This Soul Beast Has Heatstroke, Better...

Li Yuan was quite familiar with this area. Ever since he was five or six, he had often come here to forage. It could be said that the Soul Beasts here had made an enormous contribution to his growth.

If he had not been able to live off the land, Li Yuan would have starved to death long ago!

Today, he was finally leaving the forest that had raised him and heading into the depths of the Sunset Great Forest for adventure.

"Right, I need to stock up on water before I leave. I'm not familiar with the areas farther ahead."

As Li Yuan walked through the lush primeval forest, he suddenly heard the babbling of running water.

After thinking it over, Li Yuan slowly headed toward the sound. If he remembered correctly, there should be a small stream here.

Since he did not know much about the depths of the Sunset Great Forest, Li Yuan felt it was necessary to prepare more water, lest he be unable to find a water source later.

Following his memories, he quickly found the stream. It was four or five meters wide, and its water was exceptionally clear.

Li Yuan had tested it long ago. The water here was clean and safe to drink.

However, when Li Yuan approached the stream, he discovered that it had already been claimed.

It was a massive wild boar, roughly three or four meters long, covered in glossy black bristles. Its head bore a pair of enormous tusks, though one of them had broken off for some reason. Even so, the boar looked exceptionally vicious, clearly not someone to trifle with.

At that moment, the Wild Boar Soul Beast was drinking beside the stream. Sensing movement nearby, it sensitively raised its huge, ugly pig head and looked in Li Yuan's direction.

After taking only one look at Li Yuan, panic appeared on the fierce-looking boar's face in an astonishingly human manner.

The next moment, it did not even dare confront Li Yuan. It spread its hooves and ran!

Li Yuan wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, trying hard not to let it drip.

"Hey, brother, don't run! I really wasn't planning to catch you this time. Wait for me." As he shouted, Li Yuan displayed agility and nimbleness utterly disproportionate to his size, quickly chasing after the fleeing Wild Boar Soul Beast.

Half an hour later, beside the stream.

Li Yuan had lit a bonfire. At the same time, the massive Wild Boar Soul Beast had already been skinned and butchered, then placed on the grill Village Chief Duke had prepared for him.

"Hey, didn't I tell you? I wasn't planning to catch you. I can't even be bothered with your one- or two-hundred-year Soul Ring. Why did you have to run?"

"Look at you. Now you've got heatstroke. What a poor little fellow."

"But don't worry, I'll cook you with great care and turn you into something delicious!"

While muttering to himself, Li Yuan busied himself in an orderly manner. He took all sorts of seasonings from Jade Person Where to Teach Flute Playing and spread them evenly over the meat.

Village Chief Duke understood Li Yuan very well. He knew that Li Yuan would absolutely never go hungry in the Sunset Great Forest. The ones who truly needed to worry were the Soul Beasts of the Sunset Great Forest.

Therefore, Village Chief Duke had not prepared any rations for Li Yuan. Instead, he had packed plenty of seasonings, grilling racks, and similar items, which could effectively improve Li Yuan's quality of life.

Before long, a distinctive aroma began to spread above the fire. The fragrance was rich, and as Li Yuan slowly turned the meat, it gradually turned golden brown, looking especially tempting.

"Mm! Smells so good!" Smelling the rich aroma in the air, Li Yuan wore a satisfied expression. He had not even eaten breakfast today before Village Chief Duke drove him out of the village.

By now, he was starving.

Seeing that the meat was nearly done, the ravenous Li Yuan could not wait to dig in.

"Meow!"

Just as Li Yuan was eating happily, an incredibly adorable cat cry suddenly sounded beside his ear.

Only then did Li Yuan notice that, at some unknown point, a little orange kitten had appeared before him, meowing at him.

It looked incredibly cute!

However, the kitten did not seem to be in very good condition. Its fur was a mess, and there was a wound on its shoulder. Black blood seeped from it, giving off a pungent, fishy stench. It looked as though it had been attacked by some venomous Soul Beast.

"Little cutie, what happened to you?" Seeing such an adorable Little Orange Cat, Li Yuan immediately smiled. He even forgot about his lunch as he stepped forward and picked up the Orange Cat.

"You're not even a Soul Beast. How did you end up in the Sunset Great Forest?" Li Yuan carefully examined the Orange Cat. Unlike most orange cats on Earth, this one was very slender and had not reached the legendary size where an orange cat could crush a bed.

But the problem was, this Orange Cat really seemed to be just an ordinary cat, not a Soul Beast. It had no Soul Power fluctuations whatsoever. So the question was, how had such an ordinary Little Orange Cat entered the Sunset Great Forest?

Could it have run in from a village outside the Sunset Great Forest?

Li Yuan thought of a possibility that barely made sense.

"You little fellow are quite lucky, then. You actually weren't eaten by the Soul Beasts in the forest." Holding the Little Orange Cat, Li Yuan took out the antidote Village Chief Duke had prepared from his belt and applied it to the Orange Cat's wound.

According to Village Chief Duke, this medicine worked very well and could neutralize the vast majority of deadly poisons. As for how effective it actually was, Li Yuan had no idea. He had never used the stuff before.

Although he had fought some venomous Soul Beasts before, his physique was unlike that of ordinary people. Normal toxins simply had no effect on him.

Thus, these antidotes had never had a chance to be used. He had only carried them around in case of emergencies.

And now, they finally came in handy. Though Li Yuan was not using them on himself, using them on a cat should be fine too.

Li Yuan had already made up his mind. He planned to keep a pet. In his previous life, when he had still been a normal person, Li Yuan had loved cats. However, he had been too poor to ever have the chance to raise one.

So, upon seeing this explosively adorable Little Orange Cat, Li Yuan was immediately tempted. If nothing unexpected happened, he would probably be staying in the Sunset Great Forest for quite a long time.