First Soul Hunt (Please Keep Reading! Please Favorite!)

Very soon, Huo Yutong went from quiet sobs to wailing with tears streaming down her face, as though all the grievances she had suffered over the past two months were contained in this complete breakdown of crying.

Old Butler also used voice transmission to tell Qian Chaoguang about the recent situation of the Huo mother and daughter over the past two months.

During these two months, Duchess's humiliation of the mother and daughter had grown increasingly severe, and Huo Yun'er had also fallen seriously ill.

If Old Butler had not forced Duchess back with an incomparably firm attitude and invited a doctor to treat her, this ill-fated woman might have passed away even earlier than in the original work.

Under blow after blow, Huo Yutong could only watch helplessly, powerless to do anything.

The only thing she could do was turn all her grief and rage into motivation to cultivate, striving to take her mother away from that den of demons as soon as possible.

A long while later, the crying finally subsided. She sniffled as she wiped the tears from her eyes with her hand, her eyes red-rimmed.

That pitiful appearance made Qian Chaoguang's heart involuntarily soften.

He said softly, "Don't cry. Don't be afraid. I'm still here."

Tears welled up again in the corners of Huo Yutong's eyes, and even her words came out in broken fragments.

"Wuwu... Chaoguang-ge, big brother, I'm so scared."

Qian Chaoguang said nothing. He simply pulled her into his arms again.

That powerful heartbeat and scorching body warmth soothed Huo Yutong's fragile heart, and his sturdy arms gave her an overwhelming sense of security.

The two of them embraced like that in the little courtyard for a very long time, and only then did that violently pounding heart gradually calm down.

Old Butler, who had been peeking through the crack in the door for a long time, chuckled softly inside the room and muttered to himself, "That brat, his brain's like a block of elmwood, but his luck with romance isn't shallow. If these two little fellows can end up together in the future, then I'll be able to rest easy—cough, cough, cough, cough."

Only after she had boarded the carriage headed for the Soul Beast Forest did Huo Yutong, who had cried several more times, gradually recover from her earlier breakdown.

Qian Chaoguang said nothing. He only silently handed her a box of pastries.

Thinking of what she had done earlier in the little courtyard, Huo Yutong blushed, lowered her head, and ate the food in her hands.

The carriage was silent. Old Butler personally drove the carriage along the official road, heading northwest.

Qian Chaoguang looked at the scenery outside the window, listening to the creaking of the carriage and Huo Yutong's gentle chewing, while his thoughts had already drifted far away.

The wings of this little butterfly of his seemed much larger than he had expected.

Toward Huo Yutong, he carried a trace of guilt in his heart.

He had originally thought of raising her Innate Soul Power a little, so she and Huo Yun'er would not have to suffer as much as they had in the original work.

But he had not expected that his good intentions would end up causing trouble instead.

He had never imagined Duchess had already become so deranged that she would not even spare a girl.

In this era, in the vast majority of cases, girls did not even have inheritance rights. How could she possibly affect Dai Yueheng and Dai Huabin!

He would find a chance to make it up to her in the future. After all, it was because of him that everything had changed from how it originally was.

To say he felt no guilt at all was impossible.

The three of them traveled on like this, stopping and going, and before they knew it, three days had already passed.

As the saying went, reading ten thousand books was not as good as traveling ten thousand miles.

After several days, Qian Chaoguang could be considered to have seen the unique local customs and scenery of Douluo Continent.

Freed from the restraints and oppression of the Duke's Mansion, Huo Yutong's mood also gradually relaxed over these days of travel, and the fresh sights along the way drew her curiosity.

With a "whoa," the carriage stopped.

Old Butler turned back and said to the two of them, "We're almost there. In a bit, I'll store the carriage, and we'll continue on foot."

"Okay, Grandpa."

The two answered in unison.

On the way here, Old Butler had already instructed them on some precautions and relevant knowledge about soul hunting.

This time, the place Old Butler had brought them to was not the famously renowned Star Dou Great Forest from the original work, but a smaller Soul Beast Forest.

According to Old Butler, although this forest was small, it possessed quite a few rare Psychic Soul Beasts.

Because there were relatively few Spirit Masters who primarily cultivated Mental Power, and at most there were only a scattered few ten-thousand-year soul beasts here, this place had been able to escape the grass-cutting-style slaughter of the past ten thousand years and avoid the destiny of being wiped out completely.

As for those Soul Hunting Forests that had been raised in captivity ten thousand years ago?

Please. Spirit Hall was gone, Martial Soul Awakening was no longer free, subsidies were no longer issued to ordinary Spirit Masters, and even the only remaining subsidies, the ones given to Shrek's top students, had become just one Gold Soul Coin per month.

Calculated out, that was a pitiful twelve coins a year, completely incomparable to ten thousand years ago.

In this era of inflation, if you did not eat or drink for a year, that tiny amount would just barely be enough to pay one year of tuition at Shrek.

Only if those three empires had smashed their brains into dog brains from fighting would they have the free time to do something so thankless and wasteful of manpower and resources.

As they walked into the Soul Beast Forest, the air gradually became cool.

Beyond the coolness, there was also a special heaviness.

Qian Chaoguang's senses had always been extremely sharp.

In his perception, the Soul Beast Forest before him was like an enormous beast with its jaws wide open.

No one knew when that huge mouth filled with fangs would fall, taking away one fresh life after another.

It was also his first time personally entering the legendary Soul Beast Forest.

After a brief bout of nerves, his emotions shifted more toward excitement, hot blood surging endlessly in his chest.

After more than three years of burying himself in cultivation, it was about time to test the results of his training!

At the thought that he would soon be able to fight a soul beast for real, blade against fang, Qian Chaoguang felt his blood boil. Even the hand gripping his saber hilt trembled faintly.

"Xiao Guang, slow down. While we have this rare chance to go out, I'll teach you a little about soul beasts too. If we run into any weak ten-year soul beasts later, you two can try using them for practice."

Old Butler walked behind, holding the somewhat uneasy Huo Yutong by the hand.

Though his face carried a smile, his free right hand kept moving in a steady rhythm, his sharp gaze sweeping in all directions as he guarded against dangers that could appear at any moment.

"Look over there. That's a plant-type soul beast, a ten-year Sword Bamboo. The way to identify it is..."

What was learned on paper always felt shallow; true understanding came only through doing it yourself.

As Old Butler explained in simple terms while guiding them deeper in, the two of them gained quite a bit of knowledge during their search for soul beasts, developing a certain awareness and understanding of the species known as soul beasts.

Huo Yutong circulated Soul Power to her eyes. Along with a faint current of air swirling around them, her Spirit Eye released a soft blue glow.

With the support of her Martial Soul, she possessed very strong early-warning ability.

At the same time, the Spirit Eye also allowed her to see farther and more clearly, greatly improving her dynamic vision.

As they were advancing, a strange sensation suddenly appeared in her mind.

Huo Yutong drew a dagger from her waist with a reverse grip and warned, "Chaoguang Gege, something's approaching us."

"Got it."

Qian Chaoguang stopped where he was, gripping his saber hilt tightly with both hands. His legs bent slightly as he took up a defensive stance.

Blazing fighting spirit burned in his eyes. He had long since been impatient to personally test himself against a soul beast.

Unfortunately, the soul beasts that had appeared earlier had all been relatively powerful. Worried that the two of them might be in danger, Old Butler had directly driven them off, leaving Qian Chaoguang genuinely disappointed.

This time, Old Butler did not speak up. The one coming must be a target the two of them could fight.

Suddenly, a black shadow flashed out from behind the bushes ahead and pounced in front of the three of them.

It was a jackal roughly one meter tall, its whole body covered in gray-black fur. Its fangs were hard and sharp, and a ghostly green light gleamed in its eyes.