Decisive Retreat, Danger Draws Near!

A fresh breeze blew past.

The Shrek elites paid it no mind, but only Su Wen knew that danger was closing in...

Only now did Su Wen understand why Huo Gua had become so popular after entering the inner courtyard, especially after the first Sea God Pavilion matchmaking event ended, when he teamed up with Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er to head to the Star Dou Great Forest.

In this kind of terrain, a soul master with spirit-detection abilities could play an absolutely crucial role.

Especially in an era when soul guidance devices had yet to become widespread, this kind of Spirit System soul master was simply the treasure in any team's palm.

Once he had the ability in the future, he definitely had to get a Spirit System Pet Beast.

"Senior Sister Lexuan! A powerful enemy is approaching!"

As thoughts churned through his mind, Su Wen hurriedly let out a low shout.

In an instant, the entire camp fell silent. Everyone turned their eyes toward Su Wen. Zhang Lexuan's expression shifted in astonishment, and she turned, arriving beside him without wasting words. "Do you have proof?"

"Yes!"

Su Wen's expression was grave as he took out the fan Xuan Zi had left behind.

The red crystal embedded in the handle was emitting a dazzling light. Su Wen explained, "This is the soul guidance device Elder Xuan left me before he left. It's a high-level soul guidance device that combines danger detection, aura simulation, and defense. Since it's flashing red, it most likely means an extremely powerful being is approaching us."

"..."

Zhang Lexuan took a deep breath.

She recognized the fan's origins at a glance. Without any unnecessary words, she displayed the bearing of a team leader. "Retreat!"

"Senior Sister Lexuan, is it possible it isn't coming for us?" one Inner Courtyard Disciple asked hesitantly.

"Whether it is or not, we retreat."

Zhang Lexuan's tone was brief.

She knew that Elder Xuan's jade fan was an extremely precious treasure of the Sea God Pavilion. Supposedly, by the standards of the Sun Moon Empire, it could be classified as a Ninth-Level Soul Guidance Device!

And something that could make it flash red was probably at least an existence above a Titled Douluo. This was also the Star Dou Great Forest, the lair of soul beasts, so who was heading toward them went without saying.

If they encountered a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast without Xuan Zi's protection, it would be very difficult for their team to escape!

"Yes!"

They did not clean up the traces of the camp, because against an existence that was very likely a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, its sharp sense for auras was simply not something they could conceal in a short time.

Rather than waste time, it was better to flee for their lives as quickly as possible.

"Ruo Ling, take Xiaotao. I'll take Xiao Wen. Head for the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest at full speed! Elder Xuan is linked to this soul guidance device. If he senses danger, he must already be rushing back. As long as we can hold out until Elder Xuan returns..."

Zhang Lexuan swept her gaze around.

Her stunning face looked especially moving under the faint glow of the bright moon.

"Mm..."

Before Su Wen could react, he had already been pulled into her arms. A fragrant scent rushed into his nose, mixed with a faint feeling of nervous excitement. Though he knew he was about to face a life-or-death crisis, in this moment his adrenaline was still surging, excitement covering up his fear.

"Ah, I actually wanted to hug that little guy."

Another long-legged senior sister smiled, clamped the gloomy Ma Xiaotao under her arm, bent her straight, slender legs slightly, and shot into the sky like a cannonball. Just as her upward momentum was about to vanish and she was about to fall, wings sprouted from her back, and she turned into a streak of light that vanished into the night sky.

"So big..."

Ma Xiaotao felt a little wronged.

"Hehe, Xiaotao, don't give up on yourself. Although you might not be able to reach your big sister's level in the future, you won't be too bad either. At the very least, you'll be a lot bigger than that washboard Zhang Wen," Ruo Ling said with a wicked grin.

"Ruo Ling, your damn mouth is vicious!"

Another "washboard" senior sister was leaping across the tops of ancient trees at extreme speed, but she still grumbled with an indignant face.

Even so, it could be seen that although everyone was retreating in orderly fashion, they were not overly tense.

Perhaps the only ones truly sweating inside were Su Wen, who knew the plot of the Original Work, and Zhang Lexuan, whose expression was solemn.

The surrounding scenery flashed past rapidly, and the howling wind swept by his ears. A faint fragrance entered his nose as well. He was only six years old and just over one meter thirty tall, while Zhang Lexuan was a full meter seventy-eight. In this awkward posture, Su Wen could only feel the magnificent waves above his head. Because of his fear of heights, both his hands tightly hugged Zhang Lexuan's slender waist. His face burned red, and he did not dare raise his head, afraid he might bump into something above...

"As expected!"

Zhang Lexuan's beautiful face was grave.

With one hand, she held Su Wen; with the other, she held the jade fan.

Only the one holding it could feel this urgency, this omen of danger descending.

"Lexuan, is there really a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?" Zhang Yi asked beside her, his expression ugly.

"Even if it isn't, it's at least a human expert at the same level. It's just that at present, we still can't be certain whether its target is us, or whether it's coincidentally passing through this area..." Zhang Lexuan said in a low voice.

"Then let's not hold on to wishful thinking. Prepare for the worst," Zhang Yi said, letting out a turbid breath.

Compared to human experts, they would still rather encounter a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Although neither was easy to deal with.

"Not good. Its speed has increased too!"

Zhang Lexuan's beautiful eyes suddenly contracted.

The jade fan in his hand was even growing a little hot, the red crystal giving off a dazzling warning.

Only one word.

Run!

Star Dou Great Forest.

Somewhere in the Core Region.

Massive ancient firs swallowed up every scrap of sunlight that reached the ground. Beneath layer upon layer of dense branches and leaves, Xuan Zi stared greedily at the snake meat that was about to finish roasting. The aroma hit him full in the face. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "Almost done, almost done..."

"Shame this Crisp Poison Snake is so hard to find. Made me search forever before I barely managed to find a thousand-year one. Paired with rice wine, now that would be perfect. Just a pity I'm about out of time..."

Xuan Zi sighed regretfully.

"I'll have to ask the back kitchen for rice wine once I get back. For the next while, I'll probably have to quit drinking. Hmph, hmph~"

Just as he was humming a little tune and taking a bite of snake meat—

He suddenly jumped up.

"Shit! Su Wen's in danger!"

"Wasn't he at the edge of the Core Region? How could there be a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast there..."

Mid-sentence, Xuan Zi abruptly shut his mouth, because he suddenly remembered that the place was already part of the Core Region. The chance of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast appearing there was more than ten times higher than in the outer perimeter...

"Hope I can make it. Hope..."

Xuan Zi turned into a streak of yellow light and shot rapidly toward the horizon.

Only a bonfire remained, along with the snake meat on the wooden branch, about to burn black.

"It's getting closer!"

Zhang Lexuan's expression was icy.

And she gave the precise figure. "The distance between it and us is still ten thousand meters, but its speed is astonishing. According to my estimate, I'm afraid it'll catch up in three minutes at most..."

Clearly, only a high-level soul master could fully bring out the capabilities of this Soul Tool. Su Wen had only used a tiny fraction of it...

In truth, it was not absolute.

Because if Zhang Lexuan, Ruo Ling, and the other Soul Sages ran at full speed, that time could still be extended by two or three times at least. But there were also Soul Kings in the team "dragging them down," and Su Wen and Ma Xiaotao would affect Zhang Lexuan's speed as well.