Kill yourself!
Medusa's low cry struck Li Hao's heart like a heavy hammer.
He could no longer maintain his cool detachment as a bystander.
Trouble.
A whole lot of trouble.
But the trouble had already come crashing down at his doorstep!
Li Hao's body reacted before his mind did.
He turned into a blur and charged straight toward the deep, shadowy cave.
At that moment, his instinctive fear of socializing was utterly crushed by a more primal impulse.
It was the most direct fury of a homeowner whose territory had been violated!
"Medusa, guard the entrance!"
His command echoed through the dim woods, and he had already vanished behind the vines.
Medusa hesitated not at all. Her immense Soul Power erupted in an instant.
Her emerald snake eyes locked onto every inch of shadow around the cave, and the terrifying pressure of an ancient beast descended with a roar.
Inside the cave, the air was cold and damp.
The overpowering stench of blood mingled with the deathly Nether aura, assaulting Li Hao's senses.
He circulated his Soul Power to its limit, unleashing the full strength of his thirty-five-level Soul Elder cultivation. His speed reached its peak.
In just a few breaths, he had rushed to the deepest part of the cave.
The sight before him brought him to a complete stop.
It was a horrifying scene.
At the end of the cave, a massive Hell Spirit Cat lay in a pool of blood.
Its fur was dull and lifeless, and its body was drenched in blood. A hideous wound tore from its left shoulder all the way to its abdomen, nearly splitting its body open.
Fragments of its entrails, mixed with blood, lay strewn across the ground.
Its life force was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.
Its golden, slit-pupiled eyes, which should have been lively and sly, were already growing unfocused. Only the last traces of defiance and despair remained.
Standing before it was another Hell Spirit Cat.
This one was smaller, but its aura brimmed with savagery and cruelty.
Its claws were still stained with warm blood.
It was edging closer, ready to deliver one final, most lethal blow to its dying kin.
[ Ding! ] [ Detected a pure soul on the verge of death — Hell Spirit Cat (Royal Family)! ] [ Meets the system's treatment requirements! ] [ Near-Death Lock and Heal function activated! ]
The system's prompts rang frantically in Li Hao's mind.
Royal Family!
It really was of royal blood!
Li Hao had no time to think, and he didn't want to think.
All he knew was that he couldn't stand by and watch this perfect Soul Beast Girl, soon to become part of his collection, die in his home.
"Stop!"
He roared.
The Fishing Rod Martial Soul in Li Hao's hand materialized in an instant.
The seemingly ordinary rod now glowed with a faint golden light as he poured his Soul Power into it.
First Soul Skill, Entangle!
A supple thread formed from pure Soul Power shot through the air at a speed faster than lightning!
The Hell Spirit Cat about to strike seemed to sense danger and tried to dodge.
But it was already too late.
The thread of Soul Power wrapped precisely around its limbs and body, then yanked it backward!
"Meow—!"
It let out a sharp, furious screech and stumbled under the immense force, losing its balance.
Just then,
an even more terrifying, suffocating pressure surged in from the cave entrance, sweeping over everything.
Medusa appeared silently behind Li Hao.
She didn't attack. She simply stood there.
But her emerald snake eyes remained fixed on the smaller Hell Spirit Cat.
It was the gaze of a predator at the top of the food chain.
The innate bloodline suppression of a serpent Soul Beast over a feline Soul Beast!
The savage Hell Spirit Cat went rigid in an instant.
Every black hair on its body stood on end. A threatening growl rumbled in its throat, yet its body trembled uncontrollably.
Fear.
An irresistible fear that came from the depths of its soul.
It could feel that the woman at the cave entrance possessed an aura it had no chance of resisting.
She was a true terror, powerful enough to kill it in an instant!
It cast a wary glance at the strange Fishing Rod in Li Hao's hand, then at the cold-auraed Medusa.
At last, it looked unwillingly toward its dying kin on the ground. Its golden pupils brimmed with resentment and confusion.
It couldn't understand why two such powerful beings had suddenly appeared in this remote valley.
In the end, its instinct to survive overpowered its urge to kill.
It let out an unwilling screech, then jerked violently, breaking free of the still-loose thread of Soul Power.
The next second, it turned into a streak of black lightning and bolted from the cave without looking back, quickly vanishing into the distant woods.
Li Hao didn't bother with the one that had escaped.
The instant it broke free, he had already lunged to the side of the dying Hell Spirit Cat.
He crouched down and gently pressed his palm against the only patch of its fur that was still relatively intact.
[ Near-Death Lock and Heal, full power! ]
A vast green radiance, brimming with life, surged without restraint from his palm and poured madly into the Hell Spirit Cat's body.
However, the wound did not heal rapidly as he had expected.
"Roar—!"
The Hell Spirit Cat, which had been on the verge of death, suddenly let out an agonized roar!
Its body convulsed violently. Instead of healing, the huge wound began to exude wisps of black smoke.
One force was the system's pure life energy.
The other was its own cold, domineering Nether Power.
Two utterly opposing forces clashed fiercely within its body!
The life force was repairing its wounds, while the Nether Power instinctively resisted and devoured this foreign energy.
Its body had become a battlefield.
Its instinct to survive made it desperately try to absorb the warm life force.
But its bloodline instinct was tearing it apart under the influence of that same force!
It was enduring pain millions of times more terrifying than death itself!
Li Hao felt the violent resistance through his palm, and felt its soul being torn apart.
At this rate, it would die!
Not from its injuries, but from its soul collapsing under the clash of energies!
[ Warning! The target's soul is showing signs of incompatible rejection! ] [ Life energy and Nether Power are clashing violently. The target's soul is about to be annihilated! ] [ Emergency protocol initiated... ]
For the first time, the system's solemn voice carried the frantic urgency of a torrent of data.
[ Detected Hell Spirit Cat Royal Family bloodline, containing an intense will to survive! ] [ Are you willing to expend a large amount of your essence to force the final solution — [Bond Evolution]? ]
Li Hao's movements paused for an instant.
He lowered his head and met its golden, slit-pupiled eyes.
Those eyes brimmed with endless pain, with the despair of being torn apart.
Yet deep within that despair, a faint but stubborn flame still burned.
It was the will to live.
Looking into those eyes, Li Hao made his choice without hesitation.
"Yes!"
Before you continue