Jing Shanshan had long since put a hundred meters between them, immersing himself in someone else's perspective through the eyes of the Shadow Doll Puppet, "Shi Lang."
The result left him sorely disappointed. Zhou Ding and the other two were actually this bad!
Had he known, when Qian Renxue looked at him before acting and asked his opinion through their mental connection, he should have refused outright!
If Qian Renxue's "Shi Lang" shadow doll body was injured, a full hundred percent of that damage would be reflected onto his real body!
The bronze cauldron floated quietly before Jing Shanshan. Fine ancient patterns covered its surface, and its soft light rippled outward in rings like water. Together with the cauldron's innate sense of sanctity, it created an increasingly powerful attraction.
All the Qian Jun Ants stirred at once, both the dense masses covering the ground and those deep within the nest that had yet to show themselves.
Antennae collided and mouthparts opened and closed. The Qian Jun Ants formed a dark-brown torrent, the bronze cauldron's soft light reflected in their compound eyes, leaving only the most primitive greed.
Chen Feng gripped his shadow dagger, his entire body frozen in place, uncertainty lurking in his eyes. Liu Yaya clutched her jade flute, her fingers white and her lips pressed into a thin line, Jing Shanshan's lofty figure reflected in her pupils.
They had to admit a few things.
Without Jing Shanshan's sudden intervention, even if their lives had not been in danger today, their end would not have been pleasant!
Besides, this person really did have the capital to act so arrogantly!
Twin Martial Souls?! The last person with Twin Martial Souls was Her Holiness the Pope!
In short, this person could very well become Spirit Hall's next Pope!
If they had been in Jing Shanshan's position, they would definitely have been even prouder than he was!
Jing Shanshan stood on a high branch, his golden eyes looking down on the ant swarm surging toward him. His little white robe snapped in the wind, and his golden hair was swept back without a single strand out of place.
"He hasn't moved?"
As the Qian Jun Ants drew closer and closer to Jing Shanshan, Yan could not help frowning, utterly unable to understand how this child's mind worked.
"Take the children and retreat!"
After the bronze cauldron appeared, Xie Yue keenly noticed that the surrounding Soul Beasts were showing signs of gathering here.
The bronze cauldron's area of effect exceeded his expectations!
If they really were surrounded, even if all the nearby creatures were merely ten-year and hundred-year Soul Beasts, they would still pose a danger that people approaching Soul King like them could not ignore!
"Mm."
Yan immediately rushed toward Zhou Ding, who had barely managed to stand. Seeing this, Chen Feng immediately changed direction and headed straight toward Hu Liena.
Qian Renxue, as "Shi Lang," looked toward Jing Shanshan. At the sight of the Qian Jun Ants flowing like a pitch-black torrent, she threw the Ember Devouring Martial Soul over without much hesitation. The diamond-shaped gem at the greatsword's guard abruptly lit up with a dark-red glow.
In an instant, dark-red flames erupted from the greatsword, overturning a large number of Qian Jun Ants. Dozens of white Soul Rings rose from their bodies. After landing, the flames spread to either side, gradually forming a wall of fire.
Almost at the same time, the bronze cauldron dissolved into golden light and vanished in midair.
Without the bronze cauldron's attraction, and with the sudden, terrifying flame attack, the Qian Jun Ants fell into chaos, as though their backbone had been pulled out.
"Go!"
Xie Yue scooped up Liu Yaya and Qian Renxue's "Shi Lang," one in each arm, and everyone began running at full speed.
After a long while, Hu Liena and the others gradually slowed their pace.
"Are you all right? You must have used a lot of Soul Power?"
Hu Liena asked Qian Renxue's "Shi Lang" with concern.
The amount of flame in that attack far exceeded the small amount absorbed from Yan earlier. That Martial Soul could probably consume Soul Power to increase the power of the flames it released.
"I'm fine! I just need a short rest."
Qian Renxue's "Shi Lang" immediately answered truthfully.
After all, what had just been consumed was all Jing Shanshan's Soul Power.
Only after confirming that Qian Renxue's "Shi Lang" did not seem to be merely offering polite reassurances did Hu Liena turn to check on the other children.
Just now, during their retreat, Qian Renxue had curiously asked through their mental connection for details about the bronze cauldron Martial Soul.
Unexpectedly, Jing Shanshan had answered his question.
That left her worried about a few things now.
That bronze cauldron Martial Soul was called the Spirit-Luring Cauldron. The soft light emanating from within it exerted an attraction on surrounding creatures that was difficult to resist.
The lower a creature's Soul Power cultivation, the more easily it was affected, and it would involuntarily approach the cauldron.
As for its range of attraction...
The more Soul Power was poured into it, the greater its range.
Given the faint traces of exhaustion coming through from Jing Shanshan, along with his ability to detonate Martial Souls to restore Soul Power...
The amount of Soul Power he had poured in just now was probably no small quantity. Just how large an area had the Spirit-Luring Cauldron affected?
She could not guess, much less if Jing Shanshan had also used some support Martial Souls to amplify it...
Still, now that they were far from that area, there probably would not be any mishaps, right?
Qian Renxue's "Shi Lang" silently suppressed that question and began considering when to leave this group.
"A Martial Soul never seen in Spirit Hall's records? A Mutated Martial Soul?"
Hu Liena asked Jing Shanshan curiously.
Jing Shanshan considered for a moment, then silently nodded, showing no intention of saying anything about this Martial Soul.
Hu Liena did not mind and offered a friendly suggestion.
"Twin Martial Souls. Here's a suggestion: have one Martial Soul absorb Soul Rings first, and only begin planning for the other after cultivating to Titled Douluo. Do you know the benefits of doing that?"
"No need to tell me! This king knows perfectly well!"
Hu Liena paused in surprise, then told Jing Shanshan to rest properly nearby before checking the other children's injuries.
"What are you..."
Seeing something dangling from Yan's hand, Hu Liena's lips curved slightly in helplessness.
"Haha, since we came all this way, how could we leave without picking something up? Besides, this counts as the fruits of these children's efforts. I just picked it up along the way. That doesn't count as being overly protective of our own!"
What Yan held was a hundred-year Qian Jun Ant nearly six inches long.
Its shell was covered in scorch marks, one of the saber-like teeth at its mouth was broken, and it lay curled up, barely breathing.
Clearly, it had been caught in the flames Qian Renxue's "Shi Lang" had released with Ember Devouring just now.
"Looks like you've recovered pretty well. Kid, your Soul Ring."
Yan placed the gravely injured hundred-year Qian Jun Ant before Zhou Ding, his tone calm.
Zhou Ding froze.
He looked at the dying hundred-year Qian Jun Ant on the ground, then at the bronze mask on Qian Renxue's "Shi Lang." His lips moved, but for a long time, no words came out.
In the battle just now, he had been the first to charge forward, only for a single blow from the hundred-year Qian Jun Ant to send him coughing blood. He had nearly lost his life.
Yet "Shi Lang" had protected Liu Yaya throughout, and had even brought him back to his senses at the end. Even this hundred-year Qian Jun Ant before him-
He, Zhou Ding, owed "Shi Lang" his life.
"You... thank you."
Zhou Ding's throat was dry. He wanted to say thank you, but the words stuck in his throat and would not come out.
"Luck is also a kind of strength. Hurry up and recover. Otherwise, if this gravely injured Qian Jun Ant can't hold on and dies, all your efforts on this trip will have been for nothing."
Hu Liena gestured reassuringly to Zhou Ding, then looked toward Xie Yue, who was still keeping watch over their surroundings.
"What's wrong? Is there danger?"
Xie Yue shook his head and spoke in a tone that even he was not entirely certain of.
"I keep feeling like something is watching us."