For no particular reason, as if he had suddenly thought of something important, Qian Yuhan turned to look at the Rakshasa Phantom lying beside him in the grass and asked softly, "Speaking of which, are sound-wave attacks a threat to you when you're in spirit form?"
"Uh... not really." The Rakshasa Phantom blinked, then furrowed his brow. "Why are you suddenly asking me that?"
"Just wondered, that's all. There might be 'a tiny bit of noise' here in a moment, so I thought I'd give you a heads-up. Hope you're prepared."
As he spoke, Qian Yuhan, whose knowledge of Soul Beasts was extensive, used Soul Power to block most of his hearing, minimizing the harm he might suffer from the Soul Skill about to hit.
Sure enough, the moment Qian Yuhan finished blocking his hearing, a thunderous roar burst from the Heaven-Shaking Hou.
The instant that earth-shaking roar sounded, an incomparably powerful shock wave erupted several hundred meters away from the man and spirit.
Its terrifying sound waves ravaged the forest for nearly five seconds before finally subsiding.
"Good grief... How can something that tiny have such a... huge voice?!"
Even from several hundred meters away, being suddenly blasted by the Heaven-Shaking Hou's roar gave Rakshasa Yuhan quite a scare. Though he was in spirit form and immune to most energy attacks, the shock wave still startled him badly.
If Qian Yuhan hadn't held him back, he would've nearly leaped out of their hiding place in the bushes and smacked the Heaven-Shaking Hou a few times, just to ask what it was shouting so loudly for!
"Don't worry, there's another round coming." Qian Yuhan pushed the Rakshasa Phantom back into the bushes, then pointed at the Silver Hero "loser" sprawled on the ground, half-dead. "Don't let its dying look fool you. That Silver Hero Beast is sharp as a tack. It's just waiting for the Heaven-Shaking Hou to let its guard down and come closer."
"So this thing called a Silver Hero Beast has a really cheap ability, huh?!"
"Yep. Just keep watching."
Sure enough, convinced that its earlier roar had given it the upper hand, the Heaven-Shaking Hou bounded over to the Silver Hero Beast and brought its paw down.
With a muffled thud, the Silver Hero Beast flew backward like a kite with its string cut. It crashed through two trees before tumbling to a stop on the ground.
"Roar—"
Apparently intent on putting an end to this sudden "territorial dispute" once and for all, the Heaven-Shaking Hou let out a piercing shriek. Its body turned into a streak of light as it opened its jaws and lunged at the Silver Hero Beast, aiming for its throat.
If that bite landed, the Silver Hero Beast would be as good as dead.
But just then, the Silver Hero Beast, which had been lying motionless on the ground, suddenly rolled over and sprang back to its feet.
Its body was still unsteady, and blood trickled from its nose and mouth, but its eyes remained calm, even carrying a hint of savagery and cruelty.
As the Heaven-Shaking Hou closed in, a strange light suddenly flared around the Silver Hero Beast. A faint phantom flickered behind it.
The phantom looked just like the Heaven-Shaking Hou, which had seized the upper hand earlier with its ridiculously loud voice!
As the faint phantom vanished behind the Silver Hero Beast, a furious roar and shock wave once again swept across the already ravaged forest.
In an instant, countless blades of grass were flung skyward by the shock wave. Leaves and snapped branches rained down from the crowns of the towering trees.
Without a doubt, the Heaven-Shaking Hou was unfamiliar with a rare Soul Beast like the nearly extinct Silver Hero Beast, and it had dominated their earlier fight.
With intelligence on par with a ripe banana, it could never have imagined that its proudest innate ability would one day be unleashed by the opponent fighting it for its territory.
Caught completely off guard, it just stood there like an idiot and took the full force of its own signature move.
All Qian Yuhan could say was that the Heaven-Shaking Hou was a legendary glutton.
You greedy beast, go on, eat it all! Who could possibly outcompete you?
Under that terrifying sonic assault, the "legendary glutton" Heaven-Shaking Hou shot straight up into the air, then dropped to the ground with a thump after flying a long way.
More importantly, after slamming its head hard into the earth, its tiny body went from rigid to rolling helplessly across the ground.
To use the Rakshasa Phantom's very fashionable terminology, the Heaven-Shaking Hou's current condition could only be called... breakdancing.
Yes, that was it. Breakdancing.
In any case, after that spectacular final dance, there was no chance the Heaven-Shaking Hou could muster its strength and get back up to fight.
Why, it probably couldn't even decide when it would "burn out" and drop dead from blood loss.
"Now's the time. If we wait any longer, the Heaven-Shaking Hou will bleed to death even if the Silver Hero Beast doesn't finish it off. Leave the Silver Hero Beast to you. Use the special ability of your Rakshasa Demon Scythe to store this Soul Ring and save it for your fifth one."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Yuhan leaped out of the bushes. The golden angel wings on his back, brimming with a rich aura of light, snapped open in midair.
He simply gave his wings one flap, and in the blink of an eye, he was a hundred meters away.
"Hmph! You think you're the only one who can fly? Rakshasa Martial Soul's third Soul Skill, Shadow-Piercing Shift!"
The moment he finished speaking, the Rakshasa Phantom unleashed his powerful third Soul Skill, appearing from the shadow beneath Qian Yuhan.
Barely keeping up with Qian Yuhan's high-speed flight, the Rakshasa Phantom flew alongside him, glaring fiercely at him in displeasure. "Hold on, how did you know I could store a Soul Ring in the Rakshasa Demon Scythe and save it for later? I'm pretty sure I never told you that!"
"Could it be that I have eyes of my own and know how to use them?" Qian Yuhan pursed his lips, as if his intelligence had just been insulted, and replied impatiently, "Didn't you do exactly that when you linked your Second Soul Ring to your third?"
"What?! I did that?!" The Rakshasa Phantom was shocked and hurriedly grabbed Qian Yuhan's sleeve. "Yuhan, you've read a lot, and you're devious. Please don't lie to me!"
Qian Yuhan: "?!" No, seriously? You're a divine sense of the Evil God, and you're calling me devious... isn't that a bit much?
Qian Yuhan nearly lost it and swore out loud, but on the surface, he merely sighed and gave the hapless fool, who was "dumb as a post but thought himself clever," a tactful reply.
"Come on, with your brilliant mind, do you really think I could fool you? Hurry up, before that Silver Hero Beast gets away!"
Before you continue