Chapter 298

The Shilake Academy group followed the Zhongli three brothers ahead; their pace was swift but never too far ahead of the group, stopping to wait if the gap widened, without urging them on.

Cai Meir led the group but slowed their pace; Zhang Lexuan, at the outset, made a four‑finger gesture behind her, clearly signaling everyone to keep a speed matching roughly four‑ring cultivation.

Even with four-ring cultivation, their speed was quite decent; the distance the three brothers said was not far took them a full hour to walk, clearly they had just been lying outright.

The Zhongli three brothers halted, Zhongli Tian turned and gave everyone a silencing gesture.

It was clear they were all on high alert, even a bit nervous.

Cai Mei'er came up beside them and whispered:

"Gentlemen, shouldn't you tell us what we need to do now?"

Zhongli Tian whispered:

"Not far ahead there's a cave where a soul beast lives; in a moment we'll lure it out, and your job is to attack together with us and kill it quickly."

"Just like that?"

Cai Mei'er asked dubiously, "Are they just lacking attack power? It's probably not that simple."

Zhongli Tian nodded affirmatively.

"Exactly; that guy is very cunning, we're not afraid of it, and you don't need to go all out—just make sure it doesn't escape. It's fast, a speed-attack type soul beast. First form a semicircle, Old Three, you go lure it out."

Zhongli Ren acknowledged, tapped his staff on the ground, and slipped through the bushes ahead.

Huo Yutong's mental detection instantly focused on him, letting everyone know his every move even without seeing him.

Zhongli Ren moved quickly, advancing about a kilometer, then suddenly slowed, his actions becoming very cautious.

After passing several large trees, he suddenly stopped, gazing at a towering ancient tree not far ahead, and slowly raised his staff.

Gray scales covered his body again, a rich gray light slowly brightened, and the top of his staff turned into a blood-red gem from which a beam of light shot out.

It resembled a rat-shaped soul beast, but was entirely condensed red light; it shot fast toward the towering ancient tree, then, about ten meters away, dove down into the hole before the tree.

Seeing this through mental detection, Tang Wulin and the others' eyes shifted, their expressions unconsciously tightening.

The reason is simple: what we just saw indicates that the Zhongli three brothers are likely three Evil Soul Masters.

The aura of that bloody rat, as revealed by mental detection, filled their minds with a strong scent of blood and death, making it hard to believe they were merely ordinary soul masters.

After realizing their identities, Huo Yutong also figured out the effect of the eight-rank soul tool in their hands—the staff's function is likely a seal, sealing souls within it.

She unhesitatingly shared this news via Mental Detection Sharing with everyone at Shilake Academy, rousing their spirits.

A flash of blood-red light vanished, and the ground suddenly trembled.

A deep, angry roar echoed, and a huge head suddenly emerged from the hole before the towering ancient tree.

The moment Tang Wulin saw the bear, he startled.

In the extreme individual soldier training, there is a segment on distinguishing soul beasts.

The soul beast appearing before him now can be said to be famous, ranking among the most dangerous of all soul beasts.

Its dark-golden fur, fierce eyes, and terrifying aura unmistakably marked it as an immensely powerful Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear; judging by the size of its head, its age likely reaches the ten-thousand-year level.

What does a ten-thousand-year Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear mean? With normal growth, it can absolutely rival an ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beast.

In other words, this ten-thousand-year Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear before us possesses at least the strength of an Honored Douluo.

No wonder the Zhongli three brothers need help; even if they could defeat this Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear, they'd likely suffer greatly themselves.

After provoking the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear, Zhongli Ren blasted backward like lightning, and in the instant after his retreat, a heaven-shaking light-flash flickered and vanished.

The Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear extended its right arm from the cave, its terrifying dark-gold hue sweeping instantly across a forward arc over fifty meters long with an angle exceeding one hundred fifty degrees.

Where the dark-gold passed, all vegetation was instantly shredded, and its sharp aura even carved five black traces in the air.

This is the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear, a super soul beast with unmatched offense and defense; if Zhongli Ren hadn't retreated quickly, it's doubtful he could have survived bathing in its terrifying dark-gold claw strike.

Surprisingly, the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear, which should be vengeful to the point of grudge, did not chase out of the hole but merely let out an earth-shaking angry roar.

Immediately afterward, Zhongli Ren let out a piercing whistle.

Hearing the whistle, Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di's faces lit up with joy.

Zhongli Tian turned to Cai Mei'er and said, "Let's go; my younger brother has already found that soul beast. We'll surround it directly—just go all-out in your attacks."

Cai Mei'er was also torn inside; having encountered three eight-ring Evil Soul Masters at the Soul Douluo level, she wasn't thinking about how to kill them but how to get these inner-academy students out safely.

Don't be fooled by their only being eight-ring; even individually, these eight-ring Evil Soul Masters can match an Honored Douluo. Though these Shilake Academy youths are excellent, Evil Soul Masters' abilities are not only evil but extremely hard to defend against, as shown by the previous incident with the Emissary of the God of Death.

The next master of the Sea God's Pavilion, Tang Wulin, had just returned; not knowing what abilities they possessed, Cai Mei'er was absolutely unwilling to take risks.

Helpless, she could only nod.

"Good."

Regardless, this wasn't a good moment to turn hostile, so she chose to wait and see.

Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di didn't pay excessive attention to the Shilake Academy group; they merely told them to hurry forward.

Soon everyone met up with the earlier Zhongli Ren; he nodded to his two brothers, signaling something, and Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di exchanged glances.

Zhongli Tian turned to Cai Mei'er and said, "That soul beast is very cunning; in a moment I'll attack it head-on, then coordinate with you to block it, while my two brothers flank from behind. As soon as it charges, we'll jointly stop it—understood?"

Cai Mei'er nodded and asked:

"Exactly what kind of soul beast is it?"

Zhongli Tian glanced at her, coldly saying, "You'll know when it comes; rest assured, I'll fight side by side with you here—get your disciples and grand-disciples ready."

Just as his words fell, the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear's roar sounded again from not far away—no, more accurately, it was a pained howl.

By the way, a joke: the Three-Eyed Golden Kirin is a ten-thousand-year beast comparable to a hundred-thousand-year one, and the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear is also a ten-thousand-year beast comparable to a hundred-thousand-year one.

I don't know whether to say that Laoqiu, as an imperial auspicious beast, is too weak, or that the Darkgold Terrorclaw Bear is too strong, actually matching the extreme Three-Eyed Golden Kirin.

(End of chapter)