Lightning Leopard

"Uh?"

Mo Yuqing lowered her head and blinked rapidly, then forced herself to overcome the fear in her heart and raised her head to look at the Frost Ice Tiger, which was frantically battering the shield and even trying to take a bite out of it.

She was still a little scared...

But there didn't seem to be any danger?

Mo Yuqing looked at the Mistsplitter in her hand, then at the Frost Ice Tiger right before her. Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes and stabbed forward.

"Awwoo~"

The Frost Ice Tiger howled in pain and hurriedly retreated several meters, staring at her with extreme wariness. Mo Yuqing also looked somewhat bewilderedly at the injured Frost Ice Tiger, feeling that hunting Spirit Rings did not seem as dangerous as she had imagined.

Roar!

The Frost Ice Tiger roared, then turned around and ran off at full speed without the slightest hesitation.

There was nothing wrong with the Frost Ice Tiger's brain. It was a Soul Beast, not a wild animal. Even among wild animals, few would dare to keep madly attacking something they could not break through. Reality was not a game. A strong shield was indeed great, but Soul Beasts could also become so despairing over the shield's strength that they would turn and run without hesitation.

Zhongli did not pursue it, because the Frost Ice Tiger was likely around eight or nine hundred years old. Absorbing a Soul Beast with such a high cultivation age was still somewhat dangerous for Mo Yuqing. After all, the theoretical limit for a First Soul Ring was only a little over four hundred years. This Frost Ice Tiger's age was more than double that, so she could not absorb it casually.

If Zhongli truly wanted to kill it, he could force the kill.

"It... it ran away?"

Mo Yuqing was still somewhat dazed as she looked at Zhongli beside her with a baffled expression.

"Of course. Attribute-boosting support is all trash. Only shields are the truth. As long as the shield is strong enough, battle becomes one-sided damage output. You only need to think about how to maximize your damage output." Zhongli said with a light laugh.

Zhongli's shield was absurd. Not only was it incredibly thick, but it could also remain active continuously. The shield even granted super armor. The Frost Ice Tiger had clearly struck Mo Yuqing, yet it could not affect her movements at all. She could attack whenever she wanted, completely unconcerned with what the enemy did.

"Mm... that actually makes some sense!"

Mo Yuqing nodded vigorously, slowly climbed to her feet, and silently looked at the pale-yellow shield around her body. She felt a sense of security unlike anything she had ever experienced.

"Let's go. We'll eventually encounter a suitable Spirit Ring. There's no need to dwell on it," Zhongli said with a smile.

"Wait, isn't your shield a little too absurd?" Mo Yuqing asked, frowning deeply.

"Absurd?"

"Yeah. You can cast this shield instantly anytime, anywhere, and it doesn't seem to consume much Soul Power. It lasts an incredibly long time, the shield itself is thick, and you can renew it after it breaks. Is this really a Martial Soul?" Mo Yuqing's gaze toward Zhongli gradually changed. The more she thought about this shield, the more absurd it seemed.

"What's so strange about that? Compared to people with no Soul Power, isn't your Innate Full Soul Power equally absurd?" Zhongli asked in a completely natural tone.

"This..."

Mo Yuqing was briefly at a loss for words. But after thinking about it carefully, it did seem to make some sense. Still, she quickly came to her senses and asked, "But we both have Innate Full Soul Power. Our Martial Souls should be about equally strong, shouldn't they?"

"Before obtaining your first Spirit Ring, the Soul Power level cap is level ten. Anything above level ten counts as Innate Full Soul Power. My Innate Soul Power level is higher than yours, so it's perfectly normal for my shield to be a bit stronger." There was some confusion on Zhongli's face, as though Mo Yuqing, the one asking the question, was the strange one.

"Wait, your Innate Soul Power level is higher than mine? That can't be right. Isn't Innate Full Soul Power always level ten?" Mo Yuqing frowned deeply. What Zhongli said was completely different from her understanding of Innate Full Soul Power.

"I'm a living example standing right here, and you don't believe me? You'd rather believe those theories?" Zhongli looked at her in disbelief.

"Uh..."

Mo Yuqing was instantly bewildered.

"Of course, to avoid making others jealous, I'll still claim publicly that my Soul Power level is only level ten. That's normal for geniuses," Zhongli said with a sigh.

"So that's how it is?"

"That's right. I wouldn't tell anyone else. You absolutely have to keep this secret for me. Don't let anyone else know, okay?" Zhongli made a shushing gesture and revealed a mysterious smile.

"Oh~"

The two continued exploring the Soul Beast Forest. Along the way, they encountered several speed-type Soul Beasts, but unfortunately, their cultivation ages were either too high or too low, making them unsuitable as Mo Yuqing's Spirit Ring.

When they encountered unsuitable Soul Beasts, the solution was simple: they just continued on their way and ignored whatever the Soul Beasts did.

They could not break the shield anyway. After a while, they would leave on their own, so there was no need to bother with them. As for fighting? Why waste energy on something that could be resolved without fighting?

Whoosh!

Another sound of rapid movement rang out. It seemed some Soul Beast had arrived, but Mo Yuqing was no longer panicked. She was even wondering what kind of Soul Beast it was, whether its cultivation age was high enough, and whether she could absorb its Spirit Ring.

Danger? What was danger?

Reject Sick Son-in-Law!

Zhongli raised both hands and added another shield. Ever since they had encountered the Frost Ice Tiger, his shield had never been interrupted. One followed another, keeping them perfectly safe. Earlier, a snake-type Soul Beast had tried to ambush them, only to bite the shield and shatter its own venom fangs.

Mo Yuqing looked at the shield around herself, then casually watched the unknown Soul Beast moving at high speed. Zhongli's shield was too powerful, leaving her with no desire to dodge or any sense of urgency. It felt like she was choosing a pet she liked in her own backyard.

Boom!!

A bolt of lightning shot toward them in an instant. Zhongli was at the front, and he turned around without fear. He narrowed his eyes slightly, not because he was afraid, but because the light pollution from the lightning was a little excessive. Naturally, such an attack could not break through his defenses, and the lightning quickly dissipated.

"It seems to be a Lightning Leopard."

Zhongli looked at the purple afterimage and thought for a moment before saying, "This Soul Beast is extremely fast and agile. Judging from the intensity of its lightning attacks... forget it. They're all just scratching the surface anyway, so I can't tell how strong they really are."

"Still, while the Lightning Leopard is fast and agile, its strength is not particularly high. As a Spirit Ring, its offensive ability might be somewhat lacking, but its boost to base attributes should not be weak."

"That's already pretty good."

Mo Yuqing revealed a faint smile as she looked directly at the purple leopard that suddenly pounced out beside her. She did not make the slightest defensive move. She simply thrust the Mistsplitter forward.

Pfft!

The sound of piercing rang out instantly. The charging Lightning Leopard slammed headfirst into the Mistsplitter's blade, while the purple lightning around its claws and body showed no sign of breaking through her defenses.

It had basically thrown itself away...

Of course, it was not that the Lightning Leopard was too weak. It was because the shield existed. Without the shield, or if the shield had not been strong enough, the Lightning Leopard's claws or lightning could have directly struck Mo Yuqing's body and inflicted fatal damage, killing her in a single blow without any delay.