Wang Qiu'er, left standing in place, could not hide the look of shame and anger on her pretty face for a long time. She clenched her fists tightly, her delicate body trembling.
Amid her shame and anger, an indescribable humiliation emerged deep in her eyes.
As the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the Auspicious Emperor Beast, she carried the destiny of the entire Star Dou Great Forest. In the ten thousand years before, no soul beast had ever dared to defy her. Even the Beast God Di Tian and Bi Ji had doted on her.
Yet she had suffered nothing but grievances at Xu Zihuang's hands.
And now, watching Xu Zihuang's figure gradually disappear into the distant sky, an inexplicable fear began to rise in her heart.
Even Wang Qiu'er herself had not realized that, over the course of this month-plus voyage, she had unconsciously developed a dependence on Xu Zihuang.
After all, this was her first time venturing deep into the sea, constantly facing attacks from powerful sea soul beasts. Proud as she was, deep down she had actually been filled with unease at the beginning. It was Xu Zihuang's presence that had completely buried that unease in her heart.
"This bastard!"
After a moment of hesitation, Wang Qiu'er lightly bit her silver teeth. Stepping on golden flames, she rose into the air and swiftly caught up to Xu Zihuang. But her expression remained somewhat indignant, even her eyes slightly red. Like a proud princess who had endured all sorts of grievances yet had no choice but to face reality.
Xu Zihuang had long anticipated this outcome, so he had not flown at full speed earlier. He glanced back at Wang Qiu'er following behind him, then accelerated his flight.
The scenery below flashed rapidly past their line of sight.
The situation here matched the memories Xu Zihuang had seen from that demonic-patterned octopus; they were now in the southeastern corner of the Star Sea Continent. This area was considered rather remote and desolate across the entire Star Sea Continent.
Because to the south lay a large soul beast forest.
Human development on the Star Sea Continent lagged far behind that of the Douluo Continent and the original Sun Moon Continent, whether in high-end combat power or productivity.
The earliest natives of the Star Sea Continent had spent an extremely long time gradually gaining the upper hand in their struggle against soul beasts, finally beginning to compress the soul beasts' living space. Even now, near the large wild soul beast forest in the southern part of the continent, soul beasts frequently wandered into the wild. And these soul beasts were highly aggressive, often attacking humans on their own initiative.
For various reasons, this naturally resulted in the desolation of the region. Only those exiled pioneers, to survive, would band together here, establishing scattered villages.
Xu Zihuang's destination this time, Dragon Wolf City, was located in the most prosperous northern part of the Dragon Wolf Territory, that is, the central-southern area of the entire Star Sea Continent. But he only knew a general direction.
After flying continuously northwest for nearly a quarter of an hour, Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er approached the outer region of this mountain range.
To the south of the mountains stretched a vast, dense forest that gave off an oppressive, heart-palpitating feeling. Without a doubt, this was the large wild-soul beast forest, named the Fallen Star Great Forest.
Thousands of years ago, this mountain range also belonged to the Fallen Star Great Forest, but due to human intervention, it was artificially separated. Even today, many soul beast clans still live in the central and deeper parts of the mountains.
Thus, the current lord of the Dragon Wolf Territory had only ordered the exiles to slowly develop the outer areas of the mountain range, reclaiming more farmland and increasing the population.
In the outer regions of the mountains, some small villages could be seen. The houses in the villages were all made of wood, showing little architectural style. If one had to compare, they somewhat resembled the building style of the southern part of the Star Luo Empire on the original Douluo Continent.
Beyond the mountains, as far as the eye could see, lay wide plains. In the distance, the faint outline of a city could be seen. The city was not very large, but it had towering city walls, adding a sense of grandeur and majesty.
Xu Zihuang thought for a moment and decided not to be too ostentatious. Though with his strength, it was basically impossible for anyone on this continent to threaten him, he still did not want to attract too much attention.
"Let's go down first." Xu Zihuang's figure descended toward the mountains below, while reminding Wang Qiu'er with a word.
Perhaps because humans were active in the outer mountains, the vegetation here was relatively sparse. In the distance was a long, narrow canyon leading out of the mountains.
Though Wang Qiu'er still harbored some small resentment, she did not throw a tantrum. She simply followed behind Xu Zihuang with a cold face, saying nothing.
But before the two had walked far, Xu Zihuang's gaze suddenly sharpened.
As if responding to his gaze, the ground ahead of him abruptly split open, and a creature with a shuttle-shaped head resembling a centipede drilled out.
"Hiss hiss hiss—"
This creature was nearly a meter long, its entire body covered in yellowish-brown armor. On both sides of its body were neatly arranged ferocious, sharp legs, and its dark, vicious mouthparts emitted waves of stench.
Moreover, white soul power light surged over its body.
Without a doubt, this was a soul beast. And it was a soul beast unique to the Star Sea Continent, at least on the Douluo Continent. Xu Zihuang had never seen any records of such a soul beast.
After emerging from the ground, this centipede-like soul beast immediately twisted its segmented body and pounced toward Xu Zihuang. Its dark green little eyes were filled with ferocity.
Xu Zihuang stood motionless. At that moment, a golden light shadow carrying an incomparably sharp aura shot out from the right side of his cheek, instantly piercing through the centipede-like soul beast's iron-hard body.
It was Wang Qiu'er who had thrown the Golden Dragon Spear.
Under the effect of the Golden Dragon Spear's life-force devouring, the centipede-like soul beast's body visibly shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye. A faint white soul ring began to condense above its corpse.
Xu Zihuang, who had already sensed it, passed over the centipede-like soul beast's corpse without changing expression, not pausing even slightly.
Wang Qiu'er, retrieving the Golden Dragon Spear, seemed to have vented her anger. The knot of frustration in her heart suddenly eased considerably.
Afterward, the two continued toward the outer mountains. The journey went smoothly without further soul beast attacks.
But just as Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er were about to enter the canyon, five soldiers clad in black armor escorted more than a dozen ragged exiles toward them. On the chests of the five soldiers' armor was engraved a ferocious purple wolf head, exuding an aura of killing intent.
This was Xu Zihuang's first time seeing the natives of the Star Sea Continent. In terms of facial features and skin color, the Star Sea Continent natives were not much different from them.
These dozen or so exiles were ordinary people, but the five soldiers had exceptionally vigorous blood energy. Especially the leading middle-aged burly man, he was over two meters tall, muscles bulging like ropes, practically like a humanoid ferocious beast. Although there was no soul power fluctuation in his body, his physical quality was comparable to a battle soul master with a beast martial soul on the Douluo Continent.
Sensing this, Xu Zihuang roughly guessed that this leading burly man should be one of the so-called blood-qi warriors of the Star Sea Continent, mobilizing the blood-qi power within their bodies to amplify themselves.
Seeing Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er, whose appearances and temperaments were both extraordinarily stunning, the leading middle-aged burly man was first stunned, then humbly lowered his head.
Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er had clearly come from the direction of the Fallen Star Great Forest. Combined with their calm demeanor, they were very likely young masters from some great soul master family.
Though he was a blood-qi warrior, in front of soul masters from such great families, he was nothing more than an ant that could be casually crushed.
Showing respect was perfectly normal. On the Star Sea Continent, class distinctions had long been deeply engraved into the bones.
The other four soldiers beside the leading middle-aged burly man followed suit. The exiles reacted a bit slower.
Under the awed gazes of this group, Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er passed by them expressionlessly. Their demeanor only reinforced the leading burly man's guess.
After Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er had walked far away, the leading middle-aged burly man coldly scolded the exiles.
"You lowly scum should be grateful that those two noble soul master lords didn't bother with you."
The other four soldiers under the middle-aged, burly man, still shaken, swung their long whips, cracking them loudly across the bodies of the dozen or so exiles, as if venting all the anger they had pent up earlier.
"You bunch of lowly scum, hurry up and move?!"
If these lowly scum had offended the soul master lords, they would truly have wanted to cry but had no tears. How could they not feel furious?
Under such oppressive circumstances, the expressions on the exiles' faces had long since gone numb. They instinctively hunched their bodies, their courage to resist completely ground away. But there were also a very few with tenacious minds who refused to accept this and still harbored hopes for the future.
A skinny boy lagged at the very back of the group. The boy had short fiery-red hair and delicate features, but due to long-term malnutrition, he looked sallow and thin.
The whip had left several bloody marks on his body, yet the boy seemed completely oblivious, his eyes coldly lowered as he gritted his teeth and swore inwardly.
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don't bully the poor youth! One day, I will make all of you who humiliated me pay the price!"
Although he had awakened no innate soul power when his martial soul appeared, the bloodline power within his body was not weak. Sooner or later, he could become a blood-qi warrior and leave this place. That was his confidence.
But in the next instant, a sudden change occurred.
Puchi!
Amid the sound of flesh being torn, a huge bloody hole instantly appeared in the boy's chest, blood and organs spilling to the ground.
His pupils began to dilate. The last sight he saw was an Earth Armor Centipede piercing through his body.
Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—but only if one lives to see that day.
"Ah—"
Noticing the boy's tragic state, waves of terrified screams rose one after another among the exiles. Even the most numb person still harbored an instinctive fear of death.
The five escorting soldiers were relatively calmer, but seeing the ferocious centipede piercing through the boy's chest, their expressions also changed drastically.
"Earth Armor Centipede?! How could one appear here?!"
It was not just one; more Earth Armor Centipedes drilled out from the ground in all directions.
The Earth Armor Centipede was a soul beast unique to the Star Sea Continent. Its defense, speed, and strength were all exceptionally formidable; its only weakness was a lack of ranged attack capability. It usually acted alone, but once killed, it would leave a special aura on the killer, attracting nearby members of its kind.
Thus, even powerful soul masters rarely killed them outright.
Facing such a great enemy, the five soldiers' auras suddenly changed. Their clear eyes instantly turned turbid, a trace of blood-red light appearing. Their pupils all turned blood-red, and their bodies seemed enveloped in a faint layer of bloody glow.
This was the bloodline power from within their own bodies.
The leading middle-aged burly man punched away a ten-year Earth Armor Centipede and rapidly retreated with his four subordinates, no longer caring about the exiles' lives. Fortunately, these Earth Armor Centipedes were only at the ten-year level. As long as they were not surrounded, there was still hope of breaking out.
Of course, he could make such a decisive decision because he knew that Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er, who had just left, had not gone far. If those two soul masters lent a hand, the problem could be easily solved.
But what frustrated the middle-aged, burly man was that after killing the exiles, this group of Earth Armor Centipedes relentlessly pursued them. In just a moment, his four subordinates had all suffered varying degrees of injury.
Even after mobilizing their blood-qi power, they ultimately could not compare to true soul masters. Managing to temporarily preserve themselves against soul beasts was already quite difficult.
At the same time, sensing the situation, Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er immediately stopped and turned to look back.
Though Xu Zihuang had tried his best to avoid causing a disturbance, some things could not be avoided just by wishing them. What was meant to happen would still happen.
"So those soul beasts are called Earth Armor Centipedes."
And judging by the situation, it was clearly he and Wang Qiu'er who had drawn these Earth Armor Centipedes over. Those people had been implicated because of them.
Wang Qiu'er, beside Xu Zihuang, furrowed her brows, her face cold. She was about to release the Golden Dragon Spear to annihilate the pursuing Earth Armor Centipedes.
But at that moment, a brilliant cyan light shot skyward from the canyon end closer to the mountains, transforming into the phantom of a large cyan-jade bird. The bird burned with dazzling flames, its three elegant tail feathers raised high; it was unmistakably in the form of a phoenix.
And at the center of this cyan phoenix phantom stood a slender girl. Her long, curly hair fluttered, accentuating her delicate and refined features. Behind her grew a pair of wings formed entirely from cyan flames, her whole body wreathed in rising flames, extraordinarily divine.
Azure Jade Phoenix, a phoenix subspecies. Legends said it could contend with true giant dragons. As a human martial soul, it was undoubtedly among the absolute top tier.
Two yellow and two purple soul rings floated around the girl. Her fourth purple soul ring shone, and in front of the cyan flame wings behind her, countless feather-like cyan flames condensed and fell like a rainstorm from the sky.
The clan of over thirty Earth Armor Centipedes was obliterated in this sea of cyan fire, leaving not even bones.
Behind the girl, her guards also arrived in streaks of light.
In the not-too-wide canyon, three groups converged.
Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er walked at the front, the five soldiers in the middle, and the cyan-haired girl with her guards at the rear.
The gazes of the three parties met here, and the atmosphere became slightly subtle.
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