Escape

Chapter 47: Escape

Naturally, Jiang Yue had no intention of fighting the Three-Eyed Golden Lion head-on. With strength equivalent to that of an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast despite being only fifteen thousand years old, there was no way Jiang Yue would fight her.

Making Jiang Yue, a Soul Ancestor who had only just broken through to four rings, fight the Three-Eyed Golden Lion? The difficulty was practically enough to be called an impossible challenge.

Jiang Yue: Me, fight the Three-Eyed Golden Lion? Seriously?

But at least he still had a chance of surviving against the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. If he encountered any one of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts at his current cultivation, Jiang Yue could only place his hopes on Electrolux.

Given Jiang Yue's strength as a Soul Ancestor, even if Scarlet King really was secretly protecting the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, he absolutely would not show himself and intervene. After all, if the Three-Eyed Golden Lion could not even deal with a Soul Ancestor, she would be a complete joke.

Jiang Yue stopped, and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion behind him seemed to sense it and stopped as well. She maintained a certain distance from Jiang Yue and the others, but her gaze continuously swept across the surroundings, as though she intended to find Jiang Yue's hiding place that way.

"Tian Meng, hurry up and start! I don't want this thing chasing me anymore! If other Ferocious Beasts show up, we'll really be in trouble."

Tian Meng's trump card was not teleportation in the conventional sense, nor was it any remarkable spatial ability. It was simply an application of spiritual power once it had grown powerful enough.

It could achieve fixed-point transport across long distances, but if they truly encountered Di Tian, that method would most likely fail before it could even be used.

Hearing Jiang Yue urge him on, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm did not waste any time. He immediately gathered all of his spiritual power so that he could use that skill more quickly.

At the same time, Jiang Yue, whose figure had been concealed by Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's spiritual power, suddenly appeared in the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's field of vision. Seeing a human abruptly appear before her—a human whose aura seemed so weak—the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was somewhat stunned.

She sniffed, seemingly trying to determine whether there was anyone else nearby besides Jiang Yue. Once she confirmed that there were truly no other humans or Soul Beasts present, the red vertical eye on her forehead locked firmly onto the human before her.

Her Eye of Destiny gave her a peculiar feeling. She could vaguely sense that this human was most likely not her destined calamity, yet he was somehow connected to it.

The connection was not strong. How should she describe that feeling? Drifting. That was barely appropriate.

Just as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was about to make another move and draw closer to get a better look at Jiang Yue's face, Jiang Yue became incomparably tense the moment she approached. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion could sense that tension.

Many Soul Beasts she had preyed upon had been just as wary at the beginning, but because they did not dare attack a beast of auspicious fortune like her, they could only flee in disgrace in the end.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was not worried. In her eyes, Jiang Yue was merely a weak human, someone who might not even be able to defeat some sixty- or seventy-thousand-year Soul Beasts. There were no other humans or Soul Beasts nearby, so she did not believe such a weak human could escape right under her nose.

"Human—"

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion had just opened her mouth to speak, and her clear, pleasant voice had only formed two syllables when she was so startled that she could not utter another word!

He disappeared! A human had actually vanished right before her eyes, without the slightest warning!

This was utterly absurd! How could such a weak human accomplish something like that?

It was not the same kind of concealment as before—of that, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was absolutely certain. As Jiang Yue vanished, she discovered that under the Eye of Destiny's detection, the reaction from the fate line had shot in one direction at an absurd speed. After reaching a certain distance, it broke apart, and she lost the target.

She pounced fiercely onto the spot where Jiang Yue had just stood, but no matter how she searched, she could not change the fact that Jiang Yue had truly escaped before her eyes.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion immediately felt humiliated and unconsciously exhaled scorching breath through her nose. Then she fixed her gaze on the final direction indicated by the power of destiny.

"Human, it is useless no matter where you run. Since you are connected to my destined calamity, I will definitely catch you!"

Seeing that staying here would accomplish nothing, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion abruptly turned and left, returning to the Lake of Life.

In the central region of the outer area of the Star Dou Forest, Jiang Yue only let out a heavy breath after noticing that the scenery before him had changed and that the auras of the Soul Beasts around him had become pitifully weak.

Escaping from something with the actual combat strength of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had truly been thrilling. Jiang Yue swore that he never wanted to experience that feeling again.

He had never found the cries of the Soul Beasts in the outer area so pleasant.

Jiang Yue felt that if he ever came to the Star Dou Forest to hunt Soul Beasts again, he would have to be much more careful. Or perhaps he should simply choose another place next time, to prevent another incident like this.

The Mirror Shadow Beasts in the Extreme North were also a good option. He just did not know whether those things had already gone extinct.

There was no helping it. Oscar, the first food-type Titled Douluo in history, was simply too famous—not only a food-type powerhouse with combat ability, but someone who ultimately became a god. As a result, the Mirror Shadow Beast clan had been slaughtered on a massive scale by auxiliary-type Soul Masters who wanted combat ability.

Perhaps he could still find some deep in the Extreme North? After all, that was a true no-man's land. It was normal for some critically endangered Soul Beasts to remain there.

"Whew, the crisis is over. We're safe now. Even if that thing keeps chasing you, it will take a long time to get here from where we were, and this place isn't far from the edge of the Star Dou Forest."

"With your cultivation, you'll be able to leave the Star Dou Forest soon. Jiang Yue, you've worked hard. Hurry and get out of here, so nothing else happens. If you want to rest, wait until you've left this place."

"Of course. I don't want to stay in the Star Dou Forest any longer. I'm afraid some other thing will jump out from some random corner."

Against the Soul Beasts in the outer area, Jiang Yue did not need Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's spiritual power to conceal him at all. His own cultivation alone was enough to intimidate those Soul Beasts, making them only dare watch from afar without approaching.

In the mixed area, Jiang Yue still needed to actively avoid stronger Soul Beasts, but he had no such concerns in the outer area. Here, it should have been the Soul Beasts that needed to avoid him.

Before long, Jiang Yue left the Star Dou Forest. After finding a relatively conspicuous landmark on the map and confirming his location, he headed at top speed toward the nearest Soul Hunting Town.

Only after checking into an inn in the Soul Hunting Town did the weight hanging over Jiang Yue's heart truly lift.

"This Soul Beast hunt is finally over. I've been tired for so many days, but it's finally done. No, I need a good long sleep this time."

"If there's danger, I'll wake up on my own. Don't wake me unless it's something important. That's it, bye-bye."

Without waiting for any response from Jiang Yue, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm immediately fell asleep. Jiang Yue did not say anything about it. Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had been like this when he was alive—either sleeping or eating. To him, sleep had been an indispensable part of his life for all those years.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's longest period of wakefulness had probably been when he was being drained in the Star Dou Forest. Now that there was no danger, he naturally returned to his old way of life.

After Sky Dream Ice Silkworm fell asleep, Jiang Yue did not enter a cultivation state. Instead, he lay on the bed, staring listlessly at the night outside the window.

Now that the Living Blade had fused with Jiang Yue, the goal he had pursued for all these years could be considered complete.

Having achieved a milestone, he naturally needed to carefully plan what came next.

Judging by the timeline, if everything developed according to the normal course, the Snow Empress in the Extreme North should already be close to beginning her transformation. That Rank 9 Soul Engineer carrying the God-Sealing Platform would soon appear in the core region of the Extreme North.

There was not much time left before this vacation ended. After the break, there would be the reserve team selection, followed by the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.

This time, Huo Yuhao would not possess the Ultimate Ice attribute, so Ma Xiaotao definitely could not replace the Soul Engineer Department student who had been replaced in the original story.

As for the Death Messenger, without Huo Yuhao, it was impossible to guess the exact casualties. However, Jiang Yue was certain that the Soul Engineer Department student should be fine. At most, his Soul Power would be overly depleted. If circumstances permitted, the main team's situation might even be better than in the original story.

Jiang Yue was not interested in whether the Death Messenger could wipe out the main team this time. In any case, Huo Yuhao, the child of fortune, would not be participating in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament as a reserve team member.

Without the child of fortune, Jiang Yue naturally lost more than half his interest in that competition, even if the reward was a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone.

Yan Shaozhe had even withheld the Soul Ring reward Jiang Yue had earned as the freshman assessment champion. The value of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone was far greater than that of a Soul Ring. If he could withhold a Soul Ring, what about a Soul Bone? Especially a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone.

Since even if he joined the reserve team and truly led Shrek Academy's reserve team to win the championship, there was a high chance he would not receive the Soul Bone reward, Jiang Yue naturally had no desire to put in the effort.

Otherwise, all he would get in the end would be some honorary title like "Shrek Seven Monsters for Life." Jiang Yue felt that this was no longer merely a bad deal.

In any case, Shrek Academy was full of talented people. Without Jiang Yue, there would still be others.

This time, Jiang Yue felt that Xiao Xiao was unlikely to join the reserve team. Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, on the other hand, had a greater chance.

Dai Huabin's way of thinking was indeed different from ordinary people's, but his strength was still formidable. Among the first-years, Dai Huabin had only lost to Jiang Yue, and that had even been while using the Hell White Tiger. Aside from Jiang Yue, Dai Huabin truly was the strongest person in the first year at present.

Coupled with the Hell White Tiger Soul Skill, Dai Huabin was not incapable of challenging even Bei Bei, a four-ring Soul Ancestor.

Of course, all of that depended on whether Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu could truly use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill now. Even if they no longer could, with Dai Huabin's pride, he would absolutely never reveal such a thing.

It did not matter. Jiang Yue felt that even if Dai Huabin really made the reserve team, it was nothing. He was not Huo Yuhao; who knew whether Dai Huabin could survive the Death Messenger?

Then again, perhaps Dai Huabin would not even qualify to participate in the selection.

Jiang Yue clearly remembered that second-years normally had nothing to do with the reserve team selection. The reason second-years had been included in the original story was entirely because of Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice.

Moreover, in that situation, aside from the guaranteed slots already occupied by Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi, Huo Yuhao had essentially been guaranteed a slot as well.

Now that there was no Ultimate Ice, the Sea God Pavilion meeting would most likely not be held. Whether second-years could participate in the selection at all was still unknown.

It would be fine if they could not participate. That would save Jiang Yue some trouble.

"Snow Empress Embryo, Body Sect, deep meditation beneath the Golden Tree, Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."

"I need to plan everything that can be planned properly."

Immersed in his thoughts, Jiang Yue gradually fell asleep without realizing it.

At Shrek Academy, in a room on Sea God Island, Yan Shaozhe looked helplessly at the disciple before him, unable to decide what to do for a moment.

Kneeling before Yan Shaozhe was a woman wearing the same red inner courtyard uniform as Zhang Lexuan. However, she appeared to be only around twenty years old, somewhat younger than Zhang Lexuan. This was the most beautiful stage of a person's life.

Her figure was exceptionally tall and well-proportioned, with a slender waist but an excellent body. Her eyes were light pink. Though her features were exquisite, her face carried an unhealthy-looking flush.

Ma Xiaotao. Even burdened with the deeply flawed Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, she had still cultivated to the rank of high-level Soul Emperor by the age of twenty, a peerless genius.

At this moment, she knelt before Yan Shaozhe as though asking him for something important.

Yan Shaozhe hesitated to speak, his expression extremely unpleasant. He was clearly angry, yet as he looked at this disciple who had been tortured by evil fire for more than a decade, he could not bear to scold her.

Taking a master in Douluo Continent was an extremely serious matter. At times, the relationship between master and disciple could be even closer than that between father and son. To Yan Shaozhe, who had no children, Ma Xiaotao was like his own child. He cherished her too much to possibly beat or scold her.

"Xiaotao! Do you even know what you're saying?!"

"You want to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament? How could you possibly take part in that sort of competition in your condition?"

Because of the evil fire issue, although Ma Xiaotao was an inner courtyard student, she had practically never interacted with anyone her age.

Even five years ago, Yan Shaozhe had not allowed Ma Xiaotao to participate in the reserve team selection, let alone allow Ma Xiaotao, whose evil fire was even stronger five years later, to compete.

Unless Ma Xiaotao, burdened by the evil fire, fell into a berserk state and lost her reason, she simply could not bring out her full strength.

"Teacher, I feel like I've recently been able to suppress the evil fire a little. And if I don't get to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, I'll definitely regret it in the future. I don't want to regret it later."

"Nonsense! Regret? Regret is still better than losing your life! Last time, you forcibly cultivated despite the evil fire and lost control, running into the outer courtyard and causing damage. If there had been anyone in that area at the time, you might already have committed an incomparably grave mistake!"

"But didn't that fail to cause any damage?"

"Xiaotao! You have not realized the seriousness of this at all. Besides, even if I agreed to let you compete, where would your spot come from? The current Shrek Seven Monsters have already worked together for several years. Most of them are geniuses from my Martial Soul Department. We cannot casually remove any one of them."

"Isn't there still the Soul Engineer Department?"

Ma Xiaotao muttered softly.