Duan Tianqing’s fury could scorch the heavens with how heated it was. Composed of equal parts confusion and shock, the elder simply couldn’t figure out how this rescue was done. How in the world did the enemy pull it off!?

He hadn’t even sensed them when they teleported! Twice! How powerful was their stealth capabilities?!

But the most vexing thing about their abilities was how he couldn’t even sense which direction the enemy was teleporting to!

In other words? In other words...Duan Tianqing had no idea where the enemy was; they were far beyond his range of perception!

So again, he had to ask the question: How?!

Could we be up against a Mid-stage Soul Emperor? A Late-stage Soul Emperor?” Duan Tianqing wondered in worry, would they be able to withstand such a worrisome foe? Impossible. If they were up against a force like that, then everyone here would’ve been slaughtered from the get-go. What point was there in rescuing the captives in stealth like that?

“A teleportation-capable soul armament then?!” He realized.

“Damn...who could it possibly be?!”

Duan Tianqing trembled with fury. His wrath was so large that not even the Soul Kings near him dared to speak. If it were possible, the heavens would’ve been set on fire from the flames of his anger.

“What has gotten you so angry, elder Duan? Perhaps I have missed something entertaining?”

Someone spoke from the left of the group, causing everyone to turn their heads in surprise, Duan Tianqing included. He hadn’t been as aware of his surroundings as he’d normally be due to his anger. “Golden Roc King!” He replied.

Roughly a dozen meters away was a figure draped in both golden robes and light. The ‘person’ had a regal presence but had the head of a bird. His eyes had an exceedingly sharp gaze and several golden-glowing feathers could be seen from his head and neck. Just from his aura alone, everyone could tell this was a being that was on par with Duan Tianqing.

There was also another distinguishing feature about this person—namely the golden wings on his back.

This was the head of the four-winged golden roc, the Golden Roc King!

“You’re late.” Duan Tianqing stated to the Golden Roc King.

“It takes time for even me to travel here from my camp...did the wind ape clan not arrive just now either?”

It was true. A group of powerful auras was rapidly coming towards Duan Tianqing and the Golden Roc King. “Once the bloodthirsty wind ape and his clan arrive, we’ll begin the subjugation!” Duan Tianqing snarled.

At the same time a very far distance away. On top of a large mountain.

Bai Yunfei appeared out of thin air. Glancing around himself for enemies, he allowed himself to let out a sigh once the coast was clear.

“That was dangerous...I thought we weren’t going to make it for a second...” He breathed out.

His plan was a success. He had somehow managed to rescue several people from under the nose of a Soul Emperor!

It was a rather simple plan. First, Xiao Qi and Long Lan would reveal themselves to catch the Beast Taming School’s attention. Then while they went to investigate, Bai Yunfei would appear in the camp! The window of opportunity was super short—he wouldn’t even have more than ten seconds to get in, grab the people, and get out!

In order to prevent Xiao Qi and Long Lan from being attacked, Bai Yunfei made sure to reveal his aura as well right before he transported the people into the Core World and teleported them all away. With this, not even a Soul Emperor would be fast enough to find them.

This was only possible since he was already close by to the Beast Taming School’s camp to begin with. Hiding his aura before the plan started, Bai Yunfei made sure to lock onto the tent with the captives before he went in for maximum efficiency.

A rescue that was as fast as lightning and efficient like clockwork...and it worked!

The only shortcoming was how fast Duan Tianqing had reacted to Bai Yunfei’s presence. Had he been even a second or two slow, then Bai Yunfei would’ve been unable to teleport away once the Soul Emperor began to distort the energy there.

And now that everyone was safe, Bai Yunfei had to find a place to hide the Core Stone and head into the Core World.

Wu Dijian and the others were already undoing the confines and limiters on You Qingfeng and the others by the time Bai Yunfei entered. The students of the Yao clan were also brewing some tea so they could calm down.

Bai Yunfei’s arrival caught everyone’s attention at once. You Qingfeng looked stunned for a brief second, the cup of tea in his hand faltering a bit as he stared. “Bai Yunfei!” He exclaimed, “It really is you!!”

“Haha, you guessed it, big brother You.” Bai Yunfei smiled and nodded.

“Headmaster Mu, miss Luliu, and sister Yuhe, it’s been a very long time...” He smiled at the other three.

“You’re...” Mu Wanqing’s face was blank as she stared at Bai Yunfei. Perhaps she was trying to recall who her savior was.

“Oh? You don’t remember me?” Bai Yunfei smiled, “I’m Bai Yunfei.”

He looked next to Chu Yuhe—she looked grown up, but her face still had a babyish look to it—“Sister Yuhe, have you perhaps forgotten about your ‘adopted brother’?”

“You...you didn’t die, Bai Yunfei?!” You Qingfeng cut in, “The rumors said...”

“It’s a long story,” Bai Yunfei smiled, “but as you can see, I’m alive and well.”

“Brother...big brother Yunfei?! Are you really big brother?!” Tears sprung to Chu Yuhe’s eyes at once. She could hardly believe her eyes.

“You’re alive! It’s really you, big brother!!” She exclaimed again in joy. Springing to her feet, she tackled Bai Yunfei and hugged him tightly.

Her body shivered slightly as she cried softly in his arms.

Many years passed by since he last saw Chu Yuhe, and he could see that in terms of looks, she had changed greatly. But that soft attitude of hers, an attitude that’d make anyone feel like they want to protect her, was still there.

“Ah...” Looking rather embarrassed, Bai Yunfei looked to Tang Xinyun just in case. Upon seeing that she didn’t look jealous, Bai Yunfei relaxed a bit.

It took a while for the group to grow calm again, but Bai Yunfei managed to explain to them what happened to him over the past few years.

“A lot has happened to you in the past three years...” You Qingfeng sighed once Bai Yunfei was done speaking. “You found the legendary Alchemy School and became even more powerful than before....It’s hard to believe, frankly speaking...”

You Qingfeng and Mu Wanqing surely had to have some heavy thoughts on Bai Yunfei’s ‘growth’. The last time they saw him, Bai Yunfei was just a Soul Sprite and was still something like a country bumpkin. Ten years had seen him do plenty of maturing, it seemed.

“Big brother You, what do you plan to do now?” Bai Yunfei asked, “I can bring you out from the Soulbeast Forest and to safety if you want to leave, but...”

“You plan to say you’re going to come back here and fight, aren’t you, Yunfei? How could we leave in that case? Or do you think we’re not strong enough and won’t be of any assistance?”

“Of course not,” Bai Yunfei shook his hands in denial of You Qingfeng’s words, “but...I’m here because of my past with big brother Hong Yin. I owe him and so I want to help him, I don’t want for you to head into danger with me...”

“Hong Yin, is it...?” You Qingfeng smiled, “I haven’t seen him since that one time in Jadewillow City. It’s been a while, I’d like to see him again. Let us stay here and help you, Yunfei. The Beast Taming School has done nothing but dishonor to us, let us pay them back for their kidnapping of us!”

None of You Qingfeng’s companions looked like they were against his words, so Bai Yunfei said nothing more about it. “It’s settled then. We’ll leave this place together once everything’s over.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Let’s rest up here first then. Afterward, we head for the wolf clan’s camp!”