"Enough nonsense—focus on killing the enemy!"
At the very front, Mo Yunfei barked a sharp order. He quickly glanced back, his palm turning over, and all at once, a pure white cloud materialized before him. The dark-red figure charging toward him was instantly engulfed by the cloud and disappeared without a trace.
Retrieving the cloud, Mo Yunfei's expression grew grave as his gaze locked on the pitch-black forest not far ahead.
Below, soul beasts surged past like an earthquake, while above, though the numbers in the skies were fewer, they were still more than enough to push them to the brink.
Just earlier, a ten-thousand-year soul beast had appeared.
Fortunately, these soul beasts seemed to fear something, unwilling to linger in battle. Otherwise…
"Your Highness, Princess, it's very likely we won't make it out alive."
Amidst the clash, Mo Yunfei spoke solemnly to Mu Xue behind him.
"So… we're really going to die here?"
A faint trace of regret flickered across Mu Xue's beautiful eyes. She glanced sideways at Weina, who clung tightly to her sleeve, too terrified even to speak. Mu Xue let out a soft sigh.
She herself did not fear death—but her younger sister…
And besides, there were still so many things left undone. She was not willing. Not willing at all…
Yet in the very next moment—
A deep, arcane voice resonated from the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.
It seemed to sink directly into the soul, making everyone tremble involuntarily.
The voice carried an ancient and mysterious aura, as though it had come from primordial times, weathering countless ages, yet still lingering in the present.
Before anyone could react, the flood of ferocious beasts surrounding them suddenly froze in place.
Countless avian soul beasts halted mid-flight and quietly perched on nearby branches. Strangely, not a single one made a move to attack them.
On the ground below, innumerable soul beasts lowered themselves and prostrated in silence.
The sight was so bizarre it nearly left everyone slack-jawed.
What kind of existence could command with just a single sound—and cause every soul beast to fall utterly still?!
"This is…"
Mu Xue's beautiful eyes widened, her snow-pale face filled with disbelief.
This was a spectacle she had never witnessed in her entire life.
"I don't know either," Mo Yunfei murmured lowly, brows furrowed, "but, Your Highness, we'd best not make any rash moves."
And so, with every nerve taut, they remained in uneasy coexistence with the countless beasts and birds around them.
The scene was eerie, yet solemn…
Night fell.
At the campsite.
Because of the earlier beast tide, many students were mentally and physically exhausted and soon drifted into heavy slumber.
Ma Xiaotao and Wang Lang took turns keeping watch—one for the first half of the night, the other for the latter half.
As for Neuvillette, he lay inside a simple tent, mulling over the day's events.
Something about it all felt strange.
He recalled the gaze of the Red King as they parted—its eyes filled with a complicated light.
It seemed as if there were things it had chosen not to say aloud…
Could it have been related to today's Hell Demon Dragon?
Neuvillette's eyes flickered strangely as he exhaled a long, heavy breath.
Tomorrow, he still had to take the two little ones hunting soul beasts.
By now, aside from Wufeng, nearly everyone in the team had already secured their soul rings.
As for Huo Yutong's martial soul, Neuvillette had long since concluded.
The Gold-Devouring Beast.
A creature that fed on gold, resembling the mythical Taotie. Most were clustered deep in the Star Dou Great Forest's core, making them relatively rare.
To walk the path of becoming a god of machinery, one naturally had to possess the proper foundation.
But then again…
Wang Qiu'er had already taken the bait. Now it was only a matter of waiting patiently.
Still, there would be plenty of trouble ahead.
Leaving aside the future threat of the Spirit Hall's splinter—the Holy Spirit Cult—even the Body Sect was no small problem.
While Elder Mu could ensure invincibility within Shrek Academy through the Golden Tree's power, they could not remain in the academy forever.
The upcoming All-Continent Academy Tournament would inevitably expose them to the Body Sect.
And the girl's Spirit Eyes martial soul would surely attract the covetous attention of those muscle-bound monsters. After all, even in the original story, that was how it played out.
Martial souls of the body were already formidable, able to rival the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters as depicted in the original timeline.
And speaking of the Holy Spirit Cult—
With Dragon Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui, two Limit Douluo, its upper limit of power was pushed to terrifying extremes.
Still, for now, things had yet to reach the overwhelming level of the original later timeline.
Back then, Huo Yuhao's rampage in Mingdu had cost a million lives, and it was only then that Ye Xishui's Death God Tower absorbed all those souls, fully maturing and elevating her strength by an entire tier.
But in this lifetime, he would never allow such a thing to happen.
He was already steadily working on shaping the girl's worldview.
And compared to Ye Xishui, the one in the Star Dou Great Forest was the far greater terror.
"The Silver Dragon King…"
Neuvillette whispered to himself.
After a long silence, he exhaled a weary sigh.
For him at present, that being remained an incomprehensible giant.
Although his strength had already surpassed Yan Shaozhe at rank 96, he still fell short of Elder Xuan at rank 98.
By his own estimation—
At full power, he was roughly at the peak of rank 97.
At the very least, handling the Red King from earlier wouldn't be difficult; he could most likely win.
His second martial soul, the Eternal Flow Codex, still had no soul rings, as he planned to fill them only after his Water Dragon martial soul reached nine rings.
Thus, upon attaining the rank of Titled Douluo, his power would soar to new heights.
While Neuvillette was still deep in thought—
A faint, furtive set of footsteps suddenly sounded outside the tent.
"Teacher Neuvillette, are you asleep?"
The whisper was soft as gossamer.
Neuvillette raised a brow but said nothing. He was curious to see what this little girl was up to, sneaking around at midnight.
"No response… so you must be asleep…"
The gentle voice spoke again, half as though muttering to herself, half laced with shy nervousness.
Soon after—
Soft, cautious footsteps drew closer.
The tent flap was carefully lifted open.
A smaller figure squeezed inside, slowly approaching where Neuvillette lay form.
He lay on his side, back turned toward Wang Dong'er, saying nothing.
Wang Dong'er bit lightly at her red lips.
Opportunities like this were rare.
Teacher Neuvillette never stayed in the villa, and even if she wanted to "raid" him at night, she'd never had the chance—until now…
Neuvillette was just about to speak when suddenly, a chill swept across his back. A slender, delicate body slipped under the covers and pressed close around him.
Cool and tender to the touch.
Neuvillette nearly lost his composure.
His brows furrowed as he prepared to speak—
But a slender, jade-like arm gently circled his neck, cool and smooth to the touch, drawing a sharp breath from his lips.
"You… why put yourself through this?"
Neuvillette frowned deeply and let out a quiet sigh.
"Teacher Neuvillette, I knew you weren't asleep all along…"
A gentle, feminine voice whispered into his ear, unshakably firm.
Her breath carried a playful lilt, warm and moist as it brushed against his ear, leaving a tingling itch that stirred the heart…
(End of Chapter)