Xu Zihuang had once had some interactions with Wei Na and Mu Xue back at Shrek Academy.
Wei Na and Mu Xue both held great affection for him, so the conversation among the three flowed unusually harmoniously and openly.
From this conversation, Xu Zihuang learned a great deal of information.
Before heading to the Extreme North, with Lang Ya's help, Wei Na had successfully obtained soul rings from three spirit beasts with over ten-thousand-year cultivation in the mental attribute. It was precisely because of this that Wei Na's soul power cultivation had surpassed Mu Xue's, reaching level 59.
If she fused another ten-thousand-year soul ring, breaking through the level 60 bottleneck would be a matter of course.
This was the advantage of twin martial souls.
Previously, Lang Ya had taken Wei Na to the Sun Moon Empire's Evil Demon Forest, Jingyang Mountain Range, and the Ming Dou Great Forest that was rich in mutated spirit beasts. It had taken several months to barely find three suitable spirit beasts. In the end, they had no choice but to return to Tiandou City to rest for a while before deciding to search again in the harsh environment of the Extreme North.
It was at that time that Mu Xue and Mo Feiyun joined them.
From this alone, one could see how difficult it was for a mental-attribute soul master to obtain suitable soul rings. And this was with a mental-attribute titled Douluo like Lang Ya overseeing the process.
Of course, this was also related to Wei Na's high requirements for soul ring quality. Powerful mental-attribute spirit beasts over ten thousand years old were hard to find; finding century-level or millennium-level ones was relatively easier.
One of Wei Na's targets this time was the Snow Demon clan that the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm had mentioned to Xu Zihuang.
"Not bad, these humans actually have some insight." The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's proud voice rang out in Xu Zihuang's spiritual sea.
"You heard that, right, Zihuang? Bro didn't lie to you. When you reach level 70, you'll have my million-year soul ring, so no need to rush. But for your Golden Eyes martial soul's eighth soul ring, you really can consider that hundred-thousand-year Snow Demon. The innate soul skills of the Snow Demon clan are no less than those of the pure mental-type Evil Eye Tyrant. Especially that signature soul skill, the Banshee's Wail, which combines mental attack and sound wave attack—back then, even Bingbing suffered quite a loss from it."
"Banshee's Wail?" Xu Zihuang recalled slightly. In his memories from his previous life, Princess Wei Na indeed had such a soul skill.
Just as the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm said, his seventh soul ring was already reserved for its million-year soul ring, leaving only the last two positions.
Although with his current strength, wanting the Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler with 790,000 years of cultivation to become his ninth soul ring sounded a bit arrogant, it was indeed his true intention.
The choices for the remaining eighth soul ring were much broader. Hearing the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's detailed explanation once again, that hundred-thousand-year Snow Demon did qualify as a candidate.
Their minds connected, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, knowing Xu Zihuang's thoughts, felt secretly pleased.
Hehe! Opportunities to show off in front of Zihuang don't come often!
Afterward, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm deliberately fell silent to act profoundly. It intended to wait for Xu Zihuang to ask more, then show off a little again, but it never got the chance.
In the end, a certain lazy worm couldn't hold back and spilled all the information to Xu Zihuang in one go, then fell asleep somewhat depressed.
This was mainly because the hundred-thousand-year Snow Demon didn't hold that much appeal for Xu Zihuang. There were stronger mental-attribute spirit beasts out there. Given his personality, he would never settle when it came to fusing soul rings and soul bones.
Night gradually fell, and the surroundings became extraordinarily quiet. In everyone's ears, there remained only the howling of the north wind, the crackling of burning wood, and the sound of tea water boiling in the clay pot.
During the conversation, they conveniently used some dry rations and dried meat to settle dinner.
Wei Na took out five exquisite porcelain cups from her storage soul tool, then picked up the scalding clay pot and evenly poured the fragrant tea into them. A trace of chilly white soul power flickered in her palm, isolating the heat from the pot.
Her first martial soul, the Snow Lotus, was a plant-type martial soul following the healing route. But since it was an ice-attribute plant-type martial soul, doing this was naturally no problem.
Wei Na stood up, holding two porcelain cups, and handed them respectively to Xu Zihuang and Lang Ya.
"Tianhuang, Teacher."
"Thank you." Xu Zihuang took it smoothly. During the handover, their fingertips happened to brush against each other. Xu Zihuang remained calm as usual, while Wei Na reflexively withdrew her jade-like fingers, her pretty face slightly blushing, a shy feeling rising in her heart.
Mu Xue, who had been watching Xu Zihuang and Wei Na the whole time, slightly twitched the corner of her mouth.
They had grown up together; she knew Wei Na too well. As the princess of the Tianhun Empire, Wei Na never put on airs and was gentle to everyone. But over the years, the only one who could make her show such a shy demeanor was Yu Tianhuang alone.
"Dead girl, still denying it to me."
The one who noticed this was also Lang Ya. He had been pondering how to bring Yu Tianhuang back to the Body Sect in the most peaceful way and hadn't interrupted the three's conversation.
Seeing the shyness in Wei Na's eyes, a strange light flickered in his own.
Wei Na was both a disciple of the Body Sect and the princess of the Tianhun Empire. If she could unite with Yu Tianhuang, it seemed all problems would be solved.
Turning around, Wei Na saw the expression on Mu Xue's face, her cheeks growing even hotter, but she still maintained her composure. She passed by Mu Xue, picked up another porcelain cup, and handed it to Mo Feiyun, who had already come to the campfire.
"Uncle Mo."
"Your Highness, no!" Mo Feiyun was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly waved his hands.
" Your Highness's status is so noble; this old servant cannot bear to be served by Your Highness."
Wei Na smiled sweetly.
"Uncle Mo, Sister Xue has always treated you as an elder, and you are my elder too. How could you say you cannot bear it?"
Mu Xue said with a complicated expression, "Master Mo, Wei Na is right. No need to refuse."
Since both Wei Na and Mu Xue had said so, Mo Feiyun could only accept it emotionally, deeply moved. To be treated with such courtesy by his country's princess, how could it not touch him?
Wei Na smiled and returned to her seat. Thanks to this interlude, much of the shyness in her heart had dissipated.
Mu Xue took Wei Na's hand, no longer in the mood to tease her, and said helplessly,
"Wei Na, sometimes I really feel you're not like a princess at all."
"Alright, my Sister Xue. So what if I'm a princess? Isn't a princess still a person? Compared to all those restrictive rules in the palace, I much prefer life outside the palace." Wei Na giggled.
Mu Xue was speechless.
"Give me a break. You're the daughter His Majesty dotes on the most. Could those palace rules really bind you?"
On the other side, Lang Ya sipped the tea in his porcelain cup with a smile, glancing at Wei Na, then at Xu Zihuang beside him, lost in thought.
At that moment, the smile on his face suddenly vanished, and together with Xu Zihuang, he looked toward the northwest direction.
Lang Ya's eyes narrowed slightly, and the surrounding air began to distort violently. Rippling water-like patterns spread out, making everything seem illusory.
Yet these distorting water-like ripples perfectly avoided Xu Zihuang and the others.
Wei Na, Mu Xue, and Mo Feiyun all noticed the abnormality. Mo Feiyun immediately became alert, his eyes sharply scanning the surroundings.
Wei Na, most familiar with Lang Ya, changed expression slightly and quickly asked, "Teacher, what happened?"
Lang Ya snorted coldly and said, "Some fools have set their eyes on us."
Being gentle and close to Xu Zihuang and Wei Na did not mean he had a good temper. In fact, many in the Body Sect were like this, accustomed to being domineering due to their great strength.
"From the looks of it, they're habitual offenders. Unexpectedly, there's even a Soul Sage among them."
"Senior Lang Ya, Your Highness, Miss, allow me to deal with them." Mo Feiyun's face turned cold, killing intent surging.
These bandits who plundered passersby and committed countless evils had unknown numbers of lives on their hands; there was no need to show mercy. If they didn't strike first now, once the bandits surrounded them, the situation would become dire.
With him and Lang Ya present, they naturally had nothing to fear from these bandits. But it might inevitably endanger Princess Wei Na and Mu Xue. As a qualified guard, he had to eliminate the risk in advance.
Before Wei Na and the others could speak, Xu Zihuang set down the porcelain cup in his hand and stood up.
"Uncle Mo, let me handle it."
Xu Zihuang's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.
Except for Lang Ya, who had some guesses about Yu Tianhuang's true strength, the remaining three, Wei Na, Mu Xue, and Mo Feiyun, had their pupils contract.
Mu Xue couldn't help reminding him,
"The leader is a Soul Sage."
Xu Zihuang smiled faintly, taking out a silver-white bow and an exquisite golden arrow from his storage soul tool.
The silver-white bow was the level-5 soul tool Wind-Breaking Bow he had made at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, and this golden arrow was an improved Thunder Rocket. The internal structure and core arrays remained the same, but the originally sharp arrowhead had been replaced with a shuttle-shaped metal.
Wei Na and Mu Xue did not reject soul tools as deeply as Lang Ya and Mo Feiyun did; they had come into contact with many and immediately recognized the origin of this shuttle-shaped metal.
"That's a fixed-installation soul cannon?!"
Xu Zihuang nodded, then under everyone's astonished gazes, elegantly drew the bow and nocked the arrow.
As soul power was injected, the silver Wind-Breaking Bow instantly turned cyan. The cyan light gradually enveloped the arrow, and with one shot, it strangely made no sound, merging into the night sky at extreme speed.
Even Lang Ya was a bit puzzled now. The bandits were at least eight kilometers away. If Yu Tianhuang used a soul skill to attack, he could understand that many mental-attribute soul skills had astonishing range and distance, requiring only externalized spiritual force to lock on. With Yu Tianhuang's tangible and qualitative spiritual force, a strike range of ten kilometers in diameter was possible.
But to make the fixed-installation soul cannon attached to the arrow accurately hit the target was not so easy; various factors had to be considered.
...
The gentle moonlight bathed the vast Lingbei Great Prairie in silver-white, the Blue Silver Grass stained with moonlight swaying in the wind, serene and hazy.
A figure quietly hovered in the night sky, appearing to be a young man in his twenties. However, behind him unfolded a pair of enormous cyan wings.
Two yellow, two purple, four bright and conspicuous soul rings were hidden within the massive cyan wings on both sides. If not looked at carefully, it would be hard to spot him thousands of meters up in the sky.
Without doubt, the youth was a beast martial soul master with flight capability. His martial soul was called Cyan Peng, with only average combat power, but its speed ranked among the top in flight-type martial souls. It was especially adept at long-distance flight.
Flight was an innate ability of the Cyan Peng martial soul, and ascending to around two thousand meters was effortless.
The youth gazed at the distant red firelight, a trace of coldness and greed appearing in his eyes before descending downward.
Below him, on the ground in this area, over twenty people had gathered. Each rode a Horn Scaled Horse, looking into the distance.
Leading them was a middle-aged man over fifty, with sinister eyes and features about sixty to seventy percent similar to the youth's. Clearly, a father and son pair.
The Horn Scaled Horse under the middle-aged man was also the largest, a hundred-year-old cultivation Horn Scaled Horse. The protrusions on each Horn Scaled Horse's forehead emitted dark light, forming a black halo that isolated their auras.
Heavenly Horn Shield, the innate soul skill of the Horn Scaled Horse.
The youth retracted his martial soul when still dozens of meters from the ground, landing steadily on the back of a Horn Scaled Horse, and said excitedly,
"Father, three men and two women in total. The two older ones should be guards; the remaining one man and two women look under twenty, probably young heirs from a great family out traveling."
The Cyan Peng Bandit Group had done this kind of thing on the Lingbei Great Prairie more than once. Young heirs from great families out traveling were the most lucrative targets.
"Go!"
The middle-aged man pondered for a moment, then fiercely waved his hand.
His subordinates licked their lips excitedly, eyes filled with bloodthirsty light.
Suddenly, a cyan light spot appeared in their sight. As the cyan light rapidly enlarged, it underwent two continuous changes.
First, red flames and deep purple lightning merged into it—at this point, it was clear it was an arrow. And the arrow's speed sharply increased the instant the flames and lightning appeared, drawing a beautiful and gorgeous arc in the air.
"An arrow?"
In the next instant, an orange-red light spot separated from the arrow's tip, its speed surging once more.
All this happened in the blink of an eye.
"Not good! Scatter!" The middle-aged man roared, his face drastically changing. As a Soul Sage-level powerhouse, he keenly sensed extreme danger from that orange-red light spot.
One white, two yellow, two purple, two black, and seven soul rings emerged around his body almost simultaneously.
But it was all too late.
"Boom—" A massive explosion shattered the peace of this prairie. Crimson light abruptly expanded outward, intense heat sweeping a diameter of nearly a thousand meters. In the core area, all living things instantly melted away.
A huge mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
Lang Ya, Wei Na, Mu Xue, and Mo Feiyun's gazes had already gone blank.
Immediately after, they witnessed an even more shocking scene.
Purple! Purple! Purple! Black! Black! Red! The final circle of eerie blood-red soul ring slowly rose to Xu Zihuang's chest before settling, pulsing slowly. The blood-red light reflected on Xu Zihuang's face.
Xu Zihuang looked toward the direction of the mushroom cloud. As his fifth soul ring shone, he raised his right hand. Silver light condensed at the tip of his slender right index finger, forming a substantial silver needle.
This was something he could only do after his spiritual force broke through to the tangible and qualitative realm, compressing Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed, condensing the area-of-effect mental-attribute soul skill Spiritual Storm into his fingertip. Though it became a single-target attack, its destructive power was far more terrifying.
Above the rolling mushroom cloud, a Cyan Peng with a wingspan over ten meters revealed itself. Its wings were tattered and incomplete, its aura extremely weak as it barely maintained balance. Its eyes were filled with terror.
But before the terror in its eyes could fade, a silver needle had already pierced its brow. The consciousness and soul within its spiritual sea instantly perished.
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