Chapter 7: Xian Ru Dai (Part 2)

Zhou Xiaoling frowned and said, “Then you should call me sister—you’re the younger one… Sixteen years old, sigh, you’re really amazing…” She was also a prodigy, but compared to the people of the Gu Dai family, there was still a big gap.
Xian Ru Dai said disappointedly, “Sigh, I finally got to be a sister once, and now I’m back to being the younger one. Really!”
Zhou Xiaoling asked, “Sister Xian, why did you come to the Secret Realm of Fierce Battles alone?”
Xian Ru Dai smiled happily and said, “I snuck away. I heard there are many altars here. Hehe, maybe I can find a sacrificial treasure or something nice to show off when I go back.”
Guo Shier also frowned—this girl was truly naive. But with her strength as a junior Great Sage Master, she could go anywhere, as long as she didn’t encounter experts with Void Form Altars.
In this world, experts with Void Form Altars were rare, and those with Solid Form Altars were even rarer. Of course, if all the top experts in this world were gathered, their number wouldn’t be small—maybe not tens of millions, but definitely millions. Yet, scattered across various continents, these top professionals became rare treasures.
Xian Ru Dai seemed to suddenly remember something and said, “By the way, where’s that little firebird?”
Gu Yan Que had already hidden behind Guo Shier’s collar, its body concealed in his hair. It seemed to know this girl wasn’t easy to deal with.
Guo Shier didn’t want to dwell on this issue and quickly changed the subject, “Xian Ru Dai, how long have you been here?”
Xian Ru Dai blinked her big eyes a few times, counted on her fingers, and said, “It’s been dozens of days, maybe a hundred… Um, I can’t remember exactly.”
Zhou Xiaoling couldn’t help but laugh, “You little scatterbrain.”
Xian Ru Dai stamped her foot and said, “I’m not scatterbrain! I’m the genius Xian Ru Dai!”
Everyone broke into cold sweats—this girl was extremely powerful. Zhou Xiaoling coaxed her, “Yes, a sixteen-year-old Great Sage Master—I’m so envious. Sister Xian is a true genius.”
Xian Ru Dai immediately lit up, hugged Zhou Xiaoling, and said with a smile, “Sister is the best, hehe.”
Guo Shier realized now that this girl liked to be praised. As long as she was praised enough, she should be agreeable to anything. He said, “We should leave. I don’t know where else there might be altars.”
Xian Ru Dai laughed, “There are plenty of altars. The ones here are the least valuable and most useless. What’s useful are those spirit beasts! Hey, where’s that bird?”
Guo Shier said, “Alright, Gu Yan Que, come out and say hello to Xian Ru Dai.”

The Ancient Flame Sparrow couldn’t resist Guo Shier’s orders. It emerged from his hair, chirped at Xian Ruidai several times in the cutest possible way. Even Guo Shier was taken aback—he hadn’t expected the Ancient Flame Sparrow to act so cute. Xian Ruidai’s eyes sparkled as she was instantly conquered by the bird. She exclaimed, “Wow, what a cute little bird!” After chirping a few more times, the Ancient Flame Sparrow hid back in Guo Shier’s hair, prompting Xian Ruidai to call out, “Hey, hey! Don’t hide, little bird… Come to me!” Guo Shier felt a severe headache—this girl was just a child; what could he argue with her? He said, “This is a Level 10 Ancient Flame Sparrow, also a Soul Beast. Heh, he’s shy.” Everyone was shocked—was the Ancient Flame Sparrow shy? What nonsense was that? The Ancient Flame Sparrow was extremely domineering; when had it ever been shy? Xian Ruidai blinked her big eyes for a while before saying, “Okay, but you have to help me… I also want a flying Soul Beast!” Guo Shier asked, “You’re a Martial Symbolist, not a Spellcaster—how can you control a Soul Beast?” Xian Ruidai proudly stretched out her fair arm, which wore a silver-white ring, and said, “I have the Beast Trapping Ring! It can capture one Soul Beast!” The Beast Trapping Ring! Guo Shier immediately recognized what it was—there were records of it in his inherited memories. He said, “This thing is very rare; it’s not easy to create.” The Beast Trapping Ring was actually a type of symbol, but it was extremely difficult to make. It could function independently, requiring little support from its master, and could be controlled with just a trace of soul power—far more powerful than beast symbols. It was a very rare weapon. But to use it, one needed a Soul Beast. No wonder Xian Ruidai had screamed when she saw the Ancient Flame Sparrow devour the Mutated Wild Bat—she had almost managed to capture that bat. Xian Ruidai said, “It was given to me by my great-grandmother!” Guo Shier replied, “Since my Ancient Flame Sparrow has eaten your prey, we’ll help you catch another Soul Beast. There are many here; you can pick one carefully. We’ll work together to help you capture it.” Xian Ruidai cheered—she knew that with Guo Shier and the others’ help, capturing a Soul Beast would be easy. The question was, what kind of Soul Beast did she need? With a quick thought, she smiled and said, “Brother Shier, I want a Level 13 Mutated Soul Beast!”

Guo Shier was startled and said, “Level 13 is too dangerous. It’s already great if we can capture a Level 12 Soul Beast. My own Soul Beast isn’t very high in level either; I still need to cultivate it slowly. You know, capturing a Soul Beast above Level 10 directly is far less useful than one that’s been raised from a young age. That’s why I agreed to catch a high-level mutated Soul Beast since you’re using a Beast Trapping Ring.”

A Level 13 Soul Beast might not even be as powerful as a true Level 11 mutated talisman beast, but after all, reaching Level 13 isn’t something easy to deal with.

Xian Ruidai thought for a moment and said, “Alright, if it’s Level 12, then it’s Level 12. It’s better than nothing. Hehe, I want a Soul Beast that can fly.”

Zhou Xiaoling smiled and tickled her nose, saying, “Having too high demands isn’t good, Sister Xian. Take us to the place where the altars are concentrated. There should be quite a few Soul Beasts there.”

Guo Shier quietly gave a thumbs up, and Zhou Xiaoling couldn’t help but smile slightly.

Xian Ruidai said, “Okay, I’ll take you there. Hehe, that place is very dangerous. I already encountered many Soul Beasts just in the outskirts. Luckily, I’m fast; otherwise, I’d be in trouble.”

Guo Shier knew that Xian Ruidai understood the situation better than he did. She even knew of an area with many altars. He said, “Good, take us there.”

Xian Ruidai laughed and said, “Alright, follow me!” She was impulsive and flew into the air without hesitation. Zhou Xiaoling quickly called out, “Sister Xian, fly low! Fly low…”

Xian Ruidai dived sharply from the sky and flew low over the ground, asking, “Sister Dingding, why do we have to fly low?”

Zhou Xiaoling flew beside her, and the two flew side by side. She said, “That way, we won’t attract a bunch of Soul Beasts, which would make things difficult.”

Xian Ruidai said, “What’s there to fear? Just kill them!”

Zhou Xiaoling sighed. This girl really didn’t know what was serious. She explained, “Maybe we can handle a few Soul Beasts, but a dozen or so would be tough. If there are dozens… we’ll have to run. And if those dozens of Soul Beasts are all above Level 10… it’ll be hard even to escape.”

Xian Ruidai said, “There’s no way so many high-level Soul Beasts would show up at once.”

Guo Shier caught up and said, “If it happens even once, we won’t be able to handle it. In a team, some members are stronger than others. If you’re strong, you can escape, but those who are weaker can’t. Will you save them or not?”

These words left Xian Ruidai speechless. She said, “Well, I’m already flying low, aren’t I? Ugh…”

Flying close to the ground requires certain skills, and Guo Shier and the others were already accustomed to it. Xian Rudei was no less skilled; it was obvious she rarely flew this way, but she adjusted quickly, not only keeping up but also moving at great speed, which left everyone in awe. This girl had extraordinary talent—just this alone showed that being a sixteen-year-old Great Sage was no accident.

In two days, they arrived at a terrain full of ravines. It was another land ravaged by war, with deep trenches everywhere, extensive collapses, and countless shards of glass. Spirits beasts wandered on the ground, along with many spirit humans. Guo Shier knew these were formed from the souls of deceased professionals, and their levels were not high.

Fights often broke out among the spirit beasts, with higher-level ones devouring lower-level ones.

Xian Rudei said, “If we go in from here, there will be many altars, and more and more spirit beasts. Be careful—once killed, they quickly reassemble into beasts, which is troublesome… Well, but with Twelve Brother’s Ancient Flame Sparrow, we don’t have to worry. As long as it swallows them, they won’t revive.”

Guo Shier said, “These low-level spirit beasts are of little value. Let’s go in.” He was concerned about the remaining souls in the altars—those pure souls could be very helpful to him. He also wanted to find a suitable altar so that Zhou Xiaoling could receive a better ancient inheritance.

Xian Rudei also disdained these low-level spirit beasts, especially since there were many human-shaped spirits wandering around. Generally, no one would bother these human-shaped spirits because they were formed after professionals died. Any professional would feel sorrow at the sight of them, so as long as they didn’t pose a threat to their own lives, no one would take the initiative to kill them.

Soon, they saw the first altar. Xian Rudei said, “This is a damaged altar. It’s useless.”

Guo Shier said, “I’ll go up and take a look.”

Xian Rudei pouted and muttered, “What’s there to see?” But she stopped anyway. Guo Shier flew directly onto the altar. Most of it had shattered, with only one corner still intact.

Guo Shier knelt on one leg and placed his hand on the altar. The Ancient Ink Lotus in his soul immediately spun rapidly, drawing out strands of pure souls from the altar. The old man inside the Ancient Ink Lotus shouted frantically, “Wahahaha! It’s incredibly nourishing! Wahahaha! I love it… More! More… Ugh, too little, way too little!”

Guo Shier didn’t help but sigh bitterly. The handsome old man was competing with him for souls inside the Ancient Ink Lotus in order to repair his own soul. There were very few souls remaining in this altar. Although they were pure, their number was too small—just a trace. Yet even this tiny amount allowed the handsome old man’s soul to recover slightly. The handsome old man suddenly fell silent. Guo Shier couldn’t help but ask through soul vibrations, “Handsome old man, what’s wrong?”