An Unexpected Turn of Events—A Soul Bone Appears?

"Hmm?"

"What is it?" Seeing Xu Qianqian's delicate brows furrow, Xiao Yuanshan's expression turned solemn as well.

"There seems to be something nearby?" Xu Qianqian replied. "Let me sense it again."

Everything within a thousand-meter radius was conveyed to her through the faint breeze.

Something was wrong!

There were soul beasts, yet she could not locate them.

The surroundings had all been sprayed by Xu Qianqian and Xiao Yuanshan with a repellent that ordinary hundred-year soul beasts would avoid.

Though it could not completely ward off soul beasts, under normal circumstances, hundred-year soul beasts should not have approached.

Moreover, this soul beast seemed to have been there all along.

The forest was utterly silent, yet faint rustling sounds occasionally drifted over.

"There's a soul beast nearby, but I can't determine its exact location for now."

"Can you judge its age?" Xiao Yuanshan pressed.

"It's probably over a thousand years old." Xu Qianqian had never seen a thousand-year soul beast, but she could still confirm that this beast's soul power fluctuations were stronger than those of a hundred-year soul beast.

Hearing this, Xiao Yuanshan nodded lightly.

Although he did not know how his adopted daughter could determine this or sense soul beasts, he trusted her words completely. After living together for so many years, he knew her character well enough.

"But why now?" Xiao Yuanshan felt somewhat helpless.

While there was always a chance of a thousand-year soul beast appearing in a hundred-year zone, he had not expected them to encounter one.

Nine thousand years was still considered a thousand-year soul beast!

But if Xiao Yuanshan encountered that kind of soul beast, he would run as far away as he could.

Hopefully, it would not be that ridiculous.

"Godfather, there's no need to worry about Xiao Chenyu absorbing the soul ring. With his efforts over the past year, he can definitely absorb a three-hundred-year soul ring."

"That thousand-year soul beast is the real problem."

"But we don't know where it is!" Xiao Yuanshan could only worry helplessly.

"I found its general direction. Northwest, between one hundred and two hundred meters away."

"Understood!"

Xiao Yuanshan possessed his martial soul and immediately unleashed a long-range attack.

A blazing beam of light tore through the forest, uprooting a swath of trees and brush ahead.

Bang!

A half-meter-long soul beast resembling both a crocodile and a gecko hissed as it dodged the attack.

Its coloring, which had been identical to the grass around it, returned to its original appearance of yellow scales.

The creature's forked tail swayed lightly. Then it opened its vicious jaws, leapt into the air, and charged at Xiao Yuanshan.

Xiao Yuanshan crossed his arms to defend himself, then forcefully flung the soul beast away with both hands.

"Two-Tailed Gecko, seventeen hundred years of cultivation, wind attribute, extremely fast movement speed. It possesses the soul skills: Concealment, Lightning Flash, high-speed movement..."

"Seventeen hundred years!" After throwing the Two-Tailed Gecko aside, Xiao Yuanshan's arms had gone slightly numb.

He was merely an ordinary Soul Elder with white, yellow, and yellow soul rings. He might have been able to defeat the soul beast before him in a one-on-one fight, but there were still two people here he needed to protect.

This soul beast also seemed adept at hiding.

"This is troublesome!"

Just then, Xiao Chenyu woke up. A hundred-year soul ring slowly rose from beneath his feet, and his face was brimming with joy.

"Sis, Dad, I succeeded!"

"Mm, level thirteen. Not bad." Xu Qianqian confirmed Xiao Chenyu's current soul power fluctuations through her senses.

Before absorbing the soul ring, his soul power had already reached level eleven. It was only because he lacked a soul ring that it had not been revealed.

"You succeeded. Just like your sister said, there weren't any accidents."

Xiao Yuanshan was delighted as well, but the smile on his face was quickly replaced by seriousness.

"Protect your sister. We've been targeted by a thousand-year soul beast."

"A thousand-year soul beast?" Xiao Chenyu could not help following Xiao Yuanshan's line of sight.

"That is..."

"A seventeen-hundred-year Two-Tailed Gecko, roughly as strong as a Soul Elder." Xu Qianqian explained it to Xiao Chenyu.

"A Soul Elder!"

She had only just become a Soul Master, not even had the chance to show off her skills, and now she had run into a soul beast comparable to a Soul Elder. Wasn't this absurd?

What about her moment in the spotlight?

"We need to end this fight quickly. The commotion we've caused could very well attract other soul beasts," Xiao Yuanshan said, catching his breath.

Even if they did not attract thousand-year soul beasts, a large number of hundred-year soul beasts would still be extremely dangerous.

No sooner had Xiao Yuanshan finished speaking than the Two-Tailed Gecko lying on the ground vanished.

"The thousand-year soul beast disappeared!" Xiao Chenyu looked shocked.

"That is the Two-Tailed Gecko's concealment ability. It can blend into its surroundings."

Xu Qianqian now understood what was going on with this Two-Tailed Gecko.

It had probably been resting nearby, then gone berserk after being startled awake.

"I have an idea..." Xu Qianqian whispered her plan into Xiao Yuanshan's ear.

"Will that work?" Xiao Yuanshan looked worried.

"There's no time to hesitate. If we wait any longer, other soul beasts might approach," Xu Qianqian said. "Fifteen meters to the east, in that tree."

Xiao Yuanshan hesitated no longer. He leaped up and charged straight toward the fork in the tree, striking down with all his strength.

"Boom!" The Two-Tailed Gecko had no idea how it had been discovered. It had thought the other side had merely gotten lucky before.

Dark red blood sprayed from the Two-Tailed Gecko's body, but a thousand-year soul beast possessed extremely tenacious vitality. It merely crashed heavily to the ground.

Just as the Two-Tailed Gecko tried to get back up, Xu Qianqian ran over. Xiao Chenyu, who had only just become a Soul Master, was even faster, standing guard at Xu Qianqian's side.

Xu Qianqian met the dazed Two-Tailed Gecko's gaze and released her domain with all her strength.

With a sharp cry:

"Pressure!"

The Two-Tailed Gecko's body suddenly trembled as it was cowed. At that moment, Xiao Yuanshan's second wave of attacks had already arrived.

"Leave the final blow to me!" Seeing Xiao Yuanshan's bulging muscles in his martial soul possession state, Xu Qianqian cried out urgently.

Xiao Yuanshan was taken aback, but he did not think too much about it. He held back some of the power from his originally lethal third soul skill.

The attack also shifted slightly.

"Rip!"

The Two-Tailed Gecko's body was torn in half, yet it did not die immediately.

Xu Qianqian continued using the Gale Wolf King's aura to intimidate it.

She pulled out the specially forged dagger and viciously stabbed it into the Two-Tailed Gecko's head.

"Phew—"

As a purple soul ring slowly rose, Xu Qianqian could not help but let out a breath of relief.

Her gaze quickly returned to her martial soul, to the illustrated guide appraisal for the Two-Tailed Gecko.

"It really was recorded."

Another interface appeared within the appraisal information for the Two-Tailed Gecko.

Two-Tailed Gecko, cultivation 1,700 years, wind attribute, recorded.

Did the recorded effect only activate after killing a soul beast over a thousand years old?

But her father had not killed the Gale Wolf King back then either.

"Although I don't know what use having multiple recorded entries has, perhaps it may come in handy in the future."

Xu Qianqian had always felt that her martial soul was not so simple, but she also knew that now was not the time to think about such things.

A faint fluctuation of soul power emerged from the dead Two-Tailed Gecko's remains.

Xu Qianqian instinctively locked onto its location.

Noticing the direction of Xu Qianqian's gaze, Xiao Yuanshan and his son also walked over.

"A soul bone—and a rare skull bone at that." Xu Qianqian sucked in a sharp breath.

Any soul bone was worth at least five hundred thousand gold soul coins, and they were the kind of thing money could not buy.

To Xu Qianqian, the timing of this soul bone's appearance was like holding a hot potato. Her heart pounded wildly.

"This is the middle of nowhere. What if this father and son decide to kill me to keep it secret..."

She could not help but imagine the worst. A thousand-year soul bone was enough for Soul Emperors, even Soul Sages, to fight over desperately.

Compared to Xiao Yuanshan and his son, she, this adopted daughter in name only, was ultimately still an outsider.