Soul Beasts Flee South, Both Reach Rank Nineteen

Nuoding Academy's alarm bell rang three times.

It was not the class bell.

It was an emergency assembly bell, rung only when a large-scale danger appeared outside the city.

On the training ground, the senior students quickly formed ranks.

The teachers checked medicines, ropes, and weapons. Several carriages for transporting the wounded were already parked at the academy gates.

The vice dean spread out a map.

Three red lines stretched from the mountain forests north of Nuoding City, passed through several villages, and ultimately converged on the main road outside the city.

"The Soul Beasts in the north have begun migrating abnormally."

"Most of those spotted so far are between ten and a hundred years old. Individually, they aren't much of a threat, but their numbers are still growing."

"They aren't attacking."

The vice dean pointed at the map.

"They're fleeing."

The training ground fell silent.

Soul Beasts had territories and natural predators too.

Small migrations were not uncommon.

But Soul Beasts of different species and habits fleeing in the same direction meant that something more dangerous had appeared in the northern mountain forests.

With a black iron round shield on his back, Yan Feng stood before Dong Jian and the other three.

"We're going to Qinghe Village."

"Tang San will use Blue Silver Grass to control the smaller Soul Beasts."

"Li Man will redirect the migration."

"Xiao Wu will rescue the villagers."

"Dong Jian will hold the northern entrance to the village."

Dong Jian asked:

"What if an older Soul Beast appears at the entrance?"

"Delay it. Don't try to kill it."

Yan Feng looked at him.

"I'll handle the truly dangerous targets."

"If something else holds me up, you're to take no more than three head-on charges."

"After the third, you must retreat."

"Understood."

Dong Jian did not argue.

Tang San, however, looked at the map.

"If we followed the defensive formation you taught us before, teacher, I should establish the first line of defense with Blue Silver Grass at the village entrance."

"Dong Jian would be the second line."

"Li Man would protect the evacuation route."

Yan Feng shook his head.

"That formation was devised for a fixed enemy."

"Right now, the number, types, and direction of the Soul Beasts are all unclear."

"We'll get there first."

"Then decide how to set up."

Tang San said no more.

The four followed Yan Feng into the carriage.

When they were still two li from Qinghe Village, the ground had already begun to tremble.

Flocks of birds kept taking flight from the woods.

The sounds of snapping trees and the terrified roars of Soul Beasts came from the distance at intervals.

It was not just a few.

Dozens of Soul Beasts were running at once.

The carriage could go no farther.

The five had no choice but to make for the village on foot.

As soon as they crested a hillside, Qinghe Village came into view.

The village was in chaos.

The elderly, children, and livestock were crowded onto the same road.

Several carriages loaded with grain blocked the exit.

To the north of the village, a herd of One-Horned Mountain Goats had already burst out of the woods.

Wind-Eared Rabbits, Iron-Clawed Badgers, and several young Forest Wolves followed behind them.

The Soul Beasts trampled one another.

They had no fixed destination at all.

Whenever something blocked their path, they swerved wildly.

"First Soul Skill, Blue Silver Entanglement!"

Tang San was the first to release his Martial Soul.

A mass of Blue Silver Grass emerged from both sides of the road.

Rather than directly entangling all the Soul Beasts, the vines formed a slanted barrier.

Blocked by it, the One-Horned Mountain Goats at the front instinctively turned west.

But the Soul Beasts behind them were still charging forward.

Several Wind-Eared Rabbits could not stop in time and crashed into the goats' hind legs.

The herd immediately fell into disarray.

"Release the Blue Silver Grass in the middle!"

Li Man tapped her Green Jade Bamboo against the ground.

A Yellow Soul Ring rose.

"Green Bamboo Binding Formation!"

Four bamboo shadows appeared on either side of the village.

Two were fixed beside the evacuation road, maintaining the main formation.

The other two moved slowly along the ground.

Tang San did not immediately release the Blue Silver Grass.

"If I release it, they'll charge into the village."

"No, they won't."

Li Man controlled the bamboo shadow on the right, moving it forward.

Bamboo vines rose from the ground.

They did not completely block the Soul Beasts, but merely forced the goats at the front to continue turning west.

"These Soul Beasts only want to escape."

"Give them a path, and they'll naturally follow the ones of their kind at the front."

"If we keep blocking them, that's when they'll lose control."

Another dozen or so Soul Beasts burst out of the woods behind them.

The Blue Silver Grass barrier was already beginning to give way.

Tang San glanced at the western side of the village.

There was an uninhabited stretch of wasteland there.

He hesitated no longer.

The vines in the middle quickly withdrew.

The goats at the front saw the opening and immediately charged west.

The Soul Beasts behind them followed, changing direction as well.

The once-chaotic herd gradually formed a new migration route.

"Tang San, seal off the southern fork."

"Xiao Wu, get the villagers out!"

The moment Yan Feng finished speaking, Forest Wolves roared from the east.

Several Forest Wolves broke away from the herd and pounced on the evacuating villagers.

Yan Feng released his black iron round shield.

"I'll go east."

He turned to Dong Jian.

"The village entrance is yours."

"Three times at most."

Dong Jian was already standing in the middle of the northern road.

His Panda Martial Soul appeared behind him.

"All right."

Boom!

Trees suddenly toppled to either side.

A Rock-Backed Rhinoceros over four meters long charged out.

Its rock armor was covered in cracks, and its right eye was bleeding.

It was clearly not seeking out humans of its own accord.

Rather, something had chased it all the way here.

"Nearly a thousand years old."

Li Man's expression changed slightly.

Dong Jian had only one Soul Ring.

Even if he broke through the peak of rank eighteen, he could not possibly defeat a Rock-Backed Rhinoceros that was nearly a thousand years old.

All he could do was delay it.

The Rock-Backed Rhinoceros lowered its head.

The horn on its forehead pointed at the village entrance.

Its four hooves pounded the ground.

Its massive body charged straight at him.

Dong Jian spread his feet.

He bent his knees.

Sinking Body Stance!

His Yellow Soul Ring lit up.

"First Soul Skill, Bear Astral Energy Body Protection!"

Black and White Gang Qi covered his entire body.

In the next instant,

The horn struck his shoulder.

Bang!

The ground suddenly burst apart.

Dong Jian's entire body shook violently.

The impact traveled from his shoulder into his spine, then through his waist, knees, and feet, before finally passing into the earth.

Two long cracks appeared beneath his feet.

Dong Jian was pushed back five steps.

But he did not fall.

The old injury in his right leg did not tear open again, either.

"The first."

The Rock-Backed Rhinoceros shook its head.

It could not understand.

Why had this human, so much weaker than itself, not been sent flying by the impact?

The next moment,

It charged again.

The second impact was stronger than the first.

Bear Astral Energy Body Protection visibly caved in.

Dong Jian felt a tightness in his chest.

The ground beneath his feet sank half a foot.

Yet his Sinking Body Stance still held.

He did not let his right leg bear additional weight on its own.

Instead, he made his entire body into a complete load-bearing structure.

The force passed into the ground.

The Rock-Backed Rhinoceros's charge was forced to a halt as well.

"The second!"

In the center of the village.

Li Man maintained the Three-Layer Bamboo Formation in three layers at once.

The main formation layer kept the evacuation route stable.

The Moving Formation layer constantly adjusted the Soul Beasts' routes.

Instant Formation Eyes appeared all along the road, pulling fallen villagers back to safety and propping up wooden frames on the verge of collapse.

A child was knocked down by the crowd.

Several Wind-Eared Rabbits charged from behind.

Li Man did not turn around.

An instantaneous bamboo shadow had already appeared beside the child.

A bamboo vine wrapped around his waist.

It recoiled gently.

The child was pulled to the edge of the road.

Xiao Wu scooped him up.

"There are still people on the south side!"

"Tang San, move the Blue Silver Grass to the right!"

Tang San frowned.

"That will leave a gap in the western defense line."

"All the villagers on the west side have already evacuated."

Li Man controlled a Mobile Formation Eye, sending it south.

"Abandon the empty area."

"Focus on protecting the places where people still are."

Tang San looked west.

Only the Soul Beasts that had been lured away remained there.

Continuing to maintain the Blue Silver Grass really would only waste Soul Power.

He withdrew the vines on the west side.

The Blue Silver Grass swiftly turned south.

Three Forest Wolves about to pounce on villagers were ensnared at once.

Xiao Wu seized the chance to lead the last elderly villager away.

"The south side is clear!"

Just then, an Iron-Clawed Badger smashed through the Mobile Formation Eye on the west side.

The bamboo shadow shattered.

The Soul Power backlash sent a stab of pain through Li Man's head.

She did not force herself to restore the entire formation.

Instead, she deliberately withdrew the western main formation, which no one was using anymore.

A large amount of Soul Power flowed back to her.

The two remaining routes immediately stabilized.

Control was not about holding every place.

It was about knowing which places had to be held.

The golden patterns on the Green Jade Bamboo glowed faintly.

Li Man's Soul Power, at the peak of level eighteen, began to fluctuate violently.

At the village entrance.

The Rock-Backed Rhinoceros launched its third charge.

Dong Jian's arms had already begun to go numb.

Several cracks had also appeared across the surface of Bear Astral Energy Body Protection.

Boom!

The third collision.

Dong Jian skidded seven steps backward.

His knees nearly touched the ground.

Yan Feng's instructions had been clear.

He had to retreat after three clashes.

But the last carriage behind him was still stuck at a bend in the road.

Its wheels had sunk into the mud.

It needed at least a few more breaths.

The Rock-Backed Rhinoceros backed away more than ten meters.

It lowered its head again.

Its fourth charge was about to begin.

Li Man shouted from afar:

"Dong Jian, retreat!"

Dong Jian glanced at the carriage behind him.

"Just a little longer."

"Yan Feng said only three times!"

"I know."

The Rock-Backed Rhinoceros had already charged.

Dong Jian did not meet it head-on with all his strength again.

Bear Astral Energy Body Protection covered his body.

He pressed both hands against the sides of the rhinoceros's head.

The instant they made contact.

Circular Force Redirection!

There was no way to completely redirect the force of a Thousand-Year Soul Beast approaching a thousand years of age.

Dong Jian could only deflect its horn half a foot.

The sharp horn grazed his shoulder.

His clothing tore instantly.

Blood splashed.

Sinking Body Stance continually channeled the remaining impact into the ground.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

At last, the driver shouted from behind him.

"It's out!"

Dong Jian immediately yelled:

"Li Man!"

A bamboo vine shot along the village road.

It wrapped around Dong Jian's waist.

Green Bamboo Borrowing Momentum activated.

This time, it did not send him toward the enemy.

Instead, it forcibly pulled him away from the village entrance.

Dong Jian's body flew sideways.

With nothing blocking it, the Rock-Backed Rhinoceros continued charging forward.

Li Man had already used a Mobile Formation Eye to change the road's direction.

The Rock-Backed Rhinoceros did not charge into the village.

Instead, it continued fleeing south across the wasteland.

Dong Jian knelt on one knee.

Blood continued to flow from his shoulder.

Yet his right leg remained steady.

He had endured four consecutive impacts from the Rock-Backed Rhinoceros.

Sinking Body Stance had truly withstood the test of actual combat.

With each impact it bore, the Soul Power in his body completed a cycle.

The level-eighteen barrier burst apart with a bang.

The Panda Martial Soul let out a low roar.

Level nineteen!

At the same moment.

Li Man's Three-Layer Bamboo Formation covered the entire village.

All the villagers had evacuated safely.

She did not continue maintaining routes that were no longer needed.

The main formation layer retained only one final passage for the Soul Beasts.

The Mobile Formation Eyes gradually pushed the Soul Beasts out of the village.

The Instant Formation Eyes patched any gaps that might appear.

Her mental power grew more concentrated as she constantly switched between tasks.

The golden patterns on the Green Jade Bamboo lit up once more.

The level-nineteen barrier shattered as well.

Li Man, level nineteen!

The village's crisis was over for the moment.

After dealing with the Forest Wolves, Yan Feng hurried straight to Dong Jian's side.

He glanced at the wound on Dong Jian's shoulder.

His expression was grim.

"I said three times."

"I know."

"Why did you block it a fourth time?"

"The carriage hadn't gotten out."

Yan Feng did not praise him just because it had worked out.

"You'll be punished when we get back to the academy."

"For now, follow me."

The column of black smoke in the northern woods had still not disappeared.

Whatever the Soul Beasts truly feared was still deeper inside.

When the group reached the mountain forest.

A level-forty-six Power Attack System Soul Ancestor was fighting a Fusion Soul Beast.

The Soul Ancestor was named Gao Yan.

His Martial Soul was the Crimson Armored Bear.

Four Soul Rings encircled his body.

Every strike of his palm cracked the bone armor on the Fusion Soul Beast's body.

But the Soul Beast's form was simply too bizarre.

Its body belonged to a Rock Bear.

Yet black bat wings grew from its back.

Its tail was a serpent's tail covered in venomous scales.

Black metal bands forcibly bound the joints where its abdomen met its limbs.

Several chains extended to devices at the four corners of the woods.

Whenever it tried to escape, the chains released black Soul Power, forcibly driving it to keep attacking.

"Destroy the control devices!"

Gao Yan roared.

"Otherwise, it'll keep rampaging out of control!"

Yan Feng immediately assigned tasks.

"Tang San and Xiao Wu, take the left."

"Li Man, the right."

"Dong Jian, destroy the central chain."

All four moved at once.

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass wrapped around the first metal pillar.

His Mysterious Jade Hand seized the chain.

The instant he touched it, his expression changed slightly.

"The chain is poisoned!"

Xiao Wu leaped down from the treetops.

Her legs wrapped around the second device.

Waist Bow activated.

Bang!

The metal pillar was ripped clean out of the ground.

Li Man did not deploy the full bamboo formation.

She used only the Instant Formation Eye to change positions repeatedly.

Each strike of Green Jade Bamboo landed on a chain joint.

The first crack appeared.

Dong Jian charged toward the center.

The Fusion Soul Beast suddenly dropped from the sky.

Its snake tail swept across his back.

Bear Astral Energy Body Protection flared to life.

Bang!

The impact traveled through his Sinking Body Stance and into the ground.

Dong Jian was not sent flying.

Both hands seized the central chain.

He did not rely on his arms alone to add weight.

His shoulders, waist, and legs sank at the same time.

His whole body was like a mountain bearing down on the chain.

"Break!"

Crack!

The chain joint shattered completely.

The four devices went dark one after another.

The Fusion Soul Beast lost control.

But the Soul Power of the Rock Bear, bat, and snake also clashed at that same moment.

Black veins swelled wildly.

Gao Yan's expression changed drastically.

"Fall back!"

The Fusion Soul Beast was about to self-destruct.

Yan Feng's round shield expanded.

He held it in front of the four students.

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass wrapped around the surrounding trees, forming a second line of defense.

Li Man drew in all her remaining bamboo shadows.

She protected both sides.

Dong Jian did not stand at the very front on his own again.

He took cover behind the defenses with everyone else.

Boom!

The explosion swept through the woods.

Bone fragments, venom, and chaotic Soul Power blasted outward at the same time.

The Crimson Armored Bear Soul Ancestor blocked the brunt of the force.

Cracks appeared on the surface of the black iron round shield.

The Blue Silver Grass snapped one strand after another.

Two of the cyan bamboo shadows also shattered.

Several breaths later.

The explosion finally subsided.

All that remained of the Fusion Soul Beast was a scattering of charred remains.

The teachers immediately checked the surrounding devices and the injured.

Tang San and Xiao Wu were helping Yan Feng clear away the venom.

Li Man, meanwhile, held up a bamboo shadow that had not completely fallen, stabilizing her Soul Power.

No one noticed.

A pinpoint of black light suddenly appeared amid the charred flesh and blood in front of Dong Jian.

A black crystal no larger than a thumb slowly emerged.

A black and white bear pattern flashed across the crystal's surface.

Immediately afterward, an extremely faint golden bamboo leaf appeared.

Finally.

A blurry dragon shape appeared between the two patterns.

Before Dong Jian could reach out.

The Divine Dragon Secret Realm deep within his consciousness had already begun to shake violently.

The black crystal transformed into a thin beam of light.

It vanished into his chest in an instant.

The entire process produced no external fluctuations of Soul Power.

All the others saw was a cracked piece of black residue on the ground.

Dong Jian's body stiffened slightly.

Inside the Divine Dragon Secret Realm.

The Hundred Battles Hall stele lit up of its own accord.

Foreign key fragment detected.

Contamination level: sixty percent.

Temporarily sealed.

Before any more words appeared.

The secret realm fell silent again.

"Dong Jian?"

Li Man's voice came from behind him.

The golden markings on her Green Jade Bamboo had briefly grown hot just now.

Although she had not seen the black crystal.

She had sensed a momentary abnormality in Dong Jian's presence.

"What just happened?"

Dong Jian glanced at the black residue on the ground.

"The Divine Dragon Secret Realm reacted."

He was not lying.

But he had not told her everything, either.

Li Man stared at him for a moment.

She did not press him any further.

In the distance.

Gao Yan found a metal plaque engraved with a long, narrow eye among the broken devices.

"The Return to One Society."

Yan Feng's expression was grave.

"They're using Soul Beasts to create experimental subjects."

Dong Jian did not look at the metal plaque.

All his attention was focused deep within his consciousness.

The black key fragment was floating in front of the Hundred Battles Hall stele.

An extremely faint voice came from inside the crystal.

"Number Zero..."

"Don't..."

The voice cut off abruptly.

Dong Jian raised his head.

Deep in the mountain forests to the north.

Another heavy roar sounded.

It was deeper than that of the Fusion Soul Beast just now.

And more anguished.

As though an even more powerful experimental subject was still there.

Waiting for the Return to One Society's next command.