Chapter 27: The Forest Skirmish (Part One)

“All right, let’s focus on our own people and stay out of others’ business!” Xiao Yu clapped his hands, ending Eden’s tirade against Yu Xiaogang, and turned to ask Xie Wu, “Xie Wu, what’s your third soul skill?”

Xie Wu grinned. “My third soul skill is called Wings of Glory. Not only does it grant me the ability to fly, it also boosts my speed by ten percent.”

“A fine skill indeed!” Xiao Yu nodded in admiration. “With your third soul skill paired with your second, your lethality will increase by at least half!”

After a brief pause, Xiao Yu waved his hand and addressed the group, “The Star Dou Great Forest is fraught with danger. The scent of blood easily attracts powerful soul beasts. Let’s leave this place first, then find a suitable soul ring for Mi Yimei.”

“Stop right there!”

Just as everyone agreed with Xiao Yu’s suggestion and prepared to depart, a furious shout rang out behind them.

They turned to see five figures leap from the dense woods, blocking their path.

Xiao Yu’s lips twitched at the sight—he recognized the leader among them. It was Yao Liang, the very man who had coveted Xiao Yu’s cultivation technique when he applied to the Junior Soul Master Academy, only to be expelled in the end.

Yao Liang had suffered in recent years. After his sect learned he had offended Xiao Yu—who had a soul sage as his bodyguard—they wasted no time in casting him out. The soul master world was small; word of his disgrace spread quickly. Out of contempt for him and wariness of Xiao Yu’s powerful patrons, every sect and academy he sought refused him.

Suddenly stripped of protection and income, Yao Liang, accustomed to a life of luxury, found himself without the soul master stipend from the Hall of Martial Souls. Too proud to ask his descendants for money, he began taking soul ring hunting jobs for others.

Seeing the thoroughly dead Sky Dragon Horse, Yao Liang strode forward angrily, glaring at Xiao Yu’s group. “You’ve got some nerve, stealing my soul beast!”

Though Yao Liang had met Xiao Yu before, Xiao Yu had been only six at the time. Years had passed, and Xiao Yu’s appearance had changed so much that Yao Liang failed to recognize him.

“Your soul beast?” Xiao Yu sneered coldly. He’d never liked Yao Liang, who had once coveted his cultivation technique, and now spoke without courtesy: “In the Star Dou Great Forest, all soul beasts are ownerless. When did it become yours?”

“We were the first to spot it and chased it all the way here!” Yao Liang roared. “I didn’t expect you to snatch it from under us. Boy, how are you going to compensate us?”

His extortionate nature hadn’t changed in the slightest.

Xiao Yu shook his head, now even more contemptuous. They had slain the Sky Dragon Horse, and Xie Wu had already absorbed its soul ring before Yao Liang’s group arrived. Without them, the beast would have long since vanished—how could Yao Liang have caught up? He was clearly eyeing their fine attire, hoping for a quick profit. Xiao Yu retorted, “Even if you were the first to spot it, we were the ones who killed it. In the soul master world, it’s always the capable who claim the prize; there’s no ‘first come, first served’.”

“Very well, very well!” Yao Liang laughed bitterly in his fury, his face twisting with malice. “If that’s how it works, then I’ll kill you all now, and every treasure on you will belong to me!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yao Liang summoned his martial soul—a yellow tiger with a sharp horn on its head. Four soul rings, three yellow and one purple, rose beneath him.

His four companions followed suit, unleashing their martial souls: an eagle, a bristly hound, a sharp dagger, and a flute.

Their soul ring configurations were two with two yellow rings, one with a white, yellow, and purple, and one with two yellow rings.

One soul ancestor, three soul elders, and one quasi soul elder.

The quasi soul elder was the one with the flute—their auxiliary-type soul master. Clearly, their purpose today was to hunt a soul ring for him.

“How practiced you are. Looks like this isn’t your first time murdering and robbing in the forest!” Xiao Yu sneered, fixing Yao Liang with a cold gaze.

“So what?” Yao Liang’s face radiated murderous intent. “Wasn’t it you who said the capable claim the prize? If those people couldn’t protect their treasures, they belonged to me!”

“Well said—far too well said!”

Xiao Yu’s lips still curled in a cold smile. “Let me borrow the words of someone I don’t much care for: You’ve chosen a path to your own destruction! Killing you will bring me no burden of guilt!”

“Brothers, martial souls out! Let’s wipe out these scum of the soul master world!”

With a shout, the seven—already secretly arrayed in formation—activated their martial souls simultaneously. Their optimal soul ring configurations startled Yao Liang and his companions.

But what shocked them most was Xiao Yu at the head of the group. Here in the Star Dou Great Forest, he no longer disguised himself—a yellow and two purple rings, surpassing even the best configurations, shone for all to see.

“You… you’re Xiao Yu!” Yao Liang blurted out in disbelief. He hadn’t recognized Xiao Yu because of his age, but martial souls never change. How could Yao Liang forget the soul that cost him his status?

In that moment, Yao Liang’s courage faltered. Xiao Yu was accompanied by a soul sage bodyguard, and Yao Liang could hardly believe such a powerful protector would not follow into the perilous Star Dou Great Forest—perhaps he was nearby even now.

But Xiao Yu had no such concerns. The instant his martial soul was unleashed, he charged ahead, with Yi Hui and Zi Long, the two power-attack soul masters, following without hesitation.

Behind them, Mi Yimei activated her first and second soul skills, supporting her teammates and doing her utmost to disrupt the enemy.

The opposing auxiliary soul master also activated his support skills. With both at rank thirty soul power, Mi Yimei’s superior martial soul instantly suppressed her counterpart.

“Take out those soul elders first. Eden—focus all your effort on restricting the soul ancestor!”

Xiao Yu spoke in a low voice. Yao Liang had possessed soul power above rank forty-five years ago, and since then had survived countless real battles in the Star Dou Great Forest. None of the seven could match him one-on-one.

So the best strategy was to eliminate his teammates first. Those three combat soul elders, whether in soul ring configuration or martial soul quality, were inferior, and with Mi Yimei’s support, they’d be easy to defeat. Then, all seven could gang up on him.

“Third soul skill—Lightning Shackles!”

Eden understood instantly, unleashing his strongest third soul skill. Lightning crackled and flashed, forming chains that bound Yao Liang in place.