After obtaining his Third Soul Ring, Qing Mu did not head straight to the Soul Master Academy. After all, he could go to the academy anytime; he might as well take the opportunity to grind more experience.
Atop a valley, Qing Mu looked down at the herd of Black Water Buffalo Soul Beasts and gave Bulbasaur beside him a meaningful glance.
Bulbasaur immediately understood. It sprayed pale green powder from the seed on its back, which drifted toward the Soul Beast herd below on the wind.
"Boom!" "Boom!"...
A moment later, the Black Water Buffalos began collapsing in groups. Only a very few elite ones nearing the Thousand-Year level barely remained standing.
But what awaited those elites was the lashing of Bulbasaur's Vine Whips!
"Smack!" "Smack!" "Smack!"...
As Bulbasaur rapidly swung its Vine Whips, the entire herd of Black Water Buffalos was wiped out in its hands within moments.
Yet despite such an outstanding result, Qing Mu frowned slightly. He felt no joy at Bulbasaur's defeat of the Black Water Buffalo herd.
"Is it because I leveled up? I defeated so many Hundred-Year Black Water Buffalos this time, yet the increase in Soul Power was negligible."
Qing Mu lowered his head and muttered thoughtfully.
Back when he was a Soul Grandmaster, although defeating Hundred-Year Soul Beasts improved his Soul Power far less than defeating Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, every little bit added up, and the experience gained was still decent.
But this time, Bulbasaur had defeated over a hundred Black Water Buffalos from a small herd, including quite a few at the Hundred-Year level. Yet the improvement to his Soul Power had become almost imperceptible.
As for why this had happened, Qing Mu guessed that it was because he had now broken through to Soul Elder. Soul Elders corresponded to Soul Beasts between one and two thousand years old. The level gap was simply too great, so defeating Hundred-Year Soul Beasts now naturally had minimal effect.
With that in mind, Qing Mu immediately decided to find a Thousand-Year Soul Beast to verify his guess.
Thus, Qing Mu cast Grassy Terrain at the scene before leaving with Bulbasaur.
After Qing Mu left, the Black Water Buffalo herd awoke under Grassy Terrain's healing. Most of the Black Water Buffalos had no idea what had happened, and only the few elite Black Water Buffalos nearing the Thousand-Year level still felt lingering fear.
But just then, they lowered their heads and discovered that the grass beneath their hooves was giving off an incredibly enticing aroma.
Unable to resist the sweet fragrance filling their nostrils, they took a bite.
Mmm! Sweet and delicious!
Elsewhere, Qing Mu and Bulbasaur traveled through the outer region of the Star Dou Great Mountain Range for more than half a day, yet they still did not see a single Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
"Where have all the Thousand-Year Soul Beasts gone? Don't tell me they knew I was coming and hid?"
After discovering another nine-hundred-year Soul Beast, Qing Mu finally could not help complaining.
This was the Star Dou Great Mountain Range, not the enclosed Soul Hunting Forest. Thousand-Year Soul Beasts might be scarce, but surely it was not to the point that he could wander around for half a day without encountering even one?
Qing Mu could not help sighing. "I kind of miss that Crimson Blood Battle Pig."
At that moment, Qing Mu dearly missed the days he had spent with the Crimson Blood Battle Pig a few days ago. Through Grassy Terrain's healing, he had farmed experience from the Crimson Blood Battle Pig dozens of times, forcibly grinding himself from level twenty-nine to level thirty.
"Looks like I can only go deeper in. There may be some danger, but now that I've advanced to Soul Elder, as long as I don't run into a powerful Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, I should have more than enough ability to save my own life."
Qing Mu had that confidence now because he had just obtained a core skill in the system he was building: Sunny Day!
With Sunny Day, Bulbasaur could unleash its strongest Combat Power at all times, whether it was day or night.
The doubled growth and the speed boost brought by Chlorophyll, along with its hidden evolved form, Ivysaur, were enough to make Bulbasaur's current peak Combat Power comparable to that of some weaker Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
In fact, if Bulbasaur had already learned the powerful Grass Type moves Solar Beam and Power Whip, even some powerful Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts probably would not be Bulbasaur's match.
Of course, Qing Mu was not foolish enough to provoke Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts right now.
Everything mentioned before was only Bulbasaur's theoretical maximum Combat Power, but stacking growth required time.
Even with Sunny Day's enhancement, that time could only be shortened, not eliminated.
If something unexpected truly happened, fighting at its theoretical strongest was unrealistic. Not to mention, Bulbasaur still had to protect him.
After all, even with Soul Power reinforcing his body, he could at most withstand attacks from Hundred-Year Soul Beasts.
As for Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts? He simply could not take their attacks!
And while the Wood Spirit Seed could protect him, it had a limited number of uses and could not be squandered without restraint.
So, Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts could wait until he mastered a few more Spirit Skills and gained a certain degree of self-preservation ability.
No matter what, Qing Mu could now use the three Spirit Skills Grassy Terrain, Giga Drain, and Sunny Day. Though only one was offensive, with the boosts from Grassy Terrain and Chlorophyll, an ordinary Soul Elder would not find it easy to take him down.
"Bulba~"
Just as Qing Mu prepared to head deeper into the Star Dou Great Mountain Range, Bulbasaur suddenly grabbed him from beside him.
Seeing this, Qing Mu immediately turned around and looked at Bulbasaur in confusion. "Bulbasaur, did you find something?"
"Bulba, Bulba~"
Bulbasaur nodded, then released a stream of pink mist from the seed on its back. It looked somewhat like the pollen of a flower.
Qing Mu froze at the sight. "This is... Sweet Scent?"
Sweet Scent was a new move Bulbasaur had comprehended after evolving. In the game, its effect was to greatly lower an opponent's evasion.
In reality, its effect was similar to Qing Mu's mother Xu Yao's Third Spirit Skill, Illusory Fragrance. Both influenced an opponent's reactions through floral scents, thereby weakening them.
At first, Qing Mu did not understand why Bulbasaur had suddenly used Sweet Scent. After all, they had no opponent to deal with at the moment.
But only moments later, as he watched Soul Beasts of all kinds continuously rush toward them, Qing Mu instantly understood.
"Bulba, I almost forgot that Sweet Scent can lure monsters."
Qing Mu slapped his forehead in realization, unable to stop a trace of helplessness from appearing on his face.
It could not be helped. His memories of Pokémon were simply too distant, and he had only played some of the earlier versions, so he had already forgotten many details.
However, as Qing Mu looked at the motley crowd of Soul Beasts charging toward him, he frowned slightly and suggested to Bulbasaur, "Bulbasaur, can you filter out the Soul Beasts below the Thousand-Year level? If we attract all of them, there will be far too many."
Before you continue