"I understand, Xiao Ya."
"Martial Soul possession."
With that, a blue-violet arc flashed through Bei Bei's eyes, and the phantom of a terrifying, overbearing Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon coiled behind him.
His right arm instantly transformed into a dragon's, covered in fine, dense scales. Razor-sharp claws tipped his fingers, and countless tiny blue-violet arcs danced over his arm.
Three Soul Rings rose beneath his feet: yellow, yellow, and purple.
After Tang Ya finished speaking, a clump of Blue Silver Grass appeared in her hand, and two yellow Soul Rings rose beneath her feet.
"Bei Bei, I'll help you restrain it."
"All right."
As his words fell, Bei Bei abruptly accelerated, charging toward the Datura Snake.
The thousand-year Datura Snake, which had just broken free of the lightning bombardment, had already grown far more ferocious, its pink scales bristling.
Its dark-gold, slit pupils locked onto Bei Bei. Its enormous body shuddered violently, shooting foul-smelling liquid toward him.
At that moment, the Datura Snake had abandoned attacking Huo Yuhao first and directed all its killing intent at the human Soul Master who had injured it.
The instant the Datura Snake spat its venom at him, Bei Bei's footwork became exceedingly strange, letting him evade the attack at an extremely tricky angle.
It was none other than the Tang Sect's ultimate art, the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track Steps.
After dodging the attack, Bei Bei's first and third Soul Rings lit up in succession.
"First Soul Skill: Thunder Dragon Claw."
The lightning on his right arm's dragon claw surged. Blue lightning tore through the air, and the claws gathered the power of thunder as he struck at the Datura Snake.
"Third Soul Skill: Thunderous Fury."
In an instant, the lightning surrounding him grew even fiercer.
His third Soul Skill increased all his attributes and the power of his lightning by fifty percent. Lightning ran wild around Bei Bei, and his imposing presence abruptly doubled.
Seeing Bei Bei launch his attack, Tang Ya's first and second Soul Rings lit up in succession beside him.
"First Soul Skill, Entanglement."
"Second Soul Skill, Parasite."
In an instant, the thousand-year Datura Snake, which had been rapidly moving to attack Bei Bei, was trapped by Blue Silver Grass that suddenly emerged from underground.
This sent it into a furious rage, and it struggled frantically to break free.
Sparks flew as its scales scraped the ground, but every time it broke free, new Blue Silver Grass instantly took root and filled the gap, locking its body firmly in place.
Looking at the trapped Datura Snake, Bei Bei knew this was his only chance to kill it quickly.
As the saying went, a snake's weakness lay seven inches down its body. Bei Bei aimed his full-powered strike straight at the Datura Snake's seven-inch weak point.
Bei Bei thrust his dragon claw, overflowing with lightning, at the Datura Snake's seven-inch weak point.
Boom!
With a heavy crash, Bei Bei struck its seven-inch weak point with precision.
The overbearing lightning power of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon surged into its body, severely damaging the meridians inside the Datura Snake.
The Datura Snake hissed twice in defiance, but ultimately collapsed helplessly to the ground.
Tang Ya looked at the fallen Datura Snake, her eyes filled with delight.
"Wonderful! Love you, Bei Bei."
As she spoke, Tang Ya ran over, leaped into Bei Bei's arms, and hugged him.
"Ahem, Teacher Xiao Ya, mind where we are."
As he spoke, Bei Bei glanced toward Huo Yuhao.
As a young virgin, Huo Yuhao flushed bright red at the sight and turned his head away, somewhat tongue-tied.
"Hehe, I got so excited I forgot."
As she spoke, Tang Ya stepped out of Bei Bei's arms and led him toward Huo Yuhao.
"We meet again, little Yuhao."
Tang Ya walked up to Huo Yuhao and greeted him.
Tang Ya and Bei Bei had already met Huo Yuhao beside a stream before he entered the Star Dou Great Forest.
Huo Yuhao had treated them to grilled fish then. He had not expected to meet them again so soon, let alone for them to save him.
"Mm, hello, Big Brother Bei Bei and Sister Tang Ya."
"But why are you here?"
"Mm, I don't know either. I followed my instincts and arrived here before long."
"Then we saw you being attacked here, little Yuhao, so your Big Brother Bei Bei and I stepped in to save you."
In truth, neither Bei Bei nor Tang Ya understood why they had come here. Their original route had led in another direction.
But they had suddenly sensed a Soul Beast suitable for her here, so they had come over and seen Huo Yuhao being attacked.
Yun Luo, who was hiding behind them off to the side, sighed when he saw Bei Bei and Tang Ya appear.
"So it still won't work?"
In his memory, in the original story, after Huo Yuhao parted with Tang Ya and Bei Bei, they should only have met again after the Skydream Iceworm's sacrifice.
Yet now, just as he lured the thousand-year Datura Snake over, the two of them had appeared here.
Although he could control a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast to attack Huo Yuhao and the others, one appearing here would be rather implausible. The Heavenly Dao would certainly notice.
Moreover, he had controlled that Datura Snake for no more than a minute. Everything afterward had happened because the Datura Snake sensed a human presence and went to kill Huo Yuhao.
Yun Luo sighed, knowing he could not kill Huo Yuhao.
He simply followed silently behind Huo Yuhao and the others, waiting for the Skydream Iceworm to appear.
Elder Wang, farther behind, was completely baffled. If the Holy Son wanted to kill Huo Yuhao and the others, could he not have done it with a twitch of his fingers, given his six-ring cultivation?
Why go to such lengths to control a thousand-year Soul Beast to kill Huo Yuhao, and why had the Holy Son shaken his head and sighed after failing?
"Yuhao, the Star Dou Great Forest is so dangerous. Let's go hunt for a Soul Ring with you. Consider it repayment for treating us to grilled fish."
As she spoke, Tang Ya poked Bei Bei twice.
Bei Bei immediately caught on and said with a smile.
"That's right, Yuhao. What if you run into another thousand-year Soul Beast when we aren't beside you?"
Huo Yuhao had originally intended to continue alone, but after recalling the sight of that thousand-year Soul Beast charging to kill him while he could only sit helplessly on the ground, he nodded.
He could not die yet. He had to avenge his mother and wash the entire White Tiger Duke's Mansion in blood.
"Then thank you, Sister Xiao Ya and Big Brother Bei Bei."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao bowed to the two of them.
"Haha, no need for that, little Yuhao. Just treat us to grilled fish once we finish hunting for Soul Rings."
While the three were still laughing and talking, a powerful wave of spiritual fluctuations enveloped the entire outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Bei Bei and Tang Ya immediately fainted and fell to the ground. Huo Yuhao looked at the unconscious pair, his eyes filled with anxiety.
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao ran to their side and said.
"Big Brother Bei Bei, Sister Xiao Ya, what's wrong with you two?"
Elsewhere, when the spiritual fluctuations reached Yun Luo and Elder Wang, the Ice Emperor in Yun Luo's spiritual sea acted to block the strike.
Elder Wang behind him was not so fortunate and was knocked unconscious outright.
At that moment, the spiritual fluctuations released by the Skydream Iceworm were roughly at the level of a rank ninety-two or ninety-three Titled Douluo.
Elder Wang happened to be rank ninety-one, so he could only be knocked unconscious.
Just as Huo Yuhao was engulfed in fear and at a loss, a translucent, crystalline head emerged from the ground, looked at Huo Yuhao before it, and spoke.
"Your big brother waited so many years, and at last, someone fated to meet me has come."
"Huh, you over there, why didn't you faint?"
The Skydream Iceworm had just been about to say a few words when he noticed that the young man who should have fallen unconscious had not fainted.
"Huh, could my spiritual power have declined so much that I can't even knock out a six-ring Soul Emperor?"