Chapter 81 Rock Owl, Dream of Red Dust
The vast dense forest and lush trees almost covered half of the sky. Occasionally, through the gaps between the leaves, one could see the soldiers of the Star Luo Empire whizzing past in the sky with flying soul guides on their backs.

In a dense jungle, a pair of dark eyes looked through the gaps between the leaves at the soldiers of the Star Luo Empire flying across the sky. Xiao Yan couldn't help but frown. Such an overwhelming flying force was really giving him a headache.

"It seems that the huge roar caused by the cave collapse just now has attracted all the people from the Western Army of the Star Luo Empire." Xiao Yan shrank back into the shadows, lowered his head, looked at the ring on his finger, and murmured softly.

"The Marshal of the Western Army of the Xingluo Empire is in the cave. Do you think they can be calm?" Yao Lao said in a deep voice, "Wait, I will use my soul power to wrap up your breath. You can find a chance to go to the border of the Sun-Moon Empire. Once you are in the territory of the Sun-Moon Empire, I think it will be difficult for these people to find you."

"Yeah." Xiao Yan nodded slightly, sneered, held the tree trunk with both hands, slid down the tree nimbly, and then headed towards the direction of the Sun Moon Empire.

The terrain of the Mingdou Mountains is steep and changeable, and it is extremely difficult to cross. Both the Sun-Moon Empire and the Xingluo Empire have troops stationed on one side of the mountains, and now both countries have special soul masters conducting aerial reconnaissance every day. Therefore, if you want to cross the mountains to the Sun-Moon Empire, it is undoubtedly very difficult, and it is easy to be regarded as a spy of the enemy by both sides.

The mountain range spreads southward, occupying almost two-thirds of the border. The other third is a soul beast forest about half the size of the Xingdou Great Forest, known as the Mingdou Great Forest, which is a place rich in mutant soul beasts.

The Mingdou Forest is the only place in the mountains where there is no army stationed, because those mutated soul beasts are extremely aggressive, and neither country dares to easily station troops here. After some thought, Xiao Yan decided to cross the Mingdou Forest and head to the Sun-Moon Empire. This way, he can get rid of the Western Army of the Xingluo Empire and avoid being captured by the Sun-Moon Empire as a spy of the enemy country.

In the distant sky, the setting sun gradually set, and finally fell completely. All of a sudden, the entire Mingdou Mountains fell into complete darkness.

Walking slowly under the shade of the trees and looking at the gradually dense forest in front of him, Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Now, he should be in the Mingdou Forest. If he walks a distance forward, he may be able to reach the territory of the Sun and Moon Empire. At that time, he will not be afraid of encountering the army of the Star Luo Empire again.

Looking up at the slightly dim sky, Xiao Yan couldn't help but frown and said, "It seems that we can only sleep outdoors in the mountains today."

After passing through a small woods again, the sky finally darkened completely. Shaking his head helplessly, Xiao Yan was just about to find a place to stay when his moving gaze suddenly stopped. He saw a bonfire looming in the dense forest not far away, like a guiding lighthouse in the darkness.

"Huh, there is a fire. Could it be someone from the Sun Moon Empire?" Looking at the bonfire, Xiao Yan was slightly stunned. After pondering for a moment, he actually raised his foot and walked towards the location of the bonfire.

After a while, as he got closer, Xiao Yan could vaguely see that there were seven people sitting next to the bonfire, six men and one woman. Each of them was equipped with an advanced soul guide device, and on their chests, they also had a soul guide badge, the highest of which was a level seven soul guide badge.

The woman among them was extremely beautiful, with long hair of a rare wine red color, just like mellow wine, sparkling with a faint luster. She was wearing a wine red tight-fitting suit, and her slender waist, which was not even as thin as a hand, was tied with a golden belt.

Next to the woman sat a man who looked somewhat similar to her. He also had burgundy hair, but it was short. He had a pair of big blue eyes, and a hint of heroic spirit between his brows. He was very handsome.

At this moment, the tallest man among the seven people with a seventh-level soul master badge on his chest suddenly stood up. He looked directly at where Xiao Yan was, but did not come forward. He just asked vigilantly: "Who are you? Why are you here?"

Hearing his shout, the other six people also looked towards Xiao Yan's position vigilantly, and their hands unconsciously reached for the soul guides at their waists.

"Don't be nervous, I was just passing by. I saw the bonfire here, so I came over to take a look." Xiao Yan said lightly, spreading his empty hands.

"Are you also a soul master?" After looking Xiao Yan up and down, the tall man frowned and asked in a deep voice.

“Yes.” Nodding slightly, Xiao Yan activated his spiritual eyes and also looked at the seven people in front of him. Then he smiled at the tall man who was obviously a little wary and said, “I plan to cross the Mingdou Great Forest and go to the Sun-Moon Empire in the west. From the way you are dressed, you should be from the Sun-Moon Empire, right?”

"Yeah." Hearing this, the tall man nodded. After hesitating for a moment, he pointed to the bonfire not far away and said with a heroic smile: "My name is Ma Rulong, and the six of them are my teammates. We came to Mingdou Forest to get a suitable spirit ring for one of them. Night is the peak time for spirit beasts to appear. If you don't mind, come and sit with us, little brother."

"Okay, Brother Ma, I won't be polite then." Xiao Yan nodded gratefully, and under the gaze of everyone, he walked to the campfire, sat down cross-legged, and smiled shyly at them.

Since coming here, Xiao Yan's mental detection has been turned on, but he controlled it very cleverly. Although these people in front of him were a little wary of him, they did not have much hostility. It was precisely because of this that he chose to stay.

"Hello, little brother, my name is Meng Hongchen, and I'm a five-ring soul king." The woman with long wine-red hair held her chin with her hand, a gleam in her eyes, and smiled as she looked at the somewhat shy black-robed boy not far away.

"Hello, Miss Meng, my name is... Yan Xiao, a second-ring great soul master." Blinking his eyes, Xiao Yan touched his nose and smiled.

“You are quite brave. A two-ring great soul master dares to cross the Mingdou Forest to go to the Sun-Moon Empire. If you hadn’t met us tonight, you would have become food for a soul beast, right?” After hearing Xiao Yan’s self-reported strength, the man who looked somewhat similar to Meng Hongchen smiled in disbelief.

"By the way, my name is Xiao Hongchen, and I am also a Five-ring Soul King."

Knowing that he would make mistakes if he spoke too much, Xiao Yan just smiled faintly and didn't say much. He then turned his gaze to the remaining people.

"Miga, Xiao Xiafeng, Chen Fei, Lin Xi." Seeing this, the other men also smiled politely at Xiao Yan and introduced themselves.

At this time, Ma Rulong walked over to Xiao Yan and sat down. He picked up a stick and inserted it into the fire. He played with the flames in the campfire with boredom and asked inconspicuously, "Brother Yanxiao, I see that you are young and your clothes are very strange. You should not be from the Sun Moon Empire, right? Why do you risk your life to cross the Mingdou Forest to go to the Sun Moon Empire?"

"Brother Ma, I am from the Xingluo Empire. When I was a few years old, my mother was killed by the nobles of the Xingluo Empire. Not long ago, I killed the nobles to avenge my mother. Now I am wanted by the entire Xingluo Empire, so I had no choice but to cross the Mingdou Great Forest to the Sun and Moon Empire." Xiao Yan lowered his head and explained in a low voice. "I see." Raising his hand and patting Xiao Yan's shoulder, Ma Rulong whispered, and then he asked a few more questions about his origins, and Xiao Yan gave perfect answers to them. In addition, he thought that Xiao Yan's strength was not strong, just a two-ring great spirit master, what harm could he cause to them?

Thinking of this, Ma Rulong's doubts finally dissipated completely, and the few of them started chatting with each other.

Soon, it was dark and everyone returned to their tents to rest. Ma Rulong even set up a new tent for Xiao Yan to make it easier for him to rest.

In another tent, the team member named Miga said to Ma Rulong: "Captain, will there be any problems if we let this guy stay with us? After all, the dean told us before we came out..."

Ma Rulong laughed and said seriously, "He is just a second-ring great soul master. What are you worried about? It can be seen that he did flee from the Xingluo Empire. His mother was killed by the nobles. He is also a poor child. In recent years, there are not many people who have fled from there to the Sun-Moon Empire. At dawn, we will part with him and set off to find a suitable soul beast. As for whether he can successfully pass through the Mingdou Great Forest to the Sun-Moon Empire, it depends on his luck."

…………

The quiet night passed safely as Ma Rulong and others took turns to keep watch.

When the sky was just getting light, Xiao Yan came out of the tent comfortably. He looked at Ma Rulong who was already packing up the tent, and couldn't help but smiled and stepped forward to help, saying, "Brother Ma, let me help you."

"Thank you, Brother Yanxiao." Seeing this, Ma Rulong nodded with a smile and said seriously, "Later our team will have to go deep into the forest to hunt soul beasts and obtain soul rings. If you want to go to the Sun Moon Empire, we can only part ways now."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan bowed to Ma Rulong and said, "Well, Brother Ma, let's say goodbye here. Thank you for taking care of me last night."

At this moment, Meng Hongchen also came out of the tent. She greeted Xiao Yan and said, "Yan Xiao, you got up early."

"It's just dawn, you're not late, Miss Meng." Xiao Yan said with a smile.

Stretching lazily, Meng Hongchen seemed to have heard the conversation between Xiao Yan and Ma Rulong just now. She took a few steps forward and came in front of Xiao Yan. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Aren't you going to the Sun-Moon Empire? How about this, you follow our team, and when we finish hunting soul beasts, you can go back to the Sun-Moon Empire with us. In this way, you don't have to risk crossing the entire Mingdou Forest alone."

After saying this, a hint of worry actually appeared on Meng Hongchen's face.

Hearing this, the soul master named Mijia among the seven people said, "Miss, the dean specifically told me when he came out... Besides, he is just a second-ring great soul master. It doesn't seem good to have a burden around him, right?"

"What do you care about me? What I like is none of your business!" Upon hearing this, Meng Hongchen's face suddenly turned cold and he immediately retorted.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Xiao Yan couldn't help but be slightly stunned. He was about to reject Meng Hongchen's kindness when a deafening roar suddenly appeared in the forest, and along with the roar, there was also a terrifying shock wave like a tidal wave.

With his spiritual eyes focused, a faint golden light lit up, and Xiao Yan could clearly see that large tracts of forest in front of his left were falling down like wheat being cut. Immediately afterwards, an extremely majestic figure leaped over and when he landed with a loud bang, he actually stepped directly into a large hole in the ground, causing the earth to shake.

The huge figure was coming towards him. Xiao Yan could see its appearance clearly. It was a giant with black and white hair all over its body. It had two heads on its shoulders. Its huge body was more than ten meters tall. Both heads had one eye, emitting a terrifying light.

"Twin Cyclops?" Xiao Yan frowned slightly. The knowledge about this kind of soul beast was what he learned when he was in Shrek Academy.

Soul beasts like the Cyclops are two meters tall at birth. When they reach a hundred years of cultivation, their height can grow to five meters, which is considered an adult. At this time, their height growth rate will slow down. When they reach a thousand years of cultivation, the height of the Cyclops can exceed eight meters. If they reach ten thousand years of cultivation, their height can even grow to fifteen meters. But because of their huge stature, they are too obvious. It is easy to become prey for some powerful soul beasts. Therefore, a hundred thousand year old Cyclops is almost non-existent. Their brains are a great tonic for many soul beasts, and all of these soul beasts have top bloodline inheritance.

For soul beasts such as the Cyclops, ten thousand years is a huge threshold. Once their cultivation exceeds ten thousand years, their strength will increase dramatically. At the same time, when the cultivation of these soul beasts breaks through ten thousand years, they may also mutate, from a Cyclops to a Twin Cyclops, and from one head to two heads.

The twin cyclops in front of him was a mutant. Its height was over 40 meters, and its cultivation was about 50,000 years. After the mutation, its attributes also changed slightly. It had rare dual attributes of light and darkness, and its strength was so strong that it had already entered the category of top soul beasts.

"There's a soul beast, everyone be careful!"

As the shout was uttered, a series of metallic clanging sounds suddenly burst out from the bodies of Ma Rulong and the other seven people. Metals of different colors rose from behind them and covered their entire bodies.

They looked like they were wearing a suit of armor, with metal bulges on their waists and legs. This set of soul guide armor could definitely be described as heavy armor. After putting it on, the whole person grew at least three times larger. There was a ball of white light flashing on the chest and lower abdomen, which was obviously the core formation of this soul guide.

A set of soul guides that cover the whole body? Xiao Yan stared at it with wide eyes. He had never seen such a soul guide before. In the depths of his memory, the three distant words "Iron Man" suddenly popped up. He looked at Ma Rulong and others with interest.

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　Please give me monthly votes and recommend votes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)