Night fell, and the chill in the air grew even sharper than in the afternoon.
Thirty kilometers outside Sunset Forest, in a mountain hollow, an orange-red bonfire flickered in the wind. Dry branches burned with sharp crackles, sending sparks flying.
Xu Zihuang sat on a smooth rock. The hundred-year Blackscale Fowl he had caught earlier was already cleaned and roasting over the fire.
A mid-sized soul beast, after roasting and shrinking, it yielded barely ten-plus jin of meat.
The browned skin sizzled with dripping oil, making the flames leap higher. With a sprinkle of simple seasoning, the fragrance spread everywhere.
Xu Zihuang sliced off a chunk of drumstick with a dagger and chewed in big bites. He ate quickly, but not crudely.
All the while, he stayed alert to his surroundings.
"Zihuang, someone's approaching. The leader is strong—likely at the Contra level among you humans."
After three days asleep, the Skydream Iceworm awoke again, its tone serious.
Though poor at combat, with its million years of cultivation, nothing escaped its immense spiritual detection.
Xu Zihuang trusted it without doubt, asking calmly:
"How many, and from which direction?"
"Southwest, eight people in total—six males, two females. Aside from the leading woman, the others are around three rings. Too late, they've already noticed you. If only I'd woken earlier, maybe you could've avoided them."
Xu Zihuang immediately released his Golden Eyes, gazing southwest.
Eight figures appeared in his vision, at least a thousand meters away—no wonder he hadn't sensed them earlier. His own spiritual detection only extended about a hundred meters.
After a brief thought, he decided not to deliberately avoid them.
First, they clearly weren't here specifically for him. Second, for soul masters, a thousand meters was nothing. The bonfire couldn't be erased quickly either—trying would only arouse suspicion.
And with a Contra-level soul master present, escaping was practically impossible.
What gave him confidence, however, was that after killing the Dark Devilgod Tiger, the Skydream Iceworm had once mentioned it had a way to spirit him away hundreds of li instantly.
That was why his attitude toward it had shifted so drastically—and why he dared to come alone to Sunset Forest. With that backup, his safety was still guaranteed.
"Zihuang, if anything goes wrong, I'll take you away immediately," the Iceworm vowed, regarding Xu Zihuang's safety as more important than its own.
Xu Zihuang gave no reply. Even as they spoke, the newcomers had arrived.
"Who are you?"
Before the words even settled, a figure appeared before Xu Zihuang. By firelight, he saw it was a youth barely a year or two older than himself.
The boy wore a standard black uniform, a pink crystal emblem embroidered on his left chest, with the words "Earth Dragon."
Thin and wiry, his footsteps landed soundlessly. His eyes fixed at once on Xu Zihuang by the fire.
Clearly, he was an agility-attack battle soul master, sent ahead to scout.
Seeing Xu Zihuang was even younger than himself, his taut nerves relaxed—until he registered Xu Zihuang's flawless appearance. His heart clenched, and he glanced nervously back over his shoulder.
As if responding to his glance, a stunning girl of similar age walked forward.
Her short pink hair curled slightly at the ends, brushing her shoulders with an artful messiness. Even her eyes were a strange, crystalline pink, shining like gemstones.
Her delicate features lent her a mischievous charm much like Tang Ya's. But from the way the other six youths behind her followed with awe and submission, she was clearly not one to be trifled with.
Like most who first saw Xu Zihuang, her eyes went blank, and she secretly swallowed.
The six boys with her were all good-looking, but compared to Xu Zihuang, they weren't even in the same league.
He was simply on another level.
"Feng Shen, don't block me." The girl frowned, pulling aside the thin youth.
In front of this "big sister," Feng Shen dared not complain. He lowered his head meekly and retreated.
The girl smiled brightly and greeted Xu Zihuang.
"Hello, I'm Nan Qiuqiu. Don't be nervous—we're all from the Heavenly Soul Empire's Earth Dragon Sect. We came here to Sunset Forest to hunt soul beasts."
Then she seemed to realize something. Her body jolted, and she hastily covered her lips, shrinking back.
"Mo… Mom… I just spoke without thinking."
At the very back stood a middle-aged beauty, her features seventy percent similar to Nan Qiuqiu's.
Yet instead of scolding her, the woman's gaze burned as she studied Xu Zihuang.
Why does this child look so much like…
Meeting her eyes, Xu Zihuang also understood. From Nan Qiuqiu's slip, this woman had to be the sect master of the Earth Dragon Sect—Nan Shuishui.
After a moment's staring, she collected herself.
"Hello, young man. I'm Nan Shuishui. We just came out of Sunset Forest after hunting soul beasts. One of us was poisoned, and the rest are exhausted. Seeing your fire here, might we warm ourselves and rest a while?"
"Go ahead." Xu Zihuang's voice was cool. Even knowing their identities, he would not lower his guard. But rejecting them outright wasn't appropriate either.
Nan Shuishui nodded, smiling faintly, before shooting her daughter a frosty glare and pulling her to sit on the other side of the fire. She waved for the other six boys to sit too.
One, a handsome youth, was deathly pale. His right arm bore a faint green stain.
Nan Shuishui ignored Nan Qiuqiu's resentful eyes and barked an order:
"Go detoxify Xiao Ye."
Nan Qiuqiu, though her mother's daughter and talented, had grown spoiled. Xiao Ye's poisoning had been her fault.
This trip was meant to temper her—otherwise, she would only cause greater trouble in the future.
"Yes, Mother." Nan Qiuqiu murmured. At once, two yellow and one purple—her three ideal rings—rose beneath her.
A pink, diamond-shaped crystal appeared on her forehead with her martial soul. Her figure lengthened, her height increasing by nearly a foot.
Raising her right hand skyward, pink scales spread from her fingertip, covering her entire hand in crystalline armor that glowed faintly.
She crouched beside Xiao Ye, holding her glowing hand just above his infected arm.
The green poison on his skin melted away like ice under the pink light.
"Rouge Dragon, with the Extinguish attribute. So, it really is Nan Qiuqiu and Nan Shuishui." Xu Zihuang watched quietly, his thoughts stirring.
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