A group of three, plus two divine beasts, continued their journey.
Before long, the dragon hound caught several prey but found no powerful kings.
Su Luo wasn't in a hurry. She decided to eat her fill with the dragon hound first. Just as she was about to start preparing, Shangxie Shaoqing, wanting to quickly win Su Luo over, approached her with a smile. "Miss Su, may I help you?"
"Oh, Young Master Shangxie, can you?"
"Is there anything this young master cannot do? This small matter is no challenge for me." As soon as he finished speaking, Shangxie Shaoqing drew his sword and, with a few swift strikes, cut a white-striped deer into pieces, its entrails and blood spilling all over the ground.
Su Luo's expression turned black...
Was this scoundrel helping her like this?
She really wanted to tell Shangxie Shaoqing to get lost, but remembering the Great Emperor's soul was still within him, Su Luo managed to be a little polite. She waved her hand speechlessly, "Never mind, Young Master Shangxie, you're not suited for this. Please rest on the side."
She was thankful she hadn't let him do all the work, or the prey would have been wasted.
Seeing Su Luo's disgusted look, Shangxie Shaoqing walked away to the side, puzzled.
"Du Wei, how could this young master be wrong?"
"How could the young master be wrong? It's Miss Su who doesn't understand the young master's good intentions."
Shangxie Shaoqing stood under a tree, propping his chin and pondering. "But she clearly wasn't happy. I need to find another way, otherwise, how can I marry her?"
Du Wei glanced at Su Luo, who was busy, and whispered his advice. "Young master, have you forgotten? When those women chased after you before, besides helping you cook, making soup, and giving gifts, they had many other tricks. The young master can take inspiration from them."
Shangxie Shaoqing frowned. "Do you mean I have to personally seduce her?"
"Young master, this is a woman's approach to a man."
Du Wei's expression changed, and he quickly shook his head. "Young master, you need to approach this from a woman's psychology. Women like powerful men. As long as you demonstrate your abilities, Miss Su will surely admire you. Then..."
Du Wei whispered something into Shangxie Shaoqing's ear, and he kept nodding in agreement.
When Su Luo had finished preparing the Korean barbecue and mixed a large basin of dipping sauce, Shangxie Shaoqing approached her again, lightly fanning himself, and said with elegant demeanor, "Miss Su's cooking is quite good. It smells so fragrant..."
"Mine! Stop coveting it!" The dragon hound snarled at him.
Shangxie Shaoqing flinched and quickly stepped back. "No, no, no, I just wanted to chat with Miss Su. I wasn't thinking about the barbecue."
Su Luo ignored him. She picked up a piece of barbecue, dipped it in some sauce, and put it into her mouth. "Right now, I just want to eat quietly. I'd appreciate it if Young Master Shangxie could stay on the side and not disturb me."
Shangxie Shaoqing faltered, experiencing a rare sense of defeat.
Had his charm failed?
After eating and drinking, Su Luo tidied up and beckoned Shangxie Shaoqing to continue.
Although she wasn't interested in the young master of the Longevity Hall, he was still an asset, and more importantly, the Great Emperor was within him. Shangxie Shaoqing was a bit conceited and liked to brag about himself covertly, but she could tolerate it.
The dragon hound had barely gotten its fill, and its appetite was even more piqued. It kept drilling deeper into the dense forest. After several hours, they caught more prey. Su Luo set up the pot and fire again, making a pot of fragrant Borscht, and collected many spiritual herbs, but they still found no kingly spirit beasts.
Half a day passed, and the sky was approaching dusk.
Just as Su Luo was preparing to find a place to stay for the night, black shadows flashed across the sky.
Su Luo sensed something amiss. At the same time, she and Shangxie Shaoqing looked up and saw over a dozen cultivators riding small flying spiritual artifacts pass overhead like black dots, heading towards the center of the Flowing Light Forest.
Suddenly, clusters of red light shot out from the front, like cannonballs.
The people on the flying spiritual artifacts were caught off guard. They couldn't even defend themselves before the red light exploded, dense and fierce. One by one, the cultivators cried out in agony and plummeted from the sky.
Hearing the screams, the dragon hound let out a low whimper and sniffed. "It sounds like Exploding Flowers. They should be not far ahead. We need to be careful."
Exploding Flowers were ferocious, giant carnivorous plants of the sixth tier. They usually emitted a tempting fragrance to lure prey into a trap. Furthermore, mature Exploding Flowers could shoot out explosive seeds to attack passing prey, knocking them down to be eaten.
However, the nectar of the Exploding Flowers was particularly sweet. It could not only be used in alchemy but was also an excellent food source.
Su Luo hadn't expected they were near the Exploding Flower patch and wasn't sure if these people were outer disciples of the Clear Void Heaven. She decided to go and see, and perhaps collect some Exploding Flower nectar along the way.
The Flood Dragon ran the fastest, charging straight ahead and breaking some small trees. Once it was entangled by vines, it spat out flames, burning the vines to ashes.
As expected of a divine beast, it moved through the dangerous Flowing Light Forest as if it were its own territory. Su Luo and the other two followed behind effortlessly.
"Roar! Roar! Roar..."
Suddenly, the Flood Dragon cried out in pain as clusters of red light shot towards it, exploding with a boom.
Although the Flood Dragon was a divine beast with strong defenses, its strength was now greatly depleted, and its body had regrown. Faced with the dense, rain-like seeds of the Exploding Flowers, it was momentarily battered and roared in pain.
Su Luo looked ahead and her expression changed.
It was a vast forest of Exploding Flowers!
Densely packed, there were no less than several hundred of them, the smallest being as large as a millstone.
Their petals were thick, like rubber, with a vivid red color, constantly wriggling. Some had just bloomed, their central pistils emitting a sweet fragrance; some were reddish-black; and some had shed their petals, leaving only a lotus seedpod-like core, continuously shooting out seeds.
More than ten people lay on the ground, some with severed limbs, some mangled, their broken limbs and intestines hanging from the branches, dripping blood.
The Exploding Flowers opened their massive petals and directly enveloped these people.
"Save... save me..."
Su Luo frowned at the sight. It was too tragic, but fortunately, they weren't disciples of the Clear Void Heaven. Since she needed to collect nectar anyway, she might as well save a few people.
She looked at the stunned Shangxie Shaoqing and said, "Young Master Shangxie, quickly save them."
After speaking, she dashed forward.
Shangxie Shaoqing finally reacted. "Du Wei, save them quickly!"
Du Wei also rushed forward, following closely behind Shangxie Shaoqing. Green light emanated from his palms, and vines emerged, coiling towards the rampaging Exploding Flowers.
The Flood Dragon was already enraged. Relying on its tough skin and thick flesh, it forcibly charged into the cluster of flowers. With a wave of its claws, the thick petals of the Exploding Flowers were torn apart, revealing a viscous liquid.
With a sweep of its tail, it smashed a large patch of Exploding Flowers. If it still had its original size, a single stomp would have crushed countless of them.
Su Luo had already reached several injured people, cutting down the Exploding Flowers that were about to devour them, and rescuing them one by one.
"Th-thank you, young lady."
Su Luo put the person down and looked ahead. The rest of the people were dead. She could do no more. "You're welcome. Do you have any healing pills? Take them quickly."
"Yes... yes... in my storage ring..." The person struggled to reach out, took out a pill from the storage ring, took it, and then handed the rest to Su Luo, asking her to save their companions.
Su Luo could help with small matters, as long as it didn't cost her money or her pills.
After taking the healing pills, the wounds of these people stopped bleeding, and they regained some strength.
One of the men, a middle-aged man in his forties, who seemed to be the leader of the group, said to Su Luo, "Thank you, young lady, for saving me. I am Yan Shen, from the Heavenly Sea Sect. Are you... also going to search for treasure?"