"If our luck turns sour and we run into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast out for a stroll in the core area, then we'll have no choice but to split up, flee in every direction, and end up dying a miserable death."
"Hey! What kind of talk is that? We're going in fair and square. We'll keep a low profile and just skirt the edge of the core area without venturing into its inner reaches. I refuse to believe our luck could be so bad that we run into a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast dropping out of the sky in broad daylight."
As they were speaking, the Rakshasa Phantom suddenly turned its head. After sensing for a moment, it reminded Qian Yuhan with a strange expression, "Someone's coming. It looks like that big bodyguard who's always with the little girl. What's he here for?"
"What do you think? Naturally, they sent someone to look into our background, hoping to recruit us unaffiliated wanderers."
Using a secret technique to borrow the Rakshasa Phantom's spiritual power, Qian Yuhan swept it toward the direction where Xu Yan was hiding and locked onto his position. He couldn't help smirking with a soft snort.
But even though he had already spotted Xu Yan, he still pretended not to notice the watcher lurking in the shadows and continued walking.
"I saw through this sort of trick tens of thousands of years ago."
"Then your fourth Soul Ring..."
"No matter. It's a trivial matter. If we really can't find one with a suitable attribute, we'll just find a useful utility-type one."
With that, Qian Yuhan subtly changed direction and continued forward. This time, though, he really did intend to explore the area near the core.
And so, the man and the divine soul walked for another two and a half hours toward the core of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Compared to the mixed area, the vegetation here was even more luxuriant.
Between some towering ancient trees, the dense canopy was already making the forest feel gloomy and dark.
The life energy in the air was also much richer.
"We've reached the core area." The Rakshasa Phantom lowered its eyes and sensed the surroundings for a moment, then plunged right into the core area as casually as if nothing were amiss.
As everyone knew, the density of Soul Beasts in the core area was nowhere near the "vibrant life" and "all things vying to flourish" of the mixed area, where there was a beast every ten paces and a pack every hundred.
That was because the Soul Beasts capable of surviving in the core area were generally the pillars of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Most of them lived alone or in family units. Given their habits and cultivation, few lived in groups.
Some especially powerful Soul Beasts even carved out their own territories in the core area.
Anyone who dared enter their territory, whether human or Soul Beast, would be treated as an enemy and met with a vicious attack.
"Roar!"
A low growl rang out in the distance. Right after it came a "chee-roar" cry, far sharper than the mighty growl that had preceded it.
"Hmm?"
Qian Yuhan immediately stopped. He called the Rakshasa Divine Sense back and used a secret technique to borrow its spiritual power, probing in that direction.
As his spiritual power spread, the first thing to appear in Qian Yuhan's mind was a lion-like Soul Beast.
But judging by its size, the little fellow was, well, a bit on the "billion" side of miniature. It was just over a meter long and no more than sixty centimeters tall at the shoulder, even more petite than some pet dogs.
"Oh, so it's a Heaven-Shaking Hou. Its cultivation seems to be around thirty-three thousand years..."
The instant he saw the Heaven-Shaking Hou, Qian Yuhan was briefly dazed. A trace of nostalgia flickered in his eyes.
One of his nine Soul Rings back then had come from a Heaven-Shaking Hou.
It had been his fifth Soul Ring, and its Soul Skill was called Angel Roar. Not only did it have powerful area attacks, but it also offered impressive area control.
In other words, Angel Roar from the Heaven-Shaking Hou was a marvelous Soul Skill that combined control and assault.
Thinking of that, Qian Yuhan couldn't help growing curious about the Soul Beast that had gotten into a scrape with the Heaven-Shaking Hou. He paused, then extended his spiritual power farther.
Before long, another Soul Beast appeared in his mind, its fangs jutting out and its hideous face twisted into a snarl.
It was a whole size larger than the Heaven-Shaking Hou, with thick limbs and a strange build. It even looked a little like a dog.
But that ugly dog had no fur on its body like a normal beast. Instead, it was covered in silver-gray scales like a snake's.
"Is that... a Silver Hero Beast? With its reproductive rate, it still hasn't gone extinct? Tsk, what a strange thing!"
After sensing the commotion the two Soul Beasts were making, Qian Yuhan shook his head and said slowly, "From the way these two are acting, they're probably just facing off. I doubt they'll fight anytime soon."
"Roar—"
"Chee-roar!"
It was as if they were determined to prove Qian Yuhan wrong. As soon as he finished speaking, a sharp growl came from that direction, carried along by a deep, powerful roar.
Clearly, the Rakshasa Phantom could also tell that these all-bark-and-no-bite cowards were just shouting at each other from far apart, with no intention of fighting at all.
So, as a "legendary instigator," it struck without hesitation!
First, it used a couple of low-tier Soul Tools it had acquired through various channels over the past few years, hidden in the treetops, to fire twice at the Silver Hero Beast. Then it shot an energy shell at the hot-tempered Heaven-Shaking Hou.
In any case, no matter how the Rakshasa Phantom provoked them, the two Soul Beasts' brains—barely bigger than walnuts, with wrinkles like a ceramic teapot—chose to ignore what they couldn't understand.
Instead, their primitive code kicked in. They bared their teeth at each other and instinctively picked the neighbor they already couldn't stand as their enemy.
A few breaths later, the Rakshasa Phantom, having finished stirring up trouble, zipped out of the treetops like a flying cockroach.
It proudly pointed its thumb behind itself and took credit in front of Qian Yuhan.
"Done. Thanks to my peerless maneuvering, they've stopped thinking and started fighting. Let's find a place to hide. Once they've both been badly hurt, we can swoop in and reap the rewards. Heh heh heh!"
"Sounds good!"
As the saying went, only a fool would pass up something free, and only an idiot would turn down money.
Since he could be the fisherman who reaped the rewards without lifting a finger, Qian Yuhan naturally wasn't foolish enough to charge in and fight two Soul Beasts fair and square.
With the Rakshasa Phantom leading the way, Qian Yuhan lowered his body and silently made his way to a good spot downwind. From there, he could watch the two Soul Beasts tear into each other with his own eyes while staying out of sight.
The man and divine soul crouched in an inconspicuous corner, watching with keen interest as the large and small Soul Beasts threw punches at each other.
Before you continue