Emperor of Soul Pets

Chapter 54: Hurry, Rao Wu!

A dark light outside the test chamber exploded as Rao Wu, Ju Tu, and Xian Da appeared in the cavern. Rao Wu took a moment to regain his bearings, and then turned to look at the gate. Surprisingly, the gate had disappeared, replaced by a bare cavern wall.

Rao Wu, however, was not shocked, as a slew of information poured into his mind. The test chamber closed because it had accomplished its mission of choosing a Harbinger. From then on, the remaining test chambers across the continent would only have up to the Hard difficulty. Furthermore, Rao Wu could now 'sense' nearby Harbinger Test locations.

Rao Wu wore a wistful smile as he looked at the cavern wall. "Thank you for everything." He bowed to the room where he had spent two years of his life and then turned to Ju Tu and Xian Da. He took out a strange vial with purple liquid sloshing inside from his spatial ring with a smile. "Hehe, I bet Uncle will be shocked."

Rao Wu chuckled as he put back the vial and then took out a clump of Divers' Heart while he recalled Ju Tu and Xian Da to their soulspace, "Let's go home." He chewed on the Divers' Heart and then jumped into the lake.

Swimming back was much easier because the current was in his favor. Within a few minutes, Rao Wu crossed the underground tunnel and then surfaced in the cavern. "What the!?" Rao Wu's eyes widened in shock and fear once his head popped out of the water as he was met with an unfamiliar sight.

As many as twenty strange soul monsters and humans stood by the lake's edge, their attention simultaneously drawn to the intruder.

"GRRR!?" A terrible panther-like monster growled as it glared at Rao Wu. It then turned to the human beside it, rage evident in its eyes.

The human, an old man who seemed to be in his late sixties, shook his head. "I know it looks bad, but that child is not with us. We've all been here together. When would I have gotten the chance to sneak him in?" The man's eyes furrowed as he glared at the bobbing head. "That said, we do need answers." He thus raised shouted at Rao Wu, "Identify yourself, child!"

Rao Wu frowned. To be safe, he quickly morphed to his human form, hiding his tail and ears before shouting back, "Who are you!? Where are the Dusklight Wolves?"

"Dusklight Wolves? You're with them?" The man's eyes suddenly took on a sinister light, but before he could move, a Steelback Ape jumped to the front, its eyes brightening when it saw Rao Wu.

The Steelback Ape only needed one moment to recognize Rao Wu's gray hair. It jumped in frantic excitement as it pointed at the exit. "Guo! Guo!" [Hurry! They need you on the surface!]

"What!?" Rao Wu panicked and quickly swam to shore. Once there, he ignored the human guards as the Steelback Ape guided him to the surface. "Please explain. What's going on? Why are there humans here!?"

"Guo! Guo! Guo!" The Steelback Ape rapidly explained the situation as they climbed the tunnels.

Events went as Twilight planned. The soul monsters kept harassing the human mercenaries, preventing them from gaining too much ground until Hao Ranhui reluctantly asked other powerhouses in the city for help after four fruitless months. When everyone found out what was at stake, Society inevitably got involved.

To prevent massive loss of lives, Soul Society decided to send in a representative from Headquarters to negotiate with the soul monsters. Under Soul Society's pressure, only a few vagabond mercenaries persisted in their attacks, which the soul monsters easily thwarted.

Eventually, a representative arrived roughly five months later. After a few days of haggling, the representative agreed with Twilight and the other soul monsters to share the Eternal Spring Lake at a 70:30 ratio.