Purple Wolf Leopard and Ironclad Python Scale Rhinoceros!

Soul Hunting Forest outside Spirit City.

"Phew!" Long Yun braced himself against a large tree and let out a deep breath, feeling as though a weight had been lifted. His clothes were somewhat tattered, bearing several claw marks left from his recent battle with a soul beast.

"That Purple Wolf Leopard was really fierce! It ran as fast as a ghost, and those scratches hurt like hell." Long Yun touched the wounds it had left on him. They were not deep, merely reddened from the scratching, so they were not serious.

"Good thing my skin's tough, or I would've suffered a huge loss today. If I'd gotten badly injured in my first fight, that would've been seriously unlucky." Long Yun said thankfully. The soul beast he had encountered earlier had been a leopard nearly three meters long and around 1.7 meters tall. Its body was covered in strange markings and pale purple fur, while its four paws bore silver-like sharp claws that gleamed blindingly in the sunlight.

Its overall appearance was not much different from the leopards Long Yun had seen in the past, except that it was far larger. It could be called a mutated version of an ordinary leopard. Its claws in particular were far too sharp, nothing like something a leopard should possess.

Through his spiritual communication with Du Busi, Long Yun learned that this soul beast was called a Purple Wolf Leopard. It was not named that because it possessed wolf and leopard bloodlines, but because its four sharp claws were as keen as wolf claws. Even defensive soul beasts of the same age would struggle to withstand repeated strikes from them, which showed just how formidable their sharpness was. The Purple Wolf Leopard possessed not only wolf-like claws but also leopard-like speed. It was incredibly fast, and Long Yun had suffered because of that speed during their fight. Several times, he had been scratched before he could react. If he had not summoned his martial soul in time and increased his body's defense, he would have suffered far worse than a few minor injuries.

Of course, another reason was that this Purple Wolf Leopard was not particularly old, only around fifteen hundred years old—nearly four hundred years younger than the Man Faced Demon Spider from before. Though its claws were sharp, they still fell short of the Man Faced Demon Spider's Spider Legs. Naturally, the damage it caused Long Yun was nowhere near as severe. It had only left a few claw marks on him rather than inflicting serious wounds.

In the end, Long Yun had relied on the tremendous power of Massacre in All Directions to defeat the Purple Wolf Leopard, though only with some difficulty.

Looking down at his injuries, he muttered, "I should rest for a while. There's no point in continuing like this in my current condition."

Long Yun carefully surveyed his surroundings. After confirming that there were no other soul beasts nearby, he sat down against the tree. After resting with his eyes closed for a while, he adjusted his posture and began regulating his breathing to restore his Soul Power. Maintaining ample Soul Power in a Soul Beast Forest was extremely important, because the amount of Soul Power directly determined one's combat strength, and combat strength determined whether one could survive a soul beast's attack.

Half an hour later, Long Yun slowly opened his eyes and exhaled deeply. After that half hour of recovery, the Soul Power within him had returned to full capacity, much of his fatigue had faded, and he felt far more energized.

"I have to say, soul masters recover ridiculously fast! Just a little breathing regulation, and my injuries already feel much better. The wounds don't even hurt anymore." Long Yun touched the injuries on his body and spoke in surprise. Without his noticing, his wounds had nearly healed. The claw marks had closed by almost half, and they would likely recover completely before long. Even Long Yun found such recovery speed unbelievable. He could only marvel at the wonders of soul masters.

After cultivating for one night, the injuries the Man Faced Demon Spider had inflicted on him yesterday had completely healed by the time he woke up that morning. Not even a scar remained, as though he had never been injured at all. Long Yun had been utterly bewildered, almost thinking he had merely fought the Man Faced Demon Spider in a dream.

What he did not know was that many soul masters did not possess such recovery speed. Soul masters' bodies were indeed far beyond those of ordinary people. Their recovery, stamina, and physical strength were all several times greater, and the higher a soul master's rank, the more exaggerated those qualities became. However, even for a soul master at level twenty or in their twenties, their recovery speed could never match Long Yun's—not even half of it.

The main reason Long Yun recovered so quickly was his Godking Martial Soul. The Godking Martial Soul's immense restorative power had been bestowed upon Long Yun, giving him such astonishing recovery ability. This ability would continue to improve as his Soul Power Level increased. Perhaps in the future, injuries like these would heal in the blink of an eye. That would be truly terrifying.

"Wait, that's not right. I remember the soul masters in the original novel didn't seem to recover as fast as I do." Long Yun quickly realized something was off. He did not recall seeing any soul master in the original work recover to this extent without treatment from a healing soul master.

"Could my situation be special?" Long Yun muttered.

"Then again, if everyone recovered as absurdly fast as I do, wouldn't everything be a complete mess? Besides, I have a system. Of course I have to be special!" Long Yun said with a smile.

"Hehe, since my recovery ability is so strong, I can be bolder in battle from now on. I don't have to hold back so much. I'm already tough enough to take a beating, and my self-healing is pretty good too. That practically makes me a monster!" Long Yun chuckled. Having cheats really did feel different!

At that thought, Long Yun became eager to give it a try. He wanted to find a soul beast and fight immediately. Without hesitation, he rose to his feet and headed straight ahead.

The Soul Hunting Forest was much noisier during the day than at night. Soul beast roars could be heard from time to time, and sometimes even the sounds of soul beasts fighting and colliding rang out. Long Yun had walked roughly a hundred meters when he heard a roar in the distance. The moment he heard it, he stopped.

"That sound is rough and overbearing, and it resembles a bull's roar. It most likely came from a bovine soul beast," Long Yun judged from the sound.

"Heh, looks like my luck isn't bad. I was just looking for a soul beast to practice on, and one showed up. I haven't fought a soul beast that specializes in strength yet, so I'll use you to get some practice." Long Yun laughed softly, then ran excitedly toward the source of the roar.

The sound had come from only around two hundred meters away, a distance Long Yun covered quickly. Through the tangled trees, he vaguely saw a huge figure. He gradually slowed to a stop and used the trees to conceal himself. He did not charge straight in to fight the soul beast. What if he ran into a whole soul beast pack? That would be courting death. It was better to assess the situation first.

Hiding behind a tree, Long Yun adjusted his breathing. Once it had steadied, he cautiously poked his head out from behind the trunk and observed the situation ahead.

Before him was a swamp about the size of a football field. At its center lay a massive rhinoceros. After absorbing the eye External Soul Bone, Long Yun's vision had improved tremendously, allowing him to see the rhinoceros clearly. It possessed a body as enormous as an adult elephant's, covered in palm-sized black scales shaped like python scales. Its long tail was as thick as a giant python's, and from its huge head protruded a rhinoceros horn roughly fifty centimeters long and as thick as a thigh.

"Holy shit! Could this be some crossbreed between a rhinoceros and some scaled soul beast? It looks so weird! This is the first time I've ever seen a rhinoceros with scales." Long Yun thought in shock as he studied the soul beast.

"If it mutated, that would be one thing, but if it's a crossbreed... could it be the offspring of a rhinoceros and a python?" Long Yun could not help thinking. The moment he imagined that scene, his whole body shuddered. Too terrifying!

The first scaled creatures that came to his mind were pythons, flood dragons, and dragons. Flood dragons and dragons were too rare; surely they would not get involved with a rhinoceros, right? Pythons were more likely. A python and a rhinoceros—Long Yun could not help wanting to laugh at the thought.

"This guy looks enormous. It could probably stomp me to death in one step! Should I really provoke it?" Seeing the soul beast's size, Long Yun began to hesitate. Its massive build was intimidating enough, and if they fought, he would definitely be at a disadvantage. Besides, he had no idea how old it was. Attacking recklessly would be unwise.

"I should ask Old Poison." Long Yun thought, immediately contacting Du Busi through spiritual communication. "Old Poison, how old is that soul beast? What kind of soul beast is it?"