Douluo Continent: Qian Daoliu has had a crush on me for a long time

Chapter 37 Soul Beast Arena, Thousand-Year-Old Soul Beast

Guangling looked at Ye Jingqiu with a teasing smile and asked, "Holy Maiden, do you know that handsome young man from earlier?"

At first, Ye Jingqiu had great respect for Guang Ling, the titled Douluo, but after spending the last few days together, she was able to treat him as an equal.

At this moment, Ye Jingqiu spoke without any politeness, "You're already several times my age combined, why are you still so gossipy?"

Guangling raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this, her tone nonchalant, "So what? Do you know how boring it is to live for over ninety years? Do you know that? What's wrong with me being a little gossipy? What's wrong with that?"

This person is being a bit unreasonable.

Ye Jingqiu snorted coldly, "Every year, the Spirit Hall Academy has freshmen form a seven-person team. That's a member of my team."

Guangling leaned back in his chair, nonchalantly saying, "I'm a good judge of character. You treat him as a teammate, but I don't think he treats you as one."

Ye Jingqiu frowned slightly. "Alright, what are you saying?"

"Here he comes back again." As a titled Douluo, Guang Ling's perception ability was far superior to Ye Jingqiu's. He sensed Lu Si'en even when he was still far away.

Upon hearing this, Ye Jingqiu quickly bent down again to avoid Lu Si'en's gaze.

Lu Sien looked up and saw the same two unfamiliar people upstairs. His gaze met that of the silver-haired man again.

After a long while, he lowered his head in disappointment and quickly left.

"Alright, go far away, stop hiding, Qiuqiu."

Ye Jingqiu raised her head and realized that whenever Guang Ling called her "Holy Maiden," it was never a good thing.

……

Happy times are always too short.

The day after Ye Jingqiu returned to the Hall of Offerings, she was taken to the Soul Beast Arena by Qian Daoliu.

Inside were all spirit beasts kept by the Hall of Worship.

In the very center of the vast Soul Beast Arena stood a large iron cage containing a huge but very thin leopard, its body adorned with concentric circles of black and yellow stripes.

With his back to Ye Jingqiu, Qian Daoliu said, "These were caught by the Third and Fifth Elders when they had nothing better to do than go to the Star Dou Great Forest."

Five offerings?

"That's the Light Feather Douluo," Ye Jingqiu thought. "Capturing soul beasts does seem like something he could do."

He paused, then turned to look at Ye Jingqiu. "Do you know the fastest way to improve your combat abilities?"

Ye Jingqiu was slightly taken aback, not knowing what Qian Daoliu meant, and then said, "Strive to cultivate and improve your soul power."

"No," Qian Daoliu said decisively. "The fastest way to improve combat ability is through actual combat. Today, your opponent is a thousand-year-old cave leopard."

"Although the Third and Fifth Elders are quite powerful, it is not easy to capture the soul beasts alive without them getting hurt. Most soul beasts would rather self-destruct than surrender to humans."

"So you can attack these soul beasts, but you can't kill them, understand?"

Ye Jingqiu nodded slightly, "I understand, Grand Elder."

Qian Daoliu waved his hand, and immediately a Soul Master dressed in white robes flew to the Soul Beast Arena. He released his Martial Soul, and five Soul Rings appeared on his body. His huge black wings trembled slightly, and he reached out and grabbed the large iron cage.

The moment the iron cage disappeared, the thousand-year-old burrow leopard became restless.

It opened its blood-red maw, revealing two sharp fangs on either side.

Qian Daoliu leaped out of the Soul Beast Arena. As the Soul King placed the iron cage outside the arena, a transparent protective shield suddenly appeared on the field.

Ye Jingqiu and the thousand-year-old cave leopard were both trapped inside.

At this moment, Ye Jingqiu was the closest to the thousand-year-old cave leopard. Without the slightest hesitation, it moved with lightning speed and arrived in front of Ye Jingqiu almost instantly.

In terms of speed, Ye Jingqiu was naturally no match for the Thousand-Year Cave Leopard. The Cave Leopard was renowned throughout the Douluo Continent for its speed. Even though it was only a thousand-year-old soul beast, few soul masters below level 40 could outrun it in terms of speed, except for those of the agility-based type.

It was that spirit ring that surrounded Ye Jingqiu from bottom to top.

Immediately, the first yellow spirit ring lit up, triggering the Bell Strike.

It was obvious that the cave leopard had slowed down, and Ye Jingqiu knew that now was her chance.

Qian Daoliu, watching from the sidelines, nodded in satisfaction at the scene before him. Even when facing danger, he remained calm and composed, putting his mind at ease.

Not bad.

However, Ye Jingqiu did not act as Qian Daoliu intended. Her third soul ring lit up instantly, and the Three Snake Formation appeared. Three small, jet-black snakes burrowed into the body of the underground leopard.

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Ye Jingqiu then quickly ran in the opposite direction from the cave leopard.

Before it had taken more than two steps, the burrow leopard roared.

Ye Jingqiu's heart skipped a beat. It could make a sound now, which meant that the time for its first soul skill had come. She knew that once the cave leopard returned to normal, she would definitely not be able to escape with her speed.

Ye Jingqiu stopped. Since he couldn't outrun it, he decided not to. Focusing on escaping would only expose his weaknesses. Ye Jingqiu stopped and turned to face the leopard in the cave.

It raised its head, its sharp gaze fixed on Ye Jingqiu. It arched its back, ready to pounce, its muscles taut, as if it were about to charge at Ye Jingqiu at any moment.

Ye Jingqiu looked at the cave leopard with a serious expression. Logically speaking, it should be poisoned by now. She could feel that the three small black snakes were still inside the cave leopard's body, but why had it not reacted at all?

The black stripes on the burrow leopard suddenly lit up and became more and more obvious. Its tail was very long, and it swung at Ye Jingqiu with its back to her.

Ye Jingqiu dodged its tail with a quick movement, but before she could relax, with a loud bang, the burrow leopard disappeared, and the spot where it had been standing was replaced by a pile of rocks.

Her pupils contracted slightly as she looked down at the ground, trying to spot the burrowing leopard. Suddenly, her gaze froze. Even though the burrowing leopard was burrowing around underground, it was impossible to actually see it.

The ground remained calm. Ye Jingqiu tried to sense the presence of the leopard in the cave through the three small black snakes, but her plan was quickly thwarted.

This burrow leopard was incredibly fast; it disappeared the moment Ye Jingqiu sensed its presence.

When Ye Jingqiu sensed the cave leopard again, it vanished before she could act.

After several attempts, Ye Jingqiu realized that it was impossible to capture the cave leopard using this method.

Since that's the case, and the soul beast's target is her anyway, it's bound to come out eventually.

On the surface, Ye Jingqiu relaxed her body and adjusted her breathing, but in reality, her gaze remained fixed on her surroundings.

Suddenly, a loud bang came from behind Ye Jingqiu.

(End of this chapter)