"Sister Na, hurry and absorb the Soul Ring."
Yu Tianling had no idea that Xue Qinghe already knew his identity. Seeing that everyone had left, he hurriedly urged Hu Liena to absorb the Soul Ring.
"Ah, oh."
Hu Liena, who had thought a fight would break out, quickly came back to her senses.
She immediately activated Martial Soul Possession, then, enveloped in purplish-red light, drew the Thornfire Fox's Soul Ring into her body and began absorbing her third Soul Ring.
"Brother, why didn't we teach them a proper lesson just now? So what if he's a Seven-Ring Soul Sage? It's not as if we don't have one ourselves. We had the advantage no matter how you looked at it."
Xue Beng complained as they left.
Xue Qinghe did not turn around. A trace of disdain crossed his lips before he said, "A Seven-Ring Soul Sage is nothing much, but what about a Titled Douluo?"
"What?"
Xue Beng asked in surprise.
"I sensed someone at the Titled Douluo level hiding nearby just now. If you had given the order to attack, we would certainly have been the ones to die."
His gentle, refined voice sounded again.
"Pfft, how is that possible? How could those lowlifes have a Titled Douluo protecting them?"
Xue Beng was full of disdain at those words.
Even as a prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, he was not entitled to have a Titled Douluo assigned to protect him when he went out to obtain his third Soul Ring.
"Hey, go back and kill those people for me. That old thing definitely can't compare to you in strength."
While Xue Qinghe was not paying attention, Xue Beng secretly instructed the man beside him.
"Yes."
The middle-aged man nodded to show that he understood.
Then he seized an opportunity to slip away.
He hurried toward the place where they had stopped earlier.
Xue Beng thought his actions had gone unnoticed by gods and ghosts alike, but Xue Qinghe had them all in the palm of his hand.
"Heh."
Noticing a Soul Saint leave, Xue Qinghe could not help chuckling.
"Hmm? They really thought we'd left, so they let their guard down? Looks like the fourth prince was right. This old thing is simply too old."
After arriving where Yu Tianling and the others were, the Soul Saint carefully surveyed the area. Once he had confirmed there was no danger, he could not help looking down on them a little more.
In his eyes, this mission would certainly be easy to complete.
"Is that so?"
A sinister voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"What?!"
"Urgh!"
The unnamed Soul Saint jolted in shock. He had only just begun to turn when his body was pierced through. In the end, he died a humiliating death, never even knowing who had struck him.
"Pfft. If I hadn't seen the young lady just now, none of you would have escaped."
Gui Mei's figure silently materialized beside the corpse, and he looked disdainfully at the body on the ground.
As Bibi Dong's trusted subordinate, Gui Mei naturally knew Qian Renxue. He also knew that she was currently undercover in the Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Family as Xue Qinghe, waiting for an opportunity to take control of Heaven Dou. That was why he had not acted when Xue Beng spoke disrespectfully to the Holy Son earlier. He had never expected someone to actually dare to come back.
This really showed far too little respect for him, a rank ninety-five Titled Douluo.
With a casual flick, Gui Mei sent out a ball of ghostfire and destroyed the corpse, erasing all traces before disappearing once again.
Yu Tianling and the others had noticed none of the disturbance. They watched Hu Liena intently, and the moment she opened her eyes, they hurried forward to ask.
"Well? How was it? What does your Soul Skill do?"
Hu Liena did not speak, answering with action instead.
In an instant, the purplish-red light around her turned fiery red, bathing her entire body in its glow.
Three Soul Rings rose from beneath her feet. In addition to her original two yellow Soul Rings, a bright purple Soul Ring now hovered above them. Then she looked at the large tree ahead, and her third Soul Ring suddenly lit up.
"Third Soul Skill, Foxfire Thorn!"
In an instant, a hard thorn shot from her tail, then flared with deep red flames the moment it struck the tree.
Boom.
The tree crashed to the ground under the attack.
"My third Soul Skill, Foxfire Thorn, lets me shoot hard thorns from my tail. It also doubles my attack power and triples my speed and strength. At the same time, once a thorn touches its target, flames instantly rise from it, dealing a second round of damage."
"That powerful?!"
After watching Hu Liena's demonstration and hearing her description, everyone present was astonished. They had never expected a Thornfire Fox to provide such a powerful Soul Skill.
"I didn't expect it either."
Hu Liena was so happy she could barely stop grinning.
After all, no one would complain that their Soul Skill was too powerful.
After a little more idle conversation, they continued toward Thorn Ridge.
The remaining two were now looking forward to their own Soul Skills even more. Presumably, they would not be disappointed.
"Have we still not reached Thorn Ridge? We've been searching here and nearby for a whole week."
Somewhere in the silent forest, a voice brimming with allure suddenly rang out.
A closer look revealed Yu Tianling's group. The voice just now had belonged to Hu Liena.
They were sitting around a fire, eating lunch.
A week had passed since Hu Liena absorbed her Soul Ring. During that week, they had successfully found a suitable Soul Beast for Xie Yue. After absorbing its ring, he had obtained his third Soul Skill, Moon Shadow Demon Break. It concentrated power into a single point before unleashing it, piercing the enemy with a crimson thrust. It was another rare and excellent Soul Skill.
Yet no matter how they searched, they simply could not find Thorn Ridge, where the Thorn Dragons lived.
"According to the information, Thorn Ridge should be right around here."
Yu Tianling was puzzled too.
Thorn Ridge's location had been recorded by Soul Masters who had been there before. Their directions were very detailed, so there was no reason they could not find it.
If a Thorn Dragon had not been so suitable for his second Soul Ring, Yu Tianling would have given up long ago and chosen another Soul Beast.
At that moment, Ghost Douluo was searching the surrounding area with his powerful spiritual power, looking for anything suspicious. Whenever there was even the slightest irregularity, the group would hurry over to investigate.
"Found it!"
Suddenly, Gui Mei appeared before them and delivered the exciting news.
"Where?"
"Really?!"
"Wonderful!"
They sprang to their feet, asking impatiently.
"Let's go!"
Without delay, Gui Mei hurriedly led them toward the place he had discovered.
They passed through grassland, puddles, and a gorge before finally reaching their destination.
"This is Thorn Ridge?"
Hu Liena stared blankly at the sight before her.
Standing before them was a forest of towering thorn bushes. The thick thorns were a tangle of twisting roots and interlocking branches, with no path inside for anyone to walk through.
"This should be the place. From a distance, wouldn't these towering thorns look just like a small hill? Presumably, the Thorn Dragons are hiding somewhere inside."
Yu Tianling nodded as he spoke.
"Then let's head in. Let's try to be quick this time. I'll clear the way."
Gui Mei spoke.
They had already spent too much time here. The Thorn Dragon, which they had thought would be the easiest to find, had turned out to be the hardest. If the Supreme Pontiff needed something done and had no one available, that would absolutely be a failure of his duties.
With that thought, a wisp of ghostfire appeared in Gui Mei's hand, and he lightly tossed it forward.
In an instant, it burned out a passage one person tall and one person wide, and they hurried inside.