Dugu Bo stood up and said calmly, "Then I'll help you all the way. I don't usually live in Heaven Dou City, but in Sunset Forest. I once spotted a Dark Night Fierce Mantis with a cultivation base of over a thousand years. It has the Darkness Attribute and a trace of the Death Attribute, so it should suit you. The sun's about to set, so the timing's just right. How about I help you hunt a Soul Beast?"
Xing Tian felt that something was off about Dugu Bo. He seemed a little too eager.
But Ye Renxin had said that Dugu Bo did as he pleased, and some of his behavior simply couldn't be judged by ordinary standards.
Besides, a Titled Douluo was offering to help of his own accord. Xing Tian couldn't slight him or make things difficult for Ye Renxin.
"Thank you for your help, Your Excellency Dugu. Sorry for the trouble."
"Brother Ye, I'll take him to Sunset Forest, then. Yanyan, look after him for me."
Dugu Bo turned to Dugu Yan and added, "Yanyan, behave yourself and don't cause him any trouble."
"I know, Grandpa."
Dugu Yan stuck out her lower lip and muttered under her breath, "Grandpa really looks down on me."
Dugu Bo turned around, grabbed Xing Tian by the shoulder, and shot away as a streak of dark green light.
In less than the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Dugu Bo had landed with Xing Tian. They were already in Sunset Forest, and Xing Tian took a moment to steady his slightly unsettled breathing.
Dugu Bo praised him. "For your first high-speed flight without a Soul Ring, you're only a little uncomfortable, and you've recovered this quickly. Very impressive."
"Thank you for the praise, Senior. But Sunset Forest is so vast—how are we supposed to find the Dark Night Fierce Mantis?"
Dugu Bo was confident, but a strange smile curled his lips. "The Dark Night Fierce Mantis has a peculiar habit: it only comes out after sunset, and it feeds exclusively on Soul Beasts or Soul Masters with the Light or Darkness Attribute."
Xing Tian cried out in surprise, "You mean... you're not going to use me as bait, are you?"
"Correct! So, are you doing it or not?"
Dugu Bo spoke in a mocking, sing-song tone. "If you won't, the Dark Night Fierce Mantis is pretty good at hiding. It'll probably take at least ten days or half a month to find one."
Xing Tian reluctantly agreed. "All right. What exactly do I need to do?"
"Nothing too complicated. Summon your Martial Soul and release as much of its aura as you can. Just keep walking forward. I'll follow you from the shadows and drive off any Soul Beasts that aren't our target."
As soon as he finished speaking, Dugu Bo had vanished, leaving behind only a faint haze of dark green mist.
"Sure enough, he's a venomous snake. He's a master at lying in wait."
Xing Tian immediately released his Martial Soul, unleashing the auras of darkness, evil, and death.
Venturing alone into the depths of Sunset Forest was dangerous, but Xing Tian wasn't afraid in the least. If he hadn't even had this much courage, he could never have become a strong fighter in his previous life.
Xing Tian walked for a long time. He saw no Soul Beasts among the animals along the way, nor did any plant-type Soul Beasts attack him.
Even Dugu Bo, hidden in the shadows, couldn't help but marvel. "Just as I thought. Darkness, evil, death—aside from a few special or powerful Soul Beasts, they'd all feel fear or revulsion at an aura like that and stay away."
Xing Tian walked for about half an hour, and by then night had nearly fallen.
Suddenly, Xing Tian sensed something approaching and immediately shifted into a battle stance.
Dugu Bo's interest surged. "Come on. Let's see if you have what it takes to live up to Brother Ye's expectations—and that look in your eyes."
It turned out that Dugu Bo had seen right through Ye Renxin's intentions. He was the sort of man who repaid a drop of kindness with a gushing spring. Ye Renxin had saved his son's life for a year, and Dugu Bo wished he could repay him with ten years of his own.
Ye Renxin just hadn't had anything he needed Dugu Bo's help with, which left Dugu Bo uneasy. This was his chance.
At the same time, Dugu Bo had noticed Xing Tian's eyes from the very first moment he saw him. That was the gaze of a strong fighter, and he was genuinely curious about Xing Tian's potential.
Just then, a faint black light flashed past. Trees, rocks, even the air itself split open in its wake, their surfaces left with patches of black aura that continued to eat away at them.
When Xing Tian realized Dugu Bo wasn't going to intervene, he understood Dugu Bo's intentions at once. No wonder he'd been so eager to bring Xing Tian hunting alone instead of relying on the Ye Family's influence.
"Perfect. Let's see how strong the Soul Beasts in this world are!"
A fierce glint of dark light swirled in Xing Tian's eyes, and a low, sinister laugh slipped from his lips. He circulated the Nine Deaths Reincarnation Evil Art, and his already somewhat pale hands instantly turned a ghastly white-purple.
His nails lengthened at a visible speed, his knuckles bulged, and his hands became like ghostly claws—like the hands of the dead.
A sinister, icy aura of death radiated from him. He seemed to have become an entirely different person.
Xing Tian's hands suddenly became claws. A frigid glint flashed as he swung them out, one to each side!
Two streams of white-purple energy shot out like venomous snakes striking from their lair. Grass withered wherever they passed, and even the movement of the air grew sluggish.
The energy wasn't especially fast, but its range was wide, and it carried a strange aura of death.
In an instant, the black light was forced into the open.
It was a half-meter-tall mantis, black from head to toe. Its shell gleamed like glazed ceramic, hard and cold. Its compound eyes were a pure, vicious green, and its forelegs resembled the Death Scythe, their blades a ghastly white with a frigid sheen.
"What kind of move is that? It actually exposed the Dark Night Fierce Mantis's hiding place. He hasn't even added a Soul Ring yet. Could it be a Self-Created Soul Skill?"
At first, Dugu Bo had only thought Xing Tian might dodge or withstand one or two attacks from the Dark Night Fierce Mantis, which would have been impressive enough. He'd never expected Xing Tian to have such an ability.
But more than anything, Dugu Bo was excited. "What a vicious, ruthless attack. His fighting style's rather like mine!"
Xing Tian had just used the internal Nine Deaths Reincarnation Evil Art to perform the external Nine Yin Bone Claw, which he called the Nine Deaths White Bone Claw. This was one of its forms: Withered Bone Grave Sweeping.
It was specifically designed to expose an opponent in hiding and restrict their range of movement.
The Nine Deaths Lineage had never obtained the Nine Yin Manual, and had only learned the Nine Yin Bone Claw technique. That was why they had fused the Nine Deaths Evil Art into it, while Xing Tian had taken it a step further.
The Dark Night Fierce Mantis had a keen battle instinct. It was stunned for only an instant before snapping back to its senses. It let out a strange "hiss" as sand-like black smoke billowed from its carapace.
Its ghastly white blades were instantly covered in black, a darkness deeper than night itself, as if it could swallow all the light around it.
Then the Dark Night Fierce Mantis slashed its forelegs across each other. The blackness vanished into thin air.
"Silent and formless—what a powerful ability! And it's fast, too. I can't dodge it. In that case, Ten Thousand Souls Soul-Protecting Art!" Xing Tian's eyes held not the slightest trace of panic. Instead, they gleamed with excitement.
Dark purple mist surged from his body. It was as thick as congealed blood, and faint, eerie wails seemed to drift through it.
In the next instant, the mist on either side of Xing Tian was sliced open as if by a blade, leaving two huge gaps.
The cut surfaces were pitch-black. The dark purple mist turned black and slowly dissipated.
"What an incredible power of corrosion. So this is the Darkness Attribute? Luckily, I have it too, or I really wouldn't be able to defend against this."
Xing Tian was only a little shaken, but Dugu Bo, watching the fight, was ten times more surprised.
"That boy reacted so quickly. Was it just instinctive defense, or did he really sense it? And there's another skill."
No wonder Dugu Bo was surprised. The Dark Night Fierce Mantis had just used its innate Soul Skill, "Night Fierce Light."
The most terrifying thing about this move wasn't its cutting or corrosive power. When used at night, its blades of light became silent and formless, and could only be sensed through sheer spiritual power.
What's more, once the Dark Night Fierce Mantis reached a thousand years of cultivation, it could remotely control the move and attack from even more treacherous angles.
Before you continue