Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, who was kidnapped to another world

"Ha ha……"

Xiao Yan gave a dry laugh.

Over the past two years, he has also discovered that although most people in Shanchui City hold Wang Cheng in awe, it is only because he is a Soul Master and has a title from the Star Luo Empire. Even so, they still hold the power created by Wang Cheng in a sarcastic and disdainful manner.

This applies to ordinary people without soul power, not to mention soul masters who possess soul power.

In everyone's eyes, the best spirit ring configuration, which has been circulating in the spirit master world for countless years, is absolute. The tragedy of Wang Cheng's eldest son was simply because Wang Cheng, a peasant, could not distinguish the age of spirit beasts, causing his eldest son to absorb a spirit ring that exceeded its age limit.

Wang Cheng paid no attention to these comments, and Xiao Yan, who had only studied the knowledge of Soul Masters for two years, dared not make any comments.

Seeing that Xiao Yan stopped talking, Mu Chen shrugged and continued to pay attention to his son's progress in absorbing the soul ring.

"Knowing that low-level spirit rings cannot enhance the Xuanzhong Ruler, what are your plans?"

After Mu Chen's gaze shifted to Mu Hu, Yao Lao's voice rang in Xiao Yan's heart.

"We will stick to the original plan: absorb a yellow spirit ring when breaking through to the Dou Zhe level, and then not absorb any more spirit rings until we are able to hunt 100,000-year-old spirit beasts."

Xiao Yan replied.

"Anyway, there are plenty of people with innate soul power at level five who cannot break through to the Great Soul Master before the age of fifteen."

When Xiao Yan realized that a Title Douluo was at most a Dou Wang level expert, he had already given up all hope of strengthening the Xuan Heavy Ruler with a spirit ring, but he still held a sliver of desire.

With that sliver of longing in his heart, he used his soul power to slightly confuse Mu Chen after he learned that Mu Hu had broken through to level ten, so that Mu Chen would take him along and let Yao Lao determine whether he could absorb the soul ring.

If this glimmer of hope is truly shattered, then all Xiao Yan can do is absorb a spirit ring during his Dou Zhe stage to serve as proof that he can walk normally on this continent. He will decide on subsequent spirit rings when he is able to hunt 100,000-year-old spirit beasts.

If he can't defeat a 100,000-year-old soul beast before he turns fifteen, he can simply forget about strengthening his soul rings. In any case, this Xuan Heavy Ruler is enough for him to use until he becomes a Dou Zun.

Chapter 6 Wolf Thief

As Mu Chen lit the campfire, Mu Hu finally finished absorbing the soul rings.

"Tiger, you succeeded?"

The moment Mu Hu opened his eyes, Xiao Yan moved closer to him, looking at him curiously.

"Yes, I succeeded. I am now a first-ring Soul Master." Facing Xiao Yan's curious face, Mu Hu subconsciously looked at his father. After receiving Mu Chen's permission, Mu Hu raised his right hand. After a faint light flashed, a dagger with gray patterns appeared in his hand.

Xiao Yan was no stranger to the Wood Tiger's martial soul, having examined it carefully many times during his school days. Therefore, Xiao Yan could assure him that the Wood Tiger's martial soul did not have those gray patterns before.

"Director, Tiger's martial spirit..."

Upon noticing something amiss, Xiao Yan immediately looked at Mu Chen.

"It's just evolved, it's normal," Mu Chen replied casually, poking at the firewood.

"That's evolution?"

The fact that a martial soul gradually changes and eventually evolves as it absorbs spirit rings was something Xiao Yan learned from a book in the Spirit Hall library of Shan Chui City. Therefore, he wasn't surprised by the concept of martial soul evolution. The only question was—

"Didn't Tiger just absorb one spirit ring?"

After his initial surprise, Xiao Yan quickly voiced his doubts.

“The Netherworld Dagger is a very weak martial soul,” Mu Chen said, making no attempt to conceal the secret of his family’s martial soul, since it wasn’t exactly a secret to hide. “What other martial souls need three, four, or even six or seven soul rings to achieve in terms of evolution, the Netherworld Dagger only needs one Netherworld Wolf soul ring.”

"However, even after evolution, the potential of the Netherworld Dagger is still not high, and it is unknown how many soul rings will be needed for the next evolution."

Who hasn't been young?

The moment Mu Chen heard Xiao Yan's exclamation, he understood what Xiao Yan meant. It was indeed astonishing that a single spirit ring could achieve evolution. He once thought that he was the protagonist in a storybook, and that he would overcome all obstacles and stand at the top of the world!

Then, after discovering that this so-called "evolution" had not actually changed his martial soul much, and that the absorption of the second and third soul rings had not changed at all, Mu Chen knew that this guy who would never break through to the Soul King level was just a minor character who would be mentioned in a storybook.

"Let's go, it's getting late, let's get out of here quickly, I don't want to stay up all night anymore."

Mentioning painful memories ruined Mu Chen's mood for camping in the wild. He extinguished the campfire and urged Xiao Yan and Mu Hu to keep up with him and leave the Soul Hunter Forest as soon as possible.

The Nether Wolves are pack-living soul beasts, so finding a lone one took quite a bit of effort. The three of them were quite a distance from the entrance to the Soul Hunting Forest, and all three were Soul Masters with "poor" physical abilities. So it wasn't until late at night, under Mu Chen's guidance, that Xiao Yan and Mu Hu finally left the Soul Hunting Forest.

"Why are you in such a hurry to come out?"

The patrolling soldier captain happened to see the three people walking out of the forest and walked up to them with some surprise. "Things are not like before these days. The official road at night is even more dangerous than inside the Soul Hunting Forest."

"The official road is more dangerous than the Soul Hunting Forest?" Mu Chen frowned. "Have bandits appeared again?"

This Soul Hunting Forest is located at the border between the Star Luo Empire and the Barak Kingdom, serving as a buffer zone between the two war zones. However, it is only a buffer zone, and small-scale raids by "mountain bandits" are not uncommon in this area.

Similarly, within the Kingdom of Barak, in the areas bordering the Star Luo Empire, bandit raids frequently occur.

“Mountain bandits? If only they were mountain bandits,” the sergeant chuckled. “Mountain bandits need to rest at night, and there are people specifically responsible for recording and deducing their movements. A few dozen bandits can be dealt with in no time, and a few hundred or a few thousand will disappear in two or three days. We don’t need to worry about them.”

"Not bandits? Then what are they?" Mu Chen asked, puzzled. "Surely there aren't any experts loitering on the official road, beating up whoever they don't like?"

"Are you talking about a master? Someone who attacks civilians wouldn't even qualify as a villain, would they?" The sergeant was amused by Mu Chen.

"Wolf bandits".

Then, the sergeant's smile faded, and he slowly uttered two words.

"Wolf bandits?! Has the Kingdom of Barak gone mad?"

The moment Mu Chen heard those two words from the sergeant, his hair stood on end, and he exclaimed in surprise.

Wolf bandits, offspring of Gale Wolves and human women, are bloodthirsty and brutal, a nightmare for all commoners and low-level Soul Masters. Because they feed on humans, they are incredibly strong and have a certain ability to manipulate the wind. Each wolf bandit is no less powerful than a Soul Master of level 20 or 30. It is said that 500 wolf bandits can crush a regular army of 10,000 in one fell swoop.

“This wasn’t the work of the Barak Kingdom,” the captain shook his head. “The first place where wolf bandits appeared was within the territory of the Barak Kingdom. It is said that there were four villages affected and nearly a thousand people died.”

"A thousand people... how many were in that pack of wolf bandits?" Mu Chen swallowed hard, his voice dry as he asked.

"It's probably around a hundred. There's no need to worry too much. The city lords of the nearby cities have already gathered most of the powerful Soul Masters to surround the Wolf Bandits. A few hours ago, there was news that the approximate location of the Wolf Bandits had been confirmed."

The sergeant was satisfied with Mu Chen's reaction, but he didn't laugh at him. After all, when he first found out it was the wolf bandits who were responsible, his reaction wasn't much better. "We might have good news by tomorrow morning. You guys can rest in our camp tonight."

"Okay, okay, thank you for your help."

Mu Chen responded immediately. It wasn't that he was afraid of the wolf bandits, but he had two children with him. If he wasn't worried about the children's sleep, he could have gone straight to the front line to fight the wolf bandits!

"Director, what is a wolf bandit?"

Xiao Yan, who had quietly followed Mu Chen into the military camp, asked curiously after the soldiers left.

"Wolf bandits..." Seeing the curious looks on Xiao Yan and his son's faces, Mu Chen hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to explain to the two of them about this evil race.

The introduction to the wolf bandits ended quickly, since Mu Chen himself hadn't personally witnessed it. All the knowledge came from the textbooks of the advanced soul master academy, and in the end, it was nothing more than their ferocity, cannibalism, and lewd nature.

"Won't Yamabuki City be affected by the wolf bandits?" After hearing Mu Chen's explanation, Xiao Yan's first thought was of Wang Cheng and the others.

"Given the habits of wolf bandits, Yamabuki Castle is quite safe. After all, it's a proper city, and the city walls can still keep out the wolf bandits' claws."

Mu Chen said in a light tone, "If you're really worried, go to sleep early. Tomorrow you can go back and check on the news that the wolf bandits have been wiped out."

Mu Chen remained calm. As a fourth-ring weapon spirit master, he would inevitably be dragged into the mess when news of the wolf bandits spread, and he would have to confront them directly. He was able to stay in the military camp in peace thanks to his son!

Chapter 7 Tragedy

"Any good news?"

The next morning, Mu Chen, along with Xiao Yan and Mu Hu, appeared before the soldier captain who had told him about the wolf bandits the night before.

"Hmm? You guys got up pretty early," the sergeant paused for a moment as he looked at Mu Chen walking up to him, then smiled and said, "And you've had pretty good luck too. The news of the wolf bandits being dealt with just got here, and the official road is now completely safe."

"Were there any casualties?"

"I heard that more than a dozen unlucky guys died. The Spirit Hall even sent a cardinal. These mere wolf bandits are nothing but ants in the hands of a cardinal." The sergeant's eyes were full of envy.

"A cardinal?"

Xiao Yan's knowledge of the Spirit Hall was limited to the Hall Master of the Spirit Hall branch in Shanchui City; he had never heard of a term like Cardinal before.

"The Hall Master of the Spirit Hall's Sub-Hall, the esteemed Soul Saint," the soldier captain glanced at Xiao Yan following behind Mu Chen, "that's a legendary existence."

Indeed, Dou Ling is practically the undisputed leader in Wutan City...

Xiao Yan muttered to himself, not really grasping the reality of the Soul Saint mentioned by the soldier captain. However, he was somewhat surprised that the Spirit Hall had dispatched a Dou Ling to deal with some Dou Zhe-level wolf bandits.

In particular, during these two years he came to understand the gap in status between Soul Masters and ordinary people.

"What? Still thinking about the Soul Saint?"

After leaving the military camp, Mu Chen glanced at Xiao Yan, who seemed to be deep in thought, and casually asked.

"what?"

The question raised by Mu Chen for the first time during the trip surprised Xiao Yan. "No, I was wondering why the Spirit Hall would send a Soul Saint to help the Empire clear out the wolf bandits."

The main reason was that the master and disciple felt that the distribution of power on the Douluo Continent was a bit ridiculous. They could understand the two empires standing side by side, and they could also understand the small countries that the weaker empire had enfeoffed. However, the Spirit Hall sandwiched in between, and the Spirit Hall that was a "holy land" at the level of Soul Masters, made them a little confused. In particular, this holy land had a branch hall in almost every city of the two empires.

Therefore, before Mu Chen asked, Xiao Yan and Yao Lao were discussing what the purpose of the Spirit Hall sending a Soul Saint to deal with the Wolf Bandits was.

"Of course, it's to spread the glory of the Angel God," Mu Chen said without hesitation.

"Angel...god?"

This was the first time Xiao Yan had heard a Soul Master utter the word "God," especially the name of a deity that was so specific.

Do gods exist in this world?

Without even needing Yao Lao's prompting, Xiao Yan asked the question directly.

How would I know?

Then, Mu Chen, who had just said something like "spreading the glory of the angel god," shrugged. "It's just a saying passed down from my ancestors. Besides, I think the people of the Spirit Hall treat commoners better than the nobles of the Empire."

After explaining the meaning of his words, Mu Chen began to tell Xiao Yan and Mu Hu gossip about the imperial nobles.

The next day at noon, the three of them finally returned to Yamabuki Castle.

"I'm going to take Mu Hu to the Spirit Hall to register next," Mu Chen said, turning back to Xiao Yan as they entered the city. "Are you coming with us for the tour, or would you like to go back to the academy first?"

"I need to go home first," Xiao Yan shook his head.

"Okay, then you go by yourself."

After nodding, Mu Chen led his son toward the Spirit Hall in the city center.

"Now you're in a hurry? Weren't you having a great time just a few days ago?"

As Xiao Yan ran towards Wang Cheng's organization's base, Yao Lao's voice rang out, his words laced with schadenfreude.

"Who told you not to remind me, teacher?" Xiao Yan rolled his eyes. "You specifically told me to stop cultivating during the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony last year."