"Mmm."
Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes. He had never expected to actually fall asleep under Tang Ya's gentle care.
Fortunately, Bei Bei had been keeping watch nearby, so nothing unexpected had happened.
Tang Ya wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said in relief, "Yuhao, thank goodness you're all right. How could you come to such a dangerous place all by yourself?"
Huo Yuhao explained, "Sister Xiao Ya, I was just wandering around and looking for a suitable Soul Ring."
"Did you find one? I'll help you look in a bit. How can you be here alone without a teacher or elder accompanying you? All right, stick with me for now," Tang Ya said firmly.
"Sister Xiao Ya, I already found a suitable one."
Huo Yuhao scratched his head and pointed at the soul tool sword at his waist. A white Soul Ring appeared beneath him.
Tang Ya frowned slightly as she looked at Huo Yuhao's ten-year Soul Ring.
"Yuhao, how could you be so careless with your first Soul Ring! Your first Soul Ring should be at least a hundred years old to benefit your future development! No matter what your Martial Soul is, a ten-year first Soul Ring will offer you very little help in the future!"
"That's right, little brother Huo. Your Soul Ring's age really is a bit low, but fortunately, you can still correct that when you add Soul Rings later," Bei Bei interjected.
Tang Ya worried for Huo Yuhao. A Soul Ring of such an age really would hinder his future development.
"Yuhao, you should have waited for me. I'd already guessed what you were here for. If I'd arrived a little sooner, you wouldn't have used this Soul Ring."
Huo Yuhao patted his chest and promised, "Oh, it's fine, Sister Xiao Ya. If I work hard from now on, I can still stand shoulder to shoulder with those geniuses."
"Pfft! All right, all right. As long as you have that determination."
Tang Ya covered her mouth and chuckled, tapping Huo Yuhao's chest with her slender, jade-white finger as she encouraged him.
Bei Bei stood to one side watching them. Suddenly, he felt utterly superfluous standing there as the third wheel.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a streak of pinkish purple shooting toward Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao from his blind spot like an arrow loosed from a bow.
"Xiao Ya! Watch out!"
Looking closely, he saw that the pinkish-purple streak was a large snake, three meters long, with a protrusion on its forehead.
A thousand-year Mandala Snake!
The Mandala Snake opened its mouth and sprayed pinkish-purple poison gas. Its gaping, blood-red maw lunged straight at Tang Ya's face.
It moved so fast that Tang Ya had no time to react and froze in place.
Swish!
A flash of sword light swept past.
"Hiss!"
The Mandala Snake flicked its tongue in pain as it was sent flying.
Tang Ya felt a backward tug at her waist, and her entire body toppled back uncontrollably.
She collided squarely with Huo Yuhao's chest. Pushing off with his foot, he retreated with her.
The highly poisonous gas sprayed onto the grass with a sizzling hiss. It was lethally toxic!
Leaning against Huo Yuhao's firm chest and feeling his powerful heartbeat, Tang Ya's pretty face involuntarily flushed.
She had never expected Huo Yuhao to be so nimble when he had only just become a Soul Master.
"Sister Xiao Ya, are you all right?"
Huo Yuhao asked, not noticing her pretty face burning red.
Tang Ya buried her face deeper. "I'm fine... I'm all right."
Seeing Tang Ya attacked, Bei Bei failed to notice anything unusual about her either. His heart filled with fury.
That damned Mandala Snake! It actually dared attack Xiao Ya! Damn it!
Crackle!
Countless bolts of lightning flashed around Bei Bei. His pupils instantly became vertical slits, and the muscles of his right arm began to swell. His sleeve split apart inch by inch as blue scales emerged, and his entire right hand transformed into a dragon claw.
"Third Soul Skill, Thunder's Wrath!"
The lightning around Bei Bei's right hand grew even more violent, erupting wildly. Stray bolts scorched the surrounding grass black.
His right claw shot straight toward the nearby Mandala Snake!
The Mandala Snake had only just taken a sword strike from Huo Yuhao and had yet to recover when countless bolts of lightning enveloped it.
The immense threat made its body writhe madly as it tried to escape the reach of the dragon claw.
But Bei Bei moved too fast!
Before it could flee, Bei Bei seized it. Countless blue lightning serpents continuously shocked its body, its thick scales offering no protection whatsoever.
The Mandala Snake flicked its tongue frantically, its trembling body coiling around Bei Bei's dragon claw as it tried to escape.
Seeing this, lightning flashed in Bei Bei's eyes, and the lightning in his hand intensified further!
The Mandala Snake finally could no longer endure it. A spurt of crimson blood sprayed from its mouth, scattering across the ground like little red flowers.
A scorched aroma filled the air.
Bei Bei stopped once he had gone far enough, leaving the Mandala Snake with only a breath of life.
He gripped the snake seven inches below its head and pried its jaws open with his dragon claw, calling to Tang Ya, "Xiao Ya, quick! Kill it! Here's your Soul Ring!"
At Bei Bei's shout!
Tang Ya shuddered and finally came to her senses, hurriedly leaving Huo Yuhao's embrace.
I actually hid in Yuhao's arms for so long. How mortifying!
Tang Ya hurriedly patted her cheeks, and only then did her blush slowly fade.
Noticing that something seemed off about Tang Ya, Huo Yuhao thought she might have come into contact with the poisonous mist. "Sister Xiao Ya, you didn't touch the poisonous mist just now, did you?"
"Huh? No, no. Yuhao, I'll take the Soul Ring first. Stay close to me! Don't wander off," Tang Ya immediately explained.
Only after confirming that Huo Yuhao had noticed nothing did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Bei Bei walked over carrying the Mandala Snake and said, seeking credit, "Xiao Ya, look! It's even a thousand-year Mandala Snake!"
"Mm, I know."
Tang Ya glanced at it and turned her palm. A refined iron throwing knife appeared, and she drove it straight into the snake's mouth, which Bei Bei was holding open.
The Mandala Snake let out a shrill hiss! Its life was extinguished completely!
Bei Bei then reined in his lightning. The lightning serpents in his hand dissipated, and the scales on his right hand slowly receded, restoring its human form.
A purple Soul Ring emerged above the Mandala Snake's corpse, floating in midair as it slowly took shape.
Tang Ya summoned her Martial Soul. The blades of Blue Silver Grass swayed, and she raised her hand to draw the Soul Ring over and absorb it.
Drip!
A drop of dark purple liquid.
It abruptly fell onto the grass in front of Tang Ya.
A large hole was instantly corroded into the ground! An unbearably foul stench spread through the air!
Tang Ya looked in the direction the liquid had fallen from.
A huge spiderweb stretched over the three of them. Another drop of liquid was slowly gathering on it.
The liquid trembled precariously on the web, looking as though it might fall at any moment.
When did this happen!
Bei Bei looked up at the huge web, touching his chin with one hand. "When did this spiderweb appear? Let's leave first. This feels dangerous."
To be safe, Bei Bei decided to leave first.
Tang Ya glanced at the Soul Ring on the ground, then at Huo Yuhao behind her, and nodded.
The suddenly appearing spiderweb gave them an unsettling feeling deep down. Abandoning the Soul Ring and leaving was a very wise decision.
Huo Yuhao glanced at the spiderweb, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile full of mockery.
Little spider? Still not coming out?
Boom!
Something heavy slammed into the ground. The earth shook, and dust billowed everywhere, obscuring the three of them's vision.
"Xiao Ya, little brother Huo, get close to me!"
Bei Bei barked, lightning surging from his body once more as his Martial Soul directly possessed him.
Tang Ya's Blue Silver Grass grew rapidly, forming a long whip that wrapped around Huo Yuhao's waist and brought him to her side.
The two watched their surroundings warily, slowly retreating with Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao stared ahead, his relaxed expression utterly at odds with the other two.
Yawning, Huo Yuhao drew the sword at his waist.
"Roar!"
The terrifying sound waves blasted away the dust surrounding the three of them.
The purple Soul Ring floating above the ground was instantly dispersed!
A huge white face suddenly stabbed into Bei Bei's vision!
On the spider's five-meter-wide abdomen, white markings resembling a human face swayed constantly. Its legs, each nearly ten meters long, repeatedly struck the surrounding trees.
The spider's compound eyes fixed on the three people before it, making their scalps prickle!
More dark purple liquid dripped from its mouth, and the ground hissed as it corroded.
"A Man Faced Demon Spider!"
"At that size, it's at least ten thousand years old! Run! Xiao Ya, run!"