Chapter 66: Fierce!
The air seemed to freeze.
The gazes of Han Ruoruo, Wu Ming, Ma Xiaotao, and Chu Qingtian were all focused on the motionless Thorn Demon lying on the ground.
Their minds went completely blank.
A terrifying Soul Beast close to the ninety-thousand-year level — the Thorn Demon that had almost buried all five of them here — was just — resolved like this?
Resolved by an Outer Academy student with only forty levels of Soul Power, who hadn't even obtained his fourth soul ring yet — single-handedly — in less than half an hour?
Wu Ming was the first to slightly recover from her stupor. She blinked her dry eyes, subconsciously reached out and grabbed Ma Xiaotao's arm beside her, her voice distant, "Xiaotao, you — you pinch me, use some force, I need to see if I'm hallucinating from excessive blood loss —"
Ma Xiaotao was also mentally shaken at this moment. Hearing Wu Ming's words, she subconsciously reached out and gave Wu Ming's arm a hard twist.
"Ouch!"
The real sensation of pain came, and Wu Ming cried out in pain, but she was also completely jolted awake from her daze.
Her eyes widened suddenly, staring fixedly at the Thorn Demon's main body on the ground, then she looked up at Lin Xuan who was indeed standing right in front of her, exclaiming in disbelief, "Lin Xuan?! You — you really — really took that thing down?! Just you alone?! Over there?!"
Han Ruoruo was also sharply jolted awake by Wu Ming's cry of pain.
However, her first concern was not the Soul Beast on the ground, but Lin Xuan himself.
She didn't even care about her own weakened body and numerous wounds. Staggering, she stood up from the ground and rushed to Lin Xuan in a few quick steps.
Her hands moved somewhat frantically over his body, feeling and checking him, her expression anxious, her tone concerned, her voice even trembling slightly, "Lin Xuan! How are you? Are you hurt? Where are you injured? How serious is it? Let me see quickly! What about your Soul Power? Is it overdrawn? Did it damage your foundation?!"
Her barrage of questions came like rapid fire, her hands moving urgently but not daring to use force, afraid of touching any wounds he might have.
Lin Xuan was slightly taken aback by Han Ruoruo's sudden inspection, then his expression became somewhat awkward.
He coughed lightly twice, "Senior Ruoruo, I'm fine. I just used up a lot of Soul Power, so I'm a bit exhausted. I'll be fine after some rest. I didn't suffer any serious injuries."
Hearing Lin Xuan's answer and seeing that he really wasn't bleeding much, Han Ruoruo finally seemed to let out a sigh of relief, her tightly wound nerves suddenly relaxing.
Then she suddenly realized that her actions just now might have been a bit too intimate and improper.
Two shy blushes instantly flew onto her pale cheeks. She hurriedly took two steps back, her gaze somewhat evasive, not daring to look directly at Lin Xuan anymore, and just whispered, "It's — it's good that you're fine, it's good that you're fine —"
Chu Qingtian, standing to the side, finally managed to pull his eyeballs, which were almost popping out of their sockets, back in.
He looked at the Thorn Demon on the ground that had almost wiped their entire group with lingering fear, couldn't help but swallow, and quietly shifted his butt back a bit, putting some distance between himself and that thing.
Lin Xuan looked at Han Ruoruo with her slightly flushed cheeks and wandering gaze, and said seriously, "This Thorn Demon's attributes and abilities have a high compatibility with your Golden Rope Martial Soul. The smell of blood and the commotion from earlier are too strong here. It's not suitable to stay long. You should absorb the Soul Ring as soon as possible, so we can leave earlier."
Upon hearing this, Han Ruoruo suddenly raised her head. Her reddened eyes instantly filled with a watery sheen, rippling with emotion.
She looked at Lin Xuan, speechless for a long time. Finally, she nodded heavily, her voice choked, "Mm! I understand! Thank you — Lin Xuan."
At this moment, Wu Ming, who had recovered a bit, also walked over.
She looked at Lin Xuan, patted her chest which was still aching faintly, and said solemnly, "Lin Xuan, today you saved my life, so I owe you a life. From now on, if you ever have any problem, no matter what it is, I will never refuse!"
Ma Xiaotao stood silently to the side. The blazing Phoenix Flame had long since extinguished, with only a few scorch marks remaining on the ends of her hair.
She looked at Lin Xuan's profile, her mind uncontrollably replaying his resolute back when he stepped out of the flame barrier earlier, and the scene of him walking out of the darkness carrying the Thorn Demon's main body just now.
She pursed her lips, met Lin Xuan's gaze as he turned to look at her, took a deep breath, and said, "Me too."
Chu Qingtian looked at Wu Ming, then at Ma Xiaotao, scratched his messy hair, and said, "Well, that — Junior Lin Xuan, you see, I have no money, no treasures, and my strength is just so-so — I have no way to repay this life-saving grace, so — how about I offer myself to you?"
Hearing this, Lin Xuan speechlessly shook his head, cursed with a laugh, "Get lost, who wants you to offer yourself? Hurry up and bandage your wounds. Once Senior Ruoruo and I finish absorbing the Soul Rings, we'll move out immediately."
With that, Lin Xuan said no more, turned around, and walked towards the corpse of the Ghost Tiger that had been dead for some time not far away. That profound black Soul Ring was still floating quietly above it.
Han Ruoruo took one last deep look at Lin Xuan's retreating back, hesitated no longer, and finished off the Thorn Demon's main body with one strike.
Ma Xiaotao's gaze lingered on Lin Xuan's back as he walked towards the Ghost Tiger's Soul Ring for a long time, her eyes complex and inscrutable.
An hour later, Lin Xuan and Han Ruoruo opened their eyes one after another, having successfully completed their Soul Ring absorption.
To avoid further complications and another encounter with a terrifying existence like the Thorn Demon, the group didn't delay for a moment. They quickly cleaned up their traces and decisively withdrew from the perilous Mixed Zone.
They finally settled down again by a relatively secluded stream in the outer area.
Their original tent had long been reduced to fragments in the previous battle. The five of them had no choice but to build a campfire and sit around the leaping flames, silently recovering their nearly depleted Soul Power and overdrawn stamina.
"Lin Xuan,"
Wu Ming casually propped her chin with one hand, while the other poked at the campfire. However, her bright eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Lin Xuan's profile illuminated by the firelight. Finally unable to restrain her curiosity, she asked, "Can you tell us? How on earth did you break through that 2.5-kilometer Thorn Hell, find, and take down that Thorn Demon's main body?"
"Yeah, yeah, Brother Lin Xuan, how did you actually do it? That thing was practically like a net cast from heaven and earth!" Chu Qingtian chimed in repeatedly.
Han Ruoruo and Ma Xiaotao also turned their curious gazes towards him simultaneously.
"It's simple. My Second Soul Skill allows me to instantly swap positions with a summoned Shikigami, just like you saw. By swapping positions again and again, I was able to reach the Thorn Demon's main body."
Lin Xuan's tone was very flat, as if this were a simple, trivial matter. But everyone present had experienced the Thorn Demon's attacks and knew very well the terrifying speed and power of those thorns.
One mistake — like swapping to the wrong position, or being a moment too late — would have only one result: death.
Describing this action as 'nine deaths, one life' wouldn't be an overstatement.
Chu Qingtian looked at Lin Xuan, a look of deep admiration appearing on his face. In the end, his right hand trembling, he gave Lin Xuan a thumbs-up, "Fierce!"
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