Gold-Eating Rat

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

Chenxing... had his understanding of Martial Souls already reached such a profound level? This way of viewing soul skills as enhancements to one's foundation rather than replacements for attacks—even many high-ranking Soul Engineers in the Sun Moon Empire might not have grasped it, let alone students.

And he could draw upon a wide range of examples, casually dissecting the Dai Family's soul ring configurations and offhandedly pointing out the misconceptions of Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters. That was not the kind of insight one could gain by shutting 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 man's own cultivation had been mediocre, yet his research into Martial Soul theory had laid the foundation for the Soul Master cultivation system of later generations across the Douluo Continent. In Jing Hongchen's eyes, given time, Ye Chenxing might not fall short of that man.

The more he thought about it, the more moved he became. This child seemed as though Heaven had sent him specifically to the Sun Moon Empire. Combat talent, Martial Soul talent, temperament, even this keen instinct for theory—every aspect of him was top-notch.

The only thing yet to be tested was his talent for Soul Tools.

At that thought, Jing Hongchen could not help but laugh at himself.

He was still being too greedy. How could there be such a perfect all-rounder in this world?

There might not have been a term like looting corpses on the Douluo Continent, but doing it 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 carcasses in their storage Soul Tools. After all, they had brought limited provisions, and they did not know how many days they would be staying 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 principal grandfather.

Xiao Hongchen had expended quite a bit. The combined volley from sixty Soul Guidance Cannons had nearly drained all his Soul Power. The other two did not rush him. Only after he rested and recovered more than half his Soul Power did they set off again.

With the scent of Gold Tiger blood on them, the harassment from low-level soul beasts along the way noticeably diminished. Those who dared to provoke them despite the lingering might of two thousand-year soul beasts were usually no harmless creatures themselves. As they continued deeper, the soul beasts they encountered grew older and stronger. By the time the group entered the territory of the Jingyang Mountain Range's fourth peak, there were already signs of ten-thousand-year soul beasts nearby.

Night fell. Rather than continue onward using their flying Soul Tools, the three found a relatively level spot and set up camp. Xiao Hongchen volunteered to handle dinner—then produced a pitch-black lump that was impossible to tell whether it was charcoal or food.

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

The last time he had cooked with his own hands had been in his first life. That was more than ten years ago, and his skills back then had definitely not been good. Fortunately, his spiritual power was now exceptional. His control over the heat was precise down to the finest detail, and he could use his spiritual power to cut ingredients with accuracy. The meal was ultimately made without incident.

As he ate, Ye Chenxing silently complained to himself, How did Huo Yuhao make grilled fish taste so good in the original novel? My spiritual power far surpasses Huo Yuhao's early on, and I even possess an Ultimate Fire Martial Soul.

It seems cooking is what truly depends on talent. If you can't do it, you really can't do it.

The night passed without incident.

The third day after entering the mountains, noon.

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

Trouble arrived.

A Gold-Eating Rat close to eight thousand years old emerged from the depths of the forest with a vast swarm of rats in tow. 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 snowy 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 simultaneously.

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

Those hundred-year 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 withstand it. Their limbs trembled, and after barely holding on for a moment, they crashed to the ground.

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

Meng Hongchen had been prepared. With a light tap of her toes against the ground, she drifted backward.

Her fighting style was completely different from Xiao Hongchen's. Xiao Hongchen pursued overwhelming firepower coverage, while she specialized in stalling. Stall until the poison took effect, until the enemy was exhausted, until the scales of victory tilted entirely to her side. The more powerful the target, the more poisonous mist it inhaled, and the greater the burden on her became. But as long as she could keep stalling, there was no enemy her poison could not bring down.

However, something unexpected happened.

A figure slowly emerged from the poisonous mist that ordinary people avoided like the plague. White hair, with a golden-red Sun Martial Soul floating at his side. Ye Chenxing simply walked into her attack range, his steps steady and his expression unchanged. He did not even furrow his brow. He even casually raised a hand and waved away 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 this up a little."

Ye Chenxing interrupted her. Within the poisonous mist, he appeared to feel no discomfort whatsoever.

Meng Hongchen froze. No one knew better than she did how potent her Vermilion Clear Ice Toad poison was. Soul Masters of the same rank would lose half their lives from just being touched by it, let alone those below her level. Yet Ye Chenxing stood in the poisonous mist as if nothing had happened, even seeming annoyed that it obstructed his view. He had even waved it aside.

How had he done that?

Before she could come up with an answer, Ye Chenxing moved. His Martial Soul floated at his side as he extended his left arm forward behind him, holding out two fingers and pointing them toward the still-roaring Gold-Eating Rat King. A flame extended from his fingertips, tracing a burning arrowhead through the air. His right hand drew back, loosely clenched into a fist, pulling slowly as though drawing an invisible bow.

Golden-red light illuminated the entire forest as brightly as day. A terrifying heat swept outward, warping the air into visible waves. Meng Hongchen instinctively retreated half a step. She could even feel that her soul skill could no longer be maintained beneath that blazing heat.

"Release."

With his soft shout, and beneath the shocked gazes 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. At that moment, the arrowhead was no longer dazzling. Instead, it took on a deep golden-red hue.

Then the arrow was fired.