In the central region of the Great Star Dou Forest.
Grand Priest stopped walking as she looked ahead at the denser forest. She turned around, her expression slightly serious, and said to everyone:
"Be careful. Moving forward, we will officially enter the central area of the Great Star Dou Forest."
"The soul beasts here are far stronger than those in the outer regions. The strongest ones might even have tens of thousands of years of cultivation."
"Except for Chengfeng, it would be very dangerous for anyone else to face them alone."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing, Hu Liena, and Ning Rongrong suppressed the subtle emotions that had lingered from last night's events and nodded seriously.
They all understood that a ten-thousand-year soul beast represented a qualitative leap in power.
Its strength and intelligence far surpassed that of thousand-year soul beasts. A single misstep could lead to grave danger.
Dai Chengfeng also focused his attention on the surrounding environment.
Although there was the Grand Priest by his side ensuring safety, vigilance was still absolutely necessary.
The group continued forward, venturing deeper into the central region.
Here, the trees were taller and denser, blocking out the sunlight, making the atmosphere dimmer and filled with an ancient and perilous aura.
Strange insect chirps and beast roars echoed from the depths of the forest, keeping everyone on edge.
After about half an hour of walking, suddenly, intense sounds of battle and explosive clashes of soul power came from the front right, mingled with human shouts and the roars of soul beasts.
The Grand Priest furrowed her brows slightly. She didn't want to get involved in unnecessary trouble.
After all, encountering other soul teams hunting soul beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest was common. Intervening carelessly could lead to misunderstandings or complications.
Instinctively, she wanted to lead the group to bypass this area.
"Let's change direction and avoid them," Grand Priest said.
"Wait, Grand Priest."
At this moment, Dai Chengfeng suddenly spoke up, his gaze directed toward where the sounds of battle were coming from. A flicker of confusion passed through his eyes.
"Let's go take a look."
Grand Priest looked curiously at Dai Chengfeng. Knowing him, he wasn't the type who liked to meddle in others' affairs.
"Take a look?"
"Fights happen daily in the forest. We have our own objectives; is it really necessary?"
Dai Chengfeng shook his head, not providing a specific explanation.
He hadn't planned to interfere either. After all, since entering the Great Star Dou Forest, he had encountered such incidents numerous times.
But just now, he sensed a familiar presence among the fighting.
Though he couldn't quite remember who it was, he guessed it was someone he had met a few times but wasn't close to.
However, since they had crossed paths before, it wouldn't hurt to check.
If it turned out to be an old acquaintance in danger and he didn't help, regretting it later would be too late.
Seeing Dai Chengfeng's insistence, Grand Priest didn't object further and nodded: "Alright, if you want to take a look, then let's go."
"But remember, don't intervene rashly. Observe the situation first."
"Understood." Dai Chengfeng replied.
The group concealed their presence and, using the cover of the trees, silently approached the location of the fight.
Soon, they arrived at the edge of a clearing in the forest, hiding behind several giant trees, looking towards the center of the clearing.
In the clearing, the battle was fierce.
A man in his sixties, with a resolute face and seven soul rings flashing on his body, was leading four teenagers in their late teens as they desperately resisted a massive soul beast.
The soul beast resembled a gigantic ape, but its entire body was covered in dark golden scales, and it had a ferocious horn on its forehead.
Its blood-red eyes radiated a violent aura.
Each of its lunges was powerful, and the sharp claws created a piercing sound as they cut through the air.
"Golden-Horned Giant Ape? Judging by its energy and size, it probably has fifty thousand years of cultivation!"
A flicker of surprise appeared in the Grand Priest's eyes. "Soul beasts of this level usually only roam near the core zone. Why has it appeared in the middle region?"
"Could something have happened in the core zone, driving it out?"
Meanwhile, Dai Chengfeng's gaze fell on the four young soul masters.
When he saw two of them, realization dawned.
One of the youths was dressed in dark blue tight-fitting clothing, his face partially obscured by what looked like a mask, revealing only the lower half of his face. His movements were swift as the wind…
In summary, he bore a striking resemblance to the King of Lanling.
(T/N: King of Lanling or Lanling Wang is a hero from the game Honor of Kings)
The other youth was a girl with fiery red short hair, tall and voluptuous, with a beautiful appearance.
But her eyebrows carried a hint of spiciness and pride. At this moment, she was continuously releasing powerful fire-element soul skills.
"I know who they are now. It's them."
At this time, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Hu Liena also recognized the two people in the field.
Ning Rongrong tugged at Dai Chengfeng's sleeve and whispered: "Look, Dai Chengfeng, isn't that the female tyrannosaurus who snatched our ring that day? And her follower, Feng Xiaotian…"
Dai Chengfeng nodded, uninterested: "Had I known it was them, I wouldn't have come. Pure waste of time."
While Dai Chengfeng and the others were conversing, the situation on the battlefield suddenly worsened!
The fifty-thousand-year-old Golden-Horned Giant Ape seemed to be thoroughly enraged.
It let out a roar to the sky, its massive body glowing brightly with dark gold. Its huge golden horn suddenly expanded, carrying a terrifying aura that threatened to tear everything apart, and crashed fiercely towards the middle-aged man at the Soul Saint level!
The middle-aged man's face changed drastically.
The attack came too fast; he had no time to dodge.
Thus, his seventh soul ring lit up instantly, attempting to use his true form to withstand the blow!
Boom——!
A loud explosion sounded as the golden horn of the Golden-Horned Giant Ape collided fiercely with the middle-aged man's defense.
Terrifying shockwaves spread out, shaking the surrounding trees and causing them to rustle loudly.
However, the full-force attack of a fifty-thousand-year-old soul beast was beyond imagination.
The middle-aged man's True Body was forcibly shattered. He was struck heavily, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and flew backward like a broken kite.
He crashed heavily into a large tree and slid down limply, clearly severely injured and unable to continue fighting.
"Teacher!"
"Vice Principal!"
Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wu, and the other two young soul masters were horrified upon seeing this, crying out in alarm.
With their only Soul Saint-level expert gone, the four of them stood no chance against this rampaging fifty-thousand-year-old soul beast. Even escape seemed impossible!
After knocking the middle-aged man away, the Golden-Horned Giant Ape locked its blood-red eyes onto the remaining four, especially Huo Wu and Feng Xiaotian, who exhibited the strongest fluctuations of soul power.
It growled low and moved forward with heavy steps, launching another attack. The shadow of death instantly enveloped Feng Xiaotian and the others.
Huo Wu's face turned pale, and fear finally showed in her eyes.
Feng Xiaotian gritted his teeth, ready to seize any opportunity to retreat with Huo Wu.
But at this critical moment—
Ning Rongrong watched the dire situation unfold and couldn't help but gently tug at Dai Chengfeng's arm, her voice carrying a hint of pleading:
"Dai Chengfeng, can… can you save them?"
Dai Chengfeng originally had no intention of getting involved in this mess. After all, whether Feng Xiaotian and Huo Wu lived or died had little to do with him.
Not attacking them while they were down was already generous enough.
But Ning Rongrong's sudden plea caught him off guard.
Then he looked at the jade ring on his middle finger, his head filling with black lines.
"This ring… didn't you snatch it from Huo Wu?"
Ning Rongrong shyly stuck out her tongue, "Oh, I did it all for you~"
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