The Ice Staff Pair

Whoosh—

Luo Qing held Gu Yue as they skimmed over the clouds above the forest. His sharp eyes soon spotted their agreed-upon meeting point.

He immediately lowered his body, shielding Gu Yue in his arms.

Resisting the rushing airflow, they descended.

He slightly folded his wings, which provided enough resistance to slow their descent.

Only when he felt solid ground beneath his feet did Luo Qing finally let out a breath.

"Alright, we're here!"

Luo Qing said it instinctively, but Gu Yue still clung to his arms like a sloth for some reason.

"Gu Yue?"

"Oh!"

Gu Yue jolted awake. She had nearly fallen asleep in the warm embrace of the person before her.

That embrace, warm as sunlight, really was intoxicating.

She slowly climbed down from Luo Qing, while Tang Wulin and Xie Xie immediately came over.

"Gu Yue, why do you look so miserable?"

Xie Xie looked at Gu Yue's clothes, whose hem had been torn by branches, and the leaves still stuck in her hair. His eyes were full of teasing.

"You've got the nerve to talk about me?"

Gu Yue shot him an unconcerned glance. Xie Xie was not in much better shape himself.

There was an obvious hole in his school uniform pants, as though he had fallen.

Even his messy hair was a complete disaster, like a bird's nest.

"Alright, alright. Now that we've all regrouped, why don't we discuss a plan first?"

Luo Qing interrupted their mutual teasing and spoke seriously to the three people before him.

"The intensity of this Ascension Platform disturbance far exceeded my expectations. This time, we encountered a thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear."

Xie Xie's eyes widened sharply. A thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear?

That thousand-year Crystal Bear had already chased him half to death. What about a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear that could rival a ten-thousand-year soul beast?

"I understand!"

Xie Xie straightened up at once, like a student listening attentively in class.

"Captain Luo Qing, please give the order! If you tell us to go east, we'll absolutely never go west!"

Tang Wulin immediately followed suit and declared that she would obey Luo Qing's orders.

Gu Yue did not object either. She also wanted to see what outstanding displays of strategy this dragon from beyond the realm, whose true nature had yet to awaken, could offer.

"Since everyone trusts me so much, I'll be direct—"

"Do you know what we need to pay the most attention to here?"

Luo Qing looked at the three of them, and they simply stared back at him wide-eyed.

Tang Wulin tilted her head. She clearly did not know what was most important.

Xie Xie had some idea, but he was still thinking it over.

Gu Yue, however, blurted out, "Information. Every action we take here requires information!"

"That's right. Gu Yue is absolutely correct!"

"Whether it's hunting soul beasts, obtaining soul power, or dealing with attacks from other soul masters—"

"Information is undoubtedly the most important thing. I'll be responsible for aerial scouting."

Luo Qing looked seriously at Tang Wulin beside him.

"Wu Lin, I remember your martial soul can communicate with plants, right?"

Tang Wulin had told him privately when she had just awakened her second soul ring, so Luo Qing planned to ask her to supplement their ground intelligence by communicating with plants.

"Yes. This characteristic of my martial soul can probably allow me to communicate with all plants within a one-kilometer radius."

"But I'll filter out the more complicated information, keeping only warnings first, then conducting a more detailed investigation after an alert."

Tang Wulin was quite reliable at critical moments.

At the very least, she understood that she and her big brother were the team's two pairs of eyes.

One pair looked down from the sky, while the other watched the surroundings from the ground.

In other words, no matter what threats lurked in the shadows, as long as the two of them spotted them, it would be nearly impossible for the team to be ambushed.

But just then, a large tree in the distance suddenly sent her a warning.

"Big Brother, a pair of siblings is approaching us from the east."

Luo Qing immediately understood that enemies were coming.

Although he had killed quite a few soul beasts earlier, aside from that thousand-year Crystal Bear, he had ignored the rest because he had been in too much of a hurry to travel.

It could be said that he had not gained much soul power at all.

And weren't these two enemies rushing over practically a ready-made delivery?

So, they prepared for battle.

The Xu Family siblings, who had rushed over from afar, were panting as they scanned their surroundings.

"Brother, did you really see clearly? Did they really fly this way?"

Xu Xiaoyan leaned on her ice staff, panting as she looked at her older brother.

"My eyes can't be wrong. They definitely landed ahead."

Xu Xiaoyu's expression was calm. He had only two objectives in coming here.

First, he wanted to see whether he could recruit the soul master capable of freely flying through the sky. If they could form an alliance, then with aerial vision, they might gain a more important position in this trial.

Second, if an alliance was impossible, then he would see whether he could take him down in one stroke while he was still in poor condition after such prolonged flight.

Eliminating such a highly dangerous enemy in advance would also ensure his and his sister's safety.

However, the moment they stepped into the area, they discovered that the plants on the ground were spreading toward them as if they had gone mad.

"Not good, it's an ambush!"

Xu Xiaoyu instantly sensed that something was wrong, and three soul rings appeared around him.

Wisps of cold air rose from the ice staff in his hand, while one massive ice spike after another condensed around him.

"They're coming from the left!"

Xu Xiaoyan sharply sensed it and called out a warning to her brother.

Sure enough, the moment Xu Xiaoyan finished speaking, a fireball flew toward them from the direction she had indicated.

"Is that all you've got?"

One ice spike after another shot out from Xu Xiaoyu's hand, successfully neutralizing the incoming fireball.

At the same time, he coldly surveyed the surroundings.

Seeing that the first wave of their ambush had failed, the group emerged from hiding.

"What are you doing here?"

Luo Qing stood at the front, holding the greatsword that emitted a dark gleam.

"We mean no offense. We saw you flying in the sky just now and wanted to form an alliance with you so we could act together."

Xu Xiaoyu looked at his target, then at the numerical advantage on the other side.

Judging by their age, they should be students newly admitted to Eastsea Academy this year.

He could not help but assume the airs of a senior.

"Besides, I'm older than all of you. Forming an alliance with me will bring more benefits—if you can follow orders, I can also guarantee that you'll get farther here."

"Why does this guy feel like he's putting on airs?"

Xie Xie had never been one to hold things in. If something was on his mind, he said it outright.

"Indeed. Are you showing off your seniority?"

"We don't have a habit of forming alliances with people of unknown origins."

Luo Qing had no intention of forming an alliance with the two before him.

He already had enough teammates to look after. If he rashly brought in these two people whose backgrounds he knew nothing about, they might stab him in the back.

Even the little rats he adopted in games in his previous life had betrayed him, let alone two soul masters of unknown origin.

"Then, excuse me—"

Seeing that the negotiations had broken down, Xu Xiaoyu's ice staff bloomed with cold light once more.

"If we can't be friends, then we can only be enemies!"