Rescuing Two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts

Boom—

A thunderous crash shook the ancient trees deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, sending fallen leaves cascading like a waterfall.

"Hmm?"

Sword Douluo Chen Xin raised an eyebrow. Hanguang, the sword in his hand, trembled faintly as he looked toward the source of the noise, his voice grave.

"That Soul Power fluctuation was no ordinary clash between Soul Masters."

"Grandpa Bone, Grandpa Sword, it sounds like someone's fighting!"

Xiao Shenghe's voice had a boy's clear ring to it, but he could not hide his urgency.

"Oh?"

Gu Rong rested a gaunt hand on Xiao Shenghe's shoulder and spread his Soul Power into a concealed barrier.

"The depths of Star Dou are Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast territory. Who would dare run wild here?"

The three crept toward the commotion and hid behind a massive branch of an ancient tree. The sight before them made Xiao Shenghe's pupils contract.

In the clearing, a woman was being hunted by Spirit Hall. Her once-lively eyes were bloodshot, her snow-white fur was stained with blood, and Soul Power leaked steadily from her many wounds.

She was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Clouded Deer that had taken human form.

Now she was at the end of her strength. Her Soul Power was spent, and every breath brought searing pain.

Across from her stood dozens of Soul Masters in close-fitting black clothes. The hideous skull emblems on their chests stood out sharply in the dappled forest light. They were Spirit Hall's people!

Their leader wore a blue robe and had a sinister face. She was Tian Hanyao, the pope of Spirit Hall. Dense, dark, ice-aspected Soul Power swirled around her, while the shadow of her Black Frost Phoenix Martial Soul flickered behind her. She was plainly ready to strike.

Dream Douluo Shanyue and Fear Douluo Wangchuan stood on either side of her. Locked down by the auras of two Titled Douluo, the Clouded Deer scarcely had a chance to breathe.

"Argh! You damned humans will stop at nothing for a Soul Ring. You even sent this many people!"

She let out a shrill roar, her hoarse voice burning with defiant rage. Mustering the last trace of her Soul Power, she raised a foreleg, only for it to fall limp halfway up. Her lamp had burned to its last drop of oil.

Tian Hanyao's lips curled into a cold smile, her eyes full of greed and indifference.

"How laughable. Stop struggling for nothing. Hundred-Thousand-Year Clouded Deer, become my ninth Soul Ring!"

As soon as she spoke, the Ice Phoenix Wing Bones behind Tian Hanyao swelled. Barbs covered their blue-white feathers as they stabbed viciously toward the Clouded Deer!

"Mom!"

A tiny figure burst from behind a distant thicket. It was the young Xiao Yao.

She wore a little green dress and clutched a comb tightly in her hand.

Her mother had made it for her from her father's antler. Now tears filled her eyes and her little face flushed red. She ran desperately toward the empty space ahead, crying as though her heart were being torn apart.

"Don't hurt my mom!"

The Clouded Deer's pupils contracted at the sight of Xiao Yao. Boundless fear and reluctance surged into her eyes.

"Xiao Yao! Run! Don't come here!"

But young Xiao Yao could not heed her. She knew only that bad people were going to hurt her mother, and she wanted to rush to her side and protect her.

Dream Douluo Shanyue's eyes turned cold. He gave the golden bell in his hand a gentle shake, and a beam of golden Soul Power shot toward Xiao Yao.

"Little wretch, you don't know when to stay out of trouble. Take her too. She'll make a fine pet for His Holiness the Pope!"

"Stop!"

Xiao Shenghe could hold back no longer. Soul Power erupted from within him.

"First Soul Skill: Six Mystical Yellow Seals Transformation, First Form—Flame Transformation!"

At Xiao Shenghe's shout, a seal wreathed in golden fire appeared in his palm. The flames rose and scattered into a skyful of scorching sparks, which abruptly gathered the instant they touched the ground.

"First Soul Skill Extension: Magma Stone Wall!"

Rumble!

With a thunderous crash, a stone wall forged from the Three Thousand Burning Flame shot up from the ground. It glowed red-hot and radiated blistering heat.

It not only stood before the Soft Bone Rabbit and took the full force of Bibi Dong's Eight Spider Lances, but also reflected the Soul Power Dream Douluo Shanyue had fired at Xiao Wu, jolting him back several steps.

The Three Thousand Burning Flame was one of the Heavenly Flames, and the Magma Stone Wall forged from it was incomparably hard.

It could also burn Soul Power. The phoenix feathers hissed where they struck it. Tian Hanyao frowned and withdrew her Soul Skill.

"Who's there? Who is it?"

Dream Douluo Shanyue's sinister voice rang out. Soul Power surged around him, but he could not locate the attacker.

"You dare interfere with Spirit Hall's hunt? Tired of living?"

Fear Douluo Wangchuan's face turned ashen. His gaze swept the surroundings as he barked,

"Show yourself, skulking coward, and die!"

Xiao Shenghe stepped out from behind the ancient tree. Though still young, he carried himself with an upright, fearless air.

Then two even more formidable auras erupted. Gu Rong and Sword Douluo walked out slowly. Their Soul Power remained contained, yet the air throughout the forest seemed to congeal.

"It was me!"

Sword Douluo Chen Xin rested a hand on his sword hilt. His voice was calm, but those three words carried crushing weight. Every Spirit Hall Soul Master turned deathly pale.

Shanyue's pupils contracted. He stared at the figure holding the sword, his voice trembling.

"S-Sword Douluo Chen Xin!"

"And Bone Douluo Gu Rong!"

Wangchuan's sinister grin froze. His gaunt body instinctively retreated half a step, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Tian Hanyao's sinister expression changed at once. Even the dark Soul Power around her fell briefly into disarray.

She stared at the two men, her throat working. Her earlier arrogance and indifference vanished, replaced by dread and panic she could not conceal.

She had never imagined she would encounter these two terrors here.

Sword Douluo Chen Xin was a level 97 assault-type Titled Douluo whose swordsmanship bordered on the divine.

He was hailed as the strongest attacker in the Soul Master World. Bone Douluo Gu Rong was a level 98 agility-type Titled Douluo with the Bone Dragon Martial Soul; his defense and speed had both reached their peak. Either one could contend with her. With both here, she had no chance of winning!

"What wind blew you two esteemed elders here?"

Tian Hanyao forced down her fear and squeezed out a stiff smile. Her tone softened despite herself, with none of her former overbearing arrogance left.

"This was merely a routine Soul Beast hunt for Spirit Hall. There was no need to trouble two Titled Douluo to come in person."

"When you see injustice, you draw your blade and help!"

Xiao Shenghe stepped forward and looked Tian Hanyao straight in the eye. His voice still held a boy's youthful edge, but it was unshakably firm.

"Spirit Hall uses its strength to bully the weak, slaughters a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and terrorizes a child. How could we stand by and watch such vile acts?"

Sword Douluo Chen Xin drew Hanguang half an inch. Piercing sword energy crisscrossed the air, leaving the Spirit Hall Soul Masters struggling to breathe.

"Tian Hanyao, the Star Dou Forest is not a place where Spirit Hall may do as it pleases. What happened today ends here."

Gu Rong gave a dry laugh. His bones crackled, and the fluctuations of his Soul Power made the ground tremble faintly.

"Your Holiness, if word gets out that three Titled Douluo joined forces against a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast whose Soul Power was exhausted, you'll become the laughingstock of the Soul Master World."