The Red-Mane Explosive-Flame Wolf, a Soul Beast Outside His Targets

This was bad!

I think I said too much!

I made Nana realize how she truly felt about Li Zha!

If I hadn't said anything before, she should still have been confused, unable to understand her own heart!

Gui Mei slapped his forehead.

His hand slid slowly down his face.

He looked at Li Zha with a gloomy gaze.

His feelings were complicated.

Nana was the granddaughter Yue Guan and he cherished most. Though she was not their biological granddaughter.

He couldn't bring himself to dislike Li Zha. In fact, he even admired him a little...

This...

Forget it. Once they returned, he would ask Yue Guan what he thought.

At that thought, Gui Mei frowned slightly.

He felt that wanting to ask Yue Guan for his opinion was rather strange.

"Let's go. We'll probably have to search for a long time. Sorry for the trouble, Grandpa Gui—and you too, little fox."

After saying that casually, Li Zha continued onward.

"I'm not called Little Fox! I'm giving you a nickname too!"

"Go ahead, then."

"You hateful... hateful little... little... Forget it! Hateful Li Zha!!"

Hu Liena simply could not think of one.

The three of them continued searching through the Star Dou Forest.

Day turned to night.

After one full day and night.

Li Zha and the others had searched all five locations recorded in the materials.

Yet they found no Crimson Flame Heavy-Armored Beast.

On the second day, the three changed targets and headed for Sunset Canyon.

There were quite a few traces left behind by the Blazing-Shadow Explosive-Flame Wolf.

But the newest ones were already over three months old.

As for the Molten-Ridge Rift-Earth Rhino, they had not even found a footprint.

By noon on the third day, Hu Liena finally could not take it anymore.

"We've come this far and still found nothing."

"Are those three Soul Beasts really still in the Star Dou Forest?"

Gui Mei sat beneath a tree and took out a waterskin, handing one each to Hu Liena and Li Zha.

"Ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts have long lifespans and broad ranges of activity."

"A single migration can take them hundreds of li away."

"The records can only provide a direction. They cannot guarantee those creatures will remain where they are and wait for you."

"Ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts have always been something one can only encounter by chance."

Hu Liena looked at Li Zha and spoke again in the tone of someone more experienced.

"You heard him, right, little brother?

"If you listen to your big sister now, it's not too late to switch to a thousand-year Soul Beast."

Li Zha's expression remained unchanged as he took one of the water bottles from Hu Liena's hand.

"That's my..."

Before she could finish, Li Zha had already gulped down a large mouthful.

He stopped and looked at Hu Liena. "What did you say?"

"N-Nothing..."

Hu Liena's face reddened slightly.

Yet the corners of her lips curled upward.

She did not look angry at all that someone else had drunk from her water.

Instead, there was even a faint hint of secret delight.

Li Zha only found it strange.

His attention had been on the map earlier, so he had not realized he took the wrong one.

He screwed the cap back on and returned the bottle to Hu Liena.

"Let's go. We'll check the last location."

"The last location?" Hu Liena was slightly stunned. "Where?"

Li Zha looked ahead. "Twelve li ahead. Blackstone Ravine."

Gui Mei also rose to his feet, looking into the distance with a grave expression.

"That place is indeed highly likely to have the Soul Beasts you want. But once we get there, the danger level will increase greatly.

"That area is a regular activity zone for ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts. Even encountering a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast is not entirely impossible."

Li Zha turned and bowed to Gui Mei. "Grandpa Gui, sorry, but I still..."

Gui Mei snorted. "Hmph, I never said we weren't going. A mere Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!

"Even if I faced one head-on, I would still have at least a twenty percent chance of getting you two out alive!"

Hu Liena's eyes had initially shone with admiration.

But when she heard the rest, her expression immediately fell.

"What's that supposed to mean? A twenty percent chance—and only to escape!"

Gui Mei's expression became nostalgic.

"Nana, you don't know how terrifying Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts are.

"Once, for the sake of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Spirit Hall paid an extremely painful price..."

Seeing Gui Mei's serious expression and his slightly trembling hand, Hu Liena stopped joking.

She squeezed Gui Mei's hand and looked at him as she nodded solemnly.

"I understand, Grandpa Gui. I'll remember that."

Gui Mei nodded and stepped in front of Li Zha and Hu Liena.

"Once we enter Blackstone Ravine, neither Nana nor Li Zha may leave a radius of three meters around me."

Li Zha nodded. "Thank you, Senior Gui."

The three had only traveled two li toward Blackstone Ravine.

When two wolf howls suddenly rang out in the distance.

"Awooo!"

"Awooo... Roar—!!"

The first was low.

The second carried an urgent warning.

"Wolf howls? Could it be the Blazing-Shadow Explosive-Flame Wolf?"

Gui Mei, who was at the front, slowly stopped.

Li Zha took out the materials and flipped to the page on the Blazing-Shadow Explosive-Flame Wolf.

Hu Liena immediately moved closer. "Did we find it?"

In the end, Li Zha shook his head and looked toward the source of the sounds.

"The howls don't seem right. They may be another type of wolf Soul Beast."

Gui Mei rested a hand on his chin in thought.

"It sounds like there are two wolf-type Soul Beasts. One seems to be suffering some sort of pain.

"Should we go take a look and confirm?"

He looked at Li Zha.

Li Zha thought for a moment, then nodded. "Let's take a look."

They had already searched for three days.

They had not seen even one of the three target Soul Beasts.

They had not encountered any with insufficient cultivation either.

Although these howls did not sound quite right.

He still did not want to miss the opportunity. It would be best to confirm.

Gui Mei raised a hand and suppressed the auras of the two of them.

Then they hurried toward the source of the wolf howls.

Once the three approached the source, Gui Mei raised his hand and stopped first.

"There are two ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts ahead."

"Stay behind me. Neither of you is to release Soul Power."

Li Zha and Hu Liena nodded in acknowledgment.

Both lightened their steps.

Soon, after passing through the bushes, a patch of bare rocky ground appeared ahead.

Two massive crimson wolves stood guard beneath a cliff face.

The male wolf, over four meters long, stood on the outside, its front paws constantly scraping at the ground.

With fierce eyes, it vigilantly watched its surroundings.

The other wolf, a female only two to three meters long, lay behind it.

Her belly was swollen high, and a considerable amount of blood had already flowed beneath her.

Hu Liena frowned and lowered her voice.

"Is she... giving birth to pups?"

Gui Mei glanced at Hu Liena and nodded. "Yes, the female wolf is giving birth."

His gaze moved between the two Soul Beasts.

Before long, he found the corresponding knowledge in his memory.

"They are both Red-Mane Explosive-Flame Wolves."

"With the male's size, it should be between thirteen thousand and fifteen thousand years old.

"As for the female... she looks to be only eight or nine thousand years old."

Li Zha nodded.

He recognized them as well.

During the days before leaving Spirit Hall Academy for the Star Dou Forest, he had gone to the third floor every day to study extensively.

Although he had not found a Soul Beast he found more satisfactory.

He had still learned quite a bit about ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts.

And this Red-Mane Explosive-Flame Wolf was an inferior substitute for the Blazing-Shadow Explosive-Flame Wolf.

The latter was more suitable because its attacks similarly relied on the strength of its entire body and its terrifying bite force to tear apart enemies.

Clearly, the Soul Ring it produced would most likely suit the Flaming-tipped Spear better.

The former, however, relied more on using the Soul Power within its body.

It channeled flames into its limbs and fangs to attack its enemies.

It was not as purely strength-focused as the Blazing-Shadow Explosive-Flame Wolf.

Thus, it was better suited for martial souls with pure fire-element attributes.

But Li Zha's Flaming-tipped Spear merely possessed a fire attribute. It was not primarily a fire-element martial soul.

Therefore, after seeing the Blazing-Shadow Explosive-Flame Wolf, he had not considered the Red-Mane Explosive-Flame Wolf.

"What do you think? Do you want to... hunt these two Soul Beasts for your first Soul Ring?"

Hu Liena asked softly.

Li Zha considered it for a long time, then shook his head.

"They can be backups. If I truly cannot find what I want, then this male wolf would not be bad."

Gui Mei looked at Li Zha and reminded him.

"That one is thirteen to fifteen thousand years old, not merely ten thousand and a few dozen years old.

"With only a few dozen years' difference, every additional hundred years added to the limit brings an immense danger of your body exploding.

"One that exceeds your target by several thousand years will only reduce your chance of successful absorption to the lowest point.

"And there is another issue. Look at the male and female wolf's current state. They are in the middle of childbirth.

"Their emotions have reached their peak, and their desire to protect each other is extremely strong. If you hunt them now,

"the terrifying resentment in the Soul Ring will surely reach its peak as well. It may even double the pressure of the Soul Ring.

"That is... pressure close to thirty thousand years."

"Doubled to thirty thousand?!"

Hu Liena's eyes widened.

Though she had never personally experienced the pressure of absorbing a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring.

She had heard about it constantly ever since childhood.

Before becoming a Soul Elder, even at level forty!

Absorbing a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring meant certain death!

Let alone one with thirty thousand years of pressure!