Ye Chen and Combusken

After searching through the Blazing Bird's corpse for quite a while, Ye Chen still couldn't find any bone-like object containing Soul Power. It seemed the Blazing Bird hadn't produced a Soul Bone when it died.

That was only to be expected. If a six-hundred-year Soul Beast could yield a Soul Bone, then Soul Bones would be incredibly rare by any measure.

After finishing with the Blazing Bird's corpse, Ye Chen packed up a few pieces of Soul Beast meat and left.

He wasn't sure whether Dean Ding had really left or was hiding nearby and watching him, so for today, he decided to wander around the Outer Zone of the Soul Hunting Forest and wait until tomorrow to enter the Core Zone and fight Soul Beasts.

Besides concealing the Blazing Bird's true cultivation, Ye Chen had also hidden his real reason for staying in the Soul Hunting Forest from Dean Ding.

He was indeed fighting Soul Beasts to gain practical experience. But unlike other Soul Masters, battle experience would feed back into his cultivation, allowing him to convert that practical experience into increased Soul Power.

Ye Chen planned to grind levels by fighting Hundred-Year Soul Beasts in the Core Zone of the Soul Hunting Forest. His Soul Power was currently at level twenty-two, and he intended to return to Nuoding Academy once he had raised it to level thirty.

By then, he could ask Dean Ding for permission to graduate early. With level-thirty Soul Power strengthening his Body Martial Soul and Combusken fighting by his side, he should be able to obtain his Second Soul Ring on his own.

With that plan in mind, Ye Chen spent the day in the Outer Zone. Generally speaking, Hundred-Year Soul Beasts rarely appeared there, and four-hundred-year Soul Beasts like the Datura Snake were even rarer.

Perhaps it was fate that brought Tang San and Yu Xiaogang across a four-hundred-year Datura Snake in the Outer Zone—and that the Soul Beast happened to be perfectly suited to become Tang San's First Soul Ring.

Ye Chen spent the whole day in the Outer Zone without finding more than a few Hundred-Year Soul Beasts. Combusken only fought Soul Beasts that looked particularly large, and the battle experience fed back from those fights had little effect.

It wasn't until nightfall that Ye Chen took Combusken into the Core Zone of the Soul Hunting Forest. They soon encountered several defensive Soul Beasts like the Iron-Armored Rhino, as well as swift attackers like the Ghost Tiger. Their cultivation ranged from around one hundred to three hundred years.

If Torchic had faced these Soul Beasts, it might have been outmatched by their size. Its Fighting techniques might not have broken through the Iron-Armored Rhino's defenses or caught up to the Ghost Tiger's speed, either.

But Combusken was different. It had grown larger and more humanlike, and all its attributes had increased substantially.

In particular, being a Shiny Pokemon doubled all its attributes. After it evolved, every attribute boost was doubled as well.

Its Jolly Nature had also maxed out its speed potential, and the Blazing Bird's Soul Ring had strengthened both its speed and leg power. Taken together, these advantages meant Combusken could, even in its normal state, kick hard enough to shatter the Iron-Armored Rhino's defenses and move fast enough to easily catch up to a Ghost Tiger.

After defeating those Soul Beasts, Combusken gained a clearer understanding of its current strength. Meanwhile, thanks to the battle experience fed back to him, Ye Chen's Soul Power increased by a considerable amount.

He hadn't gained a full level outright, but at this rate, he would reach the level-thirty bottleneck in less than a month.

Fortunately, defeating Soul Beasts was enough to gain the benefits of battle experience; there was no need to kill them. This not only solved the problem of slaughtering Soul Beasts, but also let Combusken fight the same Soul Beast every day.

As they searched for Soul Beasts to grind levels in the Core Zone, Ye Chen carefully observed the habits of every Soul Beast around them. Before he knew it, another day had passed.

As the sunset faded, night descended.

Just as Dean Ding had said, when spending the night in a place filled with the presence of Soul Beasts, one must never start a fire casually, lest it attract their attention.

However, if one was strong enough, all such taboos could be ignored.

Even in its normal state, Combusken could completely overpower superior Soul Beasts with three hundred years of cultivation. After being boosted by its First Soul Skill, Blaze, and its Speed Boost Ability, it would have no trouble fighting even a six-hundred-year Soul Beast.

So long as Ye Chen made sure his Soul Power was sufficient and Combusken was in good condition, he wasn't afraid to start a fire in the Core Zone and attract Soul Beasts.

Besides, the Soul Beast meat he had cut from the Blazing Bird's corpse last night needed to be roasted over a fire before it could be eaten.

Finding a spot near a water source, Ye Chen began scattering sulfur powder and insect repellent around the tree where he planned to spend the night.

Combusken piled up the dry branches it had gathered, then lit them with its Ember skill.

Unfortunately, the boost to its Fire-type power from evolving had made its Ember skill even stronger. Countless tiny flames burst from its pointed beak, instantly turning the pile of firewood on the ground to ash.

Seeing this, Ye Chen shook his index finger and teased, "Combusken, no, that's not how you start a fire. It looks like you still haven't learned to control your strengthened Fire-type power. Good thing I didn't ask you to roast the meat with Ember, or my dinner would've turned to charcoal."

"Actually, controlling your breath is simple. Try taking a deep breath, then exerting force from your dantian as you slowly breathe out. Once you've exhaled completely, breathe in again and exhale the same way. Keep repeating it, and you'll soon learn to control your breath."

Having finished scattering the insect repellent, Ye Chen rubbed his stomach and explained, "Your dantian is generally around your abdomen. Think about it: whenever you use Ember, don't you feel Fire-type energy rising from your abdomen? If you consciously control that feeling, you should be able to learn how to exert force from your dantian."

"Chamo—" Combusken answered. Then it opened its pointed beak, took a deep breath, and tried to exert force from its dantian as it slowly breathed out.

Seeing how intently it was practicing, Ye Chen didn't disturb it. He went to gather more firewood, started a fire, then set the prepared Soul Beast meat over the flames to roast.

After a long while, several skewers of meat were ready, with no oil or seasoning added.

Ye Chen hadn't expected to stay in the Soul Hunting Forest to train, so he hadn't brought any seasonings. He would just have to make do.

After practicing how to exert force from its dantian, Combusken sat with Ye Chen in front of the fire and ate the roasted meat. Ye Chen told it all kinds of practical things, such as how it should always stay alert when going to the river for a drink, because a Water-type Soul Beast might be lurking nearby.

Combusken listened with rapt attention. It seemed to be better at thinking and learning after evolving than it had been as Torchic, and it was intensely curious about everything.

And so, beneath the bright moon, the nighttime fire cast the shadows of Ye Chen and Combusken across the forest floor. A man and a chicken ate roasted meat and chatted, getting along remarkably well.

Just then, the sound of orderly footsteps drew closer and closer. As soon as Ye Chen and Combusken sensed an approaching aura of Soul Power, a sudden voice rang out. "What are you doing here?"

A second before the voice sounded, Combusken had already entered battle mode. It sprang up from in front of the fire, flashed into place, and shielded Ye Chen behind it, staring fixedly toward the direction from which the voice had come.