Two Rings Block a Soul Elder

Han Song clearly did not regard Lu Yuan as a real threat. Three Spirit Rings circled his body as his speed increased. In his eyes, the one blocking the path was merely a Two-Ring youth. As long as he knocked him aside, the forest path ahead would be enough for him to shake off his pursuers.

After his First Spirit Ring lit up, Han Song's speed surged again, and he reached Lu Yuan in the blink of an eye.

Lu Yuan did not retreat. He held the Piercing Spear diagonally before him, its tip not aimed at any vital point, merely blocking most of the already narrow forest path. Impatience flashed through Han Song's eyes. He suddenly reached out with his right hand, intending to use his forward momentum to knock the spear aside.

Their Soul Power differed by an entire major realm. He did not believe Lu Yuan could stop him at all.

But the instant his palm touched the shaft, Lu Yuan's Second Spirit Ring lit up.

Shock Edge!

The vibration traveled directly through the spear into his right arm. Han Song's hand, already exerting force, suddenly went numb. The Piercing Spear he had intended to knock away did not move aside immediately. Charging at high speed, he had no time to adjust and could only force himself to twist aside, his right shoulder slamming heavily into the wooden railing beside him.

The fence shook violently from the impact. Lu Yuan himself was driven back two steps by the force, and the wound in the web of his hand, which had only just stopped bleeding, split open again. Blood quickly seeped from his palm, but his footing remained steady, the Piercing Spear still blocking the middle of the forest path.

Only after steadying himself did Han Song truly look at Lu Yuan. "You?"

The Rift-Toothed Tiger from last night, nearly nine hundred years old, had died beneath Lu Yuan's spear. News of it had already spread through the hunting grounds, and Han Song had clearly heard of it. But the sounds of pursuit behind him were drawing closer, leaving him no time to keep tangling with Lu Yuan.

His Second Spirit Ring quickly lit up. The strength in Han Song's legs visibly increased, and his speed rose another level. Just before reaching Lu Yuan, he abruptly veered left.

Lu Yuan was slower than him, but he did not turn chaotically to follow Han Song's movements. He simply guarded the narrowest point of the forest path. The moment Han Song shifted left, the Piercing Spear swept across. He could only change direction to the other side, but Lu Yuan merely adjusted his stance slightly, and the spear still remained in the unavoidable path.

After failing to break through with two consecutive changes in direction, Han Song's face darkened completely. He shouted, "Move!" and his Third Spirit Ring lit up.

Soul Power far stronger than before erupted from his body in an instant, his speed and strength both soaring. Lu Yuan's gaze sharpened. Just as he tightened both hands around the Piercing Spear, Han Song slammed into him head-on.

The enormous force surged through the spear into his arms. This time, Lu Yuan could not keep his footing at all. His entire body was sent tumbling backward, rolling twice across the ground on his shoulder and back before stopping.

The old injury beneath his ribs was viciously torn open, and it felt as though his chest were clogged with a breath. When Lu Yuan propped himself up with the Piercing Spear, a trace of blood had already appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Once a Soul Elder truly erupted, he was ultimately not on the same level as the twenty-eighth-rank Qin Yue.

Han Song did not turn back to strike again. After forcing open a path, he continued rushing forward. But he had only just passed Lu Yuan when the sound of something cutting through the air came from behind him.

Lu Yuan had not even fully risen, yet the Piercing Spear in his hand had already swept low across the ground, its butt end shooting toward Han Song's ankle. Hearing the movement, Han Song instinctively lifted his leg, but he was still grazed. At that same instant, Lu Yuan's Second Spirit Ring lit up.

Shock Edge erupted once more. Han Song's right ankle suddenly went numb, and the speed he had just built up immediately faltered. He staggered several steps forward, nearly pitching straight to the ground.

By the time he steadied himself and turned back, Lu Yuan had already used the Piercing Spear to support himself as he rose again. Blood still seeped from the web of his hand, and his ribs ached faintly. Another portion of his recently recovered Soul Power had been expended, yet he still did not step aside.

Han Song finally became anxious.

Manager Zhao and the hunting grounds guards were getting closer and closer. If he kept running forward, Lu Yuan might strike him from behind with Shock Edge again. He abruptly turned around, the viciousness in his eyes fully revealed. Since this Two-Ring youth insisted on blocking his way, he would deal with him first.

The lingering glow of his Third Spirit Ring had yet to fade when Han Song pounced again.

Lu Yuan did not take him head-on. The tip of the Piercing Spear lifted slightly, and his Second Spirit Ring lit up first. Han Song had already suffered twice from it. Upon seeing Shock Edge, he immediately twisted aside to avoid the spear shaft, intending to close in directly.

But at the instant he changed direction, Lu Yuan's First Spirit Ring lit up right after it.

Piercing Edge!

The spear tip, which had only been blocking the path, suddenly accelerated. Han Song's pupils contracted, and he almost instinctively dodged to the right. He knew how last night's Rift-Toothed Tiger had died, so naturally he did not dare take this strike with his body.

The Piercing Spear grazed his shoulder, tearing his clothes and leaving a shallow bloody mark before plunging into the wooden railing behind him with a thud. Han Song was forced several steps to the right by the strike, and those few steps cost him his chance to continue fleeing.

Manager Zhao had already arrived from the other side.

Han Song's expression changed drastically. He turned, still wanting to find another opening, but Manager Zhao gave him no chance at all. Within several moves, he suppressed him head-on. The two hunting grounds guards who arrived afterward immediately stepped forward and wrenched both his arms behind his back.

Only then did Lu Yuan withdraw the Piercing Spear and lean against the nearby fence, taking several breaths to recover. When Han Song's Third Soul Skill had struck him head-on just now, he had already been unable to withstand it. If Manager Zhao had arrived any later, he would certainly have been the one to suffer if the fight continued. Fortunately, this had never been about taking down a Soul Elder alone. It was enough to keep him here.

Han Song was soon escorted back to the entrance of the hunting grounds.

Xue Qinghe had been waiting for news. Upon seeing Han Song brought back, he wasted no time and had the old approval document placed before him. "Who gave this to you?"

Han Song lowered his head and said nothing. Seeing this, the person in charge of the hunting grounds said coldly, "The people guarding the transfer gate last night have already confessed everything. You personally brought the beast carriage in as well. No one is asking whether you did it anymore. We're asking who you did it for."

Han Song still clenched his teeth and refused to speak.

Xue Qinghe watched him for a moment, his tone remaining calm. "The ones injured last night were Royal Academy students. Someone also nearly died beneath the claws of the Rift-Toothed Tiger during the evacuation. If you think this was merely taking money to open a transfer gate once, you can keep refusing to talk."

Those words visibly changed Han Song's expression. He remained silent for a long while before finally speaking in a low voice. "I don't know who that person was. I only know that he gave me some money and told me to open the western transfer gate last night. He gave me the approval document too. I was only responsible for letting the beast carriage in."

Hearing this, Cheng Lan's gaze fell upon the old approval document, but he did not interrupt.

Xue Qinghe continued, "What about the Rift-Toothed Tiger in the carriage?"

"When it was delivered, it was already in a cage, and its lower right abdomen was wounded. I didn't ask where it came from. I only did as he said, sent the beast carriage near the isolation zone, and opened the cage."

"Why release it into the assessment area?"

Han Song shook his head. "I don't know. He only told me to release it from that side and said that once the Spirit Beast got inside, I didn't need to care about it anymore."

Xue Qinghe looked at him for a while. "What else did the other party tell you?"

Han Song clearly hesitated for some time before finally saying, "After trouble broke out, he told me not to leave yet. I didn't need to care how that Spirit Beast ended up either. I only had to remember everyone who appeared beside the First Prince."

The faint sounds around them quickly died down after those words fell.

Lu Yuan also raised his eyes toward Xue Qinghe.

An old approval document, a Rift-Toothed Tiger injured in advance, and the Royal Hunting Grounds suddenly thrown into chaos—if the goal had merely been to kill a few Young Spirit Masters taking the assessment, such an arrangement was too roundabout and too uncertain.

But if what the other party truly wanted to see was whom Xue Qinghe would come into contact with after something happened at the hunting grounds, then perhaps the ones being watched last night had never been those participating students from the start.