May the Azure Hunt Goddess Keep You Safe

Chu Zisheng's little face was buried entirely in Long Ling's embrace. As she leaped, ducked, took flight, and darted about, he heard her heavy breathing. He could even smell the sweat from her running, mixed with a sweet, milky fragrance. The scent was hard to describe, but it was surprisingly pleasant.

This was the first time in Chu Zisheng's life that he had experienced such a feeling.

It was like... returning to his mother's embrace.

Why did it give him such an inexplicable sense of security?

He had actually noticed Long Ling long ago.

At the time, she had been locked in a fierce battle with a Thousand-Year Two-Headed Demon Wolf.

With her cultivation at the peak of Level 40 Soul Elder, she held the advantage against a thousand-year Soul Beast.

Under her assault, she had nearly succeeded in killing it. But then the Two-Headed Demon Wolf let out a howl, instantly drawing every nearby wolf pack over.

Among them was even a seven-thousand-year Two-Headed Demon Wolf leader!

She could still maneuver around a single thousand-year Soul Beast, but if she got mobbed... forget a Soul Elder suppressing her level—even a Soul Ancestor would be dead.

Long Ling had been badly startled and hurriedly fled.

As luck would have it.

She had run straight toward where Chu Zisheng was.

At first.

Chu Zisheng had thought she intended to shift the disaster onto him, luring the wolf pack to his side so she could escape.

But unexpectedly.

She had come specifically to save him because she saw him alone here, where it was dangerous.

So... Chu Zisheng could not be bothered to dodge.

He let Long Ling hold him tightly as she fled for her life through the dense forest.

She was incredibly fast and nimble. When she ran, she looked even more like a Soul Beast than the Two-Headed Demon Wolves did. A light sheen of sweat covered her wheat-colored skin, and as her body heat evaporated it, the sweet, milky scent around her grew even richer.

Lying in her arms, Chu Zisheng raised his head and looked at her.

Long Ling had the appearance of a youthful, energetic girl. A golden laurel crown rested on her head, and her amber eyes had slightly pointed pupils, carrying the predatory gaze of a hunter watching her prey. Her features possessed a wild sort of beauty. She wore a fitted beast-hide skirt, hunter's boots, and carried a golden hunting bow on her back.

Those clothes had all been specially made to emit the aura of Soul Beasts, better concealing her own scent. At a glance, she was clearly an experienced hunter.

"Huh?"

Long Ling lowered her head and glanced at the little fellow in her arms. Seeing that he neither cried nor fussed, but merely stared straight at her, she pressed a hand onto his head and pushed him deeper into her embrace. A pang of sorrow rose in her heart.

This child had most likely been separated from his family when the Beast Tide struck. All alone in Star Dou Forest, he was pitiful beyond words. He must have been terrified.

"It's okay, it's okay. Don't be scared. Big sis was just talking nonsense. It's okay."

She said not to be afraid.

But the wolf howls behind her were drawing ever closer, making Long Ling's heart race wildly.

Taking advantage of a turn, she glanced back, and her heart sank.

More than a dozen Two-Headed Demon Wolves were relentlessly pursuing her. The leading wolf was crimson from head to toe, with a ferocious and terrifying aura. It was probably at least five thousand years old.

No matter how she twisted and turned, leaped and darted, she could not shake them off.

She could only watch helplessly as the distance between them gradually closed.

If they caught up, it would be over.

What should she do!

What should she do?!

As she ran in panic, the little fellow in her arms suddenly moved.

"Big sis."

Chu Zisheng raised his little face, flushed red from being squeezed, and spoke softly. "Put me down. At this rate, neither of us will get away."

Long Ling froze, looking at Chu Zisheng with complicated eyes. She instantly understood what he meant.

In truth.

If it had been anyone else, with their life on the line and a burden like this child in their arms, they would have long considered him dead weight. They would have tossed him to the ground and fled cleanly while the wolves tore him apart.

After all...

Better a dead friend than a dead me.

Long Ling had seen people like that before.

But...

But such a small child... was he really this sensible?

Was he not afraid of death?

How much suffering must he have endured to accept his own death so calmly?

Long Ling's heart ached. She let out a rough snort and gritted her teeth.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Looking down on your big sis!?"

"It's fine. I swear in the name of the Azure Hunt Goddess."

"I'll keep you safe. We'll both be fine! We'll be fine..."

She did not know whether she was saying it for Chu Zisheng or for herself. She merely muttered it instinctively.

"Awooo—!!!"

The wolf howls behind them grew closer and closer.

Long Ling frowned tightly. Deep down, she knew that today would likely end badly.

But if even she panicked, how frightened would this child be?

Long Ling, Long Ling, think! Quickly, quickly, quickly—think of something!

Chu Zisheng said nothing.

He merely raised his head and looked at this panting, sweat-soaked older sister, who was clearly terrified herself.

Azure Hunt Goddess?

That name... he seemed to have seen it in some roadside novel stall.

She had been a deity from ancient times.

Back then, the world had not yet become what it was now.

The human soul master cultivation system had still been incomplete, and powerful soul masters were few and far between. This world had still belonged to the Soul Beasts.

They roamed the land, ravaged the skies, destroyed cities, and treated humans as prey, drinking their blood and eating their flesh.

The survivors could only hide in caves, in trees, and in deep valleys. They hid by day and emerged by night, barely clinging to life, living every day in constant fear.

Those had been the darkest years of humanity.

Just as everyone had fallen into despair... the Azure Hunt Goddess appeared.

No one knew her name or where she had come from.

They only knew that she picked up a golden bow and entered the wilderness. She gathered her scattered, fleeing people, taught them how to hunt Soul Beasts, and led them little by little to carve out a homeland where they could live in peace.

Her kindness, resilience, and strength were remembered in the hearts of countless survivors.

When she reached the limit of mortal cultivation, she condensed a Divine Core with her mortal body and ascended to the Divine Realm.

Later generations honored her as the Azure Hunt Goddess, ruler of hunting, wilderness, forests, beasts, and archery, protector of all living beings.

The village where Long Ling lived had worshipped this goddess for generations.

From her grandparents to her parents, and from her parents to her, she had grown up listening to stories of the Azure Hunt Goddess...

Though no one had ever received a response from the Azure Hunt Goddess, nor had anyone heard of somebody inheriting her Divine Core, as though it were merely an ancient myth.

But...

She believed.

Thud, thud, thud...

She rolled, crawled, and leaped her way through the forest as she fled.

She did not know how long they had been running.

Then.

Long Ling suddenly stopped short.

Ahead lay a dense stretch of forest, with towering trees and thick foliage. It was a good place to hide someone.

Her eyes shifted, and she made up her mind. Without looking back, she reached one hand behind her and grasped at empty air.

A golden longbow Martial Soul appeared in her hand. Soul power flooded frantically into the bow, and countless tiny golden phantom lines instantly appeared around her, each one an arrow.

[Third Soul Skill: Azure Hunt Bewildering Plumes]

It bore the name Azure Hunt.

In an instant!

Golden light burst forth, and a rain of arrows poured toward the dozen or so Two-Headed Demon Wolves like a tidal wave.

Boom! Boom! Boom—!!

The arrows exploded into golden light filling the sky, then transformed into a golden mist.

Within the mist, the wolves stopped one after another, wildly shaking their heads. Those golden arrows were not particularly powerful, but they could cause a brief daze and disorientation.

But this skill consumed an enormous amount of soul power. Almost the instant she released it, Long Ling's face turned deathly pale, and her aura weakened.

Seizing the opportunity.

She quickly set Chu Zisheng down and tucked him into a hollow in a large tree. Holding his face in both hands, she looked at him earnestly.

"Huff, huff, huff... little one, listen to big sis."

"You... you hide here. Don't make a sound, and don't run around."

"Big sis will lure those wolves away and come back for you soon."

"If I still haven't come back after a long time, then you... you leave by yourself. Follow this little path and keep running forward..."

Chu Zisheng looked at Long Ling.

Her face was drenched in sweat, her hair disheveled, and her chest rose and fell violently as she struggled to catch her breath.

Yet her eyes remained bright, filled with gentleness and affection...

"You..."

"Be good."

Long Ling reached out and rubbed his head, then took a small object, still warm from her body, from her chest.

"Take this."

Chu Zisheng lowered his head and saw that it was a mottled arrowhead.

Its patterns were ancient and simple, unlike the craftsmanship of this era. After enduring endless years, it had long lost its cold gleam, but Long Ling had kept it close to her body and preserved it well.

"May... may the Azure Hunt Goddess keep you safe..."

Huff...

Then Long Ling stood up. At the moment she turned around, Chu Zisheng could see her back trembling slightly.

He could tell that she was terrified too.

Yet she still drew the Azure Hunt Golden Bow from her back.

"Azure Hunt Goddess above..."

She murmured softly.

Then, without looking back, she charged straight toward the wolf pack.