Bai Yunfei"s path through the forest was a fast one. Hardly any time had elapsed before they reached the area where a battle between men and soulbeasts were taking place.
On one side were several cla.s.s six soulbeasts—all of them canine-type soulbeasts. From the green light that s.h.i.+ned around the wolves, Bai Yunfei was sure they were wind wolves.
The Soul Exalts were disadvantaged in terms of numbers. There were only nine of them, but each of them had one or two soulbeasts in which they could use to attack the wolves.
“So the beast tamers are here after all!!”
Bai Yunfei flew even faster towards the battlefield when he realized who the wolves were fighting.
It didn"t take the beast tamers long to realize that someone was coming at them. The power radiating from Bai Yunfei was simply too much to be ignored. Everyone s.h.i.+vered with dread when they felt him approach and split apart from one another.
Both sides were now staring at one another and at Bai Yunfei, who was now floating in the air between the two.
Bai Yunfei"s aura was projected entirely onto the beast tamers, stifling the air and driving their breaths out from them. They trembled where they stood; most of them wanted to run, but their legs weren"t obeying them. Running was not an option they could take.
He stared down at the trembling beast tamers. His eyes traveled from person to person before ultimately stopping on an elderly Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt.
“You?!” He cried out in stark surprise.
“Eh?!”
The other person seemed almost startled at Bai Yunfei"s surprise. His companions gave a small start—did this powerful person know attendant Yang?! Was this person…not an enemy then? Was he an ally?!
The elder continued to stare at Bai Yunfei with a wide-open look of surprise.
“Do you know him, Yunfei?” Tang Xinyun whispered.
A small frown formed on Bai Yunfei"s lips. “I do,” he nodded, “but "knowing" him would be a stretch. It"d be better to call him an old "acquaintance"...”
A wistful expression appeared on his face as he spoke. He had to be thinking about the memories of this person.
“Sire…is there…something senior wishes to say?”
The elder had to ask. He bowed his head low to show his deepest respects for Bai Yunfei, but his mind was racing furiously in order to think about who this person was. From his appearance, this young man had to be younger than thirty. It was a laughably young age in comparison to him, but the elder didn"t dare show his disrespect. In the face of power, age was not even something to be considered. Calling him "senior" seemed like the natural course of action. This person had to be someone deeply connected with the Beast Taming School. After all, it seemed quite unlikely to have this person come across them by accident.
“Senior?” A smile appeared onto Bai Yunfei"s face as if the elder had just told a joke. “Of course, it was a very long time ago, after all. It"d be stranger if you remembered who I was…”
“Bai Yunfei, do you really know this person?” Wu Dijian asked, “He"s a mere Soul Exalt and a beast tamer. Let"s kill him and be done with it, what"s with your cryptic words?”
“Haha, I was only just thinking about the past. Nostalgia and all that…” He laughed.
“You"re…Wu Dijian!!”
The elder"s eyes flew to Wu Dijian at once. All color bled away from his face when he cried out—that person was no friend of the Beast Taming School! Wu Dijian of Tianhun Academy…an ally of the Royal Family and…enemy of the Beast Taming School!
As if drenched with a bucket of ice-cold water, the beast tamers stiffened and began to despair.
“One moment…Bai Yunfei?!” The pupils of the elder"s eyes dilated. What Wu Dijian said jumpstarted the memories in his head. He whipped his eyes back to Bai Yunfei. If before his face was devoid of color, then now it looked like he had just seen a ghost.
“Y—you! It"s you?! Bai Yunfei of the Crafting School?! You"re that person from Jadewillow City! But how?! You should"ve been dead! How are you still alive?!”
“Oh? So you do recognize me?” Bai Yunfei quirked an eyebrow. “You"re the help the Jadewillow School asked for to help the Glacial School in trying to capture me. If not for big brother Hong Yin and You Qingfeng from the Wood School, I would"ve died at your hands, wouldn"t I? It"s been over ten years…what "luck" that we meet again…”
Yang Lin"s face was the color of ash now. Years of being a calm-headed Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt had gone out the window now that he was faced with Bai Yunfei. Trembling head to toe, the elder stayed quiet—he couldn"t say a single word.
Bai Yunfei wasn"t wrong. This person had helped the Glacial School outside Jadewillow City. He was the beast tamer elder that tried to capture Bai Yunfei.
From what Bai Yunfei remembered of the battle between Hong Yin and this man, the beast tamer had a golden-eyed ape soulbeast puppet. The elder had only been a Late-stage Soul Ancestor at the time, so it was a bit of a surprise for Bai Yunfei to see him as a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt. He must"ve stumbled upon some luck.
His memories of the past was a bit clearer now—he remembered someone else. A figure in black. That person was most likely someone from the Soul Refining School. The Soul Refining School surely had to have a few of the minor schools in their pockets by that point if the Glacial School was one of them.
Slowly, the nostalgia in Bai Yunfei"s eyes was replaced with a frosty chill. Sweeping across the despairing beast tamers, Bai Yunfei opened his mouth to speak.
“Answer me and I"ll consider sparing your lives.”
A glimmer of hope! Some of the beast tamers heaved with emotion upon hearing that—they had a chance! There was a chance Bai Yunfei was lying, but it was better than the worst-case scenario! If there was a rope to safety, then they"d grab hold of it and not let go!
“Where are the rest of the beast tamers? When will you be fighting the cla.s.s seven soulbeasts of the wolf clan? And where are the clans of the bloodthirsty wind ape and the four-winged golden roc? What plans do you have with them?”
Yang Lin froze up. “How…how do you know about that?!”
He didn"t get a response.
“Answer me and you can leave this place alive.”
A short second pa.s.sed.
“Don"t kill me; I"ll speak! Our base is located just about four hundred kilometers to the east! Next to a lake! We"re waiting for the strongest of both the bloodthirsty wind ape and the four-winged golden roc to gather before we start attacking the wolf clan! But only the Soul Kings know the details! We have an Early-stage Soul King, an early-stage cla.s.s eight soulbeast puppet, five Soul Kings, and about eight cla.s.s seven soulbeast puppets! Then we also have almost a hundred Soul Exalts and two hundred cla.s.s six soulbeasts puppets! Our group came here because we noticed this group of cla.s.s six wind wolves and chased after them!”
A youngster to the right of the elder threw himself to the ground at once. Pleading and trembling, he began to tell Bai Yunfei everything he knew.
A wave of fury and regret washed over his companions. He beat them to punch! There weren"t even any other details they could add onto his explanation, he spilled everything there was to know…
“Good response.” Bai Yunfei nodded. “You can live then—but the rest…Xiao Qi, kill them.”
“Swish swish swish swish…”
Bai Yunfei had hardly finished speaking when several blades of wind rained down on the beast tamers. Without putting up a final front of resistance, the beast tamers—excluding the one who first spoke and Yang Lin—were utterly decimated!
Bai Yunfei"s eyes landed back upon Yang LIn. “Do you…still have anything to say?”
Yang Lin"s breath hitched in his throat. “Don"t kill me!” He pleaded, “I can tell you something very important! It has to do with someone you know!!”