Netherworld Slash

Deep in Sunset Forest, the light was much dimmer than outside.

Ancient Tree turned the sky into a dense green canopy. Damp moss covered their roots, and now and then a Soul Beast darted past in the distance, leaving only a low growl behind.

Zhu Zhuqing walked in front.

Her steps were so light she barely snapped a single dead twig. Since breaking through Level 30, she could feel how much sharper her senses had become. When the wind brushed past her ears, she could even make out the angle at which each leaf turned.

But she knew it still wasn't enough.

Dai Mubai watched her from behind. Several times he wanted to speak, but each time he held back. Bai Jin had said that helping someone didn't mean taking away her battlefield. Zhu Zhuqing didn't need to hear "I'll do it." She needed someone to guard that last inch of ground for her before she truly fell.

Tang San suddenly crouched and parted a clump of grass.

"There are claw marks here," he said quietly. "Fast, not very large, with long, slender claws. It should be a Shadow Leopard, at least twenty-seven hundred years old."

Ma Hongjun clicked his tongue. "A twenty-seven-hundred-year Soul Ring for her third ring? Isn't that a bit much?"

"That's why she has to choose for herself." Bai Jin leaned against a tree, his voice lazy. "It doesn't matter if someone else thinks it's too dangerous for her."

Zhu Zhuqing looked ahead. "That's the one."

No grand declaration. No hesitation.

As soon as she spoke, her figure vanished into the shadows of the trees.

The next instant, a sharp whistle cut through the forest. A black beast sprang from behind a trunk, as fast as an arrow loosed from the string. Zhu Zhuqing dodged sideways,