You Shall Be Called Juhua

On one hand, he needed to prepare the soul ring required for advancing to Soul Master. On the other, he needed to hunt some soul beasts in the Sunset Great Forest before he could head into the human world.

What could he do? He was poor, and he could eat a lot!

Although Village Chief Duke had prepared quite a few daily necessities for him, that old man had not given him even a single copper coin. Who knew whether he had done it on purpose.

In other words, Li Yuan did not have a penny on him. In the Sunset Great Forest, that was not much of a problem. He could live off the mountains and drink from the waters. In any case, he certainly would not starve to death.

But once he left the Sunset Great Forest, things would become difficult. Without money, and with no way to hunt, Li Yuan would starve to death within two days.

Therefore, before leaving the Sunset Great Forest, he had to build up some savings. And if he wanted to make money, Li Yuan could only set his sights on the soul beasts within the Sunset Great Forest.

Only soul beasts he killed with his own hands could have their soul rings absorbed, so Li Yuan could not get rich off soul rings.

However, soul rings were not the only valuable things on soul beasts. Aside from soul rings, the precious materials and pelts on their bodies were worth quite a bit of money. If he got lucky enough to obtain a soul bone, it would be priceless.

So, Li Yuan was not worried that he would be unable to save up enough food money for after he entered the human world. But that would undoubtedly take a long time.

After all, his appetite was simply terrifying, and it was still growing. No matter how much money he had, it might not be enough to feed him.

Taking that into account, Li Yuan felt that he would probably be staying in the Sunset Great Forest for quite some time. If he were alone, he would probably get lonely. He might as well raise a pet, so it could keep him company when he was bored.

Most importantly, this Little Orange Cat was simply too adorable. Li Yuan could not bear to abandon it. This was the kind of pet a real man should keep!

"Then it's settled, little one. You'll follow me from now on!" After treating the Little Orange Cat's wounds, he gave the little fellow several pieces of roasted meat to eat.

Li Yuan had finally made up his mind to adopt the kitten.

"Oh, right, little one. Let me give you a name."

"Hmm, you're an orange cat, and you have patterns on your fur. How about this? From now on, you'll be called Juhua!"

"What do you think? Nice name, right, Juhua?" As he spoke, Li Yuan lifted Juhua up, wanting to hear its opinion.

In return, he got nothing but the little fellow's disregard and frantic struggles. However, the kitten was far too small. Though it tried its best to look fierce and frighten the obviously deranged creature before it—

—it had no effect whatsoever. Instead, it only looked even cuter.

"Haha, I knew you'd like the name. It's settled, then. From now on, you're Juhua!" Li Yuan completely ignored Juhua's objections, waving his arms around as he decided on its name.

However, at that moment, Li Yuan suddenly felt a jolt in his heart, as though he had encountered something terrifying. An instinctive unease rose within him.

Juhua, who had been struggling nonstop, clearly sensed something as well. It did not even have the presence of mind to struggle anymore, immediately burrowing into Li Yuan's arms and trembling in fear.

It did not take Li Yuan long to learn where his unease was coming from.

Just as he was fully on guard, a figure suddenly flashed into view and appeared before him. A pair of dark green eyes stared straight at Li Yuan.

It was an elderly man of considerable age, tall and lean, standing as straight as a spear. For some unknown reason, his hair and beard were both dark green, while his eyes gleamed like emeralds.

His green hair was disheveled, and he wore nothing but a plain gray robe. He looked gloomy and unkempt.

The instant the old man appeared, Li Yuan felt an overwhelming unease, as though the person before him was not an old man at all, but an exceptionally dangerous soul beast.

This is a Soul Master, and an incredibly powerful one. I'm nowhere near a match for him! Feeling the warning from his body, Li Yuan's heart tightened. He knew he had encountered an expert.

Thus, he did not dare act recklessly. Only after quite a while did he rise to his feet, endure the enormous pressure, and bow to the old man. "This junior, Du Yuan, greets Senior. May I ask why Senior has come here?"

"Hiss!" Hearing Li Yuan's childish voice, then seeing his delicate features paired with his broad shoulders and burly frame, the old man, who had been striking a pose, could not help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. His teeth ached.

What the hell is this thing? I've lived a long life, but I've never seen anything like this!

The old man tried hard not to lose his composure. However, Li Yuan's appearance had hit him far too hard. It was practically visual pollution!

Thus, the old man could no longer be bothered to put on airs before a junior. Suppressing his discomfort, he directly asked, "Boy, did you see an orange tiger soul beast fleeing in this direction just now?"

"That soul beast was around five or six meters long, covered in orange stripes, and very powerful!" After pausing, the old man added.

"No, Senior. I've been here the whole time, but I never saw the tiger soul beast you described." Before this unfamiliar and powerful Soul Master, Li Yuan did not dare fool around and answered honestly.

"Useless trash!" the old man suddenly snorted coldly.

The next moment, Li Yuan felt as though the temperature around him had dropped several degrees. A foul, fishy stench filled the air, followed by an aura that was utterly terrifying to him.

In an instant, Li Yuan could not help coughing up a mouthful of black blood. He collapsed directly onto the ground in a miserable state.

Everything happened far too quickly. Before Li Yuan could even react, he had already been pushed into a desperate situation.

At that moment, he deeply felt his own weakness. Before that old man, Li Yuan had no room to resist at all.

He did not even have the chance to invoke Village Chief Duke's name to intimidate the other party before he was crushed to the ground by the man's aura.

No way... am I really done for just like this?

This is way too unlucky. I really don't have a protagonist's fate. I've already been so cautious, yet I still ran into this kind of disaster out of nowhere. This is just too hard!

Where did this lunatic even come from? Is something wrong with him? I didn't provoke him, so why is he coming after me so viciously?

In an instant, all kinds of thoughts surfaced in Li Yuan's mind. He felt that he was truly about to die.