No sooner had Xiao Xuan left than a few dozen breaths later, the charred branches of the bushes behind him, struck by lightning, were suddenly pushed aside.
The hurried footsteps crunched through the fallen leaves as the group headed straight for the open space.
Leading the way was Zhao Wuji, a level 76 Soul Saint.
He clutched his sunken chest, his face pale and listless. Beside him Tang San's black hair was disheveled, and his eyes were filled with rage and anxiety.
Dai Mubai, Oscar, and others followed behind, all of them also bearing injuries.
They had already retreated to a safe area and were preparing to find a secluded place to bandage and treat their wounds when a series of thunderclaps suddenly came from the depths of the mountains, shaking the ground beneath their feet.
In particular, the ferocious aura of the Ferocious Beast suddenly subsided after the tremor.
Having fought in the Soul Master World for many years, Zhao Wuji immediately guessed: Could it be that some powerful figure happened to pass by and fought Thundering Hell Vine to a standstill?
If that's the case, we might even be able to get some benefits.
With the intention of turning back to investigate and taking advantage of the chaos to get a share of the spoils, he gritted his teeth and led his students back along the original route.
But once they pushed aside the thorns and stepped into the open space, everyone stopped in their tracks.
There were no massive remnants of ancient vines here, nor any Soul Beast lying on the ground, near death.
In the center of the open space, only two women, one old and one young, dressed in robes made of exotic animal skins, were weeping bitterly around the body of an old man with white hair.
"That is..."
Zhao Wuji first looked at the snake-headed cane in the old woman's hand, then saw the black dragon-headed staff scattered in the pool of blood, and his eyelids twitched violently.
" Dragon Duke Meng Shu? Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang?!"
Dai Mubai and Oscar didn't recognize each other, but Zhao Wuji knew them all too well.
This couple was renowned in the Soul Master World.
Dragon Duke Meng Shu is Power Attack System- type Soul Douluo at level 80-something, while Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang is a veteran Soul Emperor at level 60-something.
The Martial Soul Fusion Skill, " Dragon-Snake Combined Strike," is so powerful that even many newly-established experts have to avoid its edge.
How could such a person die in this desolate forest?
Tang San stood at the front of the group, looking at Chao Tianxiang who was holding the corpse and completely unguarded, his expression gradually becoming serious.
Xiao Wu's abduction by the Titan Giant Ape certainly threw him into disarray, but his instincts still told him that things were probably not so simple.
He pressed the trigger of the Hidden Weapon in his sleeve, tiptoed forward a few steps, clasped his hands in greeting, and asked:
"This junior is a student of the Shrek Academy. May I ask what danger you two seniors encountered? This elder, were you injured by that mutated Thunder Vine? If needed, we are willing to do our best."
Chao Tianxiang held the corpse, trembling all over, as if she hadn't heard him at all.
Meng Yiran, who had been standing to the side in a daze, was startled awake by the voice and abruptly raised her head.
"It was him... he killed Grandpa!"
Tears streamed down her face as she clutched her head, almost screaming.
"It wasn't Thunder Vine at all! It was a person, a black-robed boy about our age!"
Meng Yiran became more and more anxious as she spoke, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes tightly.
"He stole the entire trunk of the ancient Thunder Vine! My grandfather only wanted him to hand it over, and he pulled out a long spear that looked like bamboo..."
Her voice trembled, and she could barely speak.
"Four Soul Ring! Four Soul Ring are glowing beneath his feet!"
"He merely moved his wrist, and a beam of white light forced my grandmother back. Then the ground sank, revealing countless deep blue lightning spears everywhere!"
Meng Yiran's pupils constricted, as if she were seeing the scene from just moments ago again.
"My grandfather didn't even have time to unleash his Martial Soul Avatar before his protective aura was pierced! That spear pierced his chest, and inside... it was completely shredded!"
Cries echoed through the woods.
Zhao Wuji, Dai Mubai, and Osler exchanged glances, their wariness gradually turning into confusion.
A boy of fourteen or fifteen, wielding a bamboo-shaped Martial Soul, revealed only four Soul Ring, yet he killed Dragon Duke Meng Shu in a few moves?
"Absurd, utterly absurd."
Zhao Wuji frowned and shook his head.
As a level 76 Immovable Wisdom King, he knew all too well how strong the protective aura and Soul Power reserves of Soul Douluo were.
Even the most talented individuals nurtured by the Upper Three Sects, upon reaching the level of Soul Ancestor at level 40, would be utterly crushed when facing an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo who had fought for decades.
The fourth ring transcends three major realms, slaying the eighth ring?
There's no such logic to Soul Master cultivation!
"Little girl, are you seeing things because you're too sad?"
Dai Mubai stepped forward, arms crossed, and said, "If he really only has four spirit rings, how could he possibly kill your grandfather? Could the Soul Ring under his feet possibly grow flowers?"
Meng Yiran suddenly turned her head, her bloodshot eyes fixed on him.
"I didn't lie! I saw it clearly!"
"His Soul Ring... are truly different from others!"
She was trembling violently, her voice filled with terror.
"Two purple streaks, two black streaks!"
"Purple, purple, black, black! The first two are both Thousand-Year Soul Ring, and the last two are both ten-thousand-year black rings!"
There was a moment of silence among the crowd.
Zhao Wuji's facial muscles twitched twice, and the last trace of seriousness in his eyes dissipated, leaving only a helpless sigh.
Oscar tugged at Ma Hongjun's sleeve, shook his head, and chuckled.
Two purples and two blacks?
The first ring lasts a thousand years, the fourth ring ten thousand years?
In the records of all the orthodox academies and sects across the continent, the absorption limit for the First Soul Ring is only about four hundred years, and for the Fourth Soul Ring it is only about five thousand years.
A configuration of two purple and two black is simply wishful thinking!
"Oh, poor child..."
Zhao Wuji withdrew his Soul Power, looked at Meng Yiran was crying incessantly, and shook his head with a sigh.
" Dragon Duke Meng Shu most likely encountered Ferocious Beast for 100,000 years, or a Titled Douluo who had been in seclusion for many years, which is why he lost his life. This girl witnessed her grandfather's tragic death and couldn't bear the shock; she's probably already gone mad."
Dai Mubai and the others nodded in agreement.
With a cultivation level of four rings and a bamboo spear Martial Soul, how many moves did he take to kill Dragon Duke Meng Shu?
How could they possibly believe such a thing?
In their eyes, the black-robed youth that Meng Yiran spoke of was nothing more than a hallucination born from her excessive fear and mental confusion.
Tang San, however, did not agree.
He stood at the front of the line, his hands, which were hanging in his sleeves, clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white little by little.
Bamboo Martial Soul, Long Spear...
These words reminded him of a face he knew all too well.
That person always had a calm demeanor, even his laughter was unhurried.
Xiao Xuan!
During his six years at the Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, Tang San had never seen anyone else use a plant-based Martial Soul like the Lone Bamboo as a long spear.
Even considering his experiences from both lifetimes, there was only one person he Xiao Xuan.
He still remembers the fight in front of the dormitory very clearly.
Xiao Xuan didn't even activate his Soul Ring; he simply thrust out a spear, and shattered the Mandala Snake Vine that Xiao Xuan was so proud of.
Before he could react, the cold bamboo tip was already pressed against his throat.
The humiliation of that battle kept him awake at night for several years.
"Could it really be him?"
Tang San's heart tightened.
If Xiao Xuan had already broken through level 40 and happened to obtain some extraordinary opportunity, perhaps...
The thought had barely formed in his mind when he sneered inwardly and suppressed it.
impossible.
How could it be Xiao Xuan!
Others may not know Xiao Xuan's background, but he does.