Surrounded

Suddenly, something in the forest seemed to be rapidly approaching them.

The leaves rustled, moving without any wind.

Austin Griffin's three heads turned at once. Aside from his head hurting a little and becoming more alert, he showed not the slightest hint of panic.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger lowered its body, the dark purple patterns on its black fur flowing even more violently like bolts of lightning about to break from their cocoons.

Gu Yue and Na'er also went on guard at the same time.

The bushes were torn apart.

It was a Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Lion King. Its body was even larger than an Iron Armored Dragon's, and its fur was pure gold, like a moving flame in the dim forest.

Ziyang watched it, pink light flowing through his eyes as he stated with certainty, "It's a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

The next moment, he struck without hesitation. His third Soul Ring lit up, and countless threads flew out from the void.

They pierced through the air, through the golden fur, and directly into the Golden Lion King's body.

The Golden Lion King tried to move, but those threads had already burrowed into its flesh and blood.

The threads suddenly tightened, hoisting it directly into the air.

Its four paws dangled in midair, the amber light in its pupils contracting violently as it roared without cease.

Ziyang had been holding back a breath of frustration all day, while a will in the darkness watched its successor with great interest.

This was the power it had left behind in this world, painstakingly formed.

It cast another glance at the one who had inherited that person's name and power...

It said nothing, only hoping that these two would not end up in the same situation as itself. After all, neither it nor that person really wanted to work...

Austin Griffin also attacked at that moment. He took a deep breath, his chest expanding as the muscles beneath his scales rolled like waves.

Destruction Breath erupted forth.

The beam was blackish-purple. Wherever it passed, even light was swallowed, like a torn wound leading into nothingness.

The beam pierced through the Golden Lion King's body.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's form rapidly dimmed within the breath. Its golden fur lost its luster, its muscles lost their tension, and its bones lost their support.

In the end, it turned into spiritual energy that filled the sky and surged into the three of them.

This time, however, Ziyang and Na'er deliberately stood a little farther away, giving Gu Yue a greater share of the spiritual power so she could reach the thousand-year level sooner.

"Gu Yue, how many years are you short?" Ziyang asked in confusion.

Gu Yue made an estimate and said, "About a hundred years or so."

"Got it. Then we'll reach the goal soon enough." After a brief analysis, Ziyang said, "Let's go a little deeper and finish today's task quickly."

"That'll be soon too. We just need to deal with a few more Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts." Na'er looked at the three purple Soul Rings beneath her feet, then at Gu Yue's Soul Rings. "You'll barely catch up to me soon."

Ziyang was somewhat speechless. Since Na'er could not beat Gu Yue now, she was finding other ways to regain some face.

They ventured deeper into the forest once more, and the woods grew darker.

Suddenly, they seemed to hear the sounds of battle coming from the trees.

They lowered their bodies and peered through the gaps between the leaves, seeing a clearing that had been forcibly opened up.

In the dim forest, Wu Changkong's white robes were especially conspicuous.

He held a longsword in his hand, frost-white light flowing over the blade. Each swing left a frozen trail in the air.

Tang Wulin stood at his side, looking somewhat disheveled as he hid behind Wu Changkong.

It was a Three-Eyed Demon Ape, a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with both darkness and spiritual attributes.

Wu Changkong attacked fiercely. His sword was fast, too fast for the eye to catch, leaving only a frost-white arc that froze in the air.

Frost and spiritual power collided in the air, producing a shriek like shattering glass before annihilating one another.

In the end, Wu Changkong's strength was greater.

He directly slew the Three-Eyed Demon Ape.

Spiritual energy surged out, like compressed mist finally set free. It split into two streams and flowed into Wu Changkong and Tang Wulin respectively.

Wu Changkong's expression did not change. Only his shoulders relaxed slightly, like a loosened bowstring.

But Tang Wulin instantly let out a scream, as if he had suffered some grave injury.

He fell directly unconscious.

Even so, Gu Yue clearly saw the glow of a golden trident light up between Tang Wulin's brows.

Gu Yue seemed to understand what had protected Tang Wulin.

"Let's go. There's nothing worth seeing here." Gu Yue felt that it would be better to hurry and raise her spiritual power, so she made the suggestion to Ziyang.

Ziyang nodded. "True. There are people here now, so the chances of encountering Soul Beasts will be lower. Let's go somewhere else first."

The three turned around and quietly retreated deeper into the dense woods. The bushes closed behind them, but Austin Griffin did not immediately follow.

His three heads turned at once, their gazes locking onto the glowing youth.

The middle head's mouth opened slightly, revealing layers upon layers of sharp teeth. A drop of clear saliva hung from its mouth, glinting faintly in the darkness.

After all, Tang Wulin was a great tonic in his eyes.

The rebellious streak in his heart surfaced again.

Ziyang sensed the pause behind him and raised a hand, clenching his fist. The rebellious streak immediately subsided, and Austin Griffin hurried after them.

For that instant, Tang San once again felt as though he were about to die. This time, the feeling lasted even longer than before.

The forest fell quiet again, and Wu Changkong had not noticed that three children had passed through the area.

Before long, on the other side of the forest.

Ziyang and the others were surrounded.

At their head stood a Ten-Thousand-Year Silvermoon Wolf King.

It stood atop a huge rock in the rear, its fur pure silver-white and gleaming with a cold light in the darkness, like a mass of compressed moonlight.

Three Millennium Golden Wolves stood to its left, right, and front respectively, forming a triangular formation. The golden patterns on their fur flowed through the darkness, their muscles taut like coiled springs.

Then there were several more golden wolves and silver wolves.

They emerged from the bushes and stepped out from behind the shadows of trees like ghosts of the night.

The golden wolves stood in front and the silver wolves behind, forming wave upon layered wave as they surrounded Ziyang and the other two at the center.

Ziyang stopped, frowning deeply as he looked at their astonishing numbers.

There were a little too many of them. This was a far greater crisis than any they had encountered before.

Still, it was not as though they could not hold on.

Austin Griffin paid no attention to the others, his gaze fixed tightly on the Silvermoon Wolf King.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger lowered its body, its tail rigid as it likewise stared at the Silvermoon Wolf King. Both understood the principle of capturing the leader first.

Na'er was not nervous. Though their opponents were numerous, the only real threats were that one Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and the three Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

As long as they prevented the other wolves from launching sneak attacks, they would be fine.

Ziyang spoke to Austin Griffin. "Little Black, use light and dark elemental stripping first. Weaken that Silvermoon Wolf King."

Austin Griffin nodded. "Leave it to me!"