Golden Armored Rock Ox

The next day, after a simple wash, Lin Beiya arrived at the Angel Temple once again.

Falling Devil Douluo, with whom he had crossed paths a few times, had already been waiting there for quite a while.

"Ready? Then let's set off."

"Sorry for the trouble, Seventh Elder."

"No trouble at all. I think highly of you, kid—you'd better make me proud!"

During his first soul hunt, the cautious Yu Lin had chosen to travel by carriage to maintain his peak state against potential dangers within the Star Dou Forest.

Falling Devil, however, was clearly more confident in his own strength and hadn't even considered taking a carriage.

He flashed in front of Lin Beiya, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and took flight toward the Star Dou Forest.

"Uh... excuse me, Senior!"

"What is it? Don't tell me you're afraid of heights."

"That's not it, but could we perhaps use a more gentle way of carrying me?"

Lin Beiya pointed wordlessly at the hand gripping his collar, signaling for the other to find a different way to carry him.

Falling Devil raised an eyebrow but didn't refuse. With a single-handed gesture, his Coiling Dragon Staff appeared, instantly expanding into a cylinder large enough for two feet to stand upon.

"You're quite the handful, aren't you? Get on."

"Hehe, many thanks, Senior."

The two jumped onto the Coiling Dragon Staff, and under the control of Falling Devil's soul power, they sped toward the Star Dou Forest.

"Do you have a target soul beast for your second soul ring?"

"I need a Golden Armored Rock Ox with a thousand-year cultivation."

Falling Devil thought to himself that it was just as he expected. He truly admired Lin Beiya's ambition; if he put himself in the boy's shoes, he wouldn't have dared to aim for a thousand-year soul ring at level 20.

"Fine, then we shall hunt for this Golden Armored Rock Ox."

After spending a day reaching the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest, Falling Devil didn't even suggest a rest, leading Lin Beiya directly into the woods.

"This isn't your first time hunting for souls, so don't stray too far from me."

"I understand, Senior."

With the Aries Gold Cloth manifested, Lin Beiya closed his eyes and followed closely at Falling Devil's side.

As large herbivorous soul beasts, the best way to track the Golden Armored Rock Ox was to head toward areas with dense vegetation. Both of them reached the same conclusion, and after orienting themselves, they headed toward the east side of the forest.

"Your senses are truly impressive, kid. You must have put in a lot of work."

"Yes, I have been intentionally training my abilities in this area."

Falling Devil watched Lin Beiya, who moved as if on flat ground despite his closed eyes, and felt a surge of admiration.

He wasn't like that naive little angel who thought sharp senses were useless to a soul master; as long as Lin Beiya didn't neglect his cultivation, it was fine.

"Don't neglect your cultivation, though. No matter how sharp your senses are, they must be backed by formidable strength."

"I understand. Soul power is the foundation of a soul master."

During their conversation, several wolf-type soul beasts appeared before them—a pack of Nether Wolves led by a century-old alpha.

With just a single glance, the alpha realized that the Falling Devil before them was not someone they could afford to provoke. With a howl, the pack quickly dove into the brush and vanished.

"They know when to back down."

The soul rings of the Nether Wolves were useless to them, and if possible, they didn't want to kill needlessly. The beasts retreating was exactly what they wanted.

Lin Beiya's ears twitched constantly, capturing every movement from kilometers, even tens of kilometers away.

After walking nearly a hundred kilometers, Lin Beiya successfully picked up the sound of flowing water.

"Senior, there is a stream five kilometers ahead. Shall we go there and lie in wait for the Golden Armored Rock Ox?"

Falling Devil stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and agreed with Lin Beiya's suggestion. Rather than searching blindly, it was better to wait at a place the Golden Armored Rock Ox was bound to visit. As for the stream Lin Beiya mentioned, he had no doubts; the boy had already proven the excellence of his senses along the way.

"Very well, let's wait by the water."

They walked a few kilometers in the direction Lin Beiya pointed until a moderately wide river appeared before them. After surveying the surroundings, they chose a giant tree on the opposite bank as their vantage point.

Carrying Lin Beiya up to the branches, Falling Devil sat cross-legged immediately.

"This will do. Good visibility, and the position is well-hidden."

Sitting cross-legged as well, Lin Beiya naturally had no objections. The two figures, one large and one small, patiently began to cultivate on the branch dozens of meters above the ground.

Various soul beasts came to the riverbank to drink from time to time. Whenever a carnivorous soul beast passed by, the herbivores would hide far away, only returning to drink once the predator had left.

From this perspective, soul beasts were no different from ordinary animals; they, too, had their own food chain.

None of these beasts were Lin Beiya's targets, and neither of them wanted to startle the prey. When night fell, they ate some dry rations on the branch, displaying extraordinary patience.

Hard work pays off. After nearly ten hours of waiting on the branch, three figures—two large and one small—slowly appeared in their line of sight.

"They're here."

"Hmm, the male's cultivation is nearly 1,500 years, which isn't suitable for you. That small one has less than 200 years, also unsuitable. Only that cow is near 1,100 years of cultivation. What do you think? Want to give it a try?"

The soul beast walking toward them was the very target of their journey: a family of three Golden Armored Rock Oxen.

Although their skin was golden-yellow, the markings on a century-old Golden Armored Rock Ox were arc-shaped, while those on a millennium-level beast resembled auspicious clouds.

Looking closely, the bull had exactly five auspicious cloud-shaped markings on its body, which was likely the basis for Falling Devil to judge their cultivation.

Without hesitation, Lin Beiya cast a firm look toward Falling Devil.

"I want that one, the one approaching 1,100 years of cultivation."

"Very well."

Having said all he could to persuade him, Falling Devil knew he could not change Lin Beiya's mind and stopped wasting words. At worst, if a problem arose during the spirit ring absorption, he would intervene immediately to interrupt the process; this was the very reason Qian Daoliu had sent him.

Lin Beiya had no intention of dealing with the soul beast himself. As this was his first time absorbing a spirit ring that exceeded the theoretical limit, he needed to keep himself in peak condition at all times.

Falling Devil's speed was immense, and in an instant, he appeared above the family of Golden Armored Rock Oxen. A terrifying surge of soul power poured down, pinning the father and son oxen to the ground, unable to move.

Following this, Falling Devil knocked the cow unconscious with a single strike of his staff, enveloped it in soul power, and reappeared upon the tree trunk.

"Let's go, let's find another place. There are too many soul beasts passing through here."

Grabbing Lin Beiya by the back of his collar, Falling Devil flew rapidly toward the outer perimeter of the forest, leaving only the mournful cries of the father and son oxen behind.

"Moo!!"

Arriving at a remote area on the outskirts where soul beasts were rare, Falling Devil tossed the unconscious Golden Armored Rock Ox down, creating a large crater in the ground.

"Come, I will interrupt your absorption of the spirit ring the moment you can no longer hold on."

"I understand."

Slowly walking up to the cow, Lin Beiya extended his fingers toward its eye sockets, and Starlight Extinction was instantly activated.

Under the surge of starlight, the ox's body trembled for a moment before it completely lost its life, and a pale purple spirit ring slowly rose from the corpse.

After exchanging a glance with Falling Devil, Lin Beiya sat cross-legged on the ground to adjust his breathing before releasing his martial soul, the Divine Statue, to begin drawing in the spirit ring.