The next morning, at the first light of dawn, many households had already started lighting fires to cook breakfast.
Thin smoke spiraled into the sky as two figures walked together along the dirt road, preparing to leave the small mountain village.
These two were none other than Cheng Xiao and Ye Lingling. At this moment, both of them felt somewhat embarrassed as they looked at each other.
When they woke up that morning, Cheng Xiao was surprised to find that, somehow, he and Ye Lingling had ended up sleeping while hugging each other.
Even more coincidentally, Ye Lingling had woken up at the same time. The two of them stared at each other wide-eyed for a moment, then instinctively looked away, holding each other silently.
And they had stayed like that until Old Man Cheng had finished making breakfast and called them to eat.
After breakfast, Cheng Xiao explained his plan for the day to Old Man Cheng. Upon learning that Cheng Xiao would leave after just one night, Old Man Cheng felt a little reluctant, but he knew that his grandson was at a golden age for cultivation, so he didn't say much.
He only reminded Cheng Xiao that next time he returned, it would be best to bring back a grandson—something that naturally made Ye Lingling, who lowered her head to drink her porridge, blush furiously.
After leaving a portion of his Golden Spirit Coins with Old Man Cheng, Cheng Xiao took Ye Lingling and left. After all, he had other matters to attend to during this trip.
"Lingling, about this morning…" Cheng Xiao scratched his head awkwardly. As someone who had never been in a relationship, this kind of situation was entirely new to him, so…
"I hugged you too, so we're even," Ye Lingling said, too shy to look at Cheng Xiao's face. This was the first time she had boldly hugged a boy. Although she liked him, it was still overwhelmingly embarrassing for her.
Hearing this, Cheng Xiao quickly changed the topic. "Lingling, there's something I need to do. Do you want to come with me?"
"Mm," Ye Lingling nodded slightly, agreeing.
"Good." Cheng Xiao nodded, then led Ye Lingling quickly away from Cheng Family Village.
...
Outside Saint Soul Village, in a remote mountain valley.
A colossal dragon, its wings blotting out the sky, flapped violently. The turbulent air rustled the forest below like howling waves, echoing throughout the valley.
After a moment, the dragon's figure gradually diminished, revealing Cheng Xiao and the others standing atop a mountain peak outside the forest.
"This should be the place, right?" Cheng Xiao's eyes swept downward. Not far off, amidst the lush forest, a waterfall cascaded straight down.
This time, Cheng Xiao intended to capture the Blue Silver Emperor along with its Spirit Bone. As a top-tier plant-type Spirit Beast, converting it into a Shadow Soldier would greatly reduce his soul power consumption due to the Blue Silver Emperor's regenerative abilities.
Otherwise, if a Shadow Soldier died during prolonged battles, the soul power expenditure would be too great, and he would be at a disadvantage.
"Cheng Xiao, this is the place?" Ye Lingling asked, her eyes filled with doubt. Besides trees, all that was visible was a waterfall. The scenery was nice, but that was about it.
Cheng Xiao turned to her. "I heard a legend that a hundred-thousand-year-old Spirit Beast, heavily wounded, is here. If it's true, with my Martial Soul's ability, I might be able to convert it into a soldier. That way, we'll have extra insurance for the competition."
Ye Lingling nodded in surprise. She hadn't expected that Cheng Xiao's goal was to convert a hundred-thousand-year-old Spirit Beast into a Shadow Soldier.
Cheng Xiao had already explained the Shadow Soldier plan to the Royal Battle Team, so it wasn't a secret to Ye Lingling.
"Let me see where the Spirit Beast actually is first." Cheng Xiao's eyes flashed with purple. Then, black smoke shot out from his shadow. In just a moment, more than ten Shadow Soldiers appeared throughout the valley.
Following Cheng Xiao's commands, the Shadow Soldiers quickly spread out, determined to locate the hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast mentioned by the king.
With the Shadow Soldiers assisting in the search, Cheng Xiao wasn't in a hurry. He held Ye Lingling's hand and sat down on a large stone, waiting for their report.
After a while, the Shadow Soldiers located the Spirit Beast and relayed the information to Cheng Xiao. Immediately, he pulled Ye Lingling into his arms, and to her startled exclamation, activated the Shadow Exchange.
Exchanging places with the Shadow Soldiers, Cheng Xiao and Ye Lingling now stood beneath the waterfall, with the previously searching Shadow Soldiers lined up behind them.
"Looks like it's here." Cheng Xiao gently released Ye Lingling's waist, eyes fixed on the cascading waterfall, a faint smile on his lips.
"Cheng Xiao!" Ye Lingling's face flushed. "Can… can you tell me next time beforehand?"
"Hm? Tell you what?" Cheng Xiao was initially confused by her blushing. Realizing, he cleared his throat and said, "Noted. Next time, noted."
At that moment, the Shadow Soldier Ghost Leopard approached respectfully. "My lord, some reckless Spirit Beasts seem to be heading this way. Should we eliminate them immediately?"
Before he could finish, low growls echoed through the valley. One by one, green-scaled, fierce-looking Spirit Beasts, resembling Azure Wolves, emerged from the forest, instantly surrounding Cheng Xiao and the others.
Cheng Xiao raised an eyebrow and said to Ghost Leopard, "Kill them. Perfect for expanding the army."
"As you command." Ghost Leopard responded, turning to attack these thousand-year-old Spirit Beasts that resembled Azure Wolves but were much stronger.
As Ghost Leopard moved, the other Shadow Soldiers followed, and a battle broke out immediately.
"How are there Spirit Beasts here?" Ye Lingling frowned as she watched the one-sided slaughter. "This place is so far from the Empire's captive Spirit Beast forests. There shouldn't even be any Spirit Beasts here, right?"
"Whether they appear or not, we'll know soon enough." Cheng Xiao didn't care. Since he didn't know why they were here, he would just kill them and convert them into Shadow Soldiers. Then he would find out everything.
A minute later, Cheng Xiao snapped his fingers. Mournful wails arose as black shadows began emerging from the bodies of the slain thousand-year-old Spirit Beasts.
Ye Lingling was shocked. She had never seen Cheng Xiao's Martial Soul ability displayed this way before. Normally, aside from summoning Shadow Soldiers, he almost never showed such a power. Or rather, he couldn't always summon it.
Summoning was simple, but Cheng Xiao couldn't just kill every Soul Master or Spirit Beast in the continent to do it—that would be insane.
"Tell me, why are you here?" Cheng Xiao asked the Shadow Soldiers.
"My lord, we were captured by human Soul Masters," the thousand-year Spirit Beasts bowed their heads, explaining. "We didn't originally belong here, but their power was too great, and we couldn't resist."
"All right, I know who you mean." With a wave of his hand, the thousand-year Spirit Beasts turned into black smoke and dissipated. Cheng Xiao's gaze then fell upon the waterfall.
.......
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(End of Chapter)