Lion Mastiff

Roars and the sounds of fighting came from the woods ahead.

The commotion did not sound like a battle between a Soul Master and a Soul Beast. It sounded more like two Soul Beasts fighting over territory.

The fight was in full swing, and neither Soul Beast noticed Wang Yan and Lu Yi approaching.

Only when they drew closer did Lu Yi get a clear look at them.

Two Soul Beasts with similar appearances but noticeably different builds were tearing at each other.

They were clearly the same species, both with reddish-brown fur, similar faces, and muscles knotted across their bodies. Yet they showed each other no mercy.

One had a long mane around its neck. Though it was smaller than the other, it was no weaker in a fight.

The other's fur was much shorter. Combined with their lionlike appearance, that let Lu Yi tell their sexes at once.

"Teacher Wang, are they fighting over territory?" Lu Yi asked Wang Yan beside him, keeping his voice low.

Wang Yan watched without blinking. After a long moment, he shook his head. "They're courting!"

"Courting?"

Lu Yi looked back at the battlefield. With the two of them fighting as if only one could live, what sort of courtship was this?

Wang Yan did not explain right away. Instead, he beckoned the others over.

"These are Lion Mastiffs, a powerful Soul Beast species descended from lions and mastiff Soul Beasts. Do you know why they're found so far out in the Star Dou Great Forest?"

When no one could answer, Wang Yan did not seem surprised.

"These Soul Beasts are immensely strong, but they have a close relative even more terrifying: the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff. Legend says it was so powerful that even the Ferocious Beasts of the Core Zone ordered its extermination. The Lion Mastiffs were caught in the calamity because their bloodlines were so close.

"Lion Mastiffs are also born hot-tempered. A male has to earn a female's approval by fighting her before she'll agree to mate. Their numbers have dwindled as a result, leaving only scattered groups in the Outer Region, ranging from hundred-year to thousand-year beasts.

"Once they've finished fighting, we'll move in. Lu Yi, see the one with the mane? It's around a thousand years old—just right for your Soul Ring."

To Wang Yan, finding two courting Lion Mastiffs today was a stroke of luck.

Lu Yi had said more than once that he wanted to make up for his physical shortcomings.

Absorbing a Soul Beast with such a powerful body would undoubtedly improve his physique considerably.

More than that, the Lion Mastiff's most important trait was its ability to gain a sustained boost to strength and Soul Power for a short time.

Though the ability came at the cost of a brief period of weakness afterward, it worked on the same principle as Martial Soul Avatar. It could be called a weaker version of that technique.

In a fight to the death, such a Soul Skill would be a powerful trump card.

Lu Yi had a chance to obtain its Soul Ring while he was only at his second ring. What better news could there be?

In truth, Wang Yan would have preferred to wait until the two Soul Beasts had finished mating before intervening.

Then Lu Yi could absorb the male Lion Mastiff, while they brought the female back to the Academy during her weakened period.

If they managed to bring back a pregnant Lion Mastiff, Elder Gong, the Academy's Beast King, would probably grin from ear to ear.

As Wang Yan was making his plans, the two Lion Mastiffs stopped fighting. It seemed they were finally getting down to the real business.

But Wang Yan soon sensed something was wrong. Both Soul Beasts stood frozen in place, motionless.

"What was going on?"

Even the learned Wang Yan was baffled.

The next moment, a middle-aged man appeared abruptly beside the Lion Mastiffs. Eight Soul Rings circled him—two yellow, two purple, and four black. He was a Soul Douluo.

He knocked both Soul Beasts unconscious with a strike, then beckoned toward the woods behind him.

But the man seemed to notice them. He quickly raised a hand to signal whoever was behind him to stop, then shouted in their direction, "Who's there? Come out!"

Wang Yan told Lu Yi and the others to stay where they were, then stepped into view alone.

"Senior, I'm a teacher at Shrek Academy. I've brought my students out Soul Hunting. We came across these two Soul Beasts and had no intention of spying on you."

Wang Yan made no attempt to hide who he was. He gave Shrek's name outright.

As a teacher at the continent's most renowned academy, Wang Yan remained neither servile nor arrogant before a Soul Douluo far stronger than himself, though he was only a Soul King.

At his words, the middle-aged man's knitted brows eased a little.

He had not expected to run into a Shrek teacher, but he would not take Wang Yan at his word.

"If they're Shrek students, have those youngsters come out!"

Lu Yi knew hiding was pointless. He exchanged glances with the other freshmen and stepped out.

When the middle-aged man saw their white Shrek freshman uniforms, his suspicions finally eased, though he still had no intention of being friendly.

Soul Hunting followed a first-come, first-served rule. Since he had subdued the two Lion Mastiffs first, he did not intend to give them up.

But as he was thinking this, a startled cry came from behind him.

"Lu Yi?"

"Hm?"

The voice sounded familiar. Lu Yi looked past the middle-aged Soul Master.

A young woman emerged from the thicket. She had short golden hair, faint freckles, and practical clothes that gave her a brisk, capable look.

"Ning... Class President! What a coincidence!" Lu Yi had not expected to meet Ning Tian here.

He knew from Mu Jin that Ning Tian had taken leave to go Soul Hunting. Still, the Star Dou Great Forest was vast. What were the odds of running into her?

Ning Tian went to the middle-aged man's side first and reassured him softly. "Uncle Li, one of them is my classmate. There's no need to worry!"

At that, the coldness left Uncle Li's face, and he stepped aside.

Seeing that they had encountered a student from their own academy, Wang Yan recognized from her name that she was a core disciple of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. He stepped forward with a smile to speak to her.

"Student Ning, you subdued these two Lion Mastiffs, so they're yours to decide what to do with."

Wang Yan conceded her right to decide their fate first, but he did not forget to appeal to their shared ties.

"Which one are you after? We're all part of Shrek. If you want the two-thousand-year-old female Lion Mastiff, could you let us have the other one?"

Wang Yan did not want the day to end in vain. He wanted to secure that Soul Ring for Lu Yi.

The middle-aged man scoffed.

Lion Mastiffs were rare Soul Beasts. Now that they had found them, they could not let either one go. They would bring the other back to the sect as well.

It was around a thousand years old—clearly too old for a second ring and a little young for a third—but it would still serve as a third ring for a less gifted disciple.

If a senior figure from Shrek had approached them, he would not have minded doing that person a favor.

But Wang Yan was merely an Outer Court teacher. If the Young Sect Master showed the slightest reluctance, Uncle Li would refuse on her behalf.

While Wang Yan spoke, Ning Tian's eyes never left Lu Yi.

Of everyone present, Ning Tian was the most astonished.

She had even sent someone to investigate Lu Yi before and found nothing special about him. She also remembered his level when he enrolled clearly.

Level seventeen.

He had been an utterly ordinary freshman who had merely gotten lucky and beaten a Soul Grandmaster in a fight.

How had Lu Yi advanced three levels in just two months?

Had her earlier judgment been wrong, or had Wu Feng not told her the truth?