Luring Soul Beasts

Just Hundred-Year Soul Beasts.

There were a few too many of them, but they posed no threat to me.

Still, personally cleaning up this trash would be beneath me.

And it would waste Soul Power.

The corner of Han Yuchen's mouth curled into a familiar smile—the smile of an old schemer.

In the Star Dou Great Forest, intelligence was always a more useful weapon than Soul Power.

His Water Element Perception spread out once more.

He began actively searching for suitable "chess pieces."

Very soon, a suitable "tool beast" entered his perception range.

Behind and to his side, roughly four hundred meters away.

A massive Soul Beast was digging through the soil, searching for something to eat.

[Name: 300-Year Black-Maned Demonic Pig]

[Traits: Thick hide and tough flesh, violent temperament, charges mindlessly.]

"You'll do. The perfect Number One cannon fodder."

Thick-skinned and bad-tempered.

Perfect.

Han Yuchen picked up a pebble the size of a fingernail from the ground.

A thread of Water Element Soul Power clung to it, giving it his aura.

He flicked his finger.

Whoosh!

The pebble shot through the air and struck the Soul Beast squarely on its fattest buttock.

The force was not strong.

But the insult was immense.

"Moo—!"

An enraged roar instantly rang through the forest!

The Soul Beast—a Black-Maned Demonic Pig over two meters tall at the shoulder, its body covered in iron-gray keratin—abruptly turned around!

A Hundred-Year Soul Beast, the Black-Maned Demonic Pig!

Its tiny eyes immediately turned bloodshot!

Who?

Who dared ambush Lord Pig's butt?!

It sniffed the faint lingering Water Element aura in the air and instantly locked onto the direction!

Its fury had already overwhelmed what little reason it possessed.

Rumble!

The Black-Maned Demonic Pig broke into a run, charging madly toward Han Yuchen like an out-of-control heavy tank!

Every shrub and sapling along its path was smashed to pieces!

Its momentum was terrifying!

The instant it moved, Han Yuchen concealed all his aura and slipped back into the shadows.

Like the finest director, once he had arranged the stage for his actors, he stepped behind the scenes.

The enraged Black-Maned Demonic Pig followed that provoking aura, charging recklessly all the way.

It soon rushed into that quiet clearing.

Then, it stopped.

The aura had vanished here.

It scratched at the ground uncertainly with its hoof, preparing to search.

Its immense weight and the violent tremors produced by its charge had already triggered the death trap below!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

The Soul Devouring Ghost Vine attacked once more!

This time, its scale was more than ten times greater than when it had tested the roasted meat!

Over a hundred vines shot out from all directions like pythons leaving their dens, wildly coiling around the large intruder that had entered their territory!

The Black-Maned Demonic Pig was, after all, a Hundred-Year Soul Beast with extremely strong battle instincts.

It let out an angry roar as Soul Power erupted from its body. Its hard bristles stood on end, each one like a steel needle.

It took the attack head-on!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Countless vines lashed viciously against its body, producing dull thuds, yet they could only leave pale marks on its thick hide.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros endured the attacks and launched a charge!

Its indestructible horn slammed fiercely into the densest mass of vines!

Crack!

More than a dozen vines snapped at once! Green sap splattered everywhere!

But even the strongest man could not withstand a beating from a crowd.

There were simply too many Soul Devouring Ghost Vines!

As soon as one wave was smashed apart, more vines surged from underground, fearlessly wrapping themselves around it.

They bound its hooves, its neck, and its body!

Their thorns stabbed madly toward the Ironclad Rhinoceros's relatively vulnerable abdomen and joints!

A primitive and bloody battle between plant and beast began.

The Black-Maned Demonic Pig charged and roared madly, displaying its ferocity.

But the Soul Devouring Ghost Vine colony was like a resilient, deadly net, constantly draining its stamina and Soul Power.

One side waned as the other waxed.

Ten minutes later.

The Black-Maned Demonic Pig's movements grew slower and slower, and its roars became increasingly weak.

"Not enough." Han Yuchen observed the battle from the shadows, calmly analyzing it. "This pig's flesh and blood aren't enough to lure over a bigger one."

He needed a stronger scent of blood and more intense Soul Power fluctuations.

His Water Element Perception locked onto a second target.

"It's time for perfect cannon fodder Number Two to make an entrance."

This time, the target was an Ironclad Rhinoceros drinking by the river! It was fully eight hundred years old!

[Name: 800-Year Ironclad Rhinoceros]

[Traits: Astonishing defense, immense strength, unstoppable in a straight-line charge.]

Han Yuchen used the same trick again.

A pebble carrying his Soul Power aura accurately struck the Ironclad Rhinoceros on its fattest buttock.

"Moo—!!!"

A roar even louder and angrier than the Demonic Pig's rang through the forest! The Ironclad Rhinoceros's tiny eyes instantly turned bloodshot. It smelled that provocative aura, and more importantly, it smelled the... intense scent of blood coming from nearby!

There was an intruder! And food!

Rage and greed drove this heavy tank completely mad!

Rumble! Rumble!

The Ironclad Rhinoceros's charge was ten times more imposing than the Black-Maned Demonic Pig's! It was like a genuine out-of-control heavy tank, and the ground trembled beneath its iron hooves!

When it followed the aura to the battlefield, it saw the Black-Maned Demonic Pig already wrapped in countless vines, letting out its final mournful cries.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros roared. A heavy earthy-yellow glow appeared around its indestructible horn as its Soul Skill—[Savage Charge]—activated!

It crashed fiercely into the densest cluster of vines!

Crack! Crack!

It crushed everything in its path! Dozens of tough vines snapped under its full-force impact! Green sap mixed with the Black-Maned Demonic Pig's blood and splattered everywhere!

With this fresh force joining the battle, the situation became even more brutal!

The Ironclad Rhinoceros's defense far surpassed that of the Demonic Pig, and the Soul Devouring Ghost Vine's thorns found it difficult to pierce its iron armor. It rampaged through the vine colony like a tiger among sheep.

But even the strongest man could not withstand a beating from a crowd, and even a fierce tiger feared a pack of wolves.

The Soul Devouring Ghost Vines seemed to have been thoroughly enraged. The ground around the clearing continuously split apart as more vines surged from below, layer upon layer, endless in number! If they could not bind its body, they bound its hooves, using their absolute numerical advantage to restrict the Ironclad Rhinoceros's movements.

A brutal war of attrition began.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros charged and roared madly, displaying its ferocity.

But the Soul Devouring Ghost Vine colony was like a resilient, deadly giant net, constantly draining their stamina and Soul Power.

One side waned as the other waxed.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes...

The Ironclad Rhinoceros's movements grew slower and slower, and its roars became increasingly weak.

Gaps were finally found in its iron armor, and the vines pierced bloody holes into it.

"That should be enough." Han Yuchen muttered to himself.

The blood and Soul Power of two Hundred-Year Soul Beasts had completely turned this area into a bloody vortex. "Now, we'll see whether the final big fish takes the bait."

His perception rose to its limit.