After Li Ye brought her somewhere relatively safe, Dugu Yan still held back her curiosity as she questioned him.
"Hey, what's your name? Why did you save me, and why did you save this Fox Demon after injuring it?"
"I saved you because you're a pretty girl. I saved it because... because I still have other uses for it. As for my name, just think of me as a passing armored warrior. Don't worry about it so much," Li Ye said offhandedly.
Truthfully, he had no idea how to answer Dugu Yan's questions. Nothing he could say seemed quite right.
But her questions had suddenly given Li Ye an idea of how to find the Three-Eyed Demon Fox. Although it might not work, it would still be better than searching blindly like this.
After another few days' delay, Dugu Yan and the Fox Demon had finally more or less recovered from their injuries.
"All right, it's time I left. Let's part ways here!" Li Ye said to Dugu Yan, taking the Fox Demon with him.
"Wait, passing armored warrior, could you help me hunt for a Soul Ring? You know I'm not strong enough, and I've had a falling-out with my family, while you're so powerful. Could you?" Dugu Yan looked at Li Ye reluctantly, her voice full of pleading.
"Uh, couldn't you just apologize to your family? Why do you have to ask me to help you hunt for a Soul Ring?" After spending several days together, Li Ye was also a little reluctant to part with her, but to grow stronger, he had to cut off that little lingering attachment.
"I, I just think you have a good eye. You'll definitely be able to help me find a Soul Ring that suits me perfectly."
After several days together, Dugu Yan knew she had begun to like Li Ye, a boy who seemed rather caught up in heroic fantasies and a little full of himself, but was actually very attentive, considerate, and steady.
At least, she liked Li Ye a little more than Yu Tianheng, who had been pursuing her at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
So, with their parting imminent, she naturally wanted to make a few more happy memories with Li Ye.
"All right, I'll help you look." Li Ye nodded helplessly. He really could not withstand a girl looking at him like that.
Whether it was Xiao Wu or Dugu Yan before him, once they looked at him like that, he could not refuse their requests.
"Yay! I knew you were the best, passing armored warrior!" Hearing Li Ye agree to her request, Dugu Yan leaped up happily.
"Ah."
Hearing what Dugu Yan called him, Li Ye could only sigh helplessly. After all, he had brought this upon himself, so he would have to bear it himself.
"Little fox, have you seen any thousand-year snake Soul Beasts? You know, the long kind with a mouth full of sharp fangs, and venom too."
To save time, Li Ye could only pin his hopes on the Fox Demon, which had lived in Sunset Forest for so long.
Hearing Li Ye's description, the Fox Demon badly wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but since it could not beat him, it held back.
But at the thought of Li Ye hunting down a thousand-year snake Soul Beast, it remembered the thousand-year Mandala Snake that had taken over its territory.
That fellow had relied on its cultivation being two hundred years higher, its hard scales, and the deadly poison throughout its body to seize the home where the Fox Demon had lived for years, leaving it to wander everywhere. Today, it would see how that snake survived.
The Fox Demon nodded, signaling for the two of them to follow as it led them to find a snake Soul Beast.
"Hehe, I knew the little fox could do it." Seeing the Fox Demon's movements, Li Ye immediately flashed his pearly whites.
"Huh? You can do that? A Soul Beast would actually help humans hunt down another Soul Beast!" Dugu Yan could scarcely believe the scene before her.
Still, surprised though she was, she followed Li Ye.
"Hmph, so this is the brat who stole my Yan Yan away. Just watch how I deal with you in a moment!"
"Passing armored warrior, that Mandala Snake might be seventeen hundred years old. Can you beat it?"
Seeing the Mandala Snake nearby, Dugu Yan could not help worrying about Li Ye.
After all, Mandala Snakes were considered a particularly powerful kind of Soul Beast, far stronger than the Fox Demon.
Although Li Ye could defeat the Fox Demon instantly with one spear strike, that had only been because he had exploited its weakness.
But the next moment, Li Ye shattered her doubts with his strength.
After using his first Soul Skill, Li Ye immediately unleashed the second move of the Seven Desolate-Breaking Techniques, which he had only recently mastered: Extreme!
The spear shot out at tremendous speed, as though it had locked onto its target. No matter how the Mandala Snake twisted its body to dodge, it still struck its vital point seven inches below its head with perfect precision, pinning it firmly to a tree.
The Mandala Snake in Soul Hunting Forest: Why does this way of dying feel so familiar?
"All right, hurry up and kill it. I struck its vital point. It won't live much longer." Li Ye calmly turned to glance at Dugu Yan.
"O-okay." At Li Ye's words, Dugu Yan recovered from her shock. Without even having time to ask what move he had just used, she hurried over to the Mandala Snake, which had stopped struggling where it was pinned to the tree.
After delivering the final blow, Dugu Yan immediately sat down and began absorbing its Soul Ring.
"I never imagined this brat would be so powerful. It seems he only met Yan Yan recently. But can Yan Yan successfully absorb a seventeen-hundred-year Soul Ring?" Naturally, Dugu Bo, who was hiding in the shadows, had witnessed everything that had just happened.
The reason he thought that was naturally because he understood his granddaughter all too well. If she had known such a powerful friend as Li Ye, she would have told him long ago.
But alongside his shock, Dugu Bo could not help worrying about Dugu Yan.
For the sake of his pride, however, Dugu Bo did not show himself, merely watching silently from the shadows.
Li Ye naturally had no idea that Dugu Bo was secretly watching from the shadows. Otherwise, he would have left Dugu Yan here long ago and taken the Fox Demon to find the Three-Eyed Demon Fox, rather than painstakingly standing guard over her.
Fortunately, Dugu Yan's will was fairly firm. Moreover, the Mandala Snake had already fallen into despair before dying, which counted as giving its Soul Ring to Dugu Yan willingly, so it did not take her long to finish absorbing it.
"This is wonderful, passing armored warrior! Not only did I get a third Soul Skill that suits me perfectly, but my Soul Power also rose to rank thirty-one. Thank you so much!" Dugu Yan happily hugged Li Ye, who was a little shorter than her, and spoke gratefully.
"All right, all right, congratulations, okay? Hurry home and apologize to your family. I have to go find my Third Soul Ring. Remember to cultivate properly once you're home. Don't run out and embarrass yourself before your skills are up to scratch. I have to leave now." Once Dugu Yan's excitement had subsided, Li Ye spoke to her.
"Huh? You're leaving already?" Dugu Yan lowered her head sadly.
"All right, Yan Yan, he's already gone. What are you still standing here feeling sad for?"
Seeing Li Ye leave without another word, leaving Dugu Yan alone to grieve, Dugu Bo was so angry that he jumped straight out of hiding.
"Grandpa, you finally came to find me. Boohoo... tell me, am I really ugly? Why doesn't he seem to like me at all?" Seeing Dugu Bo arrive, Dugu Yan immediately threw herself into his arms and tearfully complained.
"Ah, Yan Yan, he's a Soul Master too, and a top genius among Soul Masters at that. You two were only duckweed meeting by chance on the water. Why should he have to like you? Just because you're pretty?"
"All right, all right, stop crying. Won't there still be chances in the future? As long as you cultivate diligently and show him strength that surprises him the next time you meet, he'll naturally become interested in you." Seeing his granddaughter cry like this, Dugu Bo could not help comforting her.
"Really, Grandpa? You're not lying to me?" Dugu Yan wiped away her tears and looked earnestly at Dugu Bo.
"Of course. Why would your grandpa lie to you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Dugu Bo regretted it. What sin had he committed? Everyone else wished they could keep their granddaughters by their side, yet here he was encouraging his granddaughter to throw herself at someone.
Before you continue