Stone Armor Bear

"Jie Ge, they're bullying me!"

Three years after entering Notting Academy, Little Wu had, just like in the original story, taken an older brother—only, instead of Tang San, that person was Long Jie.

Over the past year, many things had happened. Long Jie had met Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang, and Yu Xiaogang had discovered his talent and wanted to take him as a disciple, but it had been useless.

Long Jie refused!

At that moment, Little Wu was pretending to be frightened as she shouted. Before her stood a group of school tyrants, their faces covered in bruises!

"Big Sister Little Wu, don't..." The hooligans cried out in despair. They were obviously the ones who had been beaten up, so how had it become them bullying Little Wu?

Would they dare?

Unfortunately, it was already too late!

"You dared to bully my little sister? You're courting death!" Long Jie came charging from the distance. In an instant, he arrived before the hooligans, leaping up and sending the group flying with a single kick.

"Jie Ge, don't!"

"Jie Ge, don't!"

Amid the desperate cries of the crowd, Long Jie dealt with them one kick at a time, leaving them all lying there.

"Big Brother is amazing! Big Brother is awesome!" Little Wu danced around happily, hugging Long Jie's arm with utter affection in her eyes.

"Alright, we won't play with them anymore. Let's go back!"

Long Jie fondly patted her head, and the two chatted and laughed as they returned to the dormitory.

"Big Brother, you didn't even braid my hair today!"

"I forgot. Give me a moment!"

"Hmph! Big Brother doesn't care about me at all!"

"How could that be..."

That night, Long Jie soothed Little Wu and put her to sleep. Only after the girl's soft breathing gradually steadied did Long Jie quietly leave the dormitory.

"Ding! You have made Little Wu acknowledge you as her brother, disrupting the original plot of Little Wu recognizing Tang San as her brother. The change is significant. Reward: Soul Guidance Device Storage Ring. Reward: Head Intelligence Soul Bone!"

This notification had arrived several days ago. Long Jie had also absorbed the rewarded Head Intelligence Soul Bone long ago, and his Soul Power had reached level twenty.

All he needed to do now was absorb a Soul Ring. This time, the System had not given him one as a reward, so he planned to obtain it himself!

"Little Wu, the next time we meet may be a month from now. I hope I return safely!" He placed a note beside the girl's bed, densely filled with words—all of them revealing the boy's concern for the girl.

Though he was the one leaving, he was even more worried about Little Wu.

By the time dawn came and Little Wu woke up, Long Jie had long since vanished. Only a letter remained by her bedside...

"Damn it, have these rats gone insane?"

Within the Star Dou Great Forest, a small boy ran frantically. Behind him were countless rodent Soul Beasts—the Red-Eyed Groundhogs charging after him to kill him.

Red-Eyed Groundhogs were pack-dwelling Soul Beasts. Their attack power was average, and their cultivation ages were never particularly high, but there were simply too many of them.

Whenever they appeared, there would often be millions of them.

Long Jie had merely eaten one Red-Eyed Groundhog, yet an entire clan had begun hunting him down.

"This is fucking ridiculous..."

Roaring in frustration, the boy looked around and finally spotted a chance at survival in the branches of a massive tree ahead.

His First Soul Skill, Journey of the Wind, activated. Locking onto a tree branch, he flashed and arrived atop it.

Journey of the Wind: Wherever there is wind, there is travel; as long as the wind does not cease, the journey never ends. A multi-stage movement ability that allows the user to flash in a chosen direction. If there is a Wind Imprint in that direction, Journey of the Wind can be used again.

A so-called Wind Imprint was a Soul Power mark left behind by Long Jie using his Soul Power. He could generally place one every five seconds, and each lasted one second.

Put simply, this ability was a god-tier skill. It was absolutely incredible. If Long Jie had enough Soul Power, he could keep flashing around endlessly.

The prerequisite was that he could survive those five seconds.

"Phew, I finally got away!" Long Jie let out a breath. Looking at the dense mass of rats below, he could not help feeling a little afraid.

Then he took out a piece of Red-Eyed Groundhog meat from his Storage Ring and began munching on it, even tossing the bones down below.

"Mmm... delicious!"

A drop of saliva ran from the corner of Long Jie's mouth, enraging the Red-Eyed Groundhogs below until they gnashed their teeth, wishing they could rush up and kill him!

But the tree Long Jie was in was simply too tall. No matter how furious they were, they could not climb up.

After eating for a while, Long Jie finished the Red-Eyed Groundhog. He wiped his mouth, took out a map from his Storage Ring, and began checking the locations of Soul Beasts.

This time, he wanted a power-type Soul Beast that was over a thousand years old.

First, he had the System, and his First Soul Ring had already been three thousand years old, so his Second Soul Ring naturally could not be inferior.

Then there was his Second Spirit, which grew stronger by absorbing the abilities of its First Soul Ring. Now that he had speed, he naturally wanted strength.

Speaking of strength, the strongest creature in the Star Dou Great Forest was naturally Er Ming. But a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast was not something he could touch, nor did he want to harm Little Wu's family.

So, he set his sights on power-type Soul Beasts such as bears, apes, and oxen.

After waiting for quite some time, the Red-Eyed Groundhogs below finally dispersed, leaving only a few behind. Seeing this, Long Jie immediately jumped down, casually took a few Soul Beasts with him, and strode forward.

After racing onward for a while, Long Jie arrived beside a stream. Looking out, he saw nothing but water buffalo.

"Water buffalo aren't strong fighters, though they're quite powerful. The only problem... there are too many of them!" Having experienced the terror of the Red-Eyed Groundhogs, Long Jie naturally would not provoke the water buffalo.

Continuing onward, Long Jie came to the side of a mountain. There was a cave there, and inside it, a Stone Armor Bear was sleeping.

The Stone Armor Bear was blackish-yellow in color, its skin resembling a suit of armor. Just looking at it showed how formidable its defense was.

Moreover, its tail had turned black. This was at least a six-thousand-year-old Stone Armor Bear.

"It's getting cold. Little Bear is going into hibernation!"

Long Jie grinned wickedly and cautiously approached the Stone Armor Bear. The Seven Stars Blade in his hand lit up, then came crashing down viciously toward the Stone Armor Bear's head!

"Roar!" The strike hit directly. Before Long Jie could celebrate, the Stone Armor Bear swatted him with one paw, sending him flying more than thirty feet away.

Black blood flowed from the spot where the Seven Stars Blade had struck the Stone Armor Bear, but it had not died. Instead, it was thoroughly enraged, roaring as it threw a punch at Long Jie.

"Journey of the Wind... Take this!" With a flick of his hand, Long Jie vanished directly from before the Stone Armor Bear. Using mysterious footwork, he circled around it.

Though the Stone Armor Bear possessed terrifying defense and strength, its weaknesses were equally obvious. With his techniques and First Soul Skill, Long Jie continued circling around the Stone Armor Bear.

After three hours, Long Jie had not managed to harm the Stone Armor Bear in the slightest, but the Stone Armor Bear had expended most of its strength.

Blood continued to pour from its head. Having lost too much blood, it could no longer control itself and fled madly in one direction!

"Trying to run? No chance!" With a thought, Long Jie activated his Head Soul Bone. His speed surged, and in the time it took to form a thought, he appeared behind the Stone Armor Bear.

Raising the Seven Stars Blade high, he brought it down viciously upon the Stone Armor Bear's wound. This time, the Seven Stars Blade pierced straight through its neck.

"Roar..." The Stone Armor Bear roared unwillingly... before finally collapsing weakly. Its final thought must have been...

If I could do it again, I definitely wouldn't hibernate!!!