The whistling wind brushed past his ears, and everything in front of him was rapidly moving backward. The speed of the Shadow Leopard Emperor was displayed in the most direct way right before Lin Yun's eyes.
Lin Yun had not been without experience with faster speeds. He himself had flown at the speed of sound, traveling from the outskirts of the Sunset Forest to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
But flying at high altitudes and running fast on the ground were two different concepts.
It's like comparing a plane traveling at hundreds or thousands of kilometers per hour with riding a bicycle at a hundred kilometers per hour. While the former is much faster, you don't feel it as much.
But a bicycle at a hundred kilometers per hour is enough to make you feel dizzy and weak-legged.
Lin Yun, however, only found it thrilling.
If it weren't for the need to maintain the image of the co-lord of the soul beasts, he would have had the impulse to shout out a cheer.
This is exhilarating!!!
One by one, tall ancient trees were left behind by the Shadow Leopard Emperor. It carried Lin Yun, wandering through the mountains and rivers of the Star Dou Great Forest and letting him witness the beauty of the Star Dou Great Forest with his own eyes.
"It's truly beautiful..." Lin Yun couldn't help but reach out his hand, gently brushing the clouds floating in front of him as he looked at the rising mist and the hazy outlines of the mountains within the mist, and whispered softly.
This feeling... it was so relaxing for both mind and body, as if his soul had been cleansed by nature.
The Shadow Leopard Emperor, which was carrying Lin Yun, naturally heard his murmur. Its large head was filled with confusion.
Beautiful?
Why does my Lord look so emotional about scenery that he can see every day?
The leopard blinked its eyes in confusion, but it was wise enough not to speak. When a subordinate talks to a superior, they shouldn't talk back!
The leopard understood this principle.
Very abruptly, the Shadow Leopard Emperor stopped in mid-air, its sharp eyes looking into the distance.
Lin Yun, who was enjoying the scenery, was slightly taken aback. He looked down at the Shadow Leopard Emperor and asked, "Why did you stop? Did something happen?"
"Yes, my Lord, there are human auras a few kilometers away," the Shadow Leopard Emperor stood steadily in the air and replied in a low voice.
As it floated in the air, a small, dark purple ethereal wing had appeared on the outside of each of its four paws, helping it to fly.
Lin Yun didn't notice this detail but instead looked in the direction the Shadow Leopard Emperor was staring.
That area was already in the mixed zone.
"Humans? Can you tell how many there are?" Lin Yun asked.
"I can't be sure, but there don't seem to be many. The scent is very faint, probably no more than three people," the Shadow Leopard Emperor replied.
"No more than three people, coming this deep to hunt soul beasts?" Lin Yun smiled. He reached out and patted the Shadow Leopard Emperor's large head. "Interesting. Let's go, Leopard. Let's take a look!"
Normally, even with his identity as the co-lord of the soul beasts, and even with a hundred-thousand-year soul beast beneath him, Lin Yun would probably be too lazy to get involved in these matters.
After all, soul masters and soul beasts were naturally opposed. Soul beasts ate soul masters, and soul masters needed soul rings. This was the fundamental rule of the Douluo Continent.
Being able to hunt for a soul ring was a soul master's skill, and being eaten by a soul beast was their bad luck.
As long as they weren't like Tang San, he was too lazy to care.
(Tang San: Evil soul beasts, heaven and earth will not tolerate you!)
But unfortunately, he had just experienced the beauty of the Star Dou Great Forest and didn't want to see humans hunting soul beasts at this moment. So, no matter who the humans he encountered were or how powerful they were, Lin Yun could only say sorry.
Be more careful in your next life...
The Shadow Leopard Emperor felt the killing intent emanating from Lin Yun, and it bared its teeth slightly, revealing two sharp and terrifyingly large canines, a cruel glint flashing in its eyes.
"Yes, my Lord!"
...
"Where... is this?" The girl woke up from her slumber, looking at the white ceiling with a somewhat dazed expression.
Her mind was a jumble, and the scenes that had occurred before she fainted were like fragmented pieces waiting for her to put together.
This was very important.
She endured the piercing pain in her mind, piecing together the fragmented memories, and gradually recalled what had happened before she passed out.
The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, the mission to join the inspection team in the Star Luo Empire, the Mingdou Mountain Range, the Hand of Death Bandit Group, and the Reaper's Envoy.
And... the terrifying explosion.
And the deep, soul-shattering pain.
"My..." The girl looked down at her body, her dazed eyes gradually focusing. Her bloodshot eyes filled with a misty haze, and two lines of tears slid down her cheeks, soaking her hair and the pillow beneath her head.
Her powerless body gradually regained feeling, but her lost left leg and right arm could no longer send any feedback to her.
She... was Xi Xi.
In that cave, while Xi Xi had managed to escape the strongest damage range of the corpse explosion with her agility-type speed, she was, after all, just an agility-type. Her body was fragile, and she had no soul bones with defensive attributes attached to her.
No, she didn't even have a soul bone.
In this situation, it was already incredibly difficult for her to have survived. Getting out unscathed was a luxury.
"Alas..." A faint sigh sounded in her ears. In the quiet hospital room, this faint sigh was as clear as a clap of thunder.
Xi Xi's originally dim eyes lit up again after hearing this voice. She stopped her tears and turned her head to look at the old man who had sighed, her eyes filled with hope.
"Teacher... my hand, my leg, can the academy help me get them back?" Xi Xi opened her mouth, her voice weak and hoarse.
The old man was an inner court teacher with a Soul Douluo-level cultivation of eight rings. His specialty was the agility-type, and he was the inner court teacher Xi Xi had the most contact with.
Facing this usually kind and approachable old man, Xi Xi was like a drowning person clutching a straw, her eyes full of longing and hope.
She... was injured because she was carrying out the inner court's inspection team mission, so the academy would definitely heal her, right?
They would, right?
Faced with the girl's hopeful eyes, the old man silently turned his head away, somewhat unable to face her expression that was about to collapse. He looked out the window and said in a calm tone, "I'm sorry, Xi Xi. The academy is powerless to help with your injuries."
"Limb regeneration has always been a major problem in the Douluo Continent. Even the academy has no way to solve it."
"You are no longer suitable to stay in the inner court."
After speaking, the old man didn't stay any longer and disappeared directly from the spot.
Perhaps he couldn't bear to see Xi Xi's expression. Perhaps he had no face to show her. Or perhaps a disabled person like Xi Xi wasn't worth his time.
Who knows?
(End of Chapter)
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