Blue Tyrant's Invitation, the Five-Thousand-Year Ghost Vine

Beneath the shade of a tree,

Ye Qiu looked at the Soul Beast lying beneath it as a purple Soul Ring slowly rose into the air.

It was a thousand-year Shadow Civet.

"Little brother, why are you alone in a place like this?"

Hearing her voice,

Ye Qiu finally deactivated his Sharingan and turned to look at the woman behind him... She was a mature beauty in her prime, her simple cloth dress drawn tight around her ample breasts and full hips. Her skin was fair, her face beautiful, and she had a valiant bearing.

After just a cursory glance,

Ye Qiu's gaze involuntarily drifted toward her full, upstanding breasts, a flicker of admiration and astonishment in his eyes.

"Dean!"

Hearing Yin Shu and the others call out,

Ye Qiu quickly came to his senses and withdrew his rather impolite gaze, looking instead at the beautiful woman's face with some curiosity.

She had black hair and black eyes, and her exquisite face was slightly pale, touched by a faint sadness...

It was utterly unlike her fiery temperament.

Which academy was she the dean of?

Ye Qiu thought the woman's bearing was somewhat like that of a certain lovestruck fool in his memories.

Sure enough!

The next moment,

When Ye Qiu looked toward Yin Shu, Jing Ling and the others rushing over, their academy uniforms gave him the answer.

The buxom, luscious beauty before him was none other than the dean of Blue Tyrant Academy!

Liu Erlong...

Ye Qiu was a little surprised. He hadn't expected to meet her here.

"Dean, are you all right?"

Teacher Bai and the others hurried over and asked with concern.

"It was just a thousand-year Soul Beast. I'm fine."

Liu Erlong casually waved a hand, her eyes fixed curiously on Ye Qiu.

"He, on the other hand, seems to have been scared silly."

"???" Ye Qiu's eye twitched, and he hurried to explain, "Don't misunderstand. I wasn't scared."

Hearing his voice,

Jiang Zhu and the others all looked over at once, their eyes full of confusion.

"Little brother, are you alone?"

Yin Shu asked curiously.

"None of that matters."

Liu Erlong forcefully cut Yin Shu off.

As she saw it, the reason Ye Qiu was here was actually quite simple.

He was probably a commoner Soul Master who couldn't afford to hire others to hunt Soul Beasts, and had simply been lucky enough to stumble in here.

Liu Erlong continued, "If you weren't scared, why didn't you answer me just now?"

"Uh..."

Looking at Liu Erlong, whose temper was indeed a little volatile, Ye Qiu replied helplessly, "Senior, I didn't know whether you were friend or foe. Besides... what else would a Soul Master come to the Soul Beast Forest for?"

"So that's how it is."

Ye Qiu's answer only made Liu Erlong more certain of her guess.

She had always sympathized with commoner Soul Masters like him, and her easygoing nature also made her quite generous and warmhearted.

Liu Erlong immediately spoke up in a spirit of goodwill:

"In that case, would you like to come with us? We can look out for one another."

"Dean!"

Teacher Bai was about to object, but Liu Erlong simply waved a hand.

"He's just a child!"

Ye Qiu gave Liu Erlong an odd look, then shook his head and politely declined her invitation.

"Thank you for your kindness, senior, but I can manage on my own."

"Hm? Are you sure? The Soul Beasts here are all over a thousand years old."

Liu Erlong frowned, puzzled.

Throughout the Soul Master World,

Unless one cultivated a special Soul Skill, it was difficult to see through another person's cultivation.

Even Ning Fengzhi, who possessed such a Soul Skill, had only been able to get a rough idea of Tang San's cultivation when they met at the auction house.

Therefore,

Liu Erlong could only judge from Ye Qiu's age that his cultivation probably wasn't very high.

Even if he looked younger than he really was,

He could be a Soul Elder at most.

"Sorry, but I'm sure."

Ye Qiu nodded solemnly, then, unwilling to say anything more, turned to leave under the gazes of Liu Erlong and the others.

To him, this was merely a chance encounter, like duckweed drifting together on the water.

Suddenly,

Ye Qiu remembered what he had just said.

What else would a Soul Master come to the Soul Beast Forest for? To hunt Soul Beasts, of course!

Perhaps he could ask while he had the chance...

Ye Qiu stopped and turned to ask Liu Erlong and the others, "Um, may I ask if any of you have encountered a plant-type Soul Beast around five thousand years old on this trip?"

At his question,

Liu Erlong knitted her brows in thought.

Yin Shu thought back for a moment and muttered, "A Soul Beast around five thousand years old? I think so..."

Pink-haired Jiang Zhu stepped forward and pointed back the way they had come, helpfully answering, "We saw a Ghost Vine on our way here. It was in this direction, and I think it had over five thousand years of cultivation."

"Ah! I remember now. We did see a Ghost Vine!"

Realization dawned on Yin Shu.

"Huh? Wait, little brother, why are you asking about a Soul Beast of that level?"

"Forgive me, but I can't tell you."

A smile appeared on Ye Qiu's handsome face. He shook his head and said apologetically, "In any case, thank you all for your kindness. I'll be sure to repay you if I get the chance!"

He repaid even the slightest grudge, but he also knew to repay kindness.

Even if it was only a well-meant tip, he would remember the favor...

As for Liu Erlong's intervention just now,

Ye Qiu paid it even less mind, since he hadn't needed it in the first place.

If anything,

Her intervention had merely made Ye Qiu a little more favorably disposed toward her.

Given his relationship with Tang San,

If Liu Erlong became his enemy in the future, he could show her a little mercy.

Having said his piece, Ye Qiu made a point of nodding to Jiang Zhu and prepared to leave in the direction Liu Erlong and the others had come from.

"Wait!"

Ye Qiu had only taken two steps when Liu Erlong called him back, and he turned around.

Liu Erlong said earnestly, "Little brother, if you have nowhere to go, you're welcome to come try your luck at our Blue Tyrant Academy."

"Thank you for the kind offer, Dean Liu. I'll keep it in mind and come if I need to."

Ye Qiu smiled politely.

In a few quick movements, he vanished from Liu Erlong and the others' sight.

"Dean Liu? Does that boy know me?"

Liu Erlong looked in the direction Ye Qiu had gone, her arched brows slightly furrowed.

She couldn't shake the feeling that the figure she had seen from behind looked familiar...

Could he be the figure from last night?

But how was that possible? That had been a Soul Beast with four thousand years of cultivation!

Ye Qiu would have been lucky not to be killed by it.

"Dean, is there something strange about that boy? He showed up here alone, and now he's going to look for some five-thousand-year Ghost Vine."

Yin Shu asked in puzzlement.

"What do you think could be strange about him?"

Liu Erlong looked back at Yin Shu and said meaningfully, "I thought he had come to hunt Soul Beasts, but now it seems... perhaps someone out there has offered a reward for the whereabouts of a five-thousand-year plant Soul Beast, and he's just a commoner Soul Master risking his life for the reward."

"I've seen too many cases like this, but he seems to have had fairly good luck..."

Liu Erlong gazed pensively in the direction they had come from,

Her eyes filled with reminiscence and emotion as she found herself thinking again of the days when she had trained in the Soul Master World.

"Jiang Zhu, Huang Yuan, Jing Ling, you've been classmates. I hope that when you go out into the Soul Master World someday, you'll remember this too: life isn't easy for commoner Soul Masters..."

"..."