Beneath the lush, towering trees in the Heaven Dou Empire's Royal Soul Beast Forest, a small, pure-white creature kept flapping its tiny wings.
It was utterly unlike the other Soul Beasts in the forest. No one knew what species it belonged to; it seemed to be the only one of its kind in the world.
Though the little creature was small and slender, the noble aura it exuded still proclaimed its supreme status.
It was the master of the sky, the king of birds, the clouds that hung high above.
Its name was Leo, the juvenile form of the Wing-Type Elf King, Holy Wing King...
No one knew where the little creature had come from, or where it was meant to go.
The Soul Beasts nearby only knew that on the day it descended, the clouds parted, and it fell from the blazing sun.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Its little wings kept slicing through the air, making a series of sharp sounds.
Flight was an instinct their kind was born with; it needed no practice.
But this Leo was quite different. Though he could fly with ease, he forced himself to flap his wings, digging his little claws deep into the soil and doing his utmost to keep from leaving the ground.
That was because another world's soul dwelled within this Leo's body.
Xiao Yu. That was his name.
In his previous life, while playing the newly released mobile game Roco Kingdom, he had drawn the black-and-white hidden chromatic Wing King with just one Prism Ball.
Overcome with excitement, he accidentally knocked over the glass of water beside him. The water splashed onto a power strip on the floor, causing a short circuit. The 220-volt current killed him in an instant.
When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in this world, reincarnated as Leo—and not just any Leo, but the black-and-white chromatic Leo he had drawn.
He could tell from the color of the fur on his head and the tips of his wings. Unlike an ordinary Leo's dark blue coloring, this Leo's fur constantly shifted between black and white.
Xiao Yu kept flapping his wings, not stopping even when sweat soaked his fur.
When the blazing sun stood high overhead, his whole body suddenly shuddered, and a mechanical voice sounded in his ear:
[Congratulations, Host, on completing the daily task—flap your wings one thousand times] [Reward: Cocoa Fruit*1]
Only then did Xiao Yu stop and collapse onto the ground.
His wings drooped across his back, trembling slightly. Even as the juvenile form of a Wing-Type Elf King, he was utterly exhausted after such strenuous exercise.
Leo wasn't a small bird. He couldn't flap his wings fifteen times a second like a sparrow, much less reach the absurd rate of two hundred times a second like a hummingbird.
Usually, they only needed to flap their wings three or five times to take off with ease.
A thousand flaps was truly difficult for him.
"Phew... System, couldn't you make the daily tasks a little easier?" Xiao Yu lay sprawled on the ground, looking at the peach-like Cocoa Fruit that had appeared before him, and couldn't help grumbling.
That was right. Along with his transmigration had come the standard cheat for transmigrators—the Wing-Type Elf King Cultivation System.
The system issued one task each day, week, month, and year. Completing them earned rewards.
Sometimes the reward was a Cocoa Fruit, which granted experience. Sometimes it was a skill stone, which could be used to learn a skill. As for other rewards, he hadn't encountered any yet.
The system ignored Xiao Yu's complaint.
"Fine. I knew you wouldn't answer. Open the panel." Xiao Yu didn't mind.
As soon as he finished speaking, a transparent panel that only he could see appeared before him:
[Xiao Yu] [Species: Holy Wing King (Chromatic)] [Attributes: Wing, Wing, King (Locked)] [Level: lv9 (40/90)] [Skills: Wind Force, Vacuum Slash, Air Cutter] [Daily Task: Flap your wings one thousand times (Completed)] [Weekly Task: Defeat one Hundred-Year Soul Beast (Incomplete)] [Monthly Task: Defeat one Thousand-Year Soul Beast (Incomplete)] [Yearly Task: Defeat one Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast (Incomplete)]
Seeing those three glaring "Incomplete" labels left Xiao Yu speechless.
He'd been in this world for less than a week, and the system expected a "child" like him to challenge a Hundred-Year Soul Beast, or even a Thousand-Year or Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Was that even possible?
Well, it seemed... it actually might be.
As the owner of this body, Xiao Yu could clearly sense the astonishing power hidden within its small frame.
This was the juvenile form of the Wing-Type Elf King! If he were truly that weak, how could he ever ascend to the throne of the Wing-Type Elf King?
During his six days since transmigrating, he'd received Cocoa Fruit as a reward for five of them. Only on the first day had he received a skill book: [Air Cutter].
As for [Wind Force] and [Vacuum Slash], they had come from the newbie gift pack, giving him at least a little power to protect himself.
After glancing over the panel and resting for a bit, Xiao Yu struggled to his feet and went over to wolf down the Cocoa Fruit on the ground.
He'd gone without food all day and was already famished.
After he swallowed the Cocoa Fruit, his hunger eased a little, and the system's prompt sounded in his mind again:
[You ate one Cocoa Fruit and gained 100 experience points.] [Current level: lv10 (50/100)]
"Phew... System, you finally acted like a decent person for once." Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been worried that breaking through to the next level would require a special item, like in the game. Thankfully, his experience bar wasn't locked.
The warmth brought by leveling up dispelled his fatigue. Xiao Yu shook the sweat from his body and immediately felt full of energy.
"Level ten. It's about time I completed the weekly task." Xiao Yu muttered to himself, glancing at the time shown by the system. Less than twelve hours remained before the weekly task reset. If he didn't complete it now, he'd lose out.
Xiao Yu flapped his wings and left, setting out to find his target.
At the same time, a lavishly decorated carriage slowly approached the entrance to the Soul Beast Forest.
Numerous guards surrounded the carriage, and the insignia of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family was clearly displayed on its front.
It was the carriage of the Heaven Dou Empire's crown prince, Xue Qinghe.
An official ceremoniously read aloud the imperial decree:
"His Majesty decrees: The Crown Prince is benevolent and diligent in managing state affairs, bringing prosperity to the nation and peace to its people. However, having attended to government affairs for a long time, he has grown mentally and physically weary. He is hereby ordered to rest for six months. He may choose a small beast from the Royal Soul Beast Forest to aid his recovery. So decreed!"
The soldiers in front hurriedly knelt to receive the decree, then opened the forest gates.
"Your Highness, we've arrived," a soldier beside the carriage respectfully reported to Xue Qinghe inside.
"Mm." Xue Qinghe answered and stepped out of the carriage with someone's help.
The carriage's noise could startle the Soul Beasts, so Xue Qinghe had already decided to enter on foot.
"The rest of you stay here. I'll take only two people with me. A larger group might startle the Soul Beasts in the forest," Xue Qinghe instructed the soldiers.
The soldiers weren't surprised, nor were they worried.
A Soul King-level Soul Master patrolled the Royal Soul Beast Forest every month. The strongest Soul Beast there was only a thousand years old, so it was perfectly safe.
Xue Qinghe glanced at the forest's sign, then entered the lush woodland with two personal guards.
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