The leading Iron-Armored Ox saw the three of them change direction and slowly circle around them. It snorted, then let out a low moo.
Ling Yun had his perception sharpened to its limit. He clearly saw every tiny change in the herd.
It was naked mockery and contempt.
As if they were saying, You two-legged brats, I'm standing right here. Can you even break through my defenses? Can you?
Ling Yun chose to ignore them. Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, with a few exceptions, had the intelligence of three-year-old children at best.
By the time they reached a thousand years, their intelligence generally matched that of human children around five or six. The stretch from a thousand to ten thousand years was a watershed, when Soul Beasts' intelligence rose dramatically.
Some Soul Beasts with racial advantages possessed wisdom no less than that of an average adult as soon as they reached ten thousand years. After fifty thousand years, virtually all Soul Beasts had intelligence on par with humans.
This herd of Iron-Armored Oxen were just a bunch of brats. There was no need to stoop to a child's level!
The three of them ignoring the oxen didn't bring peace. The herd had been far too comfortable, and now that they'd finally run into two-legged creatures, they were getting excited.
One of the oxen even charged right up to them, made a sharp turn like a charging bull, then raised its head and flicked its tail as it sauntered away.
Halfway back, it turned and glanced at the three of them.
Utterly arrogant.
After that ox, the one Su Yuntao had said was suitable for a First Soul Ring also charged over.
It circled the three of them twice, then lashed its tail at Su Yuntao like a steel whip.
The three of them had already been ready when the first ox charged. Su Yuntao swung the Mountain-Splitting Blade in his hand.
With a clang, the attack was blocked, sparks bursting from the point of impact.
Ling Yun got a clear look at the Iron-Armored Ox's defensive strength.
It hadn't even lost a single hair. If the blade in Su Yuntao's hand hadn't been good quality, it would probably have been nicked.
"Moo!"
The Iron-Armored Ox turned its head, its eyes full of contempt. Its mocking expression was so vivid, its mouth even curling in a humanlike sneer. It didn't need to say a word; anyone with a shred of sense could see it.
"How arrogant! That's just too much!" Sisi had a short fuse, and it took only a spark to set her off. She activated her Martial Soul at once.
"Sisi, don't be impulsive!"
"They outnumber us, so we shouldn't get bogged down here." Su Yuntao was very levelheaded. Their Soul Power was still abundant, but even so, they couldn't kill the Iron-Armored Ox in a short time.
Once they attacked, the rest of the Iron-Armored Oxen would swarm them. Most likely, they'd end up wasting their Soul Power for nothing and gain nothing in return.
In Soul Hunting Forest, it was best to avoid this kind of thankless effort whenever possible.
"I can't take it anymore!"
After activating her Martial Soul, Sisi held a soft whip in her hand. Two Soul Rings, one white and one yellow, slowly revolved beneath her feet.
"First Soul Skill, Flame Whip!"
Seeing this, Su Yuntao led Ling Yun out of the fight and watched the battle.
The Flame Whip cracked through the air with a sharp report, lashing hard across the Iron-Armored Ox's body.
Sisi's furious strike had a pretty good effect. After all, she was a Soul Grandmaster now.
By the standard used to compare Soul Masters and Soul Beasts, her strength matched that of Soul Beasts over five hundred years old but under a thousand.
That comparison was quite inflated, though. Under normal circumstances, a Soul Master facing a Soul Beast of comparable strength would most likely be at a disadvantage. But this annoying ox was only a little over three hundred years old, and its defenses weren't all that impressive.
The Flame Whip left a welt on its backside, its fur singed and giving off a scorched stench.
"Let's see you act arrogant now!"
"Let's see you keep being a pest!"
"You've got an itch on your hide, and you're begging for a whipping!"
With every line Sisi shouted, she landed another lash on the Iron-Armored Ox. It mooed in pain.
After several lashes struck the same spot, even its tough hide couldn't hold up. The skin split, the flesh tore, and the wound was charred in places as blood streamed down.
For an ox as large as this, the injury was only minor. But if the battle dragged on, it was sure to be the one that died.
The blazing whip was exceptionally nimble in Sisi's hands. Another sharp crack split the air. The whip swept up from below and struck between the Iron-Armored Ox's hind legs. It let out a scream of agony.
The Iron-Armored Ox stopped being a pest and went berserk instead.
An ox could be killed, but it could not be humiliated.
The Iron-Armored Ox whipped around. Soul Power surged toward its horns and all four hooves, then it launched into a Savage Charge.
Its Soul-Power-charged horns radiated a dangerous aura, gleaming with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.
The Iron-Armored Ox aimed its horns at Sisi. Its hooves kicked up great clods of dirt as it charged like a small mountain racing at high speed.
At full charge, the Iron-Armored Ox couldn't turn nimbly.
Sisi made a nimble sidestep and seized the chance to activate her second Soul Skill. The flames surged higher. With her First Soul Skill, only the soft whip had been wreathed in fire; now, the whip's original shape was no longer visible.
At that moment, what Sisi held was a whip made of magma.
The Iron-Armored Ox's Savage Charge couldn't hit her at all. Sisi twisted in midair and lashed it across the back, leaving a deep wound.
The Iron-Armored Ox cried out in pain, and its control over its footing grew even worse. It charged straight ahead, its horns smashing into a tree so wide that a person could barely wrap their arms around it.
Its horns easily pierced through the trunk. As the Iron-Armored Ox tossed its head, the tree snapped in two.
In the distance, the herd began to stir as well. The leading Iron-Armored Ox let out a moo. At its command, all the others lined up in perfect formation, stamping their hooves restlessly.
Their Soul Power gathered around their horns and all four hooves, too.
"Moo!"
At the sound of a single bellow, the entire herd charged together. Dirt flew, the ground trembled, and the small animals nearby scattered. A few bolder ones watched from afar.
"Sisi, the herd's gone berserk! Fall back!"
Sisi had been completely focused on whipping the Iron-Armored Ox. At Su Yuntao's shout, she turned and saw the herd charging toward them.
Reason told her to retreat at once, but she was full of reluctance. Give her ten more seconds, and she could make this annoying ox lose its ability to fight. Then the herd wouldn't keep guarding it.
A crippled ox could only wait to die!
She made up her mind to badly injure the Iron-Armored Ox in front of her before retreating. Once the herd dispersed, she could come back and finish it off.
That would secure Ling Yun's Soul Ring!
"Ten seconds! Give me ten seconds and I'll make it lose its ability to fight!"
"We'll retreat in ten seconds! Then Xiao Yun will have his First Soul Ring."
Su Yuntao understood Sisi's plan, too. Xiao Yun, stay here and watch. Keep yourself safe.
"Lone Wolf, possess me!"
Su Yuntao charged out without hesitation, straight toward the herd. His goal was to buy time.
"Second Soul Skill, Wolf King Roar!"
Su Yuntao went all out from the start. A piercing wolf howl swept toward the herd.
With the boost of his twenty-sixth-level Soul Power, the Wolf King's predatory pressure bore down on the herd.
All but the leading Iron-Armored Ox and two others, whose horns were over forty centimeters long, faltered for a moment.
The Iron-Armored Oxen that hadn't yet reached a hundred years old turned and fled at once.
It was their clan instinct, a response to the threat of the wolf pack written into their blood.
Seeing the two of them giving it their all, Ling Yun didn't just stand there watching. He summoned his Martial Soul. "Brother Tao, Sis Sisi! I'm coming to help!"
The laws of the Douluo Continent restrained the growth of his Soul Power, but they had no effect on his mental strength or physique.
Holding the Yin-Yang Mirror, he sent out rays of red light that struck the herd. He used his mental power to drive the Yin-Yang Mirror's attack.
The herd saw a world awash in blood.
Dark-red chains crisscrossed, binding their souls. This was one of the Yin-Yang Mirror's yin-side powers, an attack that acted directly on the soul.
"Soul-Locking Light!"
After that move, Ling Yun's face visibly paled. The effect was striking: all the oxen's limbs stiffened. The ones charging fastest toppled to the ground under their own momentum.
Sisi and Su Yuntao were stunned.
Then they noticed his condition. "Xiao Yun, how are you? Is it serious?"
"I'm fine, just a little drained."
"Brother Tao, Sis Sisi, finish them off quickly! I can't hold them for long. I'll recover for a bit!"
Before you continue