Harmless Little Pair

Su Yun and Tang San followed behind.

Both of them had already realized that this Self-Strengthening Group was unreliable.

They hadn't determined in advance what kind of Soul Beast they wanted to hunt, nor did they have any tactical planning; it was just a makeshift troupe of seven people thrown together at the last minute.

Fortunately, Su Yun and Tang San never intended to rely on them anyway.

The group soon arrived at the outskirts of the forest.

There was a massive Steel Fence here, with a multitude of spikes protruding toward the forest side.

The fence stood over ten meters tall and looked incredibly sturdy.

Outside the fence, a squad of one hundred soldiers patrolled the area. These soldiers were all clad in full-body Refined Iron armor and carried long spears. Their military bearing was impeccable; standing together, these hundred Steel Warriors exuded a chilling, murderous aura.

Jiang Min quickly stepped forward to negotiate.

A single permit allowed for seven people to enter.

The captain of the soldiers responsible for checking the permits inspected it, then let his gaze linger on Su Yun and Tang San for quite a while.

Clearly, he was quite surprised that children of their age had come to the Soul Beast Forest.

He wondered where these little geniuses had come from.

After asking a few simple questions, he shifted his focus back to Jiang Min and the others.

After all, given the situation with the two of them, no matter how young they were, it was obvious they were here to hunt souls; they couldn't possibly be here to throw their lives away or play around with Soul Beasts, right?

Therefore, compared to them, members of a soul-hunting group like Jiang Min were more worthy of their "attention." Once the information was verified, the captain of the soldiers let his men clear a path without giving them too much trouble—perhaps he knew that no oil could be squeezed out of this bunch of paupers.

Passing through the Steel Fence, the group entered the forest, and in an instant, all the clamor seemed to vanish.

The surrounding air was incredibly fresh, making one feel refreshed and at ease, yet all seven of them, including Su Yun, grew tense.

Although Su Yun was confident in his own strength, he was still afraid of capsizing in the gutter. Jiang Min finally started to look a bit like a captain.

He took the lead, had Su Yun cover the rear, placed Tang San in the relatively safe middle, and had the others keep a lookout on the flanks.

The group moved forward cautiously while Su Yun opened his system panel.

As 14,000 Friendship Points were deducted:

[The purchased Soul Ring will arrive in half an hour.]

Looking at the system prompt, Su Yun closed the panel and waited quietly for the Soul Beast to appear.

The others knew nothing of this.

In half an hour, a thousand-year Soul Beast would attack.

The group had been walking for ten minutes when someone suddenly grew excited.

He had encountered a suitable Soul Beast: a Solitary Bamboo over ten meters tall. Its body swayed gently, its bamboo strips dancing with the breeze.

Except for Su Yun and Tang San, everyone present had attended a junior Soul Master Academy. Even if they couldn't identify every single Soul Beast, they knew most of them without issue.

Wen Wu said excitedly, "It's a Hundred-Year Solitary Bamboo! Its attack power might be lacking, but its defense is strong! Once absorbed as a Soul Ring, it will make my Martial Soul even more powerful! Even if my soul skill turns into bamboo arrows, they will be much stronger than my wooden ones."

Hearing Wen Wu's words, Tang San, who had just entered the world of Soul Masters, nodded slightly.

Truth be told, this Hundred-Year Solitary Bamboo was indeed very suitable for Wen Wu.

In fact, it wasn't just Wen Wu; even Jiang Min was tempted. After all, the greatest strength of his Iron Bull was its raw power and thick hide.

Although the Solitary Bamboo would only strengthen his defense, it was still a hundred-year Soul Ring! The word "hundred-year" alone could make up for other flaws.

However, as the captain, and since Wen Wu was the one who discovered the bamboo, he ultimately said nothing.

The group stopped and waited for Jiang Min to pull a small knife from his pack to begin hunting the bamboo.

Fifteen minutes later, the ten-meter-long bamboo crashed to the ground, and a yellow ring of light rose from its corpse.

Seeing what a Soul Ring looked like for the first time, Tang San examined it with great curiosity.

Wen Wu forcibly suppressed the joy in his heart and said in a rare, gentle tone, "I am about to absorb the Soul Ring. I leave it to everyone to guard me."

"Understood."

"No problem."

"Rest assured."

The others agreed one after another, and Jiang Min even patted his chest in guarantee.

"Just focus on absorbing it; I will guard you."

Yet, Wen Wu looked at Su Yun and said with a hypocritical smile, "I'll trouble you as well."

"Mm, it's a small matter."

Su Yun smiled brilliantly, looking every bit like a sunny youth.

Tang San watched from the side and shook his head; Xiao Yun was still too kind and simply did not understand the malice of the human heart.

Given this man's nature, once he obtained his spirit ring and his strength increased, it was highly likely he would seek revenge.

But it didn't matter!

Xiao Yun only needed to stand in the sunlight; as for such dark matters, he would shoulder them himself. As an older brother, he had an obligation to shield his younger sister from all danger.

Thinking of this, a murderous intent flashed through Tang San's eyes.

And the reality was exactly as he suspected; even after Su Yun agreed, the resentment in the man's heart could not be extinguished.

He was even contemplating using his spirit skill to kill Su Yun after the fact and seizing his Soul Tool.

No matter how strong Su Yun was, he was still just a spirit master without a spirit ring. As long as he waited until they were locked in combat with a spirit beast, he could fire a cold arrow from behind. He was quite confident he could kill everyone, and in that way, nothing that happened here would be exposed.

Even taking a step back, if Su Yun were truly ridiculously strong, he would surely be immobile while absorbing a spirit ring, right?

At a time like that, all it would take was a tiny accident; at best, Su Yun would be injured, and at worst, he would die on the spot.

It must be said that Wen Wu's imagination was quite beautiful.

But reality was cruel.

Watching Wen Wu sit cross-legged to absorb the spirit ring, a smile curled at the corners of Su Yun's mouth.

Time is running out.

And so, five minutes later.

While Wen Wu was still absorbing the spirit ring, the earth shook and the mountains swayed. Amidst the terrified gazes of the group, a monster eight meters tall burst into their field of vision.

The reason it was called a monster rather than a spirit beast was simple.

They had truly never seen such a creature before; it was like a living mountain forcibly fused together from endless terror and heterogeneous flesh. Its main outline was blurred, as if countless suffering souls and deformed monsters had been compressed and smelted together by an invisible force.

Twisted limbs, hideous heads, and jagged bone spurs grew and entangled in a manner that defied the laws of nature, forming a nauseating, constantly writhing aggregate.

As it moved, the entire "mountain" emitted a dull roar and the sound of teeth-grinding friction.

As for this kind of monster, let alone having seen one, the group had never even heard of such a thing.

Confusion flashed through everyone's eyes.

Only Su Yun wore a look of astonishment.

The system had actually brought out the Terror Aggregate, a boss from the magic beasts.

But truth be told, among its many skills, there was indeed one that fit the requirements of the spirit skill he had purchased.

Cracked Skardin: A hostile creature spawned from fragment decomposition that attacks nearby players and can recover health after merging.