed a single thought—how had the other side noticed?

After a brief moment of thought, Yue Hongsheng gave up.

This was not the time to think about that!

The fury in his eyes nearly became tangible poisonous flames. The last trace of refinement on his face shattered completely, leaving only a savage expression ready to devour someone.

"You little brat, where do you think you can run to?!"

As long as they were still within the Heaven Dou Empire, he refused to believe that a Soul Sage like him could not find them!

Especially not a level fourteen little Soul Master with such peculiar martial soul characteristics!

With that thought, Yue Hongsheng did not hesitate. He immediately circulated his Soul Power and carefully sensed the lingering aura of the Evil Shadow Nether Poison Chrysanthemum in the air. He had placed it on Lin Xia earlier as a precaution!

After sensing for a while, a smile curled across Yue Hongsheng's lips.

His withered figure turned into a shrieking streak of dark purple light and shot out of the dormitory building. He moved so fast that the gust of wind he created tore apart the morning mist.

The perception of a Soul Sage spread out like a spiderweb, doing everything possible to capture even the faintest trace of the Evil Shadow Nether Poison Chrysanthemum martial soul's aura in the air!

Meanwhile, deep within a dense broadleaf forest.

Lin Xia's face was slightly pale, his lips cracked. Leaning against the roots of a giant tree that would take three people to encircle, he panted heavily.

Bulbasaur crouched beside his feet, its small body taut. Its scarlet eyes vigilantly scanned the surroundings, while the seed on its back emitted a faint, soothing glow. Threads of pure life energy flowed over to ease his fatigue.

"Bulba, Bulba..."

Bulbasaur rumbled anxiously.

"No..."

Lin Xia caught his breath, his eyes filled with lingering fear and determination.

"I was careless! We left too hastily and left too many traces along the way! Running in a straight line was practically handing him a trail marker!"

Thinking back to more than ten minutes ago, when that familiar, terrifyingly cold aura—like maggots clinging to bone—had suddenly appeared in the sky behind them and swept over his spine like an icy blade, Lin Xia's heart had nearly leaped out of his chest!

It was Yue Hongsheng!

He was pursuing them, and his speed far exceeded even Lin Xia's worst expectations!

Fortunately, they had just crossed a stretch of marshland at the time, where the muddy ground made footprints difficult to distinguish. Lin Xia had decisively had Bulbasaur release a diluted mixed poison mist with a numbing effect to conceal their auras.

Then, using thorns, he opened up a false trail toward a steep slope to the side. Only then had they narrowly managed to lure that terrifying perception in the wrong direction with the faint aura left on the fake path after it hovered over their heads for a moment.

"We can't follow any pattern!"