I Have No Father or Mother

Actually, Lin Qingchen had been ready to leave. After all, he could not yet absorb a thirty-thousand-year-old Soul Beast, and besides, someone was already here.

In that brief moment, seven more figures appeared in the distance.

After hearing Qin Ming's words, a blond youth wearing a hood hurried over to Lin Qingchen, took him by the wrist, and said softly, "Come on. It's dangerous here."

Lin Qingchen's eyes were half-closed. He did not resist, letting the other boy pull him over to the group of seven.

As for this person, though he had features as delicate as a girl's, he looked somewhat gloomy. He was most likely Osler.

Seeing that the newcomer was a boy considerably younger than any of them, the girl with short, dark purple hair smiled and said, "Hehe, don't be afraid. We're not bad people. It's dangerous here, and only Teacher Qin can deal with that Soul Beast. Just stay with us and don't run around."

Lin Qingchen really wanted to retort. After all, that was what all bad people said. It wasn't as if they would come right out and say they were bad people, was it?

Still, he gave a gentle smile. "Then thank you all."

"Mm-hmm, just stay with us and don't worry," Dugu Yan said, a peculiar glint appearing in her emerald-green eyes.

In her view, if an ordinary commoner Soul Master encountered a scene like this, their soul would probably have been scared right out of them. How could they possibly remain so calm?

But judging by his clothes, though they were all new, none of them were particularly valuable. He could not be a child from a noble family either.

Still, she could not say there was nothing distinctive about him. Though he looked a little young, he was even more handsome than those two handsome men, Yu Tianheng and Yu Feng.

As for Osler, that guy looked like a woman, so Dugu Yan had instinctively left him out.

Besides, for some reason, Dugu Yan always felt that Lin Qingchen had a unique quality about him. One glance at him made a person feel at ease, as though bathed in a spring breeze, and their heart would instantly grow peaceful.

She licked her lips and thought, Interesting.

Lin Qingchen, however, did not notice Dugu Yan's little gesture. His attention was entirely focused on the battle between Qin Ming and the Rift Ruins Earth Dragon.

Whatever else one might say, Qin Ming was indeed worthy of being the second-youngest Soul Emperor in the original work. Though he had been badly shafted by a certain Young Master retconning his own work, his fighting at this moment was quite relaxed and effortless.

A thirty-thousand-year-old Soul Beast would generally give an ordinary Soul Emperor a great deal of trouble, especially an earth dragon. Yet Qin Ming still held the upper hand firmly, keeping his opponent on the defensive.

As the fight went on, the Rift Ruins Earth Dragon even lost the will to fight, intent only on burrowing back into the ground and escaping. But how could Qin Ming give it the chance?

He pursued it relentlessly and pounded away at it, quickly enraging the Rift Ruins Earth Dragon so thoroughly that it abandoned the thought of fleeing and turned back to continue the fight.

But in a fight, one either had to fight hard to the bitter end from the start, or focus entirely on fleeing and hold something back in everything one did.

Someone like the Rift Ruins Earth Dragon, who tried to escape at first and only thought of fighting back after being badly worn down and realizing it could not get away, would undoubtedly fall into a disadvantage.

A situation that might barely have remained evenly matched had turned into one where it was being brutally beaten.

Sure enough, before long, Qin Ming's Sixth Soul Ring lit up. An enormous flaming claw appeared out of thin air and seized the Rift Ruins Earth Dragon's head, piercing its skull and plunging straight into its brain. As powerful flames burned, the Rift Ruins Earth Dragon lost the ability to resist in an instant and collapsed to the ground.

"Huff... huff..."

Watching the black Soul Ring slowly rise, Qin Ming let out a long breath. He then released his Martial Soul Possession and gasped for air.

Seeing that the fight was over, the members of the Imperial Fighting Team hurried over to Qin Ming.

Lin Qingchen followed them.

"Teacher Qin Ming, you were so cool!"

Even from a long way off, Yu Feng, always the most flamboyant of them, shouted.

Qin Ming pressed a hand down on his head to quiet him. "I've told you to rein yourself in when you're out. Don't you know this is the Star Dou Great Forest, where danger lurks on every side?"

"Oh, come on, Teacher. Don't you always say there aren't any other powerful Soul Beasts around a powerful Soul Beast? This Rift Ruins Earth Dragon was so strong, how could there be any danger around its territory?" Yu Feng said dismissively.

Indeed, there were no other powerful Soul Beasts around the territory of a top predator like this. Otherwise, they would have fought long ago.

Qin Ming naturally knew this too; he was simply being cautious.

After all, he was an outstanding graduate of Shrek Academy and knew full well that one had to be cautious when Soul Hunting.

As for what happened if one was not cautious, that was a question for the senior and junior schoolmates of his who had failed to graduate.

After giving Yu Feng another exasperated look, Qin Ming turned his gaze to Lin Qingchen. Now he had time to take a closer look.

Although Lin Qingchen's appearance surprised him greatly, he was more concerned about the boy's age. He did not seem to be twelve yet?

So he asked, "What's your name? You don't look very old. Why did you come to the Star Dou Great Forest alone?"

"My name is Lin Qingchen. As for why I came here..." Lin Qingchen smiled and made no attempt to hide it. "Don't we Soul Masters all come to the Star Dou Great Forest for the same reason?"

Qin Ming smiled too, finding the way the boy spoke quite interesting.

So he gave a brief introduction as well.

"My name is Qin Ming, and I'm a teacher at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. These are my students: Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Osler, Yu Feng, Shi Mo, Shi Mo, and Ye Lingling. We came this time to hunt for Lingling's Third Soul Ring."

Qin Ming pointed them out as he introduced them to Lin Qingchen.

Third Soul Ring?

Lin Qingchen glanced at the blue-haired girl who had stayed at the edge of the group the whole time. She wore a veil and had little to say.

"But why did you come to the Star Dou Great Forest alone? Your father is a little too unconcerned, isn't he?" Qin Ming said.

"I don't have a father." Lin Qingchen looked at Qin Ming expressionlessly.

"Uh, sorry, then..."

"I don't have a mother either." Lin Qingchen cut off whatever the other man was going to say next.

Uh...

Qin Ming was dumbfounded. He had never met anyone who spoke like this before, and could only say, "Sorry, I didn't mean to. You..."

"It's all right, Teacher Qin Ming. I got used to it long ago. If their spirits are watching over me from heaven, they wouldn't want me to remain immersed in grief over their passing forever."

"You're quite optimistic."

Lin Qingchen's words made it a little less awkward for Qin Ming.

Hearing about how Lin Qingchen had lost both his parents, the members of the Imperial Fighting Team could not help feeling sorry for the boy before them.

Even Ye Lingling, who had kept her head lowered the whole time, looked over at him. Her gaze was as though she had seen someone like herself.