With an earth-shaking boom, Chu Qing's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill blasted the Dragon-Clawed Golden Eagle into a skyful of shredded flesh and bloody mist.
Only then did the Golden Dragon Spear arrive, originally meant to intercept the eighteen-foot Snake Lance, but the spreading energy sent it flying back, while the surrounding trees crumbled in its wake.
The energy subsided, and the eighteen-foot Snake Lance flew back into Chu Qing's hand. A crater remained in the ground below where it had been, and the surroundings were a complete mess.
A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, black as ink, floated silently in the air.
Jin Su's pupils trembled violently. She smelled the familiar scent of the Dragon-Clawed Golden Eagle's blood in the air, and fury welled up inside her.
She raised a hand, and the Golden Dragon Spear flew back into it. With one step, she shattered the ground and charged at Chu Qing again.
She had slowed considerably, her speed now no different from an ordinary person's.
Chu Qing's cultivation was far higher than hers, and she was severely restricted within the Slow Domain.
Chu Qing looked at her, azure light shooting from his eyes.
Combat skill: Radiance of the Azure Eyes.
Electric arcs surged through the air. Under the twofold control, Jin Su couldn't move an inch.
"You seem very angry."
Looking at her, Chu Qing couldn't help feeling a headache coming on. He explained:
"I didn't provoke you, but you came at me ready to kill. I was only protecting myself."
"I didn't think that Dragon-Clawed Golden Eagle could communicate like you, so I had no choice but to kill it."
Flames of fury leaped in Jin Su's eyes, and she clenched her teeth, trying to break free.
Chu Qing ventured a question:
"Can I ask your name?"
Now that the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, had an appearance of her own, her name naturally wouldn't be Wang Qiu'er anymore.
Jin Su answered him by lighting up her fourth Soul Ring.
Golden Dragon Explosion.
Energy burst outward with her at its center, accompanied by three successive explosions.
Chu Qing wasn't angry in the slightest. Instead, he found it interesting.
"Looks like you're not going to tell me today."
"What a shame."
"But that's all right. We'll meet again."
He used the thrust of the explosion to leap into the air. Though he sounded relaxed, the moment he turned around, he flew through the air at full speed, fleeing toward the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The fight had caused such a commotion that he couldn't be sure whether the Scarlet King, the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Mastiff ranked eighth among the ten great Ferocious Beasts, was nearby.
He wouldn't count on luck. Besides, that Emperor Auspicious Beast carried Di Tian's reverse scale, so he couldn't really do anything to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Besides, to him, a living Three-Eyed Golden Lion had far more emotional value than a Soul Ring or Soul Bone.
Watching the fight in secret, Xue Zhan had been nodding repeatedly in approval of Chu Qing's strength, an auntie's smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
He had never seen Chu Qing act this way toward a girl before; calling him sweet-tongued would have been putting it nicely.
He had wanted to watch more, but to his even greater surprise, Chu Qing slipped away so quickly that it looked like a race for his life.
He wondered whether Chu Qing had sensed something.
He wanted to stay and watch Jin Su a little longer, but he was afraid Chu Qing would run too fast and that he wouldn't be able to find him even with Man Faced Demon Puppet, so he reluctantly went after him.
Jin Su stared after the retreating Chu Qing, momentarily stunned. He had clearly held the upper hand, so why had he run away so decisively?
She clenched her fists in anger and wanted to shout a few harsh words in the direction Chu Qing had gone, but he had already vanished from sight.
Grinding her pearly teeth, she turned to look at the bloody mist still drifting in the air. The anger in her eyes turned to sorrow and self-reproach. If she hadn't underestimated her enemy and rushed ahead, she wouldn't have needlessly cost a Soul Beast its life, especially one she knew like the Dragon-Clawed Golden Eagle.
"Damn human!"
she said bitterly.
For a moment, she hesitated. She had lived in the Star Dou Great Forest for over a thousand years, and as the Emperor Auspicious Beast, she had seen and eaten her fill in every corner of it.
She had begged for hundreds of years before Di Tian finally agreed to let her go out.
Before she had even left the Star Dou Great Forest, she had found Chu Qing indiscriminately slaughtering Soul Beasts.
Humans were all so hateful. She wondered whether she should still go to the human world.
After struggling with the question for a while, she soon made up her mind.
"You just wait. I'll kill you!"
Several miles outside the Star Dou Forest, Chu Qing couldn't help sneezing.
He turned to look behind him, and his heart relaxed.
"I should be safe here, right?"
He landed and strolled along, taking a rest for the time being.
When he came to a crossroads, he looked at the signpost and headed in the direction of the Xinluo Empire.
He planned to retrieve the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife.
His original plan had been to pick it up along the way once the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament began.
But the Will of the Plane had originally promised him Electrolux, only to give him a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Spirit in exchange instead.
It was hard for him to trust the Will of the Plane after that. It would be safer to get the knife sooner.
Along the way, he also wanted to see what the card and board game market was like in the Star Luo Empire.
The Soul Fighting Society now had four major backers-the imperial family, the Heavenly Sun Clan, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, and the Mysterious Nether Sect-as well as the nobles behind Xue Shiqi and Li Zhongyuan. Within the Dou Ling Empire, it was essentially at the stage of staking out territory.
It was also time to look abroad and make plans in advance.
The Heavenly Soul Empire was on bad terms with the Dou Ling Empire, to say nothing of the Sun Moon Empire, so the Star Luo Empire's market was the next target.
When he reached a village near the Star Dou Great Forest, he bought a horse. At a small city, he switched to a carriage and headed all the way to Star Luo City.
Xue Zhan followed him the whole way, feeling a little puzzled.
What is this little fellow planning?
They encountered bandits along the way. Kindhearted as he was, Chu Qing showed them the right path: reincarnate sooner, and perhaps they'd awaken a good Martial Soul and soar to the heavens.
After reaching Star Luo City and settling into his lodgings, he looked around the Star Luo Auction House. He didn't find the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife up for auction, but fortunately, there would be an auction a month later.
He went in and out of all the entertainment venues in the city, whether high-class or low, leaving none of them out.
Rather than frequenting places where Soul Masters gathered, he spent his time visiting markets crowded with ordinary people.
Xue Zhan, who had followed and watched him all this time, gradually understood Chu Qing's intentions. But he hadn't expected Chu Qing to plant himself right in front of the Star Luo Royal Academy's main gate, holding up a fan sign for Xu Jiujiu.
Xu Jiujiu was a princess of the Star Luo Empire. Xue Zhan chuckled as he watched.
"Isn't this kid afraid of getting beaten up?"
Sure enough, although Chu Qing was a little younger than Xu Jiujiu, he had already grown tall, sturdy, and handsome, and there he stood at the Star Luo Royal Academy's gate holding a fan sign.
Although there was nothing excessive written on his sign, every student who passed in or out couldn't help imagining all sorts of things, and they all took him for another suitor.
No one gave him any trouble on the first day.
Xu Jiujiu heard from her close friends that she had a rather handsome suitor and felt a little pleased with herself, though she also thought it reflected badly on her.
At her prompting, someone finally came to deal with Chu Qing at noon on the second day.
"You pretty boy, aren't you ashamed of yourself, day after day?"
"Standing there holding that lousy sign."
"Do you even know who our Princess Jiujiu is?"
"What kind of talent and status does she have?"
"And you? Who do you think you are?"
"A toad lusting after swan meat."
"It hasn't caused much trouble yet, so take a brother's advice and leave while you can."