At first light, Zhong Yue woke everyone. The campfire had burned out completely, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes-he had not slept again during the latter half of the night. Keeping his voice low, he described what he had heard last night, that sickly-sweet, bloody scent, the moving shadow deep in the woods, and the single, unprompted chime from the wind chime on Bai Yu's wrist.
After listening, Feng Xiaotian glanced at Bai Yu, who was still packing up her sleeping bag. "She just broke through. Her Soul Power probably hasn't stabilized yet. It leaked out in her sleep and triggered the wind chime." Zhong Yue paused, then nodded. Bai Yu lowered her gaze to the wind chime on her wrist, her fingertips unconsciously resting on its rim.
"We won't provoke that shadow Zhong Yue saw last night." Feng Xiaotian spread a map of the Sunset Forest on the ground and pointed to another area. "We'll circle around it and head east. First, we find a suitable Soul Beast for Lingtian, then one for Bai Yu." His finger finally settled on the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast habitat circled in vermilion on the map. "The Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring I need is here-we'll leave that for last." He looked up at the three of them. "Remember what Senior Dugu said-if we encounter something we can't handle, run toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."
The four entered the dense forest. Morning light was sliced into fragments by the canopy, and the air carried the mingled smells of rotten wood and something faintly bloody and sweet. Feng Xiaotian led the way, with Feng Lingtian in the middle of the group. Zhong Yue followed behind Bai Yu, a phantom tortoise shell flickering faintly before him. Bai Yu's wind chime rested against her wrist, her fingertips remaining on the bell.
After about a quarter of an hour, Feng Xiaotian suddenly raised a hand to signal a halt. He turned his head, fixing his gaze on a steep rock face in the distance. "Something's moving. Around thirty-two hundred years old. Wind Attribute, speed-type."
Feng Lingtian followed his gaze. A medium-sized bird of prey perched on a jutting rock in a crevice in the cliff. The edges of its wings gleamed with an iron-gray metallic sheen, each feather sharply defined, as though a row of blades had been set into them. It was an Iron Feather Falcon.
"This one suits you." Feng Xiaotian turned to Feng Lingtian. "Its Feather Blade Scatter can force movement and cut off routes-before closing in, you can use it to create an opening."
Feng Lingtian activated Gale Flash Step, shooting forward. The Iron Feather Falcon beat its wings in alarm and took flight. With a shake of its wings, several iron-gray feather blades broke free and shot straight at Feng Lingtian-this was its innate ability, Feather Blade Scatter. At the same time, Feng Xiaotian circled around the flank to the other end of the rock face, blocking the Iron Feather Falcon's most likely escape route. "Lingtian, left!" Bai Yu's chime rang out at the exact instant Feng Xiaotian spoke, landing precisely in the gap before the Iron Feather Falcon's next wingbeat and relaying its position to Feng Lingtian in real time. Zhong Yue guarded the stream, his phantom tortoise shell already solidified, ready to block it at any moment.
Each time the Iron Feather Falcon fired its feather blades, there was an extremely brief pause as it gathered strength. Bai Yu's chime always reached that gap a step ahead, showing Feng Lingtian when to dodge and when to close in. As one pursued and the other evaded, Feng Lingtian's Gale Flash Step grew increasingly fluid, and the cyan light beneath his feet became increasingly solid-Gale Flash Step had broken through, advancing from basic command to skilled proficiency.
Now. Feng Lingtian anticipated the gap following the Iron Feather Falcon's next volley of feather blades and landed his Gale Flash Step ahead of time, suddenly appearing at its flank. He flung out both arms. Several phantom wind plumes appeared behind him, transforming into seven or eight feather-shaped wind blades that scattered outward. The Iron Feather Falcon had just fired a volley of feather blades and was caught in the gap when its old strength was spent and new strength had yet to rise-Feng Lingtian's wind blades sealed every escape route. One struck the root of its left wing dead-on. It let out a piercing, mournful cry and spiraled down from the air, turning into a purple Soul Ring.
Feng Lingtian sat cross-legged and guided the purple Soul Ring into his body. Thirty-two hundred years, an absorption beyond the limit-the impact of its Soul Power was far fiercer than that of his Second Soul Ring, but the residual medicinal potency of the Mundane-Cleansing Origin-Fortifying Pill protected his meridians, allowing his Soul Power to circulate more smoothly. Half an hour later, he opened his eyes. The Soul Power within him was more condensed than before, and he had reached rank thirty-three. With a thought, he sensed it for a moment-Third Soul Skill, Wind Plume · Feather Blade, which unleashed multiple feather-shaped wind blades that scattered across an area, forcing opponents to reveal openings.
The corners of Feng Xiaotian's mouth lifted slightly. "Not a bad haul."
Bai Yu stood beside Zhong Yue, holding her wind chime. While they had been pursuing the Wind Trace Swallow, she had stayed on the flank, using her chime to lock onto the target-from Feng Xiaotian's shout of "left" to Feng Lingtian's final strike, the echo of the chime still lingered in the rhythm of her fingertips.
The four continued deeper into the dense forest. After a little under half an hour, the faintest sound of running water came from ahead. Feng Xiaotian pushed aside layers of shrubs, revealing a narrow stream. On a branch across the stream perched a small gray-blue bird of prey, its head lowered as it pecked at moss on the bark. It was a Gale Falcon, eight hundred and fifty years old.
"Suitable for Bai Yu," Feng Xiaotian said quietly. "Lingtian, Zhong Yue, guard both ends. Bai Yu, disrupt it with your chime."
Feng Lingtian and Zhong Yue split up, silently sealing off the upstream and downstream routes. Bai Yu raised her wrist and lightly flicked the wind chime. Its ringing swept across the stream, landing precisely on the Gale Falcon. The Gale Falcon beat its wings to take flight, but their movements had clearly grown sluggish-the chime had disrupted its perception, throwing off its flight rhythm and sharply reducing its speed. It stumbled through the air at a lower altitude, flying straight into Feng Lingtian and Zhong Yue's encirclement.
Bai Yu drew her dagger, picked the gap between its wingbeats, and stabbed it. A yellow Soul Ring slowly rose.
Bai Yu sat cross-legged and guided the Soul Ring into her body. Zhong Yue withdrew his phantom tortoise shell, moved two steps in front of her, and turned to face the dense forest, standing guard there like a shield.
Half an hour later, Bai Yu opened her eyes and flicked the wind chime with her fingertips-its sound was clearer than before, with greater penetrating power. Second Soul Skill, Wind Chime · Gale. It increased a single teammate's attack speed. She opened her eyes and flicked the wind chime with her fingertips-its sound was crisper than before. Her rank had reached twenty-one, just past the threshold.
Feng Xiaotian glanced at the sky, then at the map. "Lingtian and Bai Yu have both gotten their Soul Rings. Next-" His finger settled on the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast habitat circled in vermilion on the map. "It's my turn."
The four extinguished the fire beside the stream and continued deeper into the dense forest. Behind them, a faint whistle suddenly sounded in the distance-it was a signal used between mercenary corps. Snake Fang's people had already discovered the traces they had left behind. And deep within the Sunset Forest, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast marked by the Snake Fang Mercenary Corps also heard the whistle. It stopped and turned its enormous head toward the sound, the tracking collar around its neck emitting an exceedingly faint hum.