A man who took responsibility, the spirit's location

Ji Feng gazed at the cellar entrance, his anticipation growing stronger and stronger.

Surviving decapitation—now that was a god-tier lifesaving skill.

Back in the day, the Great Immortal Tiger Power had used that very trick to land himself a position as state preceptor in the Kingdom of Cart Slow.

Still, once he went inside, he would have to guard against the sisters kicking him while he was down. If they sealed the cellar entrance, he would be in serious trouble.

After a moment's thought, he left some of his blood beside the cellar.

If he got trapped inside, he could still open a Blood Gate and escape.

As long as the cellar was less than ten meters deep, Ji Feng would be able to sense the Blood Gate.

Just as Ji Feng was about to enter the cellar, a cool, clear voice rang out.

"Benefactor, let me go."

The voice belonged to the ice fox, Liu Chunmiao.

Ji Feng did not stand on ceremony. Letting her scout ahead was a good idea; it would save him from going inside only to crash and burn.

Liu Chunmiao opened the cellar and went down.

Before long, her voice came from below.

"Benefactor, there's no danger down here. What does your White Tiger Dagger look like?"

"Don't worry about the White Tiger Dagger. Just find your own things. If everything's fine, you can come back up."

Liu Chunmiao climbed out of the cellar with two belts slung over her shoulder.

"Benefactor, these are our Storage Soul Tools. What does your White Tiger Dagger look like?"

Ji Feng curled his lip and looked Liu Chunmiao up and down.

She was around fourteen. Her figure was not as voluptuous as her younger sister's, but she carried herself tall and straight. Paired with her icy face, it gave her a distinctive charm.

"Why go this far to help me? What's the point?" Ji Feng asked.

Liu Chunmiao lowered her head without answering, while Liu Jieqi spoke first.

"Benefactor, we owe you our lives. Of course we have to repay you."

"Just pledge yourselves to me. No need to make it so complicated. Tell me, what do you really want?"

"Oh, benefactor, you really are sharp. My sister and I want to return to Shrek Academy. If you could..."

After watching Ji Feng kill three Evil Soul Masters in succession, the sisters had long since acknowledged his ability.

Although Ji Feng had only one ring, his Martial Soul was truly terrifying. Soul Beasts of ordinary bloodlines would take a detour whenever they saw him in Martial Soul Possession.

That was even fiercer than a conqueror's aura. It could be called a dragon conqueror's aura.

"I'm not escorting you!" Ji Feng refused flatly. "Shrek Academy is only a three-day journey from here. I can draw you a map."

With that, Ji Feng drew a simple map on the ground.

Liu Jieqi looked at the map, then at Ji Feng.

She walked over, hugged his arm, and kept shaking it.

"Benefactor~ Those villains kept us kidnapped for so long, we were practically scared out of our wits. Please take us back to Shrek. The academy will definitely reward you."

A reward? The full northern Myanmar scam-compound package, right?

"Not even for money. I'm staying here to deal with the spirit the Evil Soul Masters left behind, so it doesn't keep harming other people."

Liu Jieqi looked surprised. "Benefactor, you're going to fight the spirit?"

"What else? Leave it here to harm the next person?

"Your Shrek Academy calls itself the greatest academy in the world, yet you can't even take this much responsibility?"

What a responsible man!

Liu Chunmiao's eyes instantly lit up at his words!

They had been kidnapped and brought here because of Xuan Zi's negligence.

As a level 98 Super Douluo, that old man did nothing but eat and drink when he led a group out. He could not even keep an eye on his charges.

The sisters had been held here for days, yet Xuan Zi had never appeared to rescue them.

Though neither said anything, both sisters harbored resentment.

Ji Feng was only a Soul Scholar of around ten, yet he was willing to disregard his own safety and throw himself into eliminating the Evil Soul Masters' spirit!

At that moment, Ji Feng stood taller in Liu Chunmiao's eyes than Xuan Zi did.

"Benefactor, take care."

Liu Chunmiao pulled away Liu Jieqi, who was still rubbing against Ji Feng, and the two quickly left the inner courtyard and headed for the main gate.

Fighting a spirit at its ritual site was no different from courting death.

Liu Chunmiao admired Ji Feng, but she would not join him in seeking death.

She still had her younger sister to look after.

The sisters left the inner courtyard. Even when they reached the entrance to the residence, Liu Jieqi kept peering back inside.

"Still looking? Hurry up!"

"Why are you so angry, Sis? He's only a ten-year-old kid. Don't tell me you've fallen for him already? Relax. If you like him, I won't fight you for him."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

"Tch, why get mad? Love is love, and not loving is not loving. What's wrong with saying it? I think, if he likes me more..."

As they spoke, the two walked out of the residence.

A stretch of barren hills suddenly appeared before them, yellow sand swirling over them without a trace of green.

Liu Jieqi tugged lightly on Liu Chunmiao and whispered, "I remember big trees all around when we came here. How did it turn into a wasteland?"

Whoooosh!!

Liiii-li-li-li-li!!!!

An eerie wind swept through the yellow sand, whipping up clouds of dust!

Strange cries ran rampant. It was nothing like the familiar Star Dou Great Forest, as though they had fallen into another world.

Liu Chunmiao grew nervous too. "Let's go back first!"

The sisters turned around, only to find that the residence had vanished!

Behind them lay nothing but an endless wasteland of yellow sand!

"Is... is this still the Star Dou Great Forest?" Liu Jieqi's voice trembled a little.

Liu Chunmiao was calmer. She surveyed their surroundings and said, "The spirit might be behind this. Let's release our Martial Souls and charge straight out as fast as we can!"

Both activated Martial Soul Possession at once, streaking in the same direction as two streams of light, one red and one blue!

The eerie wind stirred up sand and dust, snapping at their heels.

Whenever danger struck, Liu Chunmiao always took the lead, and Liu Jieqi always trusted her older sister unconditionally.

Liu Jieqi believed Liu Chunmiao was the most dependable person in her world.

Barely ten seconds into their dash, a skeletal hand reached out of a sand dune and grabbed Liu Jieqi's ankle!

Thud!

Liu Jieqi fell flat on the ground, gouging a large pit in the sand!

Liu Chunmiao tried to save her younger sister, only for skeletal hands to sprout beneath her own feet and drag her down as well.

Young as she was, Liu Jieqi could not help feeling miserable, and tears filled her eyes.

Tears streamed down Liu Chunmiao's face. She was nowhere near as cold and tough as she looked.

"Ice Mist!"

The ice fox's first Soul Skill activated, shrouding them both in icy mist. Frost covered the skeletal hands, rendering them extremely brittle.

Crack-crack-crack!

The two snapped the skeletal hands and kept charging forward!

The spirit's reach had to have a limit. As long as they kept running in one direction, they would surely escape its range.

"Don't cry, Jieqi! Stay close!"

In truth, Liu Chunmiao was crying the hardest.

Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!!!

A mass of bone spikes abruptly thrust out of the ground. They crisscrossed, continually blocking the sisters' path. Before long, the spikes formed two enormous bone cages, trapping them inside!

Liu Jieqi took back her earlier thought. She felt that Liu Chunmiao was not dependable at all—not even worth one of Ji Feng's fingers.

Ji Feng entered the cellar. Red light filled the entire space, making it look like an eerie bridal chamber.

A standing cabinet, a meditation cushion, and a low table.

The furnishings were simple. What truly stood out was the Magic Array in the center of the cellar.

The Magic Array had been drawn in human blood and was exceedingly intricate, but its center was completely blank, without a single rune.

What was supposed to be placed there?