Underground Killing Intent! The Nine-Heart Begonia Was in Mortal Danger?

Hearing those names, Gu Ling immediately halted his steps. His brows furrowed slightly. If it had only been one of those names, it might have been a coincidence.

But with all three names appearing together, their identities were already obvious.

"People from the Imperial Dou Team?"

A trace of surprise flashed through Gu Ling's eyes. He had not expected to run into the Imperial Dou Team from Heaven Dou Royal Academy so soon after entering the Star Dou Great Forest.

Gu Ling did not reveal himself rashly.

This was the Star Dou Great Forest, after all. He had no idea what was happening ahead, so he naturally would not stroll over just because he recognized a few people.

With that in mind, he swiftly restrained the fluctuations of his Soul Power, lightened his footsteps, and used the dense surrounding shrubs as cover as he quietly approached the source of the sounds.

The farther he went.

The more obvious the sounds of battle became.

Boom!

A dull impact suddenly exploded.

Immediately afterward.

A great swath of leaves rustled down, and even the ground beneath Gu Ling's feet trembled faintly.

"This commotion..."

"Looks like that soul beast is pretty huge."

Gu Ling became secretly vigilant.

A moment later, he passed through a dense thicket, and the view ahead suddenly opened up.

When Gu Ling clearly saw the soul beast fighting the soul masters, his gaze tightened slightly as he murmured in a low voice:

"What a huge thing!"

In the center of the woodland ahead stood a ferocious soul beast four or five meters tall, continuously letting out deafening roars. Its appearance was exceedingly strange, resembling the product of some giant insect crossed with a reptilian soul beast.

Its body was low in front and high at the rear. Layers upon layers of dark-purple carapace covered the outside of its sturdy torso, with sharp black bone spikes growing from the edges of every plate. They overlapped one another like a set of naturally grown heavy armor.

It had six limbs. The foremost pair was especially thick, and their ends were not ordinary beast claws, but two enormous curved appendages resembling scythes.

Every time it stomped on the ground, it left behind a deep crater in the soil.

Even more terrifying was its head. Its entire skull formed a savage triangle, with several curved horns extending backward from its forehead and both sides.

Boom!

The giant beast suddenly turned, its thick tail sweeping out violently and instantly blasting apart two large trees in its path!

"This soul beast is really vicious!"

Gu Ling narrowed his eyes and spoke in a low voice.

Before this giant soul beast, a figure was confronting it head-on. He was a young man in his thirties, tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in an orange combat outfit.

At that moment, the young man's eyes glowed faintly crimson. His hands had transformed into sharp wolf claws, while his arms and shoulders were covered in a layer of dark-red wolf fur.

Behind him, a crimson giant wolf phantom several meters tall howled toward the sky. Flames surged over its body, and the scorching heat even visibly distorted the surrounding air.

"Blazing Fire Wolf? Qin Ming?"

Upon seeing that Martial Soul, Gu Ling completely confirmed his suspicions. This young man was the current leader of the Imperial Dou Team—Qin Ming!

Qin Ming clearly had not noticed the additional spectator in the distance. All his attention was focused on the giant soul beast before him.

"Fourth Soul Skill, Blazing Wildfire!"

As Qin Ming let out a low shout, his fourth Soul Ring suddenly lit up, and raging flames instantly surged wildly along both his arms.

The next moment.

Qin Ming stomped hard against the ground.

He charged forward like a true giant flaming wolf pouncing upon its prey!

Boom!

The flaming wolf claws collided fiercely with the soul beast's enormous scythe-like forelimbs. Flames exploded violently, and the giant beast roared as its massive body was forcibly driven half a step backward, while Qin Ming used the force of the collision to retreat swiftly.

The two sides had clearly been fighting for some time.

Gu Ling did not keep watching Qin Ming. His gaze quickly crossed the battlefield and shifted farther away.

Beside a large tree more than ten meters from the battlefield sat a young woman.

She wore an elegant long dress, with long hair draping down her back. A thin black veil covered her face, revealing only a pair of calm, clear eyes.

The girl sat cross-legged, her hands resting naturally on her knees. Two yellow and one purple Soul Rings circled around her body. The first two Soul Rings were completely stable, but the third purple Soul Ring continued flickering, clearly still in the final stages of absorption.

"Ye Lingling, the Nine-Heart Begonia soul master?"

Gu Ling recognized her at a glance.

The possessor of the Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Soul, and the Imperial Dou Team's most important support-type soul master.

On Ye Lingling's left and right stood a young man and a young woman respectively.

The young man was not very old, yet he was slender and upright, with short golden hair and a noticeably sharper aura than an ordinary youth. The young woman was tall and had extremely rare short purple hair. Her eyes carried a faint purple hue as she watched the distant battle with a face full of vigilance.

Just as Gu Ling was about to continue observing.

Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!

A sudden burst of hurried scraping sounds came from the dense surrounding bushes.

Roar!

Along with several low beastly roars, more than a dozen soul beasts nearly three meters long suddenly charged out from the forest to the side!

These soul beasts resembled jackals and wolves, but their bodies were sturdier than those of ordinary wolf-type soul beasts. A row of gray-black fur grew down their backs, while their scarlet eyes stared fixedly at Ye Lingling, who was absorbing her Soul Ring.

Clearly, the commotion caused by Qin Ming's battle with the giant soul beast, along with the lingering scent of blood in the air, had drawn other nearby soul beasts over as well.

"More soul beasts?!"

"Tian Heng, get rid of them!"

Dugu Yan's expression changed as she shouted softly.

Hearing that, Yu Tianheng nodded. He had long been prepared.

A burst of crackling thunder erupted as his right arm suddenly swelled. Layer after layer of blue-purple dragon scales rapidly covered his skin, and his hand directly transformed into a savage dragon claw!

"First Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!"

Boom!

Blue-purple lightning instantly exploded. Yu Tianheng rushed forward in a single step, his lightning-covered dragon claw slamming directly into the head of the foremost soul beast and sending it flying under the powerful impact.

The other two soul beasts seized the chance to pounce from both sides.

"Courting death!"

Seeing this, Dugu Yan gave a cold shout. Emerald-green Soul Power rapidly poured from her body, and a massive emerald-green serpent phantom immediately appeared behind her.

At the same time, two yellow and one purple Soul Rings slowly rose beneath her feet.

"First Soul Skill, Jade Phosphor Red Venom!"

A layer of faint red poisonous mist instantly spread out, enveloping one of the soul beasts. Accompanied by a shrill scream, it immediately dissolved into a puddle of bloody sludge.

Boom! Boom!

Soul skills and soul beasts collided without pause. Within only a few breaths, the two people guarding Ye Lingling had both been completely occupied by the suddenly appearing soul beasts.

However, Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan were clearly not panicking. Although these soul beasts were troublesome, the strongest among them had cultivation levels of only seven or eight hundred years.

With the strength of the two of them, they could completely deal with them as long as they spent a little time.

The real trouble was still the colossal creature battling Qin Ming in the distance.

Yet Gu Ling, hidden in the shadows, suddenly furrowed his brows. His gaze was not on Yu Tianheng or Dugu Yan. Instead, he slowly lowered his head and looked at the ground behind Ye Lingling.

"Something's wrong."

"Why does there seem to be the aura of another soul beast underground?!"