Douluo Continent: Peerless Angel Qian Renxue.

Chapter 11: The Cuckoo Takes Over the Nest, Preparing to Hunt

Not long after Qian Renxue left, a small team arrived at the cave. They were dressed in yellow, close-fitting outfits, with a small green monster's head tattooed on the chest, baring its teeth.

"Someone was just here, and they left not long ago." One of the young men, who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, squatted down and poked at the charcoal fire left by Qian Renxue.

"There's some leftover... soul beast meat here?" Another girl noticed something too. "But it seems this guy isn't very good at cooking; the meat's all burnt."

An old woman entered, with wrinkled skin and white hair, her gray hair piled on top of her head. She wore a white robe and was of medium build. What was particularly striking was her pair of very bright eyes, her black pupils gleaming with a sharp light.

"Teacher Zhou." The students stood up as they saw the old woman walk in.

"How is it?" Teacher Zhou's voice was hoarse, like a broken gong.

"Reporting to Teacher Zhou, this place looks like it was used not long ago. There's a pile of burnt charcoal and some... burnt meat left behind," the young man reported at the beginning.

"This place is obviously not safe. Are we going to set up camp here?" the girl asked.

"It's getting late, and we can't venture too deep into the Star Dou Great Forest for our Soul Hunting this time." Teacher Zhou looked up at the cave entrance and said calmly, "Let's stay here for now. I don't think anyone would, and no one would dare, refuse Shrek Academy's invitation. Come, all of you, sit down, let's discuss tomorrow's route and plan."

Hearing what Teacher Zhou said, the students felt relieved and proud expressions appeared on their faces.

Yes, they come from Shrek Academy, the number one academy on the continent! On this continent, no one dares to say no to them, because the behemoth behind them gives them this confidence!

After entering the academy, they were unconsciously infected by its atmosphere. Although the content they studied on a daily basis did not seem to be much different from other academies or sects, the passion in their blood was inexplicably awakened.

What was originally a seemingly pointless 100-lap long-distance running task has become a remedy to catalyze the evolution of combat power in their eyes; basic etiquette has been abandoned and trampled, and they are motivated by Teacher Zhou's words such as "You should catch students from other classes and beat them up" and "Those who dare not cause trouble are mediocre", and their power surges in their veins like the waves of the sea.

Sometimes, when they triumph in the Soul Arena of other cities, basking in the cheers of the audience and the spotlight of the Soul Guide, they feel as if they stand at the center of the world, the masters of everything, while Soul Masters from other places are nothing but trash. Just like what they heard on their first day of school, Shrek Academy never accepts ordinary people; they only accept monsters.

At Shrek, they gained what they wanted: confidence, power, and an indescribable sense of honor... or rather, vanity.

Today, they entered the Star Dou Great Forest to find a spirit ring for each of the two fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys and girls. It was just before the start of the new school term, and if these two successfully obtained their fourth spirit rings, they would have a much better chance of winning in the promotion tournament to fifth grade. They might even have the opportunity to enter the inner academy in the future.

Teacher Zhou and the team sat around the embers left by Qian Renxue and rekindled them.

Teacher Zhou, whose real name is Zhou Yi, is the teacher of these fourth-grade students. She spoke calmly, "Logically speaking, I wouldn't participate in this Soul Hunting Operation. However, since it's the promotion competition, I have no choice but to make a request to the Martial Soul Department. Of the seven of you, apart from Xiao Wang and Xiao Li, the rest are only at the ordinary Soul Master level. To put it bluntly, you are the worst class I've ever taught!"

The boy was Xiao Wang, and the girl was Xiao Li. Apart from the two of them, everyone else was trembling with fear when they heard Zhou Yi's words. This group of people had been studying under this old witch since the first grade, so they had naturally witnessed the teacher's methods. Every year, she would feel as bad as if the old witch had lost her apprentice if she didn't expel a few students.

"Don't get too cocky, you two. If you embarrass me in the promotion competition, you won't have it easy either." Zhou Yi glanced coldly at the somewhat smug Xiao Wang and Xiao Li.

"Yes...yes...Teacher Zhou." Xiao Wang smiled awkwardly.

"We're currently at the border between the outer and edge areas of the Star Dou Great Forest. The spirit beasts we encounter won't be too powerful; spirit beasts over ten thousand years old are practically nonexistent." Zhou Yi used a dry branch to light the charcoal fire. "I'll ask you, what is the age limit for the fourth spirit ring?... "

Qian Renxue sat on a branch of a large tree, gazing at the cave she had once stayed in, and squinted her eyes.

She had temporarily left the cave not long ago to scout out the surrounding area and see which way would be the most convenient to exit the forest the next day, before returning to rest for the night before setting off again, since it was getting late. Moreover, the small cave she had just left had given her a truly pleasant feeling; perhaps it was because it was the first place she had been since her rebirth that she felt a special connection to it.

But as soon as I returned, it seemed like an uninvited guest had arrived.

She was unaware that the Star Dou Great Forest was divided into several layers in this era: "Edge Zone, Outer Circle, Mixed Circle, Core Circle, and Perilous Land." She only knew that this place was the outer circle. Based on her observations, this area wasn't considered the interior of the Star Dou Great Forest. The cultivation levels of the spirit beasts here were generally not high. The two-winged demonic tiger she had just hunted was probably a spirit beast over seven thousand years old, an anomaly. There was no way that ten-thousand-year-old spirit beasts would appear here.

If this group of people are here to hunt souls, then their cultivation levels are probably not very high.

She slowly released her spiritual power. Although her soul power cultivation was only level 28, her spiritual power level was more than two rings higher than her soul power cultivation. This gap might gradually narrow as she cultivated in the future.

When she became a god, she was able to use a divine skill called "divine sense detection". Although she could not use divine skills at this time, she could still detect mental states without any problem.

"Five thousand years! That's right, this is the theory proposed by the Great Master, one of the Golden Iron Triangle among the first generation of teachers at Shrek Academy! The maximum number of years a Soul Master can absorb Soul Rings at each stage is..."

The piercing sound brought back by the mental probe reached Qian Renxue's ears, and her eyes widened in shock.

Is it good luck or bad luck that I encountered the first Soul Hunter gang? It turned out to be this nemesis.

"...We'll set off tomorrow during the day, and we'll spend the night here. I don't think I need to arrange the night watch, right?"

To Qian Renxue, the sound was like noise, but she could tell it was disguised. Beneath the shattering sound of a gong and drum lay the voice of a young woman. In other words, the person making the sound had disguised their appearance and voice.

She should be the team leader. According to Qian Renxue's investigation, the teacher is a Soul Emperor with a level of around six rings, but her mental strength is not that strong, so she did not realize that her team had actually been exposed.

With her own disguise, she could easily put on a show in front of these students, but under Qian Renxue's mental detection, she had become a string of data—sixth ring cultivation level, 1.68 meters tall, 60 kilograms, white hair, silver-gray pupils, around 29 years old, bust, waist, hips... ah, no need for that.

However, her examination could not be considered a compliment to the teacher's original appearance; on the contrary, it was like looking at a corpse on an autopsy table.

Yukiko's mental detection abilities are extremely powerful, as described in the original work:

The angelic mark on her forehead shone brightly, and every three breaths, a golden halo would ripple outwards from Qian Renxue, [even with the almost uninterrupted scanning of the entire Star Dou Great Forest], [it didn't take much strain on her].

This was her performance at the god level. Now she has degenerated into a Soul Master whose mental strength exceeds her cultivation level by two rings (the reason was explained in the previous chapters). In any case, her mental strength is almost invincible below the sixth ring, unless she encounters a powerful mental Soul Master.

However! Shrek Academy doesn't value the development of Spiritual Soul Masters; otherwise, Huo Yuhao wouldn't have treated them that way in the early stages. Therefore, it can be inferred that no one in this team can withstand Qian Renxue's probing attack.

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(End of this chapter)