Mountain Monster Spirit

Zhang Yang wasn't currently within the Soul Force Field he had unleashed, yet his Soul Force Field felt as if it had materialized, tangible to the touch.

This sensation was profoundly different.

For a moment, he even felt his soul detach from his body, observing the world from an independent perspective.

Of course, this was merely an illusion.

The next instant, Zhang Yang's entire perception focused on the long blade.

What first struck him was an overwhelming aura of bloodlust. Reflected in the Soul Force Field, this bloodlust surged like rivers, like dark clouds, vast and sweeping.

However, this immense bloodlust didn't significantly impact Zhang Yang, as his condensed and compressed Soul Force Field possessed superior control. With a mere thought, the bloodlust on the long blade was analyzed.

What was revealed was the furious roar of the Black-Skinned Mountain Monster. Zhang Yang was intimately familiar with this sound; it was the very sound he'd heard when he used the Demon Soul of that monster to enhance the Four Berserker Bears.

"Interesting. Can my compressed Soul Force Field really delve into this level of detail?"

Zhang Yang continued to analyze and explore further, feeling that his Soul Force Field still had reserves.

This time, the scene he perceived was incredibly spectacular. It was as if he stood in a boundless desert, with countless black grains of sand piled up, and many enormous, oddly shaped black rocks standing upright. It was a completely alien world.

Zhang Yang was perplexed. The next second, his Soul Force Field suddenly collapsed, having exhausted its Soul Power.

Gasping for breath as he leaned against the Wood Demon Tower, he remained puzzled. It wasn't until more than ten minutes later, when a flash of insight struck him, that he suddenly realized what he had just seen!

"Holy cow!"

"Holy cow!"

Zhang Yang shrieked, so excited he wanted to roll on the ground. He wasn't a top student, so he hadn't realized it immediately, but it wasn't too late to figure it out now.

"Could it be that I, through my compressed Soul Force Field, saw iron ions? No, no, Duan Kuan's long blade has long surpassed the hardness of alloy steel, and its unique sharpness is also different from the steel I know from Earth. It's as if a miraculous, more complex metallic bond has been restructured. Sigh, if only I had known, I would have studied math and science harder back then."

Zhang Yang quickly calmed down from his excited state. As a poor student, and one with a less-than-high IQ at that, what good was it if he could see iron ions or those special metallic bonds through his Soul Force Field? He still didn't understand anything. Therefore, he could only use the most primitive method, one he could comprehend, to temper the long blade.

"But my Soul Power isn't enough. Even compressing the Soul Force Field to that extent, I can only tear open the first layer of blood light on the long blade, then the second layer, the Mountain Monster Demon Soul, before reaching the blade's origin. But by then, I'd be powerless to change anything. At most, I'd withdraw after a few seconds due to Soul Power exhaustion. How could I temper it? This is far more difficult than tempering ironwood."

"It seems I'll have to find a solution from other aspects, such as magic power, or the Mountain Monster's essence blood."

This time, Zhang Yang became interested, having long since thrown the idea of researching the Iron Wall Battle Rune out of his mind.

An hour and a half later, after recovering in the Wood Demon Tower, Zhang Yang was refreshed. This time, he set the long blade aside and instead took out one unit of Mountain Monster essence blood.

This unit weighed a full kilogram. When Zhang Yang enveloped the Mountain Monster essence blood with his Soul Force Field, he immediately sensed immense vitality, completely different from Azure Wolf Demon blood. This was due to its much higher grade; not only was there an 18-level difference between them, but also the difference between common and heroic.

Had Zhang Yang's control over his Soul Force Field not been exceptional, this unit of Mountain Monster essence blood would surely have broken free on its own, its Demonic Energy escaping directly.

"This is indeed a good find."

With a sigh of admiration, Zhang Yang continued to compress his Soul Force Field. He was very curious about what the Mountain Monster essence blood contained.

After a few seconds, as the Soul Force Field was compressed to a one-meter diameter, this unit of Mountain Monster essence blood was also compressed to the size of a ping-pong ball. However, it became even wilder, bouncing uncontrollably within the Soul Force Field.

This scene was too bizarre.

But Zhang Yang remained calm, pressing on, continuing to compress. He used the method he gained from analyzing the long blade to separate the Mountain Monster essence blood layer by layer.

Finally, when this unit of Mountain Monster essence blood was compressed to the size of a button, the critical point was reached. In Zhang Yang's perception, he no longer saw the button-sized blood sphere but rather a series of images: the growth of the Black-Skinned Mountain Monster from small to large.

Zhang Yang was no longer surprised at this point. He had previous experience with the Azure Wolf Essence, so he knew he was moving in the right direction.

Another ten seconds passed, and the images became clearer and clearer. Zhang Yang found himself increasingly immersed until he suddenly realized he had transformed into the Black-Skinned Mountain Monster—

This was a dark, towering mountain, dark everywhere, with sharp-edged rocks. There were no flowers, no trees, and even the sky was dark. The entire world was left with only shades of gray and black.

There was nothing around, only himself, constantly climbing.

Why was he climbing? He didn't know.

Why didn't he stop? Still didn't know.

The strongest remaining obsession in his heart was to keep climbing.

But the mountain was too steep. Even with his strong body, he inevitably fell repeatedly, rolling down again and again.

His entire body was covered in wounds. New injuries covered old ones, and old ones covered even older ones.

Yet he still didn't stop, nor did he even look back.

Step by step, ceaselessly.

Until the moment he reached the summit, he suddenly looked back—no, the monster suddenly looked back and let out an earth-shattering roar!

This single roar startled Zhang Yang awake. He then realized he was in an extremely dangerous situation: the monster's will, or rather, the Mountain Monster Spirit, was furiously fighting for control of his soul!

Zhang Yang, of course, resisted with all his might, but the Mountain Monster Spirit was unexpectedly tenacious. Even with Zhang Yang's B-Grade Soul strength, he was suppressed to the point where he could barely struggle.

At this moment, he couldn't express how terrified he was, because he was utterly powerless to call for help. In this kind of spiritual confrontation, no one could assist him!

The only thing Zhang Yang could do was hold fast, persevere, and never yield!

As for counterattacking, he had no strength to do so.

He didn't know how much time had passed, perhaps a thousand or ten thousand years, he didn't know. Zhang Yang felt as if he was about to decay, yet he still saw no hope.

His consciousness seemed to be on the verge of falling completely into an endless abyss.

It was at this very moment that an azure wolf, running under the moonlight, burst out of the darkness and instantly merged with Zhang Yang's consciousness. That wild power transformed into blazing flames, erupting directly. In that instant, Zhang Yang regained control.

When he opened his eyes, he was still in the Wood Demon Tower. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and Duan Kuan was still guarding not far away. It felt as if very little time had passed.

Yet, he felt as though he had lived an entire lifetime, experiencing the terrifying cycle of life and death.

His entire body was drenched in sweat.

He lay motionless for a full half hour before Zhang Yang regained his full consciousness and memory, finally realizing that it had just been a nightmare.

But it was definitely not just a nightmare; the power within that Mountain Monster Spirit was terrifying.

And for the first time in his life, Zhang Yang realized that dangers on the soul level were not simpler than physical combat.

"I can't do this again in the future. This is simply ignorance breeding fear. How can a Level 1 Azure Wolf Essence compare to a Level 19 hero-grade Mountain Monster Spirit? Thankfully, I only extracted one unit of the Mountain Monster Spirit's essence; otherwise, I would be the 982nd fallen village chief on the Village Building Order right now."

With a self-deprecating smile, Zhang Yang re-examined his gains.

Indeed, this cycle of life and death had its benefits.

He had absorbed and integrated the Azure Wolf Essence, and at the same time, integrated and absorbed the Mountain Monster Spirit. Both transformed into his Soul Power, so his soul strength had subtly increased by one level, from the original B- to B.

The attributes displayed on the Village Building Order also changed.

Name: Zhang Yang (982nd Bound Village Chief on the Village Building Order)

Age: 19

Strength: D+

Agility: F+

Defense: F+

Soul Strength: B

Acquired Soul Trait: Acuity, Passive. Allows for early detection of approaching dangers. An inherent trait of B-Grade Souls, with no cost.

Acquired Soul Trait: Wildness, Passive. Soul Resilience is significantly increased. Specifically, there is a high chance to be exempt from suppression by souls one level higher than oneself.

Acquired Soul Trait: Resilience, Passive. Soul Strength is significantly increased. Even when severely wounded or heavily depleted, it will not cause overly serious damage.

Mastered Constant Spell: Imprisonment. Description: This spell has no level, no proficiency, and no priority restrictions. Its power and casting range depend on the magnitude of soul strength.

Mastered Constant Spell: Soul Force Field. Maximum coverage radius of 100 meters.