Soul Control Continent, Soul Spirit Forest.
Yang Yu and Ming Wu traveled by carriage for several months before finally arriving here.
Soul Spirit Forest was the largest gathering place for Soul Beasts on Soul Control Continent. It contained countless varieties of Soul Beasts, and legend had it that at its center lived the Forest King, a being comparable to the guardian of Soul Control Continent.
This was an excellent place for Soul Controllers to obtain Soul Beast Life Souls. Almost every day, Soul Controllers entered the forest in search of Life Souls. Opportunities were endless, but danger lurked everywhere as well.
Every year, quite a few Soul Controllers perished here, becoming nourishment for Soul Beasts to advance their cultivation.
"Brother Yu, we're here!"
Yang Yu gazed at the familiar-looking Soul Spirit Forest, overwhelmed with emotion.
This time, he had come not only to obtain Soul Beast Life Souls, but more importantly, to use the system to improve his strength.
Now that the Stronger System source system had been successfully activated, he could once again improve at a crazed pace like before. At this moment, he felt no pressure at all.
"Let's go! We're heading in."
Ming Wu nodded.
At the center of Soul Spirit Forest.
A middle-aged man was battling the Forest King, and the fight was exceptionally fierce.
"Roar!"
"Human, you have crossed the line!"
The Forest King swung out a palm. A gigantic hand came whistling toward him, sending fierce winds surging through the surroundings.
The middle-aged man activated divine light to protect his body.
"Boom!"
The giant palm struck the protective divine light, producing a thunderous sound as grass and trees flew in every direction.
Seeing that it could not break through his defense, the Forest King flew into a rage and continued striking with its giant palms.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The middle-aged man frowned slightly as he kept retreating.
Moments later, he launched a counterattack. Streaks of black light struck the Forest King's powerful body, yet there was no reaction whatsoever.
The man and beast were evenly matched, locked in a stalemate.
The tremendous commotion caused the weaker Soul Beasts nearby to begin fleeing toward the outer regions.
At the outskirts.
Soul Controllers who had been hunting Soul Beasts in groups stood frozen. After a long while, someone finally blurted out a sentence.
"B-beast tide! R-run!"
The Soul Controllers scattered and fled out of the forest.
"Save... save me! Someone save me!"
A female Soul Controller, trampled until only half her body remained, screamed helplessly.
But it was useless.
With a bang!
An even stronger Soul Beast trampled over her from behind. The female Soul Controller let out a cry, and chunks of flesh scattered everywhere!
Similar scenes began appearing one after another.
Outside the forest.
The guardian received the news and arrived with his guards.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, half of the Soul Controllers failed to escape."
A white-haired old man in black armor stood in midair, naturally radiating the domineering majesty of one in a high position.
He let out a sigh.
"Have you determined what caused the beast tide?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, the team sent to investigate has not yet returned."
"Oh? How long have they been inside?"
"Half a day already!"
The white-haired guardian frowned deeply.
He stared toward the center of the forest.
"Lion Skull, you have crossed the line!"
The white-haired guardian's incomparably imposing voice resounded through the entire forest.
At that moment, Lion Skull, the Forest King battling the middle-aged man, paused with a slight frown.
It looked toward the outside of the forest.
"A human guardian?"
At the same time, the middle-aged man also frowned slightly. He glanced toward the forest's edge, then vanished from the center of the forest.
A voice echoed out.
"Forest King, wait for me. This Seat will return to challenge you again."
Seeing the middle-aged man leave, the Forest King shook its head.
It then looked toward the outskirts.
"Roar!"
The rampaging Soul Beasts stopped rushing about, turned around, and returned to their respective territories.
"Human, the disturbance has ended. You may leave now!"
The Forest King replied to the guardian.
It was not because it was afraid. Mainly, after battling the middle-aged man for so long, it had exhausted much of its strength and needed to rest and recover.
Moments later, the team that had gone to investigate returned to the guards, covered in injuries, and reported back.
Fortunately, their injuries were not serious.
Seeing that the beast tide had ended and the team had returned, the white-haired guardian did not linger. With a flash, he disappeared from outside the forest.
The Soul Controllers who had narrowly escaped secretly rejoiced. In the end, they no longer had the heart to continue hunting and gradually left the area.
Yang Yu also heard the two voices. He merely curled his lips and continued searching for Soul Beasts with Ming Wu.
Along the way, they also encountered Soul Beasts fleeing wildly and trampling everything in their path.
One Soul Beast, unaware of its place, charged directly at Ming Wu.
It was a Soul Beast nearly thirty thousand years old, with strength comparable to a Sixth-Tier Soul Controller.
"You're courting death!"
Yang Yu flashed in front of Ming Wu and began fighting the Soul Beast.
Ming Wu watched Yang Yu battle the Soul Beast with a worried expression.
Yang Yu gave her a reassuring look.
Because the system's voice sounded at that moment!
Ding! Detected that the host's First Source is battling an enemy! Enemy: Thirty-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Giant Strength Wild Bull No matter how strong he is, you are stronger! Congratulations! The host's First Source cultivation has risen to Sixth-Tier Three-Star Soul Controller. Automatically absorbing the Giant Strength Wild Bull's Life Soul. Absorbing... ... Absorption successful! Congratulations! The host's First Source cultivation has officially risen to Sixth-Tier Three-Star Soul Controller. Obtained Life Soul skill: Giant Strength Fist. Giant Strength Fist: Condenses an overwhelmingly powerful punch capable of shattering wind-force defenses. Its attack power increases with strength. (Active skill. Cooldown: three Time.)
A warm current flowed through his entire body as azure light shimmered around him. Yang Yu's strength began surging rapidly.
Fifth-Tier Three-Star
Fifth-Tier Four-Star
Fifth-Tier Five-Star
Life Soul absorbed, shackles broken!
Sixth-Tier One-Star
Sixth-Tier Two-Star
Sixth-Tier Three-Star.
His advancement stopped at Sixth-Tier Three-Star. With the system's help, the breakthrough took only an instant. Yang Yu clenched his fists and grinned at the Giant Strength Wild Bull charging toward him.
Then he went all out and condensed an overwhelmingly powerful punch.
"Sixth Life Soul Skill: Giant Strength Fist!"
"Boom!"
With one punch, the Giant Strength Wild Bull was sent flying. It crashed to the ground, glanced at Yang Yu in terror, then fainted.
Ming Wu stared in shock at the remarkably handsome Yang Yu.
Yang Yu gave the Giant Strength Wild Bull a disdainful glance before returning to Ming Wu's side.
After recovering from her shock, Ming Wu looked at Yang Yu in confusion.
"Brother Yu, aren't you going to kill it and obtain its Life Soul?"
Yang Yu smiled mysteriously, then released the aura of a Sixth-Tier Soul Controller.
Ming Wu was shocked once again, though her shock was mixed with confusion and incomprehension.
Yang Yu shook his head with a smile.
"My cultivation method is different. I can directly obtain Life Souls without meditating to absorb Soul Beast Life Souls."
Yang Yu casually made up an excuse. No one besides himself could know about the system, not even those closest and dearest to him.
Ming Wu thought about it, then nodded.
Over the next few days,
Yang Yu successfully helped Ming Wu obtain her third Soul Beast Life Soul. Ming Wu successfully advanced to a Third-Tier Two-Star Soul Controller. Looking at her own strength, then at Yang Yu, who now made her feel completely safe, Ming Wu felt warmth fill her heart, along with an indescribable sense of contentment.
"Brother Yu, where are we going next?"
The two should have left Soul Spirit Forest after successfully obtaining the Life Soul, but Yang Yu did not want to leave too early.
He wondered whether he should raise his cultivation directly to the peak of this world before leaving.
In the end, he made up his mind. Using the excuse that his strength still needed tempering, he stayed behind to continue searching for high-tier Soul Beasts to battle.
Not far from the inner region, Yang Yu used his bare hands to carve out a temporary cave dwelling and entered it with Ming Wu.
Next, he intended to enter the inner region. It was extremely dangerous inside, and with Ming Wu's strength, he could not bring her along.
However, so she would not worry, he did not directly tell her he was heading into the inner region. He only said that he would search for Soul Beasts to fight at this boundary area and temper his cultivation.
Ming Wu nodded with confidence.
"Then I'll meditate here and wait for you to return. Be careful!"
Yang Yu nodded, then left the temporary cave dwelling.
With one step, he leaped up and rapidly bounded into the inner region.
Once he entered, several months passed.
Through battles with Soul Beasts and the system's assistance, Yang Yu's realm surged once again.
"Huff!"
After receiving the cultivation, Yang Yu exhaled a breath of stale air.
After successfully knocking out an eighty-thousand-year Soul Beast, the system's voice rang out!
Ding! Detected that the host's First Source is battling an enemy! Enemy: Eighty-Thousand-Year Three-Headed Skeleton Tiger No matter how strong he is, you are stronger! Congratulations! The host's First Source cultivation has risen to Eighth-Tier Nine-Star Soul Controller. Obtained skill: Tiger's Roar to the Nine Heavens! (Tiger's Roar to the Nine Heavens: A soundwave attack that strikes directly at the soul. It unleashes nine soundwave attacks, each stronger than the last. Attack power is directly proportional to the First Source's soul strength.)
Yang Yu successfully advanced to an Eighth-Tier Nine-Star Soul Controller.
After glancing toward the center of the forest ahead, Yang Yu rose and walked over.
Moments later, Yang Yu successfully arrived at the center of Soul Spirit Forest.
"Roar!"
A tremendous roar rang out!
The Forest King stood in midair.
Looking at the youthful Yang Yu below, Lion Skull said disdainfully, "Human cub, for the sake of the human guardian, I will be merciful today and spare your life. Go back and find your parents!"
"This is not a place where a child like you can enter casually."
Yang Yu looked at the mountain-like Forest King above him and smiled helplessly.
He released his full cultivation and rose into the air as well.
Lion Skull froze, then stared at Yang Yu in shock.
"You little brat! I never expected you to possess such cultivation at this age. Humans truly are extraordinary!"
"Since that is the case, remain here forever!"
Lion Skull's mountain-sized palm swept toward Yang Yu.
Yang Yu was just about to resist.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man in a black robe landed before Yang Yu. He threw a punch, colliding with Lion Skull's palm.
"Boom!"
The immense shockwave sent ripples surging through the surroundings.
Yet Yang Yu did not budge. Azure Light blazed from his entire body as he continued to stand proudly in the air.
He stared at the Black Robe Man before him in a daze.
"Father!"
The Black Robe Man turned around and lowered his hood, looking at Yang Yu with doting pride and relief.
Yes, this middle-aged man was Yang San, who had vanished years ago.
The place where he had secluded himself was a cave dwelling not far from the center of the Soul Spirit Forest.
For years, he had continuously battled Lion Skull, the Forest King, hoping to temper himself through combat and, while devouring souls, see if he could break through that bottleneck.
"Yu'er, it's been a long time! Did you miss Father?"
Yang San, usually aloof and imposing, was exceptionally gentle and easygoing at this moment.
Looking at his scruffy, bearded father, Yang Yu's eyes immediately welled with tears.
"Father! I know everything now."
Yang San froze, then nodded.
"It's good that you know. I've only wronged you. From now on, I'm afraid you'll have to hide and flee with us."
Yang Yu shook his head confidently.
Yang San looked at his son in confusion.
"Father! Step aside first! Leave this Forest King to me!"
Yang San froze again. He glanced at Yang Yu, then relaxed and retreated to the side.
The Forest King sneered at this overly confident human.
"In that case, become nourishment for my breakthrough!"
Before Yang Yu could speak, Lion Skull launched another attack.
Yang Yu grinned.
"This is exactly what I was waiting for!" With his status fully activated, Yang Yu threw a punch.
"Giant Strength Fist!"
The large and small palm attacks collided. Yang Yu took several steps back before stopping.
"Not bad. Worthy indeed of the Forest King."
"Hahahaha! You're not bad either, kid. You actually managed to withstand one of my palms."
Yang Yu smiled mysteriously, the corners of his lips curving upward.
"Here it comes!"
Ding! Detected that the host's First Source is currently battling an enemy! Enemy: Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Lion Skull (comparable to a human Soul Controller at the ninth star of the ninth rank, the pinnacle.) No matter how strong he is, you will be stronger! Congratulations, host! Your cultivation has advanced to the Void God Realm! Obtained the ninth Life Soul skill: Nine Palms Divine Wind (Nine Palms Divine Wind: Wherever strength can reach, palm wind follows; wherever wind reaches, palm strength follows. When all nine strike together, Void Gods perish.) Congratulations, host! You have obtained the divine skill Law Manifestation of Heaven and Earth!
Outside.
"Bang!"
"Clang!"
Divine light shimmered as Heaven and Earth resonated!
Lion Skull raised his head to look at the phenomenon in the sky, then looked back at Yang Yu.
"Hiss!"