Beyond the town, the vast primeval forest stretched endlessly beneath the blazing sun, like an ocean of dark green.
The instant they stepped into the outer fringe of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Divine Pupils deep within Su Chen's sea of consciousness quietly stirred. His Purple-Gold Double Pupils pierced the layers of ancient trees and mist, faintly detecting a vicious, chilling presence prowling swiftly several miles to the northwest.
"Young master, the soul power fluctuations ahead... they're moving northwest..." Zhu Zhuqing lowered her body close beside Su Chen. Her Nether Civet Martial Soul, refined by the Pure Yang Dragon Marrow, keenly picked up the wisp of cold, savage malice carried on the wind.
Su Chen stopped and lightly brushed a hand over a split in the bark of a nearby tree.
He pinched a strand of nearly transparent black slime between his fingertips and brought it to his nose. "A sixteen-hundred-year-old mutated Ghost Tiger. Not only does it possess a pure extreme yin attribute, but it also developed the potential for Netherworld Shadow Kill after eating a well-aged shadow fruit. Zhu Zhuqing, taking this soul beast as your third soul ring would raise your Hell Spirit Cat's speed and penetrating power to an entirely new level."
Hearing the number "sixteen hundred years," Ning Rongrong stuck out the tip of her tongue.
The usual limit for a Battle Soul Elder's third soul ring was only seventeen hundred and sixty years. But that was mostly a theoretical figure under ideal conditions. To play it safe, the vast majority of Soul Grandmasters stopped at just over a thousand years.
After witnessing Su Chen's many miracles firsthand over the past two days, Ning Rongrong no longer held even a shred of reverence for Grandmaster's theories.
"I'll cut off its retreat!" Xiao Wu stood lightly atop a supple vine. Her long, shapely legs tensed slightly, and her lively Scorpion Braid swayed in the wind as she readied herself for battle.
"No, there's no need to seal off its retreat." Su Chen looked toward the rocky expanse shrouded in dense mist ahead.
"Rongrong, use the pagoda's radiant light to lock onto the shadows beneath those broken trees. Xiao Wu, seal off the canopy above. Zhu Zhuqing, attack from the rear flank with dragon qi. I'll suppress its extreme yin backlash for you."
"Yes!!"
The three girls moved in perfect coordination, without another wasted word.
Ning Rongrong gently curled her pale, jade-like fingers, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda emerged from her palm with a soft glow. Brilliant jeweled light quietly flowed among the trees, and two gentle beams sank into Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu.
Zhu Zhuqing became a streak of black light, tapped her toes against a tree trunk, and glided down without a sound!
Roar!
It was a ferocious beast over three and a half meters long. The black-and-white tiger stripes covering its body gleamed like metal in the gloom, while the black king character in the center of its forehead faintly shimmered with bloody light.
The moment the pagoda's radiance illuminated it, the Ghost Tiger let out a piercing shriek. Its enormous body abruptly split into three dark afterimages as solid as flesh, each lunging back at the approaching Zhu Zhuqing!!
"The third clone is a feint! Its real body is in the swamp to the lower left!!"
The dark-gold blades on Zhu Zhuqing's ten fingers suddenly lengthened by three inches. Her entire body became a spinning dart that tore through the air, threading between two illusory afterimages!!
"Netherworld Hundred Claws!"
Fierce dark-gold claw shadows filled the sky, pouring down like a violent storm. Amid shrill metallic clashes, they struck the Ghost Tiger's true body with unerring precision!
Boom!! The Ghost Tiger gave a low, agonized cry. Its massive body slammed into the muddy gravel, sending muck splashing everywhere.
"Finish it." Su Chen drifted gracefully down from the canopy.
Zhu Zhuqing tightened her grip on her short blade and was about to step forward to finish off this exceptional soul beast when a sharp shout rang out!!
"Wait!! Spare the beast beneath your blade!!"
Two figures shot through the air like a meteor chasing the moon, one old and one young. The elderly woman in the lead had silver hair neatly combed behind her head, a lean face, and high cheekbones. Her gaze carried the shrewd, appraising look unique to a seasoned veteran.
She held a black wooden staff three meters long, carved all over with fearsome serpent heads. Six dazzling soul rings-two yellow, three purple, and one black-slowly revolved beneath her feet.
The formidable pressure of soul power above rank sixty faintly enveloped the scene.
Beside the elderly woman stood a beautiful girl of sixteen or seventeen.
The girl was tall and well proportioned. Her dark teal combat outfit hugged the budding curves of her figure, making them strikingly conspicuous. Her ear-length hair gave her a capable, spirited look, and she too held a short Serpent Cane. Two hundred-year yellow soul rings flickered around her, while her face was full of haughty arrogance.
They were none other than Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang and her granddaughter Meng Yiran, from the Peerless Dragon Snake family renowned throughout the Soul Master World!!
Chao Tianxiang struck the ground heavily with her Serpent Cane. Her sharp, triangular eyes first swept greedily over the thousand-year Ghost Tiger lying near death, then settled on the four far-too-young boys and girls before her.
When she clearly saw Su Chen in his white robes, his bearing as deep as a still pool and as imposing as a mountain, her heart gave a slight jolt. Yet, relying on her own Soul Emperor cultivation and her family's prestige, she kept her expression composed and arrogant.
"You youngsters have some impressive skills. Still, there is an order to everything-first come, first served. This sixteen-hundred-year-old Ghost Tiger is prey my granddaughter and I have been tracking and hemming in since dawn. The blunt wounds on its body were left by my Serpent Cane. Had I not worn it down to exhaustion along the way, how could a few children at the Soul Grandmaster level have reaped the rewards so easily?"
Chao Tianxiang spoke evenly, but every word carried a seasoned veteran's calculated pressure. "I am Chao Tianxiang. My friends in the Soul Master World have kindly bestowed upon me the title of Snake Granny, and my husband is Dragon Duke Meng Shu. My granddaughter Yiran has just reached the rank-thirty bottleneck today and urgently needs this exceptional agility-attack beast to advance. Would this young gentleman do me and the Peerless Dragon Snake family the courtesy of yielding this soul beast? I will naturally offer precious medicinal herbs of equal value in return. You will not suffer any loss."
Her words seemed polite and courteous, but in truth, she pressed them at every turn.
She invoked the fearsome reputation of the united Peerless Dragon Snake duo while using the connections and standing of a Soul Emperor and a Soul Douluo to apply pressure, hoping to seize their prey without shedding a drop of blood.
Meng Yiran lifted her chin even higher. Her gaze fell on Su Chen's handsome, cold face, and she snorted. "Hey, my grandmother is a Six-Ring Soul Emperor!! And my grandfather is nearby hunting a ten-thousand-year soul beast. He could come over at any moment. If you know what's good for you, take the herbs and leave. I'm claiming this Ghost Tiger!"
Ning Rongrong's slender brows shot up. The radiance of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in her hand dimmed slightly as she sneered. "First come, first served? This forest has no owner, and a soul beast belongs to whoever brings it down!! Senior Snake Granny, you've been famous in the Soul Master World for decades. Do you really not understand even this most basic rule? Must you throw your age around and rob your juniors of their opportunity?"
Xiao Wu stepped forward as well, planting both hands on her hips. "Exactly! If you were really so capable, how did you let it run all the way to us? You clearly couldn't catch it yourselves, and now you've come to snatch up the spoils!"
Rebuked by the two girls, Chao Tianxiang's expression darkened slightly. Black light flickered along her Serpent Cane as she prepared to cow them with the pressure of a Soul Emperor.
Su Chen, who had been standing with his hands behind his back, swept his gaze over Meng Yiran's short Serpent Cane.
"The Peerless Dragon Snake's prestige is worth nothing to me. Snake Granny, you pride yourself on your experience, yet you nearly destroyed your granddaughter's future as a Soul Master with your own hands."
Chao Tianxiang's expression changed abruptly, and she shouted, "You ignorant brat! How dare you spout such nonsense!!"
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