Elopement?

The next day.

Early in the morning, Hu Jiu and Xiao Wu left Nuoding Academy and headed west toward the nearby Mato City.

"Xiao Wu, are you really coming with me to Mato City? It's quite far away. Just traveling there will take a lot of time!" Hu Jiu had an iron hammer hanging from his waist as he watched Xiao Wu skipping along ahead of him.

"Of course. You're a Support Soul Master. Even though you have some combat ability, it's still not enough. So Sister Xiao Wu is being kind enough to help you out—but I'm not helping for free."

Xiao Wu turned around with a sweet smile and held up her fingers.

"I want five hundred carrots." After thinking for a moment, she blinked and added, "No, I want a thousand. Not one less."

"Haha, sure. I can let you eat carrots for the rest of your life if you want."

Hu Jiu chuckled as he looked at the adorably naive Xiao Wu.

"But if we just run off like this, won't your good brother Tang San blame you later?" After giving it some thought, Xiao Wu still asked with concern.

Xiao Wu did not really care about Hu Jiu's choice for his Second Soul Ring. In her eyes, no matter what Soul Ring Hu Jiu chose, she would respect his decision.

Of course, the prerequisite was that his carrots had to taste even better.

"Little San? Don't worry. Once I get the Soul Ring, there won't be anything he can do. At most, he'll scold me when we get back." Hu Jiu had already thought this through.

Besides, he thought highly of the skill Transformation. It was true that a ten-year Metamon could not give him a particularly powerful skill effect.

But what if he raised this Soul Ring to a very high level in the future?

Wouldn't that mean he could transform into whatever he wanted—

Indistinguishable from the real thing—

For a moment, Hu Jiu's heart was filled with anticipation.

Before leaving, he had looked into it. Metamons were a specialty of the Monster Forest near Mato City to the west. The strongest Soul Beasts there were only around a hundred years old. With his and Xiao Wu's cultivation, dealing with them would be more than easy.

This time, because he was traveling with Xiao Wu, Hu Jiu mischievously chose to walk. Although they could have arrived in two days by carriage, they insisted on taking five days instead.

The two of them enjoyed the scenery and had fun along the way, as though they had come out on a trip rather than to hunt for a Soul Ring.

One thing delighted Hu Jiu greatly: because the two of them were alone together this time, his relationship with Xiao Wu had finally made breakthrough progress.

They walked happily side by side, their hands brushing against each other. They were only one step away from holding hands.

It was not that Hu Jiu lacked the courage. The main problem was that Xiao Wu seemed to have noticed. Whenever he tried anything, he would be met with an eye roll from her, leaving Hu Jiu helpless.

Still, Hu Jiu was not in a hurry. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future, so there was no need to rush now.

Originally, Hu Jiu thought this journey would go very smoothly. After all, wasn't there an old saying? When roaming the martial world, the people you should never provoke were the elderly, children, and women.

He and Xiao Wu accounted for two of those.

Unfortunately, no one on the Douluo Continent seemed to have summed up that ironclad rule. In any case, the two of them had run into trouble now.

As they neared Mato City, there were more travelers on the road. There were farmers carrying local goods, merchant caravans heading out for business, and occasionally adventurers dressed like Soul Masters.

And they ran into a group of wealthy young masters.

"Hehe, little sister, where are you two heading? This young master is in a good mood today, so I'll give you a ride for free." A pale young man of seventeen or eighteen stepped forward and blocked Hu Jiu and Xiao Wu's path.

On the surface, he looked kindly enough, but the lewdness in his eyes was impossible to conceal.

This bastard had set his sights on Xiao Wu.

As he watched the young man speaking to Xiao Wu, Hu Jiu lowered his head to hide the vicious glint in his eyes.

At the same time, he secretly assessed the two guards behind the young man.

"One is Level Twenty-Five. Judging from his light footsteps, he should be an Agility System Great Soul Master."

"The other is around Level Twenty-Six. His palms are broad and his build is sturdy, so he's obviously an Assault System Great Soul Master."

"As for this young man, he's already this old and only Level Eighteen. What an embarrassment."

In an instant, Hu Jiu gleaned all this information through his Level Seven Five Senses Strengthening Technique.

Meanwhile, the young man across from them was still chattering on, inviting Xiao Wu onto his carriage.

"Get lost!" Xiao Wu rarely showed such a frosty expression as she spoke coldly.

"What did you say? You ungrateful little brat! I'm the son of Mato City Lord Ma Tong, and you dare insult me?"

The young man's expression turned exceptionally ugly. In all his life, no one had ever cursed at him like this.

"Ma Wen, Ma Wu."

"Yes, Young Master Ma Feng." The two guards behind the young man stepped forward respectfully.

"Capture this hateful little brat for me. Just wait and see how I teach her a lesson."

"Hmph, I can tell at a glance that you're not a good person. You want to fight? I like that." Xiao Wu rubbed her fists together, then leaped forward and launched the first attack.

Behind her, Hu Jiu had already drawn his iron hammer, a savage smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.

Charging began.

Hu Jiu did not join Xiao Wu's battle against the two guards. Not only did he stay out of it, he quietly retreated to the side and began swinging his iron hammer in circles, building up force.

The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer was like this. Even though it had already reached level eight, the essence of the hammer technique had not changed. He still needed to build up power hammer strike by hammer strike.

However, the power added with each strike was no longer as simple as doubling.

It increased in leaps—from onefold, to twofold, to fourfold.

In merely ten strikes, he had accumulated five hundred jin of force.

"This much strength is enough."

After glancing at Xiao Wu, who was using her agility to tangle with the two guards, Hu Jiu shouted.

"Xiao Wu, move aside!"

Upon hearing Hu Jiu's shout, Xiao Wu naturally knew what he intended to do. She swiftly performed several midair flips and darted away to one side.

"Well, well, I nearly forgot about you, kid. Grab him too."

The young Ma Feng was also drawn over by Hu Jiu's shout, but he did not take Hu Jiu seriously at all. In his eyes, having one agile Xiao Wu was already surprising enough. Two such geniuses could not possibly appear at once.

Unfortunately, it seemed he had miscalculated.

Soul Power spread beneath Hu Jiu's feet, and his body flashed before the two guards like a wisp of green smoke. The small iron hammer in his hand rose high. In an instant, the two only felt an immense force, so overwhelming that it stole their breath, crash toward them. After that, they knew nothing.

How could two Soul Grandmasters of merely twenty-odd levels withstand more than five hundred jin of force?

They were sent flying on the spot by Hu Jiu's blow like rag dolls, their fate unknown.

"Kill!" After blasting the two guards away, Hu Jiu did not pause. Killing Intent shot from his eyes almost tangibly toward Ma Feng.

Xiao Wu was his. He had long regarded her as his exclusive possession, yet someone had actually dared to set his sights on her. He was simply courting death.

"Don't! Don't come any closer!" Hu Jiu's Killing Intent frightened Ma Feng into collapsing to the ground. His feet kept kicking as his body continuously scrambled backward. Clearly, Hu Jiu's methods had broken him with fear; he did not even dare summon his Martial Soul.

Hu Jiu was not one to go soft. He had no intention of holding back, and one hammer strike directly brought the battle to an end.

"As expected, women are a source of trouble."