Could a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's Killing Move Be Snuffed Out on the Spot?

That afternoon, at the edge of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ancient Forest outside Suotuo City.

Qin Zhaoye lay behind a thicket and glanced down at the patrol-gap schedule in his hand.

"At a quarter past three, the first hidden sentry post on the eastern side changes guard."

He timed his move to the gap on the schedule, put away the plain sheet of paper, and slipped silently along the shadow of the ridge.

Thanks to the blind spots in the guard changes that Luo Tan had marked, he avoided three of Spirit Hall's outer sentry lines in the space of an incense stick.

After passing the last security perimeter, Qin Zhaoye unfurled the bronze scroll and headed straight into the depths, following the terrain map in the escort intelligence.

The ancient trees around him grew ever thicker, their interwoven branches and leaves blocking out most of the daylight.

Strangely, after following the coordinates several miles inward, he had not seen even half a trace of a low-level Soul Beast along the way.

The insects and birds in the forest had fallen silent at some point, and the farther he went, the quieter it became-unnaturally quiet.

"Even the outer beast packs are going around it. Looks like I've found the right place."

Qin Zhaoye gradually slowed his steps, drew the short blade at his waist, and entered the heart of the coordinates marked "records unclear."

The instant his boot crushed a dead branch, a Ten-Thousand-Year-level pressure crashed down on him like a collapsing mountain!

There was a faint crack.

Qin Zhaoye's whole body sank, and the bones in his level-thirty-nine body creaked under the pressure.

With a roar, a massive Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast smashed through the ancient trees and pounced down at him amid a gust of foul wind!

Almost at the same moment, a brilliant red light flared at the top of the Myriad Ages Douluo Group's public chat.

The Group Hub had detected a high-risk Soul Ring hunt against an opponent of a higher level and immediately launched a live transcription!

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: Holy shit! The livestream's on! Did he sneak into the Ten-Thousand-Year Ancient Forest to take on a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast alone?!]

[Ancestral Precepts Recitation Champion: He's only level thirty-nine, and he dares to take on a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast head-on?! That pressure is terrifying even through the screen!]

At the center of the ancient forest battlefield, the foul wind was already in Qin Zhaoye's face.

Without the slightest hesitation, he lit up the first purple Soul Ring beneath his feet.

"Historical Brush Errata, activate!"

The bronze scroll unfurled with a rustle, and his first Soul Skill ran at full power, forcibly previewing his opponent's moves.

But the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's level was far above his own. The golden lines on the scroll twisted violently and blurred.

He could barely make out an afterimage of its trajectory half a breath before it struck!

"Half a breath is enough!"

Qin Zhaoye's gaze turned icy. Just before the blurry afterimage swept toward his neck, the second purple ring beneath his feet blazed.

"Folded Page!"

In the blink of an eye, he shifted thirty meters sideways, brushing past the edge of the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's descending claws!

With a thunderous crash, the beast's claw smashed the bluestone where he had stood into powder, sending fragments flying past the hem of his clothes.

Before he could find his footing, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast violently twisted its massive body, its second sweeping strike crashing toward the spot where he would land!

The blurry afterimage on the scroll flickered again.

Using the second displacement of his second-ring Folded Page, Qin Zhaoye barely managed to dart into the crown of an ancient tree thirty meters away.

After two consecutive uses of Folded Page, the skill entered a cooldown lasting several breaths.

So he did not meet the beast head-on. He pushed off the thick branches and maneuvered between them, relying entirely on the half-breath-ahead afterimages from Historical Brush Errata to anticipate its moves.

Every sidestep, every roll carried him past the very edge of death beneath the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's killing moves!

In front of the livestream screen, Tang Wulin watched with his breath held tight, both hands clutching the hem of his clothes. He even forgot his favorite pastime of flooding the chat.

Beside a mountain path, Tang San had stopped walking. He stared at the deadly claw winds that flashed past Qin Zhaoye's clothes on the screen, one after another.

Without a word, he raised a hand and tightened the strap of the pack on his shoulder another notch.

[Tang San: The suppression from the higher level is too strong. His prediction Soul Skill is being disrupted, so he can only read changes in its moves half a breath ahead.]

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: Every move takes him right past the edge of death. If he were the slightest bit slower, he'd be done for!]

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: I've already opened a "best plays compilation" thread. I feel like I could watch that footwork a hundred times!]

Deep in the ancient forest, the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, having missed again and again, was now utterly enraged.

It abruptly halted, and the violent Soul Power around its body collapsed inward toward its throat, gathering as a dark light swelled larger and larger.

If that charged Ten-Thousand-Year-level killing move came out, half the mountain forest would surely be flattened!

Above the canopy, Qin Zhaoye watched the blurry golden light flickering on the scroll and instantly pinpointed the node where the Soul Power converged.

"Charging up a big move? Did you ask the brush in my hand first?!"

At the pivotal instant before the Soul Skill in the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's throat took shape, the third purple ring beneath Qin Zhaoye's feet suddenly blazed.

"Third Soul Skill, Chapter Severing!"

Qin Zhaoye pressed down with his left palm from a distance, and the force of severance used that half-breath lead to cut precisely into the weak point in the Soul Beast's charge!

There was a sharp crack!

Because his opponent was more than ten levels above him, Chapter Severing could normally only delay it for half a breath.

But that half-breath of forced delay struck the vital point just as the Ten-Thousand-Year-level killing move was taking shape!

The dark light surging in the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's throat shuddered violently. Its entire charged killing move was snuffed out on the spot, and Soul Power surged backward through its meridians!

The Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast suffered a Soul Power backlash and let out a piercing howl of pain, its massive body staggering and pitching to one side.

"Now!"

His second Soul Skill, Folded Page, had finished cooling down and lit up again. Using the canopy as cover, Qin Zhaoye flashed out from a different position and closed in on the Soul Beast's flank.

He filled the short blade in his right hand with Soul Power and dragged it viciously through an old wound exposed as the Soul Beast rolled!

With a ripping sound, foul blood sprayed!

His strike landed, and Qin Zhaoye did not linger. He kicked off the beast's belly and flipped more than thirty meters away.

Reading moves, breaking them, circling and counterattacking-one step after another, without a break!

In the livestream, Tang Wulin, who had held his breath for so long, suddenly slapped his thigh and finally let out a great gasp.

[Ancestral Precepts Recitation Champion: Holy shit! I didn't even dare breathe just now! You can snuff out a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's killing move on the spot too?!]

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: Chapter Severing hit the vital point, Folded Page shifted his position, and Errata bought him half a breath's lead!]

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: Three rings against a Ten-Thousand-Year beast! As for how impressive that is, all I can say is incredible. I've added it to the first post of the best plays compilation!]

[Tang San: The timing of the interruption was perfect. He didn't get greedy for another hit and withdrew after striking. He brought those three Soul Rings to life.]

[Group Leader: Reading moves and breaking their pivotal points, skirting the edge while maneuvering—this battle's first half has been entered into the record.]

In the forest clearing, Qin Zhaoye landed steadily and knelt on one knee to calm his churning blood and Qi.

That round of extreme maneuvering along the edge of death had squeezed the potential within his body to its limit.

As a result, the Ever-Bright Bamboo Slip Art roared through his meridians, driving his Soul Power from the peak of level thirty-nine all the way to the great threshold of level forty!

Level forty, filled to the brim!

His formidable Soul Power hummed and vibrated before the great threshold of level forty. He needed only a physical Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring to enter the Soul Ancestor realm.

"Warm-up's over. I've finally planted my feet firmly on the threshold of level forty."

Qin Zhaoye exhaled a breath of turbid air, tightened his grip on his short blade, and looked up at the clearing.

By now, the fight was more than halfway over. Blood had streamed along the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's flank, and its injury had made its temperament even more vicious.

It threw back its head and roared wildly, the sound sweeping through the forest and stirring the undercurrents within it.

Far away, in the direction of the outer sentry line, the glow of a Spirit Hall soul-guidance signal faintly rose into the sky and flashed.

Qin Zhaoye frowned slightly. "We've made too much noise. The sentries outside have been alerted."

The Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in the clearing had also noticed the disturbance outside, and it was wary of Qin Zhaoye's strange interruption skill.

It glared viciously at Qin Zhaoye but did not pounce again to fight him head-on.

Dragging its wounded body, the massive beast turned with a crash, snapped several thick vines, and fled into the depths of its dark lair beneath the cliff.

The fierce wind in the forest abruptly died down as the Soul Beast entered its lair.

In a few leaps, Qin Zhaoye reached the foot of the cliff, but he did not rush recklessly into the pitch-black cave entrance.

He restrained the Soul Power around him, pressed his back against the cold rock beside the entrance, and held his breath to listen for a while.

From deep within the dim cave, besides the wounded Soul Beast's panting, came the faint sound of a second set of breaths.

Those breaths were long and low, each one much slower than those of the Soul Beast outside.