That day, many strong soul masters in Gengxin City suddenly felt a shift in the flow of soul power. The air rippled faintly, a wave spreading from the eastern district like a stone thrown into a still pond. The surge of soul power was due to an ongoing fight.
At the source of this disturbance stood Wu Meng. Her back pressed against the cracked wall of a blacksmith's workshop, her breath steady but her eyes sharp. Across from her, two hostile soul masters had already collapsed, their bodies sprawled on the cobbled street, groaning in pain.
Moments earlier, they had thought her an easy target.
"Second Soul Skill—Steel Binding Chains!" one of them had shouted, chains of glowing metal lashing out to restrain her.
But Wu Meng's eyes had glimmered coldly. Raising her hand, she released her own martial soul skill.
"Third Soul Skill—Shattering Crescent!"
A silver arc of spiritual (mental) power split through the chains like paper, dispersing them into fragments of light before crashing into her opponent's chest. The man staggered back, spitting blood before his legs gave out.
The second enemy had tried to exploit the opening, summoning a wolf-type martial soul.
"Third Soul Skill : Claw Rend!" he bellowed, lunging forward.
But Wu Meng shifted, her position. She dodged his attack easily then gathered soul power in her hand. A strong punch in his stomach, had sent him flying into a pile of broken crates.
She had won—yet the victory was hollow.
Because the noise had spread.
One after another, three more figures emerged from the shadows of Gengxin's alleys, each radiating the unmistakable fluctuation of a Soul Ancestor, as if they were waiting nearby. Their soul rings—two yellow and two purple in various orders—rose around them, illuminating the dusky street.
"They were not able to catch her?" one of them barked.
"She took down two of them already. Careful—she isn't an ordinary soul master."
Their martial souls bloomed into being. One's arms thickened, turning into scaled lizard-like claws. Another's body grew taller, muscles bulging, his skin hardening into stone. The third summoned a whip that crackled faintly with lightning, dancing like a serpent eager to strike.
Wu Meng's expression darkened. She could feel it—her soul power reserves had already dropped by almost forty percent. Fighting these three head-on, while more reinforcements could arrive at any moment, was courting death.
Her translucent, crystalline butterfly wings fluttered. A flash of intent appeared in her eyes, but it wasn't bloodlust. It was calculation.
"If I keep fighting, I'll be dragged down," she thought. "No… I must retreat."
She spun on her heel, with her butterfly wings "Second Soul Skill—Scales of dream!"
The second yellow soul ring on her shone.
Powder like dust spread with Wu Meng as the centre. The moment the Spirit hall soul masters took a breath , they start to experience hallucination. Using the momentary cover, Wu Meng leapt onto the roof of a nearby building, her figure vanishing into the tangled rooftops of Gengxin City.
The hallucination effect of the soul skill was temporary, so the soul masters soon came out of it.
"After her!" shouted the lizard-clawed soul master.
The three Soul Ancestors gave chase, their martial souls roaring with energy. All through the eastern district, the hunt began, startling commoners and drawing other cultivators into curiosity.
But none of them noticed the faintest rustle from a distant rooftop.
A cloaked figure had been following since the very beginning. They made no sound, no fluctuation of soul power. Their presence was like a shadow grafted to the world itself, their gaze fixed solely on Wu Meng's fleeing silhouette.
---
Wu Meng darted through alleys, her glaive dissolving into motes of silver light to lighten her movements. Yet even as she leapt across a half-collapsed wall, voices from behind grew closer.
"I am from Spirit Hall!" she retorted sharply, her voice carrying as she ran. "I demand you cease this pointless pursuit!"
Her pursuers hesitated, but only briefly. One sneered. "Give that herb first, then we will discuss"
Her steps faltered for just a fraction of a second.
That was the one thing she had not brought. She had set out on a confidential mission given by Qian Renxue, believing that the Elder's token were sufficient if anyone questioned her.
The answer she could give was only silence. Beacause that immortal herb is very precious to be given to them.
"You cannot give it to your fellow colleague?" The pursuing soul master's eyes gleamed dangerously. "Then don't blame us for being merciless."
Wu Meng gritted her teeth. She could feel the net tightening. With every second, her situation grew more precarious. And all the while, from the safety of the rooftops, the cloaked figure continued to follow silently, as though awaiting the right moment to step out of the shadows.
The chase did not last long.
One hour after Wu Meng had first been pursued, she found herself cornered in a forest clearing outside Gengxin City. The night air was thick, the moonlight spilling in pale beams through the canopy, illuminating the exhausted girl with her translucent butterfly wings trembling faintly.
The one who stood before her now was not just another pursuer.
A towering figure, his body wrapped in a cloak of oppressive soul power, emerged into the clearing. With each step, the ground quaked faintly, as if the earth itself feared him.
"Demon Bear Douluo."
His nine soul rings rose into the air—two yellow, two purple, five black, marking him undeniably as a Titled Douluo. Even the onlookers from Gengxin City, who had followed from a distance out of curiosity, could not help but tremble, unable to breathe freely beneath his aura.
Demon Bear Douluo sneered, his voice booming like rolling thunder.
"Girl… show me the herb you carry. Do that, and perhaps I might spare your life."