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Ye Guyi's choice was something Liuxing could understand. Under the sacred and peaceful aura of the Paradise Bird, any living being would let go of their fighting spirit. Even spirit beasts that lived for thousands of years would be affected, let alone Ye Guyi herself.
If you absolutely had to kill this Paradise Bird, you'd definitely feel regret deep down. Better to give up and choose to hunt other light-attribute spirit beasts instead.
No wonder this Paradise Bird, with its century-level cultivation, could survive in this evil-demon forest where the sacred attribute clashed so strongly.
Liuxing and the others glanced at the Paradise Bird a few more times, then turned and headed out of the valley. With the Paradise Bird here, there should be other light-attribute spirit beasts nearby.
"Chirp!"
The Paradise Bird called out once more, like it was seeing them off.
Right then, a hoarse voice rang out from somewhere slanting down the valley,"There's a Paradise Bird here? Disgusting."
From the slope below, a streak of gray-black light suddenly shot out straight toward the Paradise Bird. The light was soaked in evil energy — wherever it passed, plants withered and the air reeked.
The Paradise Bird let out a clear cry, a white light transforming into a protective barrier in front of it. But the gray-black beam was too strong. After all, the Paradise Bird was only a century-old spirit beast. Even if it was said to be an apostle of the Angel God, the Angel God had fallen, his divine position shattered. No matter how divine the Paradise Bird was, it couldn't make up for the power gap.
"Not good!"
Luan Yu's hand suddenly produced an ice-blue sword. The hilt was carved with a phoenix, and the blade was covered in flowing patterns. In a rush, she swung it, releasing a streak of ice-blue sword energy. Cold air spread wherever it passed, aiming straight at the gray-black beam.
"Huh? Someone else?"
That nasty hoarse voice sounded again. A blue-black skull suddenly shot into the sky, opening its bloody maw and biting through Luan Yu's sword energy.
Luan Yu wasn't a traditional spirit master — her sword energy lacked the true sword intent and wasn't very strong. Otherwise, a traditional spirit master wouldn't let that blue-black skull get so arrogant.
That hesitation was all it took for the gray-black beam to pierce through the Paradise Bird's light barrier and tear through its body. The Paradise Bird let out a mournful cry and tumbled down the hill, rolling helplessly. It looked done for.
"Bastard!"
Luan Yu roared in anger, throwing out an ice-blue crystal ball. Endless cold spread from it, snow falling in June like winter's bite, covering the whole valley.
The blue-black skull twisted and shimmered, revealing a pale human face — impossible to tell if male or female, but disgusting blue-black maggots crawled all over it.
At the same time, nine spirit rings glowed fiercely — two yellow, two purple, five black — the aura of a Title Douluo bursting out.
Luan Yu's face changed. The Ice Phoenix Sword on her hand also glowed with nine spirit rings — two yellow, two purple, five black. The ice-blue orb above her head unleashed a frost barrier protecting Liuxing and the others.
"Hm? A Title Douluo? A level 9 Spirit Tool?"
The blue-black face drooled as it looked at the alluring and beautiful Luan Yu, then eyed warily the level 9 spirit tool above her head — the Ice Soul Divine Light Orb.
Its eyes flickered. Though tempted by Luan Yu's body, the opponent was also a Title Douluo with a level 9 spirit tool. If they fought, it wasn't guaranteed to win, and if the battle stirred up a 100,000-year-old spirit beast, that'd be a huge problem.
"An evil spirit master?"
Luan Yu's expression darkened. The figure looked exactly like an evil spirit master, and with all that evil aura, she had no choice but to suspect it.
Ye Guyi stared at the blue-black face with murderous intent, her face icy cold.
Not just because this opponent had killed the Paradise Bird that had warmed her heart — but because she instinctively hated this person, wanting nothing more than to turn them to ashes.
Liuxing's heart sank. Their luck was really bad. They'd actually run into a Title Douluo-level evil spirit master. Auntie might not be a match — evil spirit masters were unpredictable, many fighting beyond their level, and Auntie's combat strength was shaky. She was only a level 92 Title Douluo and primarily a level 9 Spirit Tool user. The Ice Soul Divine Light Orb was strong, but right now the distance between them wasn't close enough to make it safe to keep some space. And clearly, the opponent wasn't dumb enough to give them that chance.
They'd let their guard down because this was the edge of the evil-demon forest — no spirit beasts here could threaten a Title Douluo, so they didn't expect one to show up. They didn't even notice the evil spirit master until it attacked.
Luan Yu regretted it deeply. If she were alone, she might have been able to run — but now with four burdens dragging her down, escape was hopeless. The only choice was to fight to the death.
Why would a Title Douluo-level evil spirit master show up on the outskirts of the evil-demon forest? Luan Yu was deeply confused. Judging by the opponent, it wasn't a newly acquired ninth spirit ring, and there were no juniors with them. So why were they here?
While Luan Yu was stewing in worry and regret, Masked Douluo was equally annoyed. Just coming out of headquarters, he'd run into a hated sacred-attribute spirit beast. Killing it was one thing, but now he had to deal with a level 9 spirit tool user bringing juniors to hunt spirit beasts.
He was only a level 91 Title Douluo. Though confident in his skills to beat this opponent, he didn't want to attract attention — especially not from a 100,000-year-old spirit beast. The Holy Sect wasn't ready to be exposed yet.
On top of that, the Holy Sect had just made contact with a prince from the Sun and Moon Empire, and they were on the path to cooperation. Killing a level 9 spirit tool user from that empire here could wreck their relationship, and the Sect Leader wouldn't let him off easy.
Thinking all this, Masked Douluo wanted to back out. Winning would just mean a pretty skin but heaps of trouble; losing would be worse. This fight wasn't worth it.
Evil spirit masters might all be mentally unstable, but anyone who reached Title Douluo wasn't stupid — otherwise, they wouldn't have survived this long.
"What? You want to avenge this spirit beast? Since when did humans and spirit beasts get so chummy?"
Masked Douluo's voice was hoarse.
"Sir, this Paradise Bird was our target. You suddenly attacked and killed it — won't you give me an explanation?"
Luan Yu knew she couldn't show weakness. If she did, the opponent might attack immediately. If they could avoid conflict and back off, that'd be best. If it were just her, she'd fight for sure — but now, the four kids couldn't handle a fight between Title Douluos.
"....."