That day, on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
A spirit beast hunting party had just gone through a rather grueling battle.
Their target had been an Ironclad Dragon Rhinoceros with roughly fifteen thousand years of cultivation, one that excelled in defense.
After nearly half an hour of fierce fighting, and at the cost of two severely wounded members, they finally found an opening and ended the massive creature's life.
With the battle over, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, weary yet expectant smiles appearing on their faces.
Based on countless past experiences, the next step should have been the harvest—the black soul ring representing fifteen thousand years of cultivation would emerge from the spirit beast's corpse, awaiting absorption by the Spirit Master in the party who had just reached the bottleneck at rank fifty.
Zhang San, a rank forty-nine Soul Ancestor, had already excitedly sat down cross-legged, adjusting his breathing as he prepared to draw in the soul ring.
However, time passed bit by bit.
Ten breaths, twenty breaths, fifty breaths...
The expected soul ring never appeared.
The Ironclad Dragon Rhinoceros's enormous corpse lay silently there, blood flowing steadily from it and soaking the ground.
Yet no aura of gathered energy appeared around it. There was only the coldness and stillness left behind by departed life.
"What's going on?"
The captain frowned, walked over to the corpse, gave it a kick, then released his soul power to sense it carefully. "Its soul power is dissipating... but where's the soul ring?"
The vice-captain's anticipation gradually turned into shock and anxiety. "Captain, the soul ring... why hasn't the soul ring appeared yet? Is there something special about this Ironclad Dragon Rhinoceros? Or did we kill it the wrong way?"
The other members gathered around as well, talking among themselves.