Mist swirled at the bottom of Starlight Valley.
Kong Deming walked at the front, each step silently sending out a ripple of Soul Power that dispersed the surrounding mist.
After they had walked for quite some time, Kong Deming suddenly stopped at the front.
He smiled faintly and pointed to a large boulder bathed in direct sunlight not far away. "Look over there."
Kong Xuan and Kong Ling followed his finger and saw a fox with golden-red fur lounging lazily atop the boulder.
Its fluffy tail stretched out like flames, every strand of fur flowing with a sunlit sheen.
Its eyes were pure gold, and deep within its pupils, the heart of a solar flame seemed to dance.
"A Thousand-Year Sun Radiance Fox."
Kong Deming said quietly, "A top-grade Soul Beast with both light and fire attributes. It couldn't be more suitable for Ling'er's Second Soul Ring!"
"Grandpa, let me!"
Kong Xuan stepped forward. He had already dealt with a two-thousand-year Silver Wolf, so a Sun Radiance Fox just over a thousand years old would naturally be no problem.
Kong Deming nodded his agreement.
Pushing lightly off the ground, Kong Xuan raced toward the Sun Radiance Fox.
Once he judged himself close enough, the Atlas Spear shot from his hand, aimed straight at the Sun Radiance Fox on the boulder.
As a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the Sun Radiance Fox sensed the danger. Its flaming tail shot upright, and its body sprang into the air in an instant, dodging the Atlas Spear's strike.
Gripping the boulder tightly with all four paws, the Sun Radiance Fox bared its teeth in a fierce display, its gaze sweeping the surroundings for any trace of its enemy.
Although the Atlas Spear had missed the Sun Radiance Fox, its sharpness allowed it to plunge deep into the boulder.
Just as the Sun Radiance Fox spotted Kong Xuan, his Second Soul Ring lit up.
Centered on the Atlas Spear, the Divine Atlas Spear Formation formed a fifty-meter zone.
A force of gravity seemed to descend from the heavens. Caught off guard, the Sun Radiance Fox was instantly pressed flat against the boulder.
"Whimper, whimper!"
The Sun Radiance Fox let out two cries and stood up against the pressure.
Kong Xuan would not give it time to react. At that moment, the eighteen Atlas Spears surrounding the Divine Atlas Spear Formation blazed with light.
Phantom spear strikes attacked the Sun Radiance Fox from every direction.
Compared with the Silver Wolf, the Sun Radiance Fox was much smaller and seemed more agile as well.
Although the gravitational pressure had greatly reduced its speed, its constantly leaping figure actually managed to evade the first few attacks.
Just when Kong Xuan thought the next strike would hit the Sun Radiance Fox, a golden-red light rose and enveloped it, also blocking the Atlas Spear phantoms that kept thrusting at it from outside.
The Sun Radiance Fox now seemed to be locked inside a golden-red cage. Under the continuous attacks, the golden-red light on the cage rapidly dimmed.
At this sight, Kong Xuan knew this was likely the Second Soul Skill his grandfather had planned for his younger sister: Blazing Sun Cage.
Its strength, allowing it to withstand so many attacks within the Divine Atlas Spear Formation, somewhat exceeded Kong Xuan's expectations.
However, when the final Atlas Spear phantom thrust toward the Blazing Sun Cage, the cage finally shattered, and the phantom pierced the Sun Radiance Fox's front paw.
"Roar!!!"
Just as Kong Xuan was about to step forward, a Soul Beast's furious roar suddenly came from nearby, accompanied by a terrifying presence.
The valley's rock wall suddenly burst apart, and an enormous black shape charged out with a roar!
It was a pitch-black tiger Soul Beast, with eerie blood-red markings on its forehead and suffocating shadow power coiling around its body.
Kong Xuan halted, his gaze growing more solemn as he looked over.
This was... a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!
"A Dark Devil Shadow-Devouring Tiger?"
Kong Deming also frowned slightly. "A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast! Why is it here?!"
The Dark Devil Shadow-Devouring Tiger fixed its scarlet pupils on Kong Xuan. It did not look as though it were watching prey, but rather as though it bore hatred toward him.
It seemed that Kong Xuan's attack on the Sun Radiance Fox had just ruined its plans.
"Ignore it. Focus on obtaining the Soul Ring!"
Kong Deming's voice reached Kong Xuan's ears, putting him at ease. His gaze shifted from the Dark Devil Shadow-Devouring Tiger back to the Sun Radiance Fox inside the Divine Atlas Spear Formation.
Pushing lightly off the ground, he covered a great distance with every step and reached the Sun Radiance Fox's side in the blink of an eye.
"Roar!!!"
The Dark Devil Shadow-Devouring Tiger roared again, fury rising within it at Kong Xuan's disregard.
Like a streak of black light tearing through the curtain of night, the Dark Devil Shadow-Devouring Tiger lunged at Kong Xuan, its sharp claws carrying a bone-chilling cold. The shadow energy swirling around its body actually devoured all the surrounding light.
But Kong Xuan had eyes only for the Sun Radiance Fox at that moment. The Atlas Spear embedded in the ground had already returned to his hand, its tip aimed at the Sun Radiance Fox whimpering incessantly on the ground.
He had not expected that, at the very end, the Sun Radiance Fox would look at him not with hatred, but with a pitiful, pleading expression.
His spear hand involuntarily paused, and a trace of pity arose in his heart.
He came from another world, and the education he had received since childhood always left him compassionate, so much so that he often felt out of place in this world.
But after so many years of growing accustomed to it, he had already adapted to this world's laws of survival. When it was time to strike, he would not go soft.
Thrusting the Atlas Spear forward, Kong Xuan ended the Sun Radiance Fox's life without expression.
At that very moment, the Dark Devil Shadow-Devouring Tiger was almost upon him.
Kong Xuan did not currently have the strength to handle a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!
At this hair's-breadth moment, Kong Deming did not even move from his spot nearby. He merely raised his right hand slowly and pointed his index finger into empty space.
In an instant, a streak of silver light, condensed until it seemed solid, burst from his fingertip. It moved so fast that only a dazzling afterimage remained, piercing the Dark Devil Shadow-Devouring Tiger's skull with a soft puncturing sound.
Before the ferocious Soul Beast could even roar, its massive body fell from midair and slammed heavily onto the valley's black ground.
Only the light at Kong Deming's fingertip had yet to dissipate completely, its lingering might flickering coldly in the thin mist.
This was the first time Kong Deming had acted during this Soul Hunting expedition.
With a single move, he had disposed of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
Kong Deming slowly lowered his raised right hand, his expression calm, as though he had merely done something utterly insignificant.
He turned to Kong Ling beside him. "Ling'er, go absorb the Soul Ring."
Having just watched the enormous Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast fail to withstand even one move from her grandfather, Kong Ling also wore a look of shock on her little face.
"Oh!"
After standing stunned for a moment, she finally answered upon hearing her grandfather's voice and jogged over to her older brother.
Watching the purple Soul Ring rise from the Sun Radiance Fox's body, Kong Ling's heart filled with anticipation and excitement.
Soon, she would be a two-ring Soul Grandmaster!
And her Second Soul Ring would even be a purple thousand-year one!
Kong Ling sat cross-legged in front of the Sun Radiance Fox, preparing to begin absorbing the Soul Ring.
Kong Deming swept his sleeve, and four silver-white metal cylinders shot out of his spatial ring, their pointed ends piercing the hard stone ground like hot knives through butter.
Intricate Soul Tool patterns emerged on the cylinders' surfaces. With a soft hum, pale blue energy barriers extended from the tops of the four pillars, interweaving above Kong Xuan and Kong Ling into a translucent dome.
This was a Class 9 defensive Soul Tool Kong Deming had specially prepared to ensure that Kong Ling would not be disturbed by anything outside while absorbing her Soul Ring.