Ember's Flame Claw

As Combusken stood on guard, Ye Chen immediately rose to his feet, squinting as he looked ahead. Ten spirit masters dressed in the standard uniform of the Martial Soul Hall approached in unison, their footsteps rhythmic and their spirit power steady.

The captain leading them wore a cold expression, his three spirit rings—one white and two yellow—glowing quietly as his sharp gaze swept over them.

Beside this captain, Ye Chen instantly recognized an acquaintance. With his sword-like eyebrows and star-bright eyes, this was none other than Su Yuntao, the deacon of the Martial Soul Hall who had helped him awaken his martial soul back in Holy Soul Village.

Because the night was dark, Su Yuntao had not recognized him at first, but he froze in surprise once they drew closer.

Back at the Holy Soul Village awakening ceremony, two children had possessed both trash martial souls and Innate Full Soul Power, an impression that remained vivid for anyone.

And Ye Chen was the one who had awakened the mutated chicken martial soul capable of leaving its host's body.

Although Ye Chen had grown quite a bit since then, his handsome yet youthful features were still easy to identify.

"Captain, I know this child. He is the owner of the chicken martial soul with Innate Full Soul Power from Holy Soul Village. I was the one who helped him awaken it; leave this to me."

After reporting the situation to the captain, Su Yuntao walked toward Ye Chen and asked with surprise, "Child, why are you alone in the Core Zone of the Soul Hunting Forest? Shouldn't you have joined Nuoding Academy as a work-study student from Pallet Village?"

Seeing that Su Yuntao had recognized him, Ye Chen patted Combusken on the shoulder, signaling that everything was fine.

"Chamo!" Combusken nodded and silently retreated behind Ye Chen, though its sharp, spirited eyes remained fixed on the approaching Su Yuntao and the nine members of the Martial Soul Hall patrol team standing behind him.

"Master Su, long time no see. I didn't expect to run into you in the Soul Hunting Forest." Ye Chen bowed to Su Yuntao as he approached and asked in return, "Aren't you responsible for awakening martial souls in the various villages? Why are you here?"

"The task of awakening martial souls for the villages is once a year. Once I finish, I get assigned to the patrol team or other missions," Su Yuntao explained with a smile. "The soul beast resources in the Soul Hunting Forest are not entirely open to the public; only those with a permit can enter to hunt. Therefore, a patrol team must be on duty, especially at night. To prevent spirit masters without permits from poaching, we naturally have to increase our patrol intensity."

"But what about you, child? How did you end up in the Core Zone? You didn't sneak in, did you!"

Ye Chen replied calmly, "Dean Ding brought me to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain my First Soul Ring. After obtaining it, I wanted to stay behind to train on my own. The Dean agreed and gave me a pass."

With that, Ye Chen took the pass from his waist and handed it over.

After taking the pass and verifying it, Su Yuntao presented it to the captain for inspection.

A moment later, the captain nodded, and Su Yuntao returned the pass to Ye Chen, warning, "Child, this is the Core Zone. The soul beasts living here are generally over a hundred years in cultivation and are extremely dangerous. How could you dare to come here alone?"

"This is the Core Zone?" Ye Chen feigned shock and hurriedly explained, "I always thought this was the outer perimeter. Master Su, Combusken and I must have wandered in by mistake."

Hearing the word "Combusken," Su Yuntao finally noticed the creature standing behind Ye Chen. "This creature that looks both human and chicken—this must be the chicken martial soul you awakened back then, right?"

"Yes." Ye Chen glanced at Combusken behind him. "After absorbing my First Soul Ring, my Torchic martial soul evolved. I call it Combusken now."

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Su Yuntao but the captain and the other patrol members were shocked, and a stir went through the entire group.

Martial Soul Evolution?

Wasn't that something that only happened to high-level spirit masters?

Why would a child have such an opportunity?

The most surprised person of all was Su Yuntao.

When he had helped with the awakening, he had judged it a trash martial soul because of Torchic's small, weak appearance.

Now that it had evolved into Combusken, with its powerful arms, sturdy legs, human-like physique, and a sharp, hostile gaze, where was there any sign of weakness?

Even his own Lone Wolf martial soul would likely pale in comparison.

Observing Combusken's formidable physique, Su Yuntao quickly realized that he had misjudged it back then.

Innate Full Soul Power combined with Martial Soul Evolution—this was the top-tier talent among spirit masters!

Noticing the reproachful look from his captain, Su Yuntao felt embarrassed. He turned back to Ye Chen and smiled wryly, "Child, it seems I misjudged you back then."

"With your Innate Full Soul Power and a martial soul that can grow and evolve like a soul beast, you have immense potential. You would surely receive the best resources for cultivation in the Martial Soul Hall. How about it? Would you consider joining us?"

Ye Chen politely declined, "Master Su, I am already a student at Nuoding Academy; it wouldn't be convenient for me to join the Martial Soul Hall."

Hearing this, Su Yuntao nodded regretfully. "That is true. Even the Martial Soul Hall cannot poach students from an academy. I can only blame my own poor judgment."

"Regardless, child, lingering in the Core Zone is never safe. Since you wandered in by mistake, our patrol team can take you back to the outer perimeter."

"Remember, there are stone markers at the boundary between the Core Zone and the outer perimeter. Once you see a marker, do not continue forward, or you will wander into the Core Zone again."

After listening to this, Ye Chen agreed and said obediently, "I understand, Master Su. Thank you for the reminder."

"Mm, let's go."

"Alright."

Once both sides had settled the matter, Su Yuntao and the Martial Soul Hall patrol team escorted Ye Chen back to the outer perimeter.

After they had gone, Ye Chen and Combusken spent the night in the outer perimeter. The next day, he entered the Core Zone again, purposefully avoiding the routes taken by the Martial Soul Hall patrol team to continue hunting soul beasts.

As he ventured deeper into the Core Zone, the soul beasts he encountered were naturally of higher cultivation, mostly between four hundred and seven hundred years.

After days of practical combat and training, Combusken had fully adapted to its strengthened fire attribute and newly acquired fighting attribute.

With the boost from the fighting attribute, its combat techniques soared, and its Double Kick became significantly more powerful.

Combusken could easily defeat a four-hundred-year soul beast on its own.

When facing a seven-hundred-year soul beast, Ye Chen's strategy was to have Combusken stack its speed attribute ten times.

Under the Blaze state of its first spirit skill, as the speed attribute increased, the power of Combusken's fire-attribute skills also intensified. This made its Ember skill deal far more damage than its physical combat techniques.

By using Ember for long-range attrition and continuously stacking speed and fire damage, it was enough to defeat a seven-hundred-year soul beast.

Half a month passed quickly in this manner. Thanks to the feedback from combat experience, Ye Chen's spirit power surged wildly during Combusken's repeated battles with soul beasts, rising from its original twenty-second level to the twenty-fifth level.

Because its Soul Power Level had reached the requirements, Combusken had autonomously learned a skill called Slash.

As the name implies, Slash is a move that uses claws to strike the enemy; it possesses great power, has a high critical hit rate, and can take down an opponent in a single blow.

After confirming that Combusken possessed excellent learning capabilities, Ye Chen intended to teach it how to combine Fire-type soul power with the Slash skill, using the claws on its wings to create a self-styled move called Flame Claw.

If Combusken successfully mastered this skill, it would be able to fully capitalize on the benefits of its first soul skill, Blaze, which stacks the power of Fire-type moves.

With Ember for long-range attacks and Flame Claw for melee combat, Combusken would be able to rely on its extreme speed to unleash a highly explosive Fire-type combo.