Gold-Eating Rat

Jing Hongchen, hidden in the shadows, took in everything. His beard trembled slightly, but the astonishment in his heart was far greater than what showed on his face.

This child, Chenxing... his understanding of martial souls has already reached such a depth? This idea of treating soul skills as enhancements to one's foundation rather than replacements for direct attacks—not even many high-ranking soul engineers in the Sun Moon Empire might understand it, let alone students.

Moreover, he could draw on all manner of examples, casually dissecting the Dai Family's soul ring configuration and offhandedly pointing out the misconceptions of Blue Silver Grass soul masters. Such insight was not something one could gain by locking oneself in a room and reading a few books.

It was said that ten thousand years ago, Tang San, the Sea God from the former Three Douluo Kingdoms, had once had a teacher. That person's own cultivation had been mediocre, yet his research into martial soul theory had laid the foundation for the entire subsequent cultivation system of soul masters on the Douluo Continent. In Jing Hongchen's eyes, given enough time, Ye Chenxing might not fall short of that man.

The more he thought about it, the more emotional he became. This child was practically as if Heaven had sent him specifically to the Sun Moon Empire—combat talent, martial soul talent, temperament, and even such a keen instinct for theory. Every aspect of him was outstanding.

The only thing yet to be tested was his talent for soul tools.

Thinking of this, Jing Hongchen could not help but laugh at himself.

He was still being too greedy. How could there possibly be such an all-around genius in this world?

Though the Douluo Continent had no term for looting corpses, doing so was an instinct carved into every soul master's bones. The three of them turned the two Gold Tiger corpses inside out. After confirming that no soul bones had dropped, they skillfully stored the tiger corpses in their storage soul tools. After all, they had brought limited provisions, and they had no idea how many days they would remain in the mountains. The meat from these two Gold Tigers would last them quite a while.

What? School started in three days?

Go tell my grandfather, the headmaster.

Xiao Hongchen had expended quite a bit. The simultaneous barrage from sixty Soul Guidance Cannons had nearly drained his soul power. The other two did not rush him. They waited until he meditated on the spot and recovered more than half his soul power before setting off again.

With the scent of Gold Tiger blood surrounding them, the harassment from low-level soul beasts along the way noticeably decreased. Those that dared to provoke them beneath the lingering might of two thousand-year soul beasts were usually no easy opponents themselves. As they continued deeper into the mountains, the soul beasts they encountered grew older and older. By the time they entered the territory of the fourth peak of the Jingyang Mountain Range, there were already traces of ten-thousand-year soul beasts nearby.

The sky darkened. Rather than continue traveling with their flying soul tools, the three found a relatively flat spot and made camp. Xiao Hongchen volunteered to prepare dinner—then produced a blackened lump that was impossible to identify as either charcoal or food.

Ye Chenxing stared silently at the unidentified object, then decisively took over the cooking.

The last time he had personally cooked had been in his first life, more than a decade ago, and his skills back then had definitely not been good. Fortunately, his mental power was now exceptional. His control over heat was precise to the finest degree, and he could use his mental power to cut ingredients with accuracy. The meal turned out without incident.

As he ate, Ye Chenxing silently grumbled to himself, How did Huo Yuhao in the original story manage to make grilled fish taste so good? My mental power far surpasses Huo Yuhao's at this stage, and I even possess the Ultimate Fire martial soul.

It seemed cooking was what truly depended on talent. If you couldn't do it, you really couldn't do it.

The night passed without incident.

Noon on their third day in the mountains.

The three had already reached a point near the fifth peak.

Trouble arrived.

A Gold-Eating Rat with cultivation nearing eight thousand years emerged from the depths of the forest with a vast swarm of rats. Its entire body was covered in dark golden fur, and its scarlet eyes locked tightly onto the humans who had intruded into its territory.

Meng Hongchen stepped forward and released her martial soul.

Her wine-red hair lost its color in an instant, turning snow-white like a waterfall, while her ice-blue eyes became red in the blink of an eye, making her look somewhat similar to Ye Chenxing. Two yellow and one purple soul rings rose beneath her feet, and her first and second soul rings lit up at the same time.

Bluish-white poisonous mist spread deep into the rat swarm. The poison of the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad was almost a nightmare among opponents of the same rank.

The century-old Gold-Eating Rats did not even have time to scream before they rolled their eyes back, convulsed, and collapsed in droves. Even the thousand-year ones could not endure it. Their limbs trembled as they barely held on for a moment before crashing to the ground.

The Gold-Eating Rat King let out a sharp roar. A flash of gold shot forward as it lunged fiercely at Meng Hongchen.

Meng Hongchen had been prepared. She lightly tapped the ground with the tips of her toes and drifted backward.

Her fighting style was completely different from Xiao Hongchen's. Xiao Hongchen pursued overwhelming firepower coverage, while she dragged things out—until the poison took effect, until her opponent was exhausted, until the scales of victory tipped completely to her side. The stronger the target, the more poisonous mist it inhaled, and the greater the burden on her became. But as long as she could stall, there was no enemy poison could not bring down.

However, something unexpected happened.

A figure slowly emerged from the poisonous mist that ordinary people avoided at all costs. White hair, a golden-red Sun Martial Soul floating at his side. Ye Chenxing simply walked into her attack range, his steps steady and expression unchanged. He did not even furrow his brows. He even casually raised a hand and swept aside some of the poisonous mist around him.

"Chenxing, don't come in!" Meng Hongchen's expression changed drastically. "Get out, my poison—"

"Meng, let's speed things up a little."

Ye Chenxing interrupted her. Within the poisonous mist, he showed no sign of discomfort whatsoever.

Meng Hongchen froze. She understood better than anyone how potent the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad's poison was. Soul masters of the same rank would lose half their lives if they so much as touched it, and lower-ranked soul masters need not even be mentioned. Yet Ye Chenxing stood in the poisonous mist as though nothing was wrong, even seeming to think it obstructed his view. He had even waved his hand to disperse it.

How had he done it?

Before she could find an answer, Ye Chenxing moved. With his martial soul floating at his side, he extended his left hand forward in a reverse motion, two fingers pointing at the still-roaring Gold-Eating Rat King. Flames extended from his fingertips, tracing a burning arrowhead through the air. His right hand drew back, loosely clenched into a fist, slowly pulling as if he were drawing an invisible bow.

Golden-red light illuminated the entire forest as brightly as day. Terrifying heat swept outward, warping the air into visible waves. Meng Hongchen instinctively took half a step back. She could even feel that her soul skill could no longer remain active beneath that searing heat.

"Open."

At his soft command, before the stunned eyes of the brother and sister, the raging flames suddenly contracted. All the light and heat seemed to be forcibly pressed back by an invisible hand, compressed into that tiny flaming arrowhead. In that moment, the arrowhead was no longer dazzling. Instead, it took on a deep golden-red hue.

Then the arrow shot forth.