Deep into the Sunset Forest

Half a month later, deep in the outer reaches of the Sunset Forest—

At this moment, Wang Chuan and Zhao Wuji were moving rapidly through the dense forest, their feet pushing off the ground with force. While their path might have seemed as aimless as headless flies, the two maintained a perfectly calibrated distance, clearly having developed a certain level of tacit understanding.

Suddenly, Wang Chuan's eyes narrowed, and he barked out a command.

"Watch out."

Zhao Wuji stopped in his tracks instantly, two yellow soul rings manifesting around his body as he entered a state of high alert, his eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly.

Meanwhile, Wang Chuan vanished from his spot in an instant, clearly having used Shave to move at extreme speed.

By the time Zhao Wuji reacted, a dull thud of hard objects colliding echoed from not far away.

Zhao Wuji fixed his gaze on the spot, and cold sweat immediately beaded on his forehead.

Because a Shadow Leopard, at least three meters in length and roughly four thousand years old, had been smashed to the ground by a single punch from Wang Chuan.

"Impressive, Captain! I never expected you to spot this Shadow Leopard, which is so good at playing hide-and-seek, in an instant," Zhao Wuji exclaimed in admiration.

He then wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still feeling a lingering fear.

It couldn't be helped; they were nearing the Mixed Zone, a place absolutely not meant for a small fry like him, a quasi-Soul Elder, to be wandering around. He was genuinely terrified.

But there was no other choice. They had been searching the outer perimeter for nearly half a month without finding a soul beast suitable for him, so Wang Chuan had proposed pushing deeper, leading to their current situation.

Carefully approaching Wang Chuan, Zhao Wuji asked.

"Captain, are we selling this Shadow Leopard or eating it?"

The question was familiar and efficient; clearly, after half a month together, Zhao Wuji had completely adapted to Wang Chuan's behavioral patterns.

Zhao Wuji looked at the soul beast with greedy eyes, as he had never eaten one of this age before.

The reason Zhao Wuji was so eager was, of course, because since he started following Wang Chuan, his strength had indeed increased by more than a few notches.

Because of this, Zhao Wuji's conviction in Wang Chuan grew stronger by the day.

After all, who doesn't love a boss who provides tangible benefits?

He felt that even if Wang Chuan gave him a mission he knew would be fatal, he would still grit his teeth and go through with it.

Because after eating so much soul beast meat, the debt he owed Wang Chuan was simply impossible to repay!

To Zhao Wuji's question, Wang Chuan rolled his eyes and twisted the Shadow Leopard's neck with a backhand motion, ending its life once and for all.

As a purple soul ring condensed, Wang Chuan said somewhat fiercely.

"Of course we're eating it. Have you forgotten the main purpose of our trip?

I don't want to waste time running back and forth for a bit of pocket change. If we don't find a suitable soul beast for you this time, we're setting up camp here until we do."

Upon hearing this, a look of gratitude appeared in Zhao Wuji's eyes.

Over the past half month, Wang Chuan had managed to find a few soul beasts that matched his attributes, but Wang Chuan had rejected them all on the grounds of low potential, even going so far as to lead him deep into such dangerous territory for his sake.

Zhao Wuji stepped forward, skillfully drawing a knife from his waist to bleed and skin the Shadow Leopard.

His expression was as determined as if he were joining a revolutionary party, refusing to let Wang Chuan do such menial, dirty work.

Wang Chuan nodded in satisfaction; isn't the point of having a lackey to handle the chores you don't like?

However, Wang Chuan didn't stay idle. He skillfully took out a wok, a massive stew pot large enough to hold the entire Shadow Leopard, and a pile of seasonings from his storage Soul Tool, then began to build a fire on the spot.

As for the risk of burning down the forest and ending up in prison?

Wang Chuan figured that since this was another world, who cared about that? Besides, with so many fire-attribute soul masters around, you couldn't exactly expect them not to use flames in battle.

Furthermore, compared to the issue of fire, the biggest danger of Wang Chuan cooking in a soul beast forest was the enticing aroma, which might lure in even more soul beasts.

But Wang Chuan didn't care.

In this area, unless his luck was abysmal, the most that would show up were ten-thousand-year soul beasts, which would only increase his food reserves.

As for anything he couldn't beat, Wang Chuan had full confidence in his ability to run away.

Blanching to remove the gamey taste, stir-frying to enhance the flavor.

With a set of fluid, practiced movements, a massive pot of stew was prepared by Wang Chuan.

The two gorged themselves. During the meal, several thousand-year soul beasts were attracted to the scent, but unfortunately, none were suitable for Zhao Wuji, so they were all slaughtered on the spot by Wang Chuan. Zhao Wuji skillfully harvested the materials and placed them into Wang Chuan's storage Soul Tool as emergency rations.

Once they were fairly certain there were no soul beasts suitable for Zhao Wuji in this area, the two shifted their position.

Two days later, Wang Chuan and Zhao Wuji stopped in front of a giant tree.

On the trunk, there was a deep claw mark, surrounded by numerous signs of wear and tear.

Zhao Wuji scratched his head and asked.

"Captain, what's so interesting about this tree?"

Over the past two days, Wang Chuan had realized that his own impatience had caused his mindset to falter, so he had already self-corrected and felt no impatience toward Zhao Wuji's ignorant remark.

Or rather, in this world where soul masters were supreme, what Wang Chuan considered common sense from his previous life was like opening the door to a new world for these natives.

This was evident from Tang San's use of realgar wine to counter snake venom, and the fact that Wang Lie didn't know why animals licked rocks.

Wang Chuan gently stroked the marks on the tree and explained.

"Leaving marks on trees is a habit only powerful beasts possess.

However, tiger-type spirit beasts usually only leave claw marks, while those that also have extensive friction marks like this are typically caused by pig-type or bear-type spirit beasts. Combined with these claw marks, the owner of these traces is most likely a bear-type spirit beast."

Striking his right fist into his palm, Zhao Wuji let out an enlightened "Oh," his eyes suddenly lighting up.

"In other words, there's a spirit beast nearby that's suitable for me!"

Wang Chuan nodded in agreement and immediately summoned Golden Scale.

"I'll leave it to you, Golden Scale. Help me track the scent of the owner of these traces."

Golden Scale chirped twice before moving toward the giant tree, twitching its nose at the roots with the ease of a veteran, clearly not its first time doing this job.

As for why the claw marks were high up on the tree while Golden Scale was sniffing at the roots, it was only natural.

Animal territory marking involves not only these visible signs but also more pungent urine markings, which contain the clearest pheromones and are the easiest scents to track.

Zhao Wuji was not surprised by this.

After all, the two had been teaming up for half a month; even if he didn't know the specifics of Wang Chuan's spirit rings, he was well aware of his martial soul.

Soon, Golden Scale changed direction and began sniffing the surrounding area.

Once the direction was confirmed, Golden Scale suddenly shrank in size, coiled around Wang Chuan's arm, and began waving its tiny claws to lead the way.

Wang Chuan, who shared a telepathic connection with Golden Scale, immediately understood its intent.

Telling Zhao Wuji to "keep up," the two dashed off in that direction.