Breath of Nature

"Whoosh—"

With a sweep of his left hand, ice spikes erupted straight from the ground. The chill around Xu Xiaoyu's hand became increasingly obvious, frosting the surrounding grass.

"Is that all?"

Gu Yue spread one hand, elemental tides surging across her palm. As if disturbed, the ice spikes began to twist and deform continuously.

"How is this possible?"

Xu Xiaoyu stared at the scene in shock, then quickly reacted and pulled his sister back.

"You just boasted so loudly, and now you want to leave? Did you ask us first?"

Xie Xie suddenly appeared behind them, the two daggers in his hands gleaming with one bright and one dark light.

Xu Xiaoyan instinctively swung her ice staff, wanting to help her brother block the attack, only to find that Xie Xie had vanished from before her.

She looked around, but before she could spot him, she felt an icy chill at her neck.

Xie Xie appeared directly behind her. Under Xu Xiaoyu's panicked gaze, Xu Xiaoyan had a dagger pressed to her throat.

"You—"

"Want to call us despicable? What were you thinking when you came here? Don't tell me you have no idea."

Luo Qing did not make a move. His companions were enough to handle these siblings.

The four of them stood at four corners, staring directly at Xu Xiaoyu in the middle.

With his sister captured and himself surrounded, Xu Xiaoyu calculated for a moment before helplessly dispersing the soul power in his hand and raising both hands.

"I surrender!"

"Didn't expect you to be so sensible."

Though Xie Xie said that, his dagger remained at Xu Xiaoyan's throat.

They had learned beforehand that this place simulated Douluo Continent from tens of thousands of years ago.

Back then, people schemed against and slaughtered one another over the slightest resources as a matter of course. Who could guarantee that the people before them had no such intentions?

"I admit that I came for your resources, but I truly came with the intention of forming an alliance with you. Injuries suffered here will affect us to some extent in reality as well. How about this? I'll hand over all the spiritual power on us, and you let my sister and me live."

"Foolish. If we kill you, your spiritual power will still be ours. Why should we let you go?"

Luo Qing had already begun raising the price, waiting to see what price the person before him was willing to pay.

Xu Xiaoyu was clearly gritting his teeth, but he worried about his sister and did not want her to be harmed during this Ascension Platform trial.

"Name your terms. The two of us are from the Xu Family of East Sea. If possible, please show mercy for the Xu Family's sake."

Xu Xiaoyu looked seriously at the group before him, waiting for Luo Qing, who was clearly their leader, to speak.

Luo Qing thought for a moment before saying, "I can let you go, but only if you wear our tracking device. Hand over the spiritual power on you, put this on, and you can leave. Don't try to take it off. My flying speed is enough to catch you before you can relocate."

Luo Qing glanced at Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin took two vine bracelets from her clothes.

"Put them on, then head in another direction."

Xu Xiaoyu gritted his teeth and handed over all the spiritual power on him. At last, he and his sister put on the two bracelets.

"Let's go. We need to get out of here first."

Seeing that his sister had been released, Xu Xiaoyu could only take her somewhere safe first.

Watching their retreating backs, Xie Xie finally asked in confusion, "What is that? We just put that thing on them, take their spiritual power, and let them go? Isn't that letting them off too easily?"

Luo Qing glanced at him and said, "Do you remember how we said information was the most important thing? That isn't just a tracker. It can also transmit information through the surrounding plants. Its principle is Wu Lin's second soul skill."

Tang Wulin continued, "That's right, my second soul skill, Breath of Nature. It allows me to indirectly sense the location of plants I create, and through their contact with the ground—or their interactions with other plants—I can obtain corresponding information through the roots buried underground."

"In other words, they're our human radar now."

"But what if they deliberately destroy it? For example, they could have a group of people lying in ambush, then deliberately destroy the bracelets to lure Luo Qing over."

Xie Xie still seemed rather lost.

"You really don't understand what people say... The bracelet's ability is radar. Before it is destroyed, it will send back all the information it has gathered. If we know there's an ambush, then we just don't go, right? Besides, every piece of information we obtain before they destroy it is a profit for us. As for promises made here, this is a simulated world after all. Once we leave, who will recognize whom? It'll already be good enough if he doesn't come looking for trouble at our door..."

Luo Qing explained calmly while also keeping an eye on their surroundings.

A Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was active to the south. Aside from the west, where the siblings had left, the north and east remained unexplored.

Their position was at the northeastern corner of the entire map. Logically, the frequency of battles should not be too high here.

It was considered an outer area, but spiritual power had to be obtained through battle—or by robbing other soul masters.

Their group was now complete, so they should choose a primary direction to advance.

"Which way do you think we should go?"

From the sky, Luo Qing had seen the map clearly and roughly sketched out the surrounding terrain.

He took a stick and drew a simple map on the ground, marking their current location.

"We're roughly here. Earlier, there was a thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear to the south. Which way do you think we should go?"

Luo Qing wanted to hear his companions' opinions.

Xie Xie narrowed his eyes at the marked Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear.

"We definitely can't go south. A thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear is not only thick-skinned and tough, but its attack power is terrifyingly high. Not to mention its formidable strength, which is enough to rival a ten-thousand-year soul beast. Even if the four of us are strong, going up against it would be like delivering ourselves to its doorstep."

"We can't go west either. Those siblings just left that way. If we run into them again, not only will we gain no information, but we might force them into a desperate fight. Their strength probably won't be much of a problem, but it would be bad if they have some hidden means."

Tang Wulin's eyes were full of caution. In the comics she had read, many righteous characters had been driven into hopeless situations by villains because of carelessness.

They could not make the same mistake.

"East. I think we should go east." Gu Yue used a branch to point toward the east.

"There's a water source here. Even during the Ascension Platform's riot period, most soul beasts still maintain the habit of drinking water. And many soul beast gathering spots are near water sources. There happens to be a river to the east."

"Then east it is!"

Luo Qing stood up, dusted himself off, and said, "Let's go. Time to raise some hell!"