Tracking the Star Dou Great Forest

Lan Hong watched this scene. Though he had long been prepared, he still could not suppress the rage rising within him.

"Aah!"

Lan Hong let out a roar, venting the fury in his chest, but it was nothing more than helpless rage.

Right now, there was nothing Lan Hong could do except collect their bodies.

Only after a long while did Lan Hong calm down and begin searching around the pile of corpses.

Sure enough, he discovered traces of Soul Power fluctuations—several different ones.

This showed that the Fallen Ones this time were a team, with at least four members.

Their levels could not be determined from the Soul Power fluctuations alone, but they should not have been below Spirit King rank.

They went in that direction. That way leads to the Star Dou Great Forest. These Fallen Ones must know that after slaughtering an entire town, Spirit Hall would definitely hunt them down, so they want to hide in the Star Dou Great Forest and lie low? Hmph! No matter where you run, I'll cut off your heads!

Lan Hong lit a fire and cremated the corpses. After scattering a stack of yellow paper, he returned to the town.

"Back already? What happened?"

"This place was attacked by Fallen Ones. Everyone in the entire town has been slaughtered!"

"What!"

Dugu Yan's mouth fell open in shock, her face full of disbelief.

Lan Hong was not in the mood to explain further and spoke directly.

"I'll take you to the next town. Stay there!"

"What about you?"

"I'm going to find those Fallen Ones and kill them!"

"This isn't something we need to handle. Can't we just report it to Spirit Hall?"

"No! The sword I inherited will not allow me to stand by and do nothing! Enough. Get in. We're traveling through the night!"

"No! I'm going with you to wipe out those Fallen Ones! Don't underestimate me. I'm a Soul Ancestor too!"

Lan Hong stared at Dugu Yan for a while, until her face turned red.

"W-What are you looking at?"

"What you're about to see, I want you to keep it secret. Understand?"

"Another one of your secrets? You really have a lot of secrets! I understand. I'll keep it secret. I won't even tell Grandpa!"

"Good! Howling Sky, emerge!"

"Roar!"

Howling Sky appeared with a dragon's roar, making Dugu Yan feel the oppressive force of a martial soul.

"Isn't your martial soul a Cat? How did it become a dragon? And such a strange dragon at that?"

"He's Howling Sky! Don't ask about anything else! Howling Sky, transform!"

At Lan Hong's command, Howling Sky transformed into the Flame Chariot. Lan Hong pulled Dugu Yan aboard.

"Is this really a martial soul? That's incredible!"

"Hold tight!"

Lan Hong drove the Flame Chariot straight toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

Within the Star Dou Great Forest, five people entirely shrouded in black robes had just finished hunting soul beasts. They were the Fallen Ones Lan Hong was searching for!

Among the five were two Soul Saints, two Soul Emperors, and one Spirit King.

One of the Soul Saints had just broken through. Naturally, his breakthrough had come from slaughtering an entire town, achieved through countless lives of blood.

"Boss! Are we really going to stay in the Star Dou Great Forest for a year or half?"

"No choice! We slaughtered an entire town this time. Spirit Hall will definitely send red-clad bishops to hunt us down! We can only wait until things die down."

"Spirit Hall! Damn Spirit Hall! Those sanctimonious bastards! They insist on wiping us out completely. Commoners' lives aren't worth anything at all—they're just putting on a show!"

"Enough! Stop complaining! We don't need to go deep into the Star Dou Great Forest. We'll stay on the outskirts. If we really run into pursuers, it won't be too late to flee deeper inside. People often come to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt soul beasts, so we won't have it too hard."

"Hehe! Boss is right!"

The others also began to laugh sinisterly.

Lan Hong drove the Flame Chariot for an entire day before finally reaching the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

He put away Howling Sky and sat down cross-legged to recover his Soul Power. Only after it had fully recovered did he open his eyes.

"Once we enter the Star Dou Great Forest, I may not be able to look after you. Don't leave my side, understand?"

"Mm! I understand!"

Lan Hong then led Dugu Yan into the Star Dou Great Forest. Lan Hong moved through the forest as though walking on level ground, but Dugu Yan slowed him down.

Lan Hong did not say anything. He had already considered this possibility when he chose to bring Dugu Yan along.

"Sorry! I'm holding you back!"

"It's fine!"

"The Star Dou Great Forest is so vast. How are we supposed to find those Fallen Ones?"

"I've already memorized their Soul Power fluctuations. I can find them by following the Soul Power fluctuations they left behind!"

Lan Hong could do this because of the Amber Divine Eye's special ability.

Under the Amber Divine Eye, even invisible Soul Power fluctuations could be seen clearly.

"We're already close to those Fallen Ones, so be careful! We don't want to alert them!"

"Mm!"

After getting a little closer, Lan Hong and Dugu Yan could already see the five Fallen Ones.

Besides the five Fallen Ones, several corpses lay on the ground. They were clearly soul masters who had come to hunt soul beasts and fallen victim to them.

"What should we do?"

"Wait! Wait until nightfall!"

Night arrived. The most dangerous time in the Star Dou Great Forest was naturally at night, and the five Fallen Ones did not dare lower their guard.

They took turns keeping watch until the early hours of the morning. By then, even the one on watch was exhausted, and his attention was no longer as focused.

"Yanzi! Use the Third Spirit Skill on my command!"

"Mm!"

Lan Hong drew the Purple Cloud Sword. With Purple Smoke Scatter, he instantly filled the five Fallen Ones' camp with purple smoke.

At the same time, Dugu Yan used her Third Spirit Skill, Jade Phosphor Purple Poison. The poisonous mist mixed with the purple smoke and spread even faster.

The Fallen One on watch had only just reacted when Lan Hong used Purple Qi Comes East at top speed, slitting his throat with a single sword strike.

The Fallen One on watch died without even having time to summon his martial soul.

Lan Hong had thought the watchman had not had time to make a sound, and that Dugu Yan's poison would be enough to kill the other Fallen Ones. However, he had still underestimated them.

Suddenly, a gust of wind rose. No, it was not wind—it was an immensely powerful suction force.

A massive toad martial soul had swallowed the purple smoke and poisonous mist into its belly.

"Where did this little brat come from? How dare you cause trouble for us, the Fierce Five Tigers!"

The Fierce Five Tigers was the title these five Fallen Ones had given themselves. The one speaking was their boss, a Soul Saint.

His martial soul was the Red-striped Toad, an extremely poisonous martial soul, and he could devour poison.

"Boss, Fifth is dead!"

"What! Damn it! Kill this brat!"

Hidden in the shadows, Dugu Yan could not help worrying about Lan Hong. Lan Hong, however, showed no fear at all.

With a movement of his feet, he fled into the distance at tremendous speed.

"Trying to run! Do you think you can escape?"

The Fierce Five Tigers' second brother had the Black Feather Crow as his martial soul. Bird-type martial souls were all extremely fast, and he caught up to Lan Hong in the blink of an eye.

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