Gu Yuena Secretly Follows, Qian Renxue Reveals Her True Form, and an "Accidental Meeting" in the Forest

Inside the Academic Affairs Office, the head of the office had just finished filing Meng Chen's leave request when a figure appeared at the doorway.

With long silver hair and an otherworldly, icy demeanor, it was none other than Gu Yuena.

The head of the Academic Affairs Office straightened up involuntarily. "Classmate Gu, is there something you need?"

"Leave of absence."

"Leave of absence?"

The head of the Academic Affairs Office was stunned. "Are you also going for a soul hunt?"

"I am going to attend to some personal matters."

Gu Yuena did not elaborate further.

Hearing this, the head of the Academic Affairs Office could not help but smile with awkward self-amusement.

Meng Chen's affair earlier had been too earth-shattering, leading him to assume that the peerless genius standing before him, who shared class renown with Meng Chen, was also here to request leave for a soul hunt.

"Alright, if you need any help, remember to tell your teachers."

The head of the Academic Affairs Office signed his name on the leave slip as he spoke.

Gu Yuena took the leave slip, silently walked out of the Academic Affairs Office, and headed straight for the academy gates.

The surrounding people looked at the young girl before them and hurriedly cleared a path.

Meanwhile, Gu Yuena's gaze was fixed toward the south.

The Star Dou Great Forest was the place where she slumbered and the homeland of the Soul Beast Clan.

For the past half year, she had felt the Golden Dragon King's bloodline within Meng Chen pulsating almost every day.

Yet every time she wanted to investigate further, that power would be suppressed thoroughly.

What on earth was his purpose in proactively going to the Star Dou Great Forest now?

After leaving the sight of the surrounding crowd,

Gu Yuena flicked her fingers slightly, and the space beside her rippled before she transformed into a sliver of silver light and vanished into the street.

One day later, the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Ancient trees towered into the sky, vines intertwined, and the air was thick with the moist scent of earth.

Twelve members of the Imperial Knights surrounded Meng Chen in the center.

Two commanders at the Soul Saint level walked at the very front to clear the path.

Meng Chen felt somewhat helpless at this moment; he had originally thought two or three people would be enough, but who could have known Qian Renxue would dispatch a whole squad directly.

"Little Lord, another five miles ahead will be the Mixed Area."

Zhan Shan, the commander walking at the very front, suddenly halted his steps and turned to look at Meng Chen behind him.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince already gave instructions in advance to stay active in the outer perimeter. That eight-hundred-year-old Gale Demon Wolf just now was already quite good, and a second soul ring is much better than those of peers."

Hearing this, Meng Chen shook his head. "The Gale Demon Wolf is wind-attributed and very fast, but its physique is rather slender and not suitable."

Zhan Shan was startled, then smiled bitterly and stopped trying to persuade him.

This was the apple of the crown prince's eye, so it was normal for him to have high standards.

It was just that for every extra moment they stayed in this forest, his and his companion's heads hung in jeopardy for that much longer.

After walking for about the time it took to burn a stick of incense, a wave of intense soul power suddenly erupted in the forest ahead.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two muffled explosions accompanied by the roar of a beast echoed from afar, making even the ground tremble along with them.

"There's a fight, be on guard!"

The two Soul Saints immediately unleashed their Martial Soul Possession, shielding Meng Chen behind them.

Meng Chen also activated his Martial Soul Possession with his purple soul ring emerging. Moving his thoughts, his Spiritual Detection domain opened, and the scene a hundred meters away clearly surfaced in his mind.

Earth-yellow kinetic waves churned across the open ground. A lizard over five meters long, its entire body covered in rocky scales, lay prone on the ground while its two clawed limbs, covered in barbs, continuously pounded the earth.

It was an Earth-Cracking Berserk Lizard, and its age should be around twenty-five hundred years.

This sort of ferocious beast carrying a trace of earth dragon bloodline possessed extremely formidable defense and power, and ordinary Soul Elders would have to take a detour upon encountering one.

Yet what shocked Meng Chen was the figure trading blows with it midair.

It was an exquisitely beautiful girl dressed in golden soft armor paired with a white battle skirt. A head of blonde hair fluttered in the wind, and her features were delicate without a single flaw, her brows exuding a sense of nobility and overbearing might.

Golden light circulated around her entire body, and four soul rings-two yellow and two purple-alternated in lighting up beneath her.

"Vile creature, courting death!"

Cold light flashed in the girl's eyes as her delicate hand swept forward, forming a long sword condensed from Holy Light in her grasp.

The next moment, the third soul ring beneath the girl's feet lit up, and golden light feathers filling the heavens descended like a torrential downpour, firmly pinning the Earth-Cracking Berserk Lizard to the ground.

Following closely, she transformed into a streak of golden light and slashed out with a single sword.

That layer of rock armor, sturdy enough to withstand a frontal assault from a Soul Ancestor head-on, proved as thin as paper before the Holy Light.

Meng Chen's two knight regiment commanders could not help but swallow hard as they watched the battle before them.

Meng Chen also watched the golden-haired girl, feeling inwardly startled.

At that moment, the girl seemed to sense something. The light sword in her hand dissipated, and she turned her head to look in their direction.

The killing intent in the depths of the girl's eyes instantly melted away, and the corners of her lips curved up slightly as she stepped through the air to land, walking straight toward them.

"Halt! What person are you?"

Zhan Shan and the vice-commander stepped forward simultaneously to block in front of Meng Chen.

The girl did not even look at them, instead appraising Meng Chen with great interest.

"Little fellow, what are you looking at? Were you scared silly by this young lady?"

Meng Chen suppressed the shock in his heart, raised a hand to signal his guards not to move, and let out a bit of wariness on his small face.

"Who are you? That move just now was so cool, are you also here for a soul hunt?"

The girl lifted her chin, speaking word for word. "My name is Qian Renxue."

Hearing this, Meng Chen's pupils contracted violently.

He had lived in the Crown Prince's Residence for such a long time, yet he had never seen Qian Renxue's original appearance.

And now, the moment he left Heaven Dou City, she had changed back to her true form and followed him out.

The dignified young master of Spirit Hall took the risk of exposing the grand plan of infiltration just to follow him out to hunt a soul ring.

Though Meng Chen felt touched inside, he also understood one thing.

That was the fact that the other party did not know he had long since been aware of her identity.

Therefore, once he displayed any abnormality, what awaited him would no longer be the warm Qian Renxue, but rather suspicion from the young master of Spirit Hall.

He had to act-he must act right to the end.

Meng Chen scratched his rabbit ears, revealing a blank and innocent look. "Qian Renxue, what a nice name. Big sister, you don't look very old, I never expected you to already be a Soul Ancestor!"

Qian Renxue blossomed with joy inside and could no longer hold back, reaching out to pinch that pair of golden rabbit ears directly.

"Ow! What are you doing, let go!"

Meng Chen's face flushed red instantly as he leaned back desperately, but Qian Renxue surged her soul power, dissolving his meager struggle completely.

"What are you running for? Little brother looks quite handsome, and touching him feels even more comfortable than the fur of a soul beast."

"Don't you understand that men and women should not touch hands when giving or receiving!"

Meng Chen protected the roots of his ears with both hands while roaring frantically in his heart.

What was wrong with this woman?

She touched them when she wore men's clothing, and she still touched them after changing back to women's clothing. Had people in this world truly never seen rabbit ears before?

Both Soul Saints felt their entire bodies go numb.

How could such a formidable young girl turn into a female bandit in the blink of an eye?

Fortunately, however, the other party did not appear to harbor any malice.

Zhan Shan braced himself, stepped forward, and cupped his fists in a salute. "Milady, we are acting under the orders of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire to escort the little lord on a soul hunt. If there is nothing else, please step aside."

He was not necessarily afraid of Qian Renxue; after all, the other party was merely a Soul Ancestor. What truly made him wary was the other party's surname and martial soul.

As the commander of the Imperial Knights and an existence at the Soul Saint level, it was impossible for him to lack even this bit of discernment.

The surname Qian, coupled with an angel martial soul, and already a Soul Ancestor at a mere sixteen or seventeen years of age-she was unquestionably a direct-line existence of Spirit Hall!

The other party's status likely paled not a whit compared to even the Crown Prince of their Heaven Dou Empire!