One-eyed Ghost Bat!!

Opening the doors of the Shadow Hall built by the Ninja Soldiers, they found the interior desolate and empty. The vast hall had the same layout as the one in the Ghost Shadow Kingdom.

Nine seats and one throne.

Of the nine seats and the throne, only three chairs bore mask emblems, their positions clearly marked.

"This is pretty good."

Xu Xin nodded in satisfaction. It fit his ideas quite well—an alternative hall of the Ghost Shadow Kingdom, so to speak.

"Little Xu Xin, are we going to have nine elders?"

Liu Erlong asked curiously. She had been wondering about it ever since the place was built.

Especially after seeing the mask emblems on the seats, she had formed a guess.

The three masks happened to be Xu Xin's Tara Mask, A Yin's Nijia Mask, and Dugu Bo's Lazo Mask.

For now, only three seats had them. The other seven were still blank; clearly, even the Ninja Soldiers could not carve them without knowing what they were.

"That's right, nine. When the time comes, you'll be the Third Elder. Impressive, right?"

Xu Xin teased.

"Fine, fine, let's go already. Once you get a mask, I'll have those Ninja Soldiers carve it on."

Liu Erlong spoke excitedly. She had been longing for that mask for a long time.

"No rush, Sister Erlong. Do you know of any spirit beasts with both mental and dark attributes?"

Xu Xin turned to ask Liu Erlong.

Liu Erlong shook her head repeatedly. Don't ask me. Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing...?

Xu Xin was speechless. This girl really did not know anything.

With a snap of his fingers, a Ninja Soldier appeared before them. "Go ask the Second Elder whether there are any spirit beasts like the one I just described."

Having received its order, the Ninja Soldier swiftly vanished.

When it appeared again, it had brought news: One-eyed Ghost Bat!!

"One-eyed Ghost Bat!"

"Good. Go look for it first. The moment you find any clues, report back immediately."

Xu Xin spoke slowly. Before long, a large group of Ninja Soldiers slipped into the darkness, rushing in neat formation toward Sunset Forest.

"Let's go, Sister Erlong!"

Xu Xin said.

Only after gaining the Ninja Soldiers did Xu Xin realize just how wonderful it was to have people serving him.

The two did not waste any time and headed straight into Sunset Forest, with several Ninja Soldiers secretly protecting them.

Sunset Forest was no small place, and the two wandered through it for quite some time.

"Little Xu Xin, why do you need a mental-type spirit beast?"

Liu Erlong asked in confusion. She understood why he wanted a dark-attribute spirit beast, since Xu Xin's martial soul leaned toward the darkness attribute.

But why the mental attribute?

A mask? Could it come alive with the enhancement of a mental attribute?

"That's a secret."

"You'll find out when the time comes, Sister Erlong."

It was better not to mention the Ghost Shadow Kingdom yet. He would give Liu Erlong a surprise when the time came.

Though A Yin and Dugu Bo already knew.

"Fine, then." Liu Erlong said listlessly.

"By the way, Sister Erlong, do you really not want to go home?"

Xu Xin suddenly asked.

"No. Not even a little!"

"What, is the Hall Master planning to drive away his Third Elder?"

Liu Erlong's tone changed noticeably, carrying a hint of resentment.

Xu Xin's heart tightened. Damn it, why did I bring that up for no reason...?

Taking Liu Erlong's hand, Xu Xin spoke slowly. "How could I? You're my Third Elder. I'd let anyone go before I'd let you leave."

"If you want to go home in the future, you have to report it to me first. If I don't allow it, you can't leave!!"

Xu Xin spoke seriously, deciding to calm this girl down first.

"That's more like it!" Liu Erlong snorted.

By now, Xu Xin was nearly as tall as Liu Erlong. Walking together, they did not look out of place at all, nor did they look like an older sister and younger brother.

Just as the two were about to say something else, a Ninja Soldier abruptly appeared.

"Found it?"

Xu Xin froze. That had been far too efficient.

"How did you find it?" Xu Xin asked.

The Ninja Soldiers muttered for quite a while. Xu Xin understood them, but Liu Erlong did not understand a single word.

"Xu Xin, what did he say..." Liu Erlong looked bewildered.

"Oh, he said they found it by tracking the One-eyed Ghost Bat's dark attribute."

"They possess the dark attribute themselves, so they're very sensitive to it. That's how they discovered it so quickly."

Xu Xin explained.

Liu Erlong did not have a mask, so it was only natural that she could not understand them. That was one advantage of it.

In the future, only the several great elders of Shadow Hall would be able to understand what the Ninja Soldiers said.

"Alright, alright, let's go!" Liu Erlong could no longer wait.

The Ninja Soldiers were extremely fast. Before long, they led the two of them to where the One-eyed Ghost Bat was located.

The One-eyed Ghost Bat hung upside down from a pitch-black tree, seemingly resting.

Sensing someone watching it, the lone eye on its head immediately lit up as it stared fixedly at the two people before it.

"Four thousand five hundred years!"

Xu Xin took a deep breath. He did not know whether he could absorb it now. After all, this was only his third ring.

A One-eyed Ghost Bat had one eye and two wings, with white stripes at the tips of its wings. Each stripe represented one thousand years.

After ten thousand years, the white stripes would turn crimson. Each crimson stripe represented ten thousand years.

This One-eyed Ghost Bat had four and a half white stripes on its wingtips, clearly making it four thousand five hundred years old.

"Xu Xin, are you sure you can absorb this bat? I feel like its age is a little too high, and you're only at your third ring right now."

"Isn't this a bit too much?"

Liu Erlong asked worriedly. Although this bat was very suitable, its age was indeed somewhat too high.

Xu Xin shook his head. "It's fine. My physique was tempered by ice and fire, and my Spiritual Power has also increased from consuming an Immortal Herb. It's worth trying."

"If it doesn't work, Sister Erlong, just interrupt me. It won't be a problem."

Xu Xin spoke slowly. How could he take a step toward becoming strong without enduring a little pain?

"Alright, wait here. I'll go catch it!"

Liu Erlong did not waste any words. A mere four-thousand-five-hundred-year soul beast could not withstand a single punch from her.

As she spoke, Liu Erlong summoned her martial soul. Flames raged across her body. "First Soul Skill: Rising Dragon Fist!" (I don't know what Liu Erlong's soul skills were in the original work. The anime has some, but they aren't very good, so I made one up myself. Please don't flame me.)

Flames covered Liu Erlong's fist as the Three-headed Blazing Dragon roared forth, washing over the One-eyed Ghost Bat.

With the Ninja Soldiers providing cover from the side, the One-eyed Ghost Bat had no chance of escaping.

It was subdued by Liu Erlong after only a few exchanges, though it was not dead.

Xu Xin did not hesitate in the slightest. He took out a dagger and directly finished the creature off.

Only after killing it did he recall a rumor he had heard in his previous life: the greater a soul beast's resentment before death, the more likely it was to drop a soul bone...

He had no idea whether it was true or false!

He should have tried it just now.

But after thinking it over, Xu Xin gave up on the idea. Forget torturing soul beasts. He was not that ruthless, after all.

Of course, Tang San and Trash Gang were exceptions when it came to torture. Those two truly did not deserve to be called human.

Naturally, he had to be more ruthless with them.