Several days later, near the Wind Baboon habitat in the Outer Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The morning mist had yet to fully disperse, and the damp air was thick with the rank smell of rotting leaves and soil.
Lin Yao stepped through ferns that reached past his ankles, his boots making faint cracking sounds as they crushed dead branches.
He had wandered this area for days, his gaze constantly sweeping over the dense canopy and undergrowth ahead.
The trees here were sturdier than those elsewhere in the Outer Zone. Vines as thick as bowls wrapped around their trunks and climbed upward, while morning dew still clung to the emerald leaves, pattering down onto Lin Yao's shoulders whenever the wind stirred them.
He raised a hand and brushed the droplets from his sleeve, his fingertips touching the taut muscles beneath the cloth.
Though he had remained in the Outer Zone for days, he never dared lower his guard. After all, this was an era where the Imperial Auspicious Beast existed, and the density of soul beasts far exceeded that of ten thousand years ago.
Sure enough, before long, a burst of hurried rustling came from the bushes to his left.
Accompanied by a deep beastly roar, a century-old soul beast—a Black Striped Bear with brownish-black fur and shoulders nearly two meters high—charged out of the woods.
Foul-smelling saliva dripped from its sharp fangs, while its murky eyes remained fixed on Lin Yao.
Lin Yao paused, his right hand instinctively clenching into a fist until his knuckles turned white.
In the past, facing a century-old soul beast would have taken some effort. But now, with his Soul Power greatly increased, all he needed was to focus, and faint violet ripples of Soul Power would spread from his body.
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