The Strongest All-Round Support in Douluo Continent

"Don't worry about that now, let's hide first." After saying that, Duan Yufan pulled Hu Liena to hide behind a big tree, which was big enough to cover the two of them.

Not far away, Xie Yue and Yan were also hiding behind a big tree. The four of them remained silent until, after a while, the sound of voices could be heard.

"What a despicable act! I don't know who did this, but they actually destroyed a nest of Purple Armor Gold-Eating Ants, causing ants to swarm around the area and causing our carefully prepared seven-thousand-year-old Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion to escape. What bad luck!" A voice, probably that of a middle-aged man, reached the ears of the four people hiding there.

"Alright, stop yelling! We know the Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion's range. We'll wait a couple of days until the Purple Armored Gold-Eating Ants calm down, then we can do it again. But don't let me find out who did it." Another person said, probably the leader of the group.

"Hmm! Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion!" Yan made a sound, but immediately covered his mouth.

Duan Yufan and Hu Liena both heard it, turned to look at Yan, and then exchanged a speechless glance with Hu Liena.

"Who's there! Come out!"

As expected, they heard him. Duan Yufan gestured to Xie Yue and immediately stopped hiding, appearing in front of the five people.

All five were men, with the leader being around fifty years old and the other four around thirty-five. All of them had released their spirit rings, two being spirit kings and three being spirit masters.

"Oh! You're all just kids. Who are you people? What are you trying to do hiding here?" The Soul King in the lead had a Soul Ring configuration of three yellow, one purple, and one black, and his Soul Power level was 58.

Another Soul King has the same configuration, with Soul Power at level 53, and three Soul Masters at levels 46, 47, and 47 respectively, three yellow and one purple.

"You flatter us, seniors. We just heard a noise and thought it was a soul beast hiding," Duan Yufan said with a smile.

"Hehe! That's right, but do you seniors know where the Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion is? I know you are all soul beast hunters, I wonder if you would be willing to give way to us, of course we know the rules." Yan said with a smile.

Duan Yufan looked at Yan and knew that Yan might want this soul beast. He was surprised and blurted out the name "Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion" in surprise.

Forty-Three Soul Beast Hunters

Soul Beast Hunters are individuals who provide guidance to families and other factions on capturing desired soul beasts in exchange for rewards. In short, wherever soul beasts are needed, hunters can capture them for them.

However, their prices vary and are related to the age and breed of the spirit beast; hunters can only represent a small group.

"These four children are dressed in fine clothes, clearly from prominent families or elite students from advanced soul master academies. Moreover, the fact that they are not being protected by anyone suggests they are here for training. They must be secretly protected by someone." Upon hearing Yan's words, the leader secretly sized up the four.

“Young brother, do you also need this Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion? However, this soul beast has been reserved in advance by the Fire Lion Clan of Blazing Fire City, which is probably…” The leader, the Soul King, explained the reason.

"Oh! Whatever they give you, I'll give you double." Yan said confidently, making Duan Yufan sized him up, wondering if he had that much money.

"The Fire Lion Clan gave us 200,000 gold soul coins, young brother, take a look." The leader, the Soul King, squinted and slowly uttered a number.

"Two hundred thousand? Do you think I'm stupid? This is just a thousand-year-old soul beast. You wouldn't need that much for a ten- or twenty-thousand-year-old soul beast. I'll give you a maximum of one hundred thousand gold soul coins." Yan frowned, clearly looking at his needs and preparing to rip him off.

But in reality, the Fire Lion family paid these hunters 30,000 gold soul coins. 30,000 is a lot, enough for these five hunters to enjoy themselves for a year, unless they squander the bet all at once.

Upon hearing Yan's offer, the other Soul King couldn't contain himself any longer; he was clearly very tempted. The difference between sharing 35,000 and 105,000 was significant.

"Big brother! Why don't we agree to their offer? They don't seem like people who are short of money." The second Soul King whispered to the leader, and the other three Soul Masters also gathered around.

"But how do we explain the mission to the Fire Lion family? Won't doing this cause our group of five to lose credibility in the hunter world?" The leader was also tempted, but still had some concerns.

“Brother! You’re overthinking it. Just say we didn’t find it, and it wasn’t just our group helping the Fire Lion Clan capture the soul beast. Although the Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion is quite rare and can be exchanged for the Fire Lion Clan’s highest reward of 30,000 gold soul coins, the other side is offering 100,000.” One of the Soul Sect members explained.

“That’s right, brother! And we can continue to find other soul beasts to capture for the Fire Lion Clan, so there’s no conflict.” Another Soul King also persuaded his elder brother.

"Alright then! It's decided then." The leader finally made the decision.

Duan Yufan and his three companions did not disturb the five people's discussion.

"Oh! Flame, do you have that much money?" Duan Yufan asked Yan curiously.

"It's probably around 100,000! Don't you have any?" Hu Liena asked curiously.

“Yes! The academy gives us rewards.” Xie Yue added.

"Huh! How come I didn't know there was a reward?" Duan Yufan was hurt; it turned out he was the poorest one.

"How long have you been at the academy!" Yan said, referring to Duan Yufan.

"Alright! Alright! I have to go back and ask the teacher for some. Okay! Let's get down to business. If we cooperate, we must be careful of the other side using underhanded tactics, especially when we're resting at night," Duan Yufan said seriously.

“Of course! These hunters are all money-grubbing types.” Xie Yue’s expression returned to its coldness.

"Young brothers, we've discussed it, and since you also need this Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion, we can certainly give it to you. However, you'll need to pay a deposit of 50,000 first," the leader stated the terms.

Yan glanced at the three of them, and under their gazes, he agreed to the hunter's request.

“Okay, that’s a reasonable request.” Without blinking, Yan took out five bags containing gold soul coins from his soul tool, each bag containing ten thousand gold soul coins.

"A soul tool." The Soul King behind the leader's heart stirred.

"Here you go! A bag containing ten thousand gold soul coins. Do you want to count them?" Yan walked up to the leader and handed it to him.

The leader simply weighed it in his hand and already felt confident.

"No need to count! The weight is about right, let's have a pleasant working relationship." The leader smiled lightly, then handed a bag to each of the four people behind him.

"It's a pleasure to cooperate with you!" Yan smiled gently.

"However, it's getting late, and the Purple Armored Gold-Eating Ants' nest has been destroyed. They've been running around and disturbing the Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion, so they definitely won't be found anytime soon. Therefore, we can only find a place to rest for the night. What do you young brothers think?" The leader looked up at the sky and explained the reason.

"It is indeed a bit late!" Yan also looked up.

However, no one noticed an inconspicuous dark shadow at the top of a large tree.

"You young men are truly generous! May I ask where you come from?" the leader inquired.

“A small place! Tian Dou City in the Tian Dou Empire,” Duan Yu Fan replied.

"Hehe! This young man is quite the joker. If Tiandou City is a small place, then Blazing Fire City is just a small village." The leader chuckled, clearly a little wary of them, but understandable.

“Seniors, since we can’t find the Purple Heart Sacred Flame Lion today, I think this place is quite good. Why don’t we set up camp here for the night?” Duan Yufan continued.

"Hmm, this place is indeed quite nice, let's set up camp here!" The leader agreed to Duan Yufan's suggestion.

Both teams then chose a spot to set up tents, with Duan Yufan and his three companions about twenty meters away from the hunters.

"Tonight, we'll only set up two tents, two people per tent. You, Demon Fox, will share a tent with Moonblade, and I'll share a tent with Flame. How does that sound?" Duan Yufan discussed the situation with the three of them.

“Okay, I’m fine with it,” Xie Yue said.

"No way! I'm not sharing a tent with Yue Ren, his sweat stinks too much. I'll share a tent with you." Hu Liena said to Duan Yufan with disgust towards Xie Yue.

"Uh, where does it stink? You little brat, you're actually disgusted with your brother." Xie Yue was speechless and embarrassed.

"Hey! Just accept it!" Yan patted Xie Yue on the shoulder and said.

"Alright then!" Duan Yufan had no objection to Hu Liena's assignment, and it seemed there was no reason to refuse.

Afterwards, Duan Yufan and the other three set up two tents. Duan Yufan and Hu Liena shared one tent, while Xie Yue and Yan shared the other. They then lit a fire and started roasting pieces of meat.

On the other side, the five hunters only set up one tent, but it was much larger than Duan Yufan's tent.

As for whether the five hunters would run away with the 50,000 gold soul coins, Duan Yufan and his companions were not worried. They considered it their last chance to take the money.

"Big brother! I see they all have spatial soul tools. Should we sneak in at night?" The five hunters sat by the campfire, and the second Soul King made a gesture as he spoke.

"Shut up! Do you think there's no one protecting you in the shadows? Do you think four children from a powerful family in Tiandou City would be allowed to enter the Star Dou Forest?" The eldest brother, the leader, quickly stopped his second brother's idea.

"Alright, big brother." Although he said that, he glanced at the other three Soul Kings with a knowing look in his eyes and smiled knowingly.

Forty-four Instant Kills

"We're done eating! You four can rest now! I'll keep watch for the night, and you can take over for the second brother later," the leader of the hunters instructed the four.

“Okay! Big brother, the four of us will rest for a bit, and I’ll take over for you later.” The second hunter said, leading the three into the tent.

Duan Yufan and the other three also finished their dinner.

"Everyone, let's pretend to sleep tonight," Duan Yufan said after finishing his milk.

"Okay! You all rest first! I'll take the night watch." Xie Yue said, taking on the heavy responsibility as the oldest.

"Hehe, Daddy smells like milk. No wonder he drinks milk every day. Let's go into the tent." Hu Liena said to Duan Yufan with a smile.

Xie Yue and Yan felt that Hu Liena was subtly criticizing them.

"Be serious..." Duan Yufan walked into the tent, sat cross-legged and meditated, but observed his surroundings with his mental energy.

After Hu Liena came in, she sat cross-legged beside her, turned off the soul guide light, and only the firelight outside illuminated the tent fabric.

Yan watched Duan Yufan and the other person enter the tent, and then followed them into another tent. Only Xie Yue sat quietly in front of the fire, meditating.

Time passed quietly and silently, the night grew deeper, and gradually the sounds of insects and crickets filled the forest.

Chirp... Whoosh...

"Second brother, you take the night watch, I'll rest for a bit." Around one in the morning, the hunter leader walked into the tent and woke up the Soul King, who was ranked second among the hunters.

"Okay! Big brother, you rest, I'll keep watch for the rest of the night." He got up and gave up his seat, then went outside to add dry branches to the fire, looking serious and lost in thought.

About an hour later, three figures emerged from the tent; they were the remaining three Soul Masters.

It turned out that the four of them had already discussed it after entering the tent.

“Brothers, those four kids over there all have soul-guided spatial accessories on them. I don’t need to tell you how valuable those things are, not to mention the things inside might be even more valuable. Do you dare to do it? And isn’t that girl very alluring and beautiful?” The second Soul King whispered to the three Soul Masters, his eyes gleaming.

“Second Brother, Eldest Brother won’t agree, and what Eldest Brother said might involve someone secretly protecting him,” one of the Soul Sect members said.

"What are you afraid of? At most, she's just a Soul Emperor. Besides, what Big Brother said is possible. It's the middle of the night, and the person secretly protecting her is probably already asleep. Moreover, I've never seen such a charming and beautiful girl before," another Soul Master retorted in a low voice.

"Third brother and fourth brother are right. Fifth brother and third brother, do you two dare? The value of these four people is enough for me to live a carefree life for several years." The second brother said, continuing to entice the remaining two.

"Alright! Second brother, what do you want to do?" The Soul Master, known as the third brother, also spoke up.

"Since our eldest brother is being so cautious, after he takes over the night watch and I do it, you guys can come out and attack together once he's asleep. What strength can these kids have? At most, they're at the Soul Venerable level. We can take care of them in no time." The second brother grinned mischievously, offering a solution that wasn't really a solution.

At 2 a.m., the four hunters quietly gathered around the campfire. At the second-in-command's signal, the four of them stealthily crept over to Duan Yufan's side.

"Shh!" Duan Yufan nudged Hu Liena.

Hu Liena naturally noticed the commotion as well.

Xie Yue sat meditating in the ashes of the fire, his eyes closed and a barely perceptible sneer playing on his lips, waiting for the four hunters to make their move.

Ghost Douluo, perched on a large tree nearby, didn't intend to stop them. This was also a form of training, and the enemy wasn't particularly strong.

The four hunters arrived in front of Xie Yue in no time. The second brother signaled the fourth brother to make a move. The fourth brother took out a dagger, revealed a fierce smile, and stabbed Xie Yue hard in the heart.

The three men watched as the fourth brother's dagger approached Xie Yue, and they also revealed cruel smiles.