" H-help!"
Hearing the cries for help, Qian Xunji hurried toward their source with Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.
The scene shifted. The three landed and saw someone in the distance being chased beneath a large tree by a Soul Beast. The man fell to the ground and scrambled backward until his back pressed against the trunk, leaving him nowhere to retreat.
Before him, a spotted leopard Soul Beast bared its fangs and advanced.
"Roar!"
With a roar, the spotted leopard opened its bloody maw and pounced at the man.
Just as Qian Xunji was about to act, a streak of light suddenly shot over from the side and blasted the spotted leopard away.
The spotted leopard crashed heavily to the ground, let out a howl, then turned and fled into the forest.
Qian Xunji looked toward the direction the streak of light had come from and saw a beautiful, blue-haired girl in a blue-and-white dress walk up to the commoner.
"Are you all right?"
The blue-haired girl asked in a gentle voice.
"I-I'm fine. Thank you for saving me, Lord Soul Master!"
The commoner knelt before the girl and kowtowed with resounding thuds.
Seeing this, the girl hurriedly helped him up.
"Get up, quickly. This Soul Beast forest is too dangerous. You should leave at once."
"Though this Soul Beast forest is dangerous, it's also where these commoners earn their living. Even if you tell him to leave, he'll still come back next time."
A voice came from the side. The gentle girl turned to look and could not help freezing for a moment when she saw the handsome young man in the lead.
The commoner, meanwhile, trembled all over in fright at the sight of Qian Xunji and his two companions.
Their clothing alone made it clear that all three were nobles. A commoner like him could not afford to offend them.
Seeing Qian Xunji and his companions, the girl could also tell from their clothing that they came from extraordinary backgrounds. All three also gave off fluctuations of Soul Power, making it obvious that they were Soul Masters. A nervous expression instinctively appeared on her face.
"Who are you?"
"There's no need to be so nervous. We heard his cries for help too and had just arrived to deal with that spotted leopard, but we didn't expect you to save him before we could!"
Noticing the girl's nervousness, Qian Xunji smiled and spoke gently.
After hearing Qian Xunji's words, the nervousness on the girl's face eased slightly, but her eyes remained filled with wariness.
"I see you're a Soul Master too. We're heading into the Soul Beast forest to hunt for Soul Rings. Would you like to come along?"
Qian Xunji continued.
At the mention of hunting for Soul Rings, the beautiful girl's expression immediately changed, turning cold.
"No need. We're not going the same way!"
The beautiful girl coldly rejected Qian Xunji, then turned and left.
Qian Xunji froze as well, not having expected to be rejected.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei watched from the side, their eyes filled with mischievous amusement.
The dignified young master of Spirit Hall had actually been rejected by a girl.
If this had happened in Spirit City, it would surely have been big news.
Outside the scene, the gathered Soul Masters could not help mocking him.
"Hahaha! Who would have thought Qian Xunji, always so high and mighty, whose word was law, would ever be rejected?"
"That girl is quite a beauty. No wonder Qian Xunji took the initiative to invite her."
"Hmph! Qian Xunji is a beast. Seeing how incredibly beautiful his disciple Bibi Dong was, he forced the secret room treatment on her. No wonder everyone eventually turned against him!"
The injured Bibi Dong watched the beautiful blue-haired girl in the scene. For some reason, a trace of displeasure welled up within her.
Could this be the woman Teacher loved so deeply?
On the sky screen, the scene continued. Several days had already passed.
With a boom, a Soul Beast collapsed heavily, and a black Soul Ring appeared over its corpse.
Qian Xunji sat down and immediately began absorbing the Soul Ring, while Yue Guan and Gui Mei stood guard beside him.
An incense stick's worth of time passed. Qian Xunji finished absorbing the Soul Ring and officially broke through to the Soul King realm.
"Congratulations, Young Master, on successfully absorbing a fifty-thousand-year Soul Ring!"
Yue Guan stepped forward to congratulate him.
"You truly are a one-in-ten-thousand genius, Young Master, breaking through the limits to absorb a fifty-thousand-year Soul Ring."
Gui Mei joined in the praise from the side.
Amid their praise, the handsome young man's face displayed a composure beyond his years.
"It's only a fifty-thousand-year Soul Ring. If I want to realize the ideal in my heart, I must become the strongest person on the Douluo Continent."
Hearing this, Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged a glance, their eyes brimming with admiration.
Of course they knew the ideal Qian Xunji spoke of. Who in Spirit Hall did not know that their young master had harbored great ambitions from an early age, hoping for peace on the Douluo Continent, with no more strife?
Had such an ideal fallen to them, they would not even have dared to imagine it.
Yet Qian Xunji dared to hold such a grand aspiration and had always worked to realize it.
Moreover, it was at Qian Xunji's suggestion that Spirit Hall had introduced free Martial Soul awakenings and subsidies for commoner Soul Masters. They had witnessed all of this, and this was also why they had initially joined Spirit Hall.
It was one of their reasons for serving Spirit Hall. After all, gaining better cultivation resources by joining Spirit Hall was one thing, but spiritual aspirations and what touched their hearts were what made them wholeheartedly loyal to their young master, Qian Xunji.
Meanwhile, outside the scene, the gathered Soul Masters witnessed all this. Those who had mocked Qian Xunji earlier felt as though their faces were being slapped resoundingly.
"What fine methods Qian Xunji has. So young, yet already so deeply calculating. With just one sentence, I can see that Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo have become even more loyal to him."
Yu Xiaogang gave a cold chuckle, speaking with a smug smile as though he had seen through it all.
"Exactly! Qian Xunji is just putting on an act!"
Some Soul Masters chimed in one after another.
Qian Xunji was the sinner of the Douluo Continent and its greatest devil. They absolutely could not change their opinion of him over a single remark.
On the sky screen, the scene changed.
In a small town on the edge of the Soul Beast forest, Qian Xunji and his two companions came into view.
After successfully hunting for a Soul Ring, the three had left the Soul Beast forest.
Upon entering the town, however, they found people lying along almost every stretch of roadside.
Masked people moved among them, carrying bowls of medicinal decoctions and feeding them to those on the ground.
Just then, a masked figure approached Qian Xunji and his companions.
"My lords, an epidemic has broken out in town. To avoid becoming infected, please leave as soon as possible!"
At the mention of an epidemic, Yue Guan immediately raised his sleeve to cover his mouth and nose.
"Young Master, I didn't expect an epidemic here. We should leave at once."
After hearing this, Qian Xunji looked into the town. When a splash of blue and white appeared amid the gray-clad crowd, his gaze was immediately drawn to that figure.
It was the girl in the blue dress whom they had met in the Soul Beast forest.
"Young Master?"
When Qian Xunji did not respond, Yue Guan called out again.