Compared to the Soul Beasts in the outer regions of the Star Dou Great Forest, which were generally not very strong and where even thousand-year Soul Beasts were rarely seen.
The Mixed Zone was completely different. It was the area within the Star Dou Great Forest with the greatest variety of Soul Beasts, where one could encounter ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts at any time.
With nightfall approaching, and nocturnal Soul Beasts often being even more vicious, continuing deeper was clearly not a wise choice.
Huo Yuhao simply began searching nearby for a suitable place to camp. After resting well, he would continue looking for Sky Dream Ice Silkworm once dawn broke tomorrow.
He circled the area, occasionally using a branch to push aside obstructing vines as he carefully searched for a suitable place to settle.
Before long, he found an open clearing with a broad field of view, perfect for setting up camp.
He took beast-repelling powder from his storage ring and scattered it in a circle around the area, then quickly pitched his tent.
Just as he was about to take out some rations from his storage ring, Huo Yuhao suddenly froze. His nose twitched slightly as he sensed something unusual, and his gaze swiftly turned toward the bushes on his right.
At that instant, a pitch-black shadow shot out from the bushes, accompanied by a soft "pfft."
A rich, sweet fragrance immediately rushed toward him.
Huo Yuhao reacted quickly, covering his nose and mouth in an instant as he retreated sharply, avoiding the area where his tent stood.
He had no intention of accidentally wrecking his tent in the coming battle.
He had also clearly seen the shadow's true form.
It was a large snake over three meters long, entirely peach-pink in color. A small protrusion sat on its forehead, shaped like a flower bud about to bloom.
"Mandala Snake? And a thousand-year one at that."
Huo Yuhao steadied himself, his gaze locked tightly onto the snake as a grave expression appeared on his face.
An ordinary Soul Elder-level Soul Master would probably have no choice but to turn and run upon encountering a thousand-year Soul Beast like this.
Although his body's current strength was no weaker than that of an ordinary Beast Martial Soul Soul Elder.
The Mandala Snake's poison posed no threat to him either.
But in this perilous Mixed Zone, becoming entangled in battle with a Soul Beast would inevitably create a disturbance and attract even greater trouble.
It seemed he could only end this quickly.
"Croak, croak—"
The Mandala Snake let out a strange cry. With a vicious flick of its tail, its entire body suddenly sprang into the air and lunged straight at Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao's eyes abruptly turned a brilliant gold. An indescribable majesty radiated from his body.
The Mandala Snake seemed intimidated by that presence, its movement pausing slightly for a moment.
The flower-shaped protrusion atop its head suddenly burst apart.
A jet of pink blood shot toward Huo Yuhao.
At the same time, it violently whipped its tail, abruptly changing direction as its whole body tried to flee.
Huo Yuhao flashed aside to evade the blood arrow, then lightly brushed the storage ring on his finger.
The White Tiger Dagger appeared in his hand.
In Huo Yuhao's eyes, the fleeing Mandala Snake's entire body was now covered in countless densely packed white threads.
Soul Power continuously flowed from within his body into the White Tiger Dagger.
As golden light flickered in his eyes, he prepared to sever from afar the white thread of fate that symbolized the Mandala Snake's life.
Yet at that very moment, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to shake violently without warning.
Fine cracks began appearing in the ground not far ahead.
The cracks rapidly widened and spread at a visible pace, eventually forming a bottomless fissure.
Faint golden-white light could vaguely be seen spilling from those cracks.
A somewhat childish female voice suddenly rang out beside Huo Yuhao's ear:
"Hahahaha! As expected, I'm blessed with incredible luck. I actually found a human with spiritual attributes so quickly. Don't be afraid, kid. I'll be right out to save you!"
The Mandala Snake, which had been planning to flee, also froze in place and slowly turned its raised head. Though it possessed a certain degree of intelligence as a thousand-year Soul Beast, it had clearly never encountered anything as bizarre as this.
The fissure continued expanding, and in only a few moments, it had reached more than five meters in diameter.
Threads of icy chill began radiating from the cracks in the ground. The surrounding temperature visibly dropped, and a thin layer of frost formed over the leaves.
At last, the golden-white light revealed its true form.
It was a round, pudgy head over a meter in diameter.
Its body was slowly wriggling as it struggled to crawl out of the fissure.
Huo Yuhao was stunned as well. Why was Sky Dream Ice Silkworm speaking in a girl's voice?!
The intense shock made him subconsciously continue swinging the White Tiger Dagger in his hand.
One of the white threads on the Mandala Snake's body snapped in response.
Before the Mandala Snake could even react, its entire body began gradually shattering.
In the end, it turned into specks of golden light and completely vanished into the air, without even leaving behind a Soul Ring.
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, still struggling to crawl out of the fissure, witnessed the Mandala Snake's death without even a corpse remaining.
Her two golden eyes rolled around a few times before settling on the handsome young man holding the dagger, especially those dazzling dragon eyes that resembled golden pupils.
Her wriggling body suddenly stopped, and she no longer continued crawling out. Then she let out an awkward but polite laugh. "Um... kid, sorry about that. I might have mistaken you for someone else. You carry on with whatever you were doing. I'll be leaving now."
Naturally, Huo Yuhao could not let Sky Dream Ice Silkworm escape just like that. He quickly stepped forward and gently touched her plump body. A cool, icy sensation met his hand.
"Kid, I'm a good person. Don't do anything reckless. Please don't hurt me."
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was nearly in tears.
That young man had merely slashed through the air earlier, yet he had crushed that thousand-year Mandala Snake into dust without even leaving behind a Soul Ring.
Now that he had touched her, wouldn't he be able to crush her in an instant?
At that thought, she began twisting her fat body uneasily, preparing to shrink back underground the moment he was distracted and then teleport away.
"All right, Tian Meng... sis, I'll slowly explain more to you later. For now, I'm going to begin. Don't worry, I'll be gentle. I won't hurt you too much."
Huo Yuhao looked at the somewhat timid silkworm before him and spoke helplessly.
His earlier display had clearly frightened Sky Dream Ice Silkworm badly.
"Wait, kid. How do you know my name is Tian Meng? And what are you going to do to me..."
Before you continue