A flicker of anger flashed through the white-haired elder's eyes. Yet the moment he finished his threatening words, his gaze abruptly froze on the tall figure not far away.
Kong Xuan and Kong Ling landed behind Kong Deming. He blocked the powerful presence of the Soul Saint opposite them, leaving the two completely unaffected.
The white-haired elder trembled all over, hastily reined in his Soul Power, and jogged forward a few steps to bow respectfully. "Your Eminence Silver Moon, I never expected to encounter you here!"
Clearly, the white-haired elder had recognized Kong Deming.
At his words, the beautiful middle-aged woman behind him also paled instantly. She hurriedly pulled the little girl forward to bow. "Greetings, Your Eminence Silver Moon."
Although she had never met Kong Deming, she had heard of Silver Moon Douluo's formidable reputation.
Kong Deming nodded slightly and asked calmly, "Are you from Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy?"
Seeing that Kong Deming did not seem angry, the white-haired elder breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly answered, "Yes. I am Li Yan, the academy's director of instruction. This is Liu Qing, a teacher at the academy. We brought our student Shui Ling here to obtain a Soul Ring."
As he spoke, Li Yan pointed to the beautiful woman and the little girl behind him, introducing them.
He also sized up the two children behind Kong Deming, guessing that they, too, had come to obtain Soul Rings.
If they wanted the Soul Shadow Spider, his group would have no chance of competing for it.
Kong Deming noticed the changes in Li Yan's expression and asked, "Is this Soul Shadow Spider the Soul Beast you intend to hunt?"
"Yes, Your Eminence."
Li Yan glanced at the Soul Shadow Spider on the ground, feeling that they probably had no fate with this one and would likely have to find another.
Kong Deming glanced at Shui Ling behind him and found the little girl rather interesting.
The two academy teachers, Li Yan and Liu Qing, were both exceedingly cautious in his presence, yet this little girl seemed entirely unafraid of him. Her expression was calm, and she even dared to meet his eyes.
Was she fearless out of ignorance, or was she mature beyond her years, just like his grandson?
With these thoughts in mind, Kong Deming asked, "This Soul Ring is already close to a thousand years old. Are you sure that little girl can absorb it? Do not sacrifice her life in pursuit of a higher-aged Soul Ring."
Li Yan had not expected Kong Deming to say such a thing. After a moment of surprise, he suddenly felt that there might be a chance after all.
He hurriedly added, "In fact, we have Your Eminence Silver Moon to thank for this. If the Worship Hall had not issued an order two years ago to awaken Martial Souls for commoner Soul Masters free of charge, we could never have discovered a genius like Shui Ling!"
"Your Eminence, as teachers, we would naturally never disregard a student's life."
"We have also conducted tests. Our conclusion was that, with her physical constitution, she would have absolutely no trouble absorbing any Soul Ring under a thousand years old."
Behind Kong Deming, the siblings Kong Xuan and Kong Ling were now also looking curiously at the little girl opposite them.
She looked to be about their age, and since she was about to absorb this Soul Ring that was nearly a thousand years old, she had clearly already reached rank twenty!
Looking at it that way, Shui Ling was indeed a genius.
Kong Deming smiled and waved his hand. A force lifted the Soul Shadow Spider from the ground and slowly set it down beside Shui Ling.
"We have no need for this Soul Beast!" He looked at Li Yan. "Since she is a student of Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy, you may have this Soul Ring."
Overjoyed, Li Yan hurriedly thanked him.
Shui Ling also turned her calm gaze toward Kong Deming and said, "Thank you, Your Eminence!"
"Shui Ling, hurry and absorb the Soul Ring."
Li Yan hastily gave the instruction, afraid that a delay might bring complications.
A Soul Shadow Spider of such a suitable age was not easy to find.
Shui Ling nodded, then sat cross-legged and began absorbing the Soul Ring.
Kong Deming showed no intention of leaving. Instead, he remained where he was, observing Shui Ling as she absorbed the Soul Ring.
Kong Xuan walked over to Kong Deming and asked softly, "Grandpa, you seem very interested in her?"
"She has cultivated to rank twenty at such a young age, and she is absorbing a Soul Ring close to a thousand years old as her second Soul Ring. She is a genius no less talented than Ling'er."
Hearing Kong Deming's words, Kong Xuan also turned his gaze toward Shui Ling, who was absorbing her Soul Ring opposite them.
"I heard that your Soul Master classes will be holding a tournament next semester. This little girl should be one of your opponents."
"Hmph!" Kong Ling snorted. "We'll definitely take first place!"
Her grandfather's comparison of her with Shui Ling just now had also stirred a trace of competitiveness in Kong Ling.
Time ticked by, and Shui Ling's absorption of the Soul Ring went very smoothly. She did not even show any sign of pain.
Kong Xuan felt that, given her physical constitution, she might even have been able to absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring as her second Soul Ring.
After roughly a dozen minutes, Shui Ling opened her eyes. She had finished absorbing the Soul Ring!
Delight flashed across the faces of the two teachers, Li Yan and Liu Qing, and they once again expressed their gratitude to Kong Deming.
Kong Deming smiled and said, "This little girl is indeed a genius. My grandson and granddaughter are also students in the Soul Master classes. I imagine they will have plenty of contact with one another in the future."
The others' gazes focused on Kong Xuan and Kong Ling. Clearly, they had already guessed that the two had also come to obtain their second Soul Rings.
Li Yan had never heard that the legendary Soul Engineer Kong Deming had any descendants, and he wondered where this grandson and granddaughter had sprung from.
But he only thought it to himself and did not dare ask aloud.
"They are all young geniuses. It will be good for them to spend more time together."
Li Yan smiled, then said, "Your Eminence, we have accomplished what we came here to do, so we will be returning to the academy."
"Mm!"
Kong Deming nodded with a smile and watched the three of them disappear into the forest.
Before they left, Kong Xuan keenly noticed that Shui Ling's gaze lingered on him for an extra moment.
Although it was well concealed, Kong Xuan still sensed the fighting spirit deep in her eyes.
Kong Xuan chuckled inwardly. He had not expected this genius girl they encountered to be just as "battle-hungry" as Xu Tianyi!
Kong Deming withdrew his gaze and looked in another direction. "Let's go. We're almost at our destination, too!"
They walked for about another half hour, passing through the dense forest, before the view suddenly opened up before them.
A secluded valley encircled by mountains came into view. Mist swirled through the valley, and sunlight filtered through the thin haze, refracting into rainbow halos on the damp rocks, flowers, and grasses.
At the center of the valley floor, a clear spring flowed quietly, its water crystalline and transparent.
With his exceptional eyesight, Kong Xuan could even see strange points of light flickering at the bottom of the spring, as though stars had fallen there.
"Wow! It's so beautiful here!"
Kong Ling exclaimed, clearly awestruck by the beautiful scenery, so different from what they had seen before.
Kong Deming smiled. "This is Starlight Valley in the Jingyang Mountain Range, a place where the Soul Power of heaven and earth converges. The Sun Radiance Fox we are looking for is here."
The second Soul Skill Kong Deming had prepared for Kong Ling, Blazing Sun Cage, came from this Sun Radiance Fox Soul Beast.
"Let's go. I've already sensed the location of a thousand-year Sun Radiance Fox!"
Knowing the way well, Kong Deming followed a narrow path toward the valley floor.