A Strange Twist of Fate: The Tang Bei Huo Trio
While Jiang Yu and his two companions battled the Demon Lizard Dragon, another three-person team was fighting a thousand-year Soul Beast in a forest over ten miles away.
As fate would have it, that team also consisted of two boys and one girl.
The only girl wore a pale-blue fighting outfit. She had a delicate oval face, narrow eyes, and lovely features. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, and she looked no older than fourteen or fifteen.
Beside her stood a slightly younger boy in plain clothes, thin and frail.
Strangely, only one white Spirit Ring glowed faintly beneath him. As it flickered, his body showed no change at all. Only his dark-blue eyes held a trace of pale gold, giving off gentle Soul Power fluctuations.
A dozen meters ahead of them, lightning and pink mist had exploded into a vast ring. A boy who looked about the same age as the girl had three Spirit Rings in the optimal configuration shining beneath him. Deep-blue dragon scales covered his entire right arm and the right side of his chest. His fearsome form looked almost like a true dragon's, with arcs of lightning flashing across him and terrifying waves of Soul Power surging outward.
The Soul Beast fighting him was a peach-pink serpent three meters long, with a flower-shaped protrusion on its forehead.
A Mandala Snake with a thousand years of cultivation.
With the girl cheering him on and the plainly dressed boy aiding him through an invisible Soul Skill, the boy in the lead soon gained the upper hand, driving the Mandala Snake back again and again.
A great expert had once said that any creature would feel pain and fear when attacked, and fear would leave it open.
The Mandala Snake had undoubtedly fallen into that predicament.
The moment the boy spotted an opening, the purple third ring beneath him burst into dazzling light. His aura surged, and an enormous blue-violet dragon claw formed around his transformed right hand. Lightning flashed. By the time the boy and girl watching could react, he had the Mandala Snake's head clamped firmly in his grasp.
"Xiao Ya, now," Bei Bei called sharply.
The beautiful girl's eyes lit up. In a flash, Xiao Ya reached the serpent and drove a throwing knife half a foot long into its mouth, ending its life.
Without even pausing to thank Bei Bei, Tang Ya gave a delighted laugh and sat down to absorb the Spirit Ring. Bei Bei released his Martial Soul Possession and breathed a little easier.
Once Tang Ya's condition stabilized, Bei Bei looked toward the gray-clad boy, whose eyes held both curiosity and envy, and smiled.
"Yuhao, how was that?"
Huo Yuhao scratched his head, still shaken. "Eldest Senior Brother, that snake was incredible. What kind of Soul Beast was it?"
Bei Bei smiled warmly and patiently explained the Mandala Snake. Then, seeing Huo Yuhao's eager curiosity, he told him about Tang Ya's Martial Soul and background.
Huo Yuhao listened with shining eyes. But just as Bei Bei moved on to discuss his own Soul Skills, Huo Yuhao's expression suddenly changed, despite his earlier embarrassment.
Before he could speak, Bei Bei grabbed him and leaped backward.
An instant later, a dark-purple figure shot over the spot where they had been standing.
Thanks to his exceptional eyesight, Huo Yuhao barely made out the figure's appearance as it passed.
But before either of them could recover, a streak of golden light appeared from the direction the figure had come.
It bounded between the ancient trees, pushing off them in rapid succession. It was a fraction slower than the dark-purple figure, but the difference was tiny.
Only when it drew close did Bei Bei and Huo Yuhao see that the golden streak was a person: a handsome boy who looked about their age.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yu caught sight of Bei Bei's group from the corner of his eye and felt a flicker of surprise.
The Demon Lizard Dragon loved to fight, but it was no fool. Once the group's attacks and the Light Purification Power carried by the Light Dragon Dagger put it at a disadvantage, it had spread the six gill-like wings on its back and fled into the air.
Jiang Yu had pursued it all this way, only to encounter three people he had never met yet somehow found remarkably familiar.
What a strange twist of fate.
He pushed the thought aside. Golden light flared from the Light Dragon Dagger in his hand, and a blade of light nearly a meter long shot out, shearing off half the Demon Lizard Dragon's wings.
The Demon Lizard Dragon lost its balance and plunged toward the ground. A ruthless glint crossed Jiang Yu's eyes as his first, hundred-year Spirit Ring and third, thousand-year Spirit Ring lit up.
Gold flashed, and Jiang Yu landed smoothly. Behind him, the Demon Lizard Dragon's gaze froze. A line of blood appeared down the center of its body, then split into a massive wound that nearly cut it in two.
Grievously wounded and still being eaten away by the Light Purification Power, even the mighty Demon Lizard Dragon lay dying, barely drawing breath.
By combining his first Soul Skill, Light Dragon Blade, with his third, Light Dragon Thrust, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support, Jiang Yu had unleashed an attack with power almost unimaginable in the Soul Elder Realm.
Not long after he struck down the Demon Lizard Dragon, Ning Tian and Wu Feng finally caught up.
Ning Tian murmured a few words to Jiang Yu, her gaze drifting almost imperceptibly behind them. After he replied, she relaxed a little, finished off the Demon Lizard Dragon, and began absorbing its Spirit Ring.
Wu Feng edged closer to Jiang Yu. She glanced at Bei Bei and Huo Yuhao nearby, then lowered her voice. "Jiang Yu, those three are here for Spirit Rings too. Do you think they'll cause us trouble?"
The Star Dou Great Forest was a place beyond anyone's control. Besides the Soul Beasts lurking everywhere, Soul Masters who had come Soul Hunting posed a serious threat of their own.
After all, human hearts could sometimes be far more frightening than Soul Beasts.
"I'd be impressed if you managed not to cause them trouble," Jiang Yu said, rolling his eyes. "Never mind the other way around."
He sat down on the ground.
"Keep watch. I need to recover my Soul Power. And if they come over to talk, don't be so aggressive. Those three definitely have powerful backing."
Wu Feng gave a soft snort but nodded without hesitation.
Of the three of them, Jiang Yu was their main fighter and had spent the most Soul Power in the battle. Wu Feng had mostly guarded Ning Tian while providing support. She had even more Soul Power left than Ning Tian did.
Meanwhile, after witnessing Jiang Yu's stunning slash, Huo Yuhao asked quietly, "Eldest Senior Brother, what was that person's Martial Soul? He moved too fast for me to see. And his Second Soul Ring looked purple."
Bei Bei glanced at Jiang Yu, who was already seated in the distance, and Wu Feng, who was resting against a tree nearby. Then he said slowly, "I'm not sure what his Martial Soul is either. But he's incredibly strong, and he's young. He's probably a top genius raised by some major power."
As he spoke, wariness and surprise flickered in Bei Bei's eyes.
Three things about Jiang Yu had left him wary and surprised.
The first was his thousand-year Second Soul Ring.
A thousand-year Second Soul Ring was not unheard of in this era, but obtaining one still required an exceptional Soul Master and the support of a powerful force.
Bei Bei himself, for example, had been capable of absorbing a thousand-year Second Soul Ring. But he had encountered a nine-hundred-year Thunder-Attributed Sub-Dragon Soul Beast that suited him extraordinarily well, so he had chosen it over another Soul Beast with a higher cultivation age.
The second was Jiang Yu's age. He looked even younger than Bei Bei.
The third was that Jiang Yu, despite being only a Soul Elder, had chased down a thousand-year Demon Lizard Dragon and defeated it with ease.
Jiang Yu's strength was plain from the fearless way he had pursued and killed the Demon Lizard Dragon. But looked at more deeply, his willingness to do so showed that he had ample reason to feel secure.
What truly worried Bei Bei was that Jiang Yu's group, or the experts who might be accompanying them, could turn against his own group. He knew better than to let down his guard around strangers, and he had long since grown used to considering the worst possible outcome...