As Combusken stayed on guard, Ye Chen immediately rose to his feet and narrowed his eyes toward the way ahead. Ten Soul Masters in the standard uniforms of Spirit Hall strode toward them, their steps orderly and their Soul Power steady.
The captain at their head wore a stern expression. Three Soul Rings—one white and two yellow—quietly lit up around him as his sharp gaze swept over them.
At the captain's side, Ye Chen recognized a familiar face at a glance. With sword-like brows and bright eyes, it was Su Yuntao, the Spirit Hall deacon who had helped awaken Ye Chen's Martial Soul in Holy Soul Village.
The night was dark, and Su Yuntao didn't recognize him at first. Only after coming closer did he suddenly freeze.
Back when the Martial Souls had been awakened in Holy Soul Village, two children had both possessed Trash Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power. Anyone would remember that.
And Ye Chen was the one who had awakened a mutant chicken Martial Soul that could leave its host's body.
Though Ye Chen had grown quite a bit since then, his handsome yet youthful appearance was still easy to recognize.
"Captain, I know this boy. He's the chicken Martial Soul owner from Holy Soul Village who had Innate Full Soul Power. I awakened his Martial Soul myself. Leave this to me."
After reporting the situation to the captain beside him, Su Yuntao walked over to Ye Chen and asked in surprise, "Child, why are you alone in the Core Zone of Soul Hunting Forest? Shouldn't you have joined Nuoding Academy as a work-study student from Pallet Village?"
Seeing that Su Yuntao recognized him, Ye Chen patted Combusken on the shoulder and gestured that everything was fine.
"Chamo!" Combusken nodded and silently stepped behind Ye Chen, but its bright eyes remained fixed on Su Yuntao as he approached, as well as the nine Spirit Hall patrol members standing behind him.
"Master Su, it's been a long time. I didn't expect to run into you in Soul Hunting Forest." Ye Chen cupped his hands in greeting, then asked, "Weren't you in charge of awakening Martial Souls in the villages? What brings you here?"
"The village awakening assignments only come once a year. Once I'm done, I'm transferred to the patrol team or assigned other duties," Su Yuntao explained with a smile. "The Soul Beasts in Soul Hunting Forest aren't completely open to the public. Only those with permits can come in to hunt them, so patrol teams have to stand watch. Especially at night, we have to step up our patrols to stop Soul Masters without permits from poaching Soul Beasts."
"But you, child—why are you in the Core Zone? You didn't sneak in, did you?"
Ye Chen answered calmly, "Dean Ding brought me to Soul Hunting Forest to obtain my First Soul Ring. After I got it, I wanted to stay behind and 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.
Su Yuntao took the pass, confirmed it was genuine, then presented it to the captain for inspection.
A moment later, the captain nodded. Only then did Su Yuntao return the pass to Ye Chen, reminding him, "Child, this is the Core Zone. The Soul Beasts living here are almost all over a hundred years old. It's extremely dangerous. How dare you come here alone?"
"This is the Core Zone?" Ye Chen feigned surprise and hurried to explain, "I always thought this was the Outer Zone. Master Su, Combusken and I wandered in here by mistake."
Hearing the name "Combusken," Su Yuntao finally noticed the creature standing behind Ye Chen. "This humanoid, chicken-like creature must be the chicken Martial Soul you awakened back then, right?"
"That's right." Ye Chen glanced at Combusken behind him. "After absorbing my First Soul Ring, my Torchic Martial Soul evolved. I call it Combusken now."
At those words, not only Su Yuntao but also the captain and the other patrol members were stunned. The whole group broke into an uproar.
Martial Soul Evolution?
Wasn't that something only high-level Soul Masters could possibly experience?
How had a child been so lucky?
The most astonished person there was still Su Yuntao.
When he had helped awaken Ye Chen's Martial Soul, he had judged it to be a Trash Martial Soul because Torchic looked like a tiny, frail chick.
Now that it had evolved into Combusken, with those powerful arms, agile legs, humanlike build, and fierce, keep-your-distance gaze, how could it still look weak?
Compared with it, even his own Lone Wolf Martial Soul would probably fall short.
As he studied Combusken's powerful physique, Su Yuntao quickly realized he had been blind to its true potential back then.
Innate Full Soul Power combined with Martial Soul Evolution—among Soul Masters, that was the very peak of talent!
Noticing the captain's reproachful gaze, Su Yuntao wore an embarrassed expression. He turned to Ye Chen and gave a wry smile. "Child, it seems I misjudged you back then."
"You have Innate Full Soul Power, and your Martial Soul can grow and evolve just like a Soul Beast. That means your potential is enormous. In the future, you'd receive the finest resources and training in Spirit Hall. How about it? Would you consider joining us?"
Ye Chen politely declined. "Master Su, I'm already a student at Nuoding Academy. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to join Spirit Hall."
Hearing this, Su Yuntao nodded with regret. "That's true. Even Spirit Hall can't poach students from an academy. I can only blame myself for being blind back then."
"Child, no matter what, it's not safe to linger in the Core Zone. Since you wandered in by mistake, our patrol team can escort you back to the Outer Zone."
"Remember, stone markers warn you where the Core Zone borders the Outer Zone. When you see one, don't go any farther, or you might wander into the Core Zone again."
After hearing him out, Ye Chen agreed and replied obediently, "I understand, Master Su. Thank you for the warning."
"Good. Let's go."
"All right."
Once they had reached an agreement, Su Yuntao and the Spirit Hall patrol team escorted Ye Chen back to the Outer Zone.
After they had gone far away, Ye Chen and Combusken spent the night in the Outer Zone. The next day, he entered the Core Zone again, deliberately avoiding the patrol team's usual routes, and continued searching for Soul Beasts to fight.
The deeper he went into the Core Zone, the higher the Soul Beasts' cultivation levels became, mostly ranging from four hundred to seven hundred years.
After days of real combat and practice, Combusken had fully adapted to its more powerful Fire-type abilities and its newly acquired Fighting type.
With its Fighting-type attribute boosting it, its fighting skills had soared, and Double Kick made all its kicking techniques far more powerful.
Combusken could easily defeat a four-hundred-year Soul Beast all by itself.
Against a seven-hundred-year Soul Beast, Ye Chen's strategy was to have Combusken stack its Speed attribute ten times first.
While its First Soul Skill, Blaze, was active, increasing its Speed attribute also increased the power of its Fire-type skills. As a result, its Ember skill dealt far more damage than its Fighting-type moves.
By wearing down its opponent from a distance with Ember and continuously stacking Speed and fire damage, Combusken could defeat a seven-hundred-year Soul Beast.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Thanks to the benefits of battle experience feeding back to Ye Chen, his Soul Power surged with every fight Combusken had against Soul Beasts. His Soul Power Level had risen from level twenty-two to level twenty-five.
Now that his Soul Power Level had met the requirement, Combusken had learned a skill called "Slash" on its own.
Just as the name suggested, Slash was a move in which it struck an enemy with its claws. It was powerful, likely to hit a vital spot, and could take an enemy down in a single blow.
After confirming that Combusken had an excellent ability to learn, Ye Chen planned to teach it to use Fire-type Soul Power with Slash, combining the claws on its wing-arms to create a new skill called "Flame Claw."
If Combusken successfully learned the skill, it would be able to fully unleash the benefits of using its First Soul Skill, Blaze, to increase the power of its Fire-type skills.
With Ember for long-range attacks and Flame Claw for close combat, Combusken could also use its extreme speed to unleash a highly explosive series of Fire-type attacks.
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