I Seem to See the Rise of a Monster

Ye Guchen's gaze sharpened, and the Shark Tooth Sword in his palm vibrated violently.

"Horizontal Sweep!"

Sword light exploded as four streaks of sword energy erupted simultaneously from the blade, rushing to intercept the Iron Bamboo Soul Beast leaves that were shooting in from all directions.

Clang, clang, clang—

The sound of metal clashing was as dense as rain; sword energy and bamboo leaves collided in mid-air, sparking countless embers.

The Iron Bamboo Soul Beast leaves were scattered by the sword energy, but Ye Guchen's arm was left slightly numb from the recoil.

Such hard bamboo.

Seeing that its long-range attack was ineffective, the massive Iron Bamboo Soul Beast shook its trunk violently, and dozens of thick bamboo branches lashed out like whips from every direction toward Ye Guchen.

The bamboo branches tore through the air with sharp whistling sounds, each one containing terrifying power.

Ye Guchen stepped rapidly, his figure darting left and right between the bamboo branches.

One branch grazed his ear, the fierce wind scraping his cheek until it stung.

He leaned to the side, flicked his wrist, and the Shark Tooth Sword precisely parried another incoming branch.

"One Sword Takes Life!"

The tip of the sword aimed directly at the node where the branch connected to the trunk—the critical point for the transmission of the branch's power.

Ssh—

The sword tip pierced the node, and the Iron Bamboo Soul Beast let out a piercing hiss; the struck branch instantly lost its strength and hung limply.

But more branches surged in, covering the sky and earth.

Ye Guchen took a deep breath, pushed off the ground, and vaulted into the air.

"Sunset Banner!"

While in mid-air, he slashed the Shark Tooth Sword downward; a brilliant streak of sword light, like the afterglow of a setting sun, carried scorching sword energy as it struck the main trunk of the Iron Bamboo Soul Beast.

The sword light carved into the ink-black bamboo, leaving a deep gash from which black sap oozed.

The Iron Bamboo Soul Beast felt the pain, its entire trunk trembling violently.

Suddenly, the ground shifted.

Ye Guchen's pupils constricted. Unable to pursue, he tapped his toe against the sword energy in mid-air, executing "Heaven and Earth Shift" to force a change in direction, shifting his body several yards to the side.

The next instant, dozens of sharp bamboo spikes erupted from the ground exactly where he had been standing; had he been a moment slower, his feet would have been impaled.

It has this trick too?

After landing, Ye Guchen retreated repeatedly, observing the ground with vigilance.

The Iron Bamboo Soul Beast gave him no chance to catch his breath.

The bamboo branches lashed out again, while the leaves transformed into blades to seal off his retreat from the air, and the bamboo spikes beneath the ground stirred restlessly.

A three-sided pincer attack.

Ye Guchen gritted his teeth, drawing an arc in front of him with the Shark Tooth Sword.

"Horizontal Sweep!"

Four streaks of sword energy slashed out once more, scattering the incoming bamboo leaves.

He rolled to the side to dodge two lashing branches, but he had no way to avoid the third, so he could only raise his sword to block.

Whack!

The branch struck the blade, the immense force numbing Ye Guchen's palm and sending him flying backward, where he tumbled twice before steadying himself.

Damn it, this beast is more troublesome than I thought.

Ye Guchen knelt on one knee, looking up at the Iron Bamboo Soul Beast.

Just then, he noticed a strange detail.

The Iron Bamboo Soul Beast leaves he had scattered earlier were rising from the ground, slowly flying back to the trunk to reattach themselves.

And the branch he had severed was growing new shoots at the break at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It can recycle its leaves? And it can regenerate?

Ye Guchen's brows furrowed as he realized the situation was not right.

He scanned his surroundings, looking at the dense forest of Iron Bamboo, and suddenly had a terrifying realization.

In my past life, bamboo forests looked like trees, but they were actually clustered grasses. What looks like a forest is actually just one single plant!

Thinking of this, Ye Guchen couldn't help but feel a surge of pressure.

To verify this hypothesis, he leaped up and slashed at a common Iron Bamboo beside him.

Crack—

The Iron Bamboo snapped on cue and fell to the ground.

But the next instant, something even more bizarre occurred.

The severed Iron Bamboo Soul Beast dissolved into a pool of black liquid, which rapidly seeped into the ground and vanished in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, the massive Iron Bamboo Soul Beast at the center seemed to grow just a fraction larger.

As I thought! The entire bamboo forest... is its body. This looks like trouble.

Ye Guchen's gaze swept across the hundred-zhang expanse of the bamboo forest. Every stalk emitted a faint ripple of soul power, all connected to the giant Iron Bamboo at the center.

This meant he wasn't fighting a single seventy-thousand-year soul beast; he was fighting the entire forest.

This realization sent a chill down Ye Guchen's spine.

The Iron Bamboo Soul Beast seemed to sense his shock. The entire forest began to tremble in unison, the bamboo leaves rustling as if mocking his ignorance.

In the next instant, every stalk of bamboo moved.

Thousands of bamboo branches whipped in from all directions, the sky-filling leaves turning into blades that sealed off every inch of space, while bamboo spikes erupted from the ground beneath him.

Ye Guchen darted and weaved, his Shark Tooth Sword dancing in a seamless, impenetrable defense.

"Horizontal Sweep!"

"Heaven and Earth Shift!"

"One Sword Takes Life!"

He pushed himself to the limit, executing every sword technique to its absolute peak.

Sword energy crisscrossed and light flickered; bamboo branches were severed and leaves were scattered, but the forest seemed infinite. For every one he cut down, two grew back; for every patch he dispersed, two more flew in to replace it.

Ye Guchen's soul power was draining rapidly, and his breathing grew ragged.

This won't work.

The true body of the Iron Bamboo Soul Beast was the entire forest. As long as the forest remained, it could regenerate infinitely.

My soul power is limited. The longer this drags on, the worse it is for me. I must end this quickly.

Another wave of attacks surged forward. Ye Guchen failed to dodge in time and was struck across the back by a bamboo branch.

Snap!

His clothes tore, leaving a blood-red welt on his back. The searing pain made him gasp.

"Kid, do you need a hand?"

Dugu Bo's voice drifted over from where he was watching, carrying a hint of concern.

"No!"

Ye Guchen gritted his teeth and stood straight, his eyes turning sharp.

He took a deep breath, held the Shark Tooth Sword horizontally before him, and rapidly calculated a countermeasure. The Iron Bamboo Soul Beast was metal-attributed; normally, metal should overcome wood, but every bamboo stalk here was infused with metallic properties, making standard attacks ineffective.

But fire overcomes wood, and it can overcome metal too!

"Ice and Fire Yin Yang Domain!"

As the words left his lips, a world of ice and fire instantly enveloped the entire bamboo forest.

The aura of the Iron Bamboo Soul Beast plummeted by forty percent, while Ye Guchen's own aura surged twofold.

"A domain!"

Seeing this, Dugu Bo sat bolt upright.

"What kind of monster have I just witnessed rising?"

But this alone was not enough to destroy the entire forest.

A flash of light crossed Ye Guchen's eyes. He clenched his right hand slightly, activating his god-level soul bone skill, though this time he fueled it with his own soul power.

"Flame Dragon Devours Heaven!"

He thrust his right arm forward with all his might, manifesting a giant dragon of flame that seemed intent on devouring everything in its path.

Wherever the flame dragon passed, the Iron Bamboo was instantly scorched red, then melted into a pool of molten iron.

Those indestructible bamboo leaves twisted and deformed under the intense heat, turning into ash.

The bamboo branches writhed in agony within the flames, emitting shrill, screeching sounds.

At the same time, countless bamboo leaves transformed into a rain of blades, assaulting Ye Guchen in an attempt to force him back.

Yet, he dodged them all with agility while continuously increasing the output of his fire-attributed energy.

In an instant, the entire bamboo forest ignited. The flames, like a furious fire dragon, rampaged through the grove.

The Iron Bamboo Soul Beast let out a shrill, miserable cry, and the entire forest shuddered.

The bamboo stalks fought desperately to regenerate, but the speed of the flames' consumption far outpaced their growth.

Stalk after stalk melted in the fire; patch after patch of the forest was swallowed by the sea of flames.

Ye Guchen gritted his teeth, pouring every ounce of power from his soul bone into the attack. The flames grew fiercer, painting half the sky in a crimson hue.

His soul power drained like flowing water, and his face rapidly turned pale.

"Hold on a little longer..."

The flames persisted for a full three minutes.

As the final patch of bamboo forest was swallowed by the fire, the true form of the Iron Bamboo Soul Beast was revealed.

The massive black Iron Bamboo in the center let out a desperate hiss amidst the flames before collapsing with a thunderous crash.

The sky-filling fire gradually died out, leaving behind only a scorched expanse of earth and pools of molten iron.

Ye Guchen knelt on one knee, gasping for air as sweat dripped continuously from his forehead.

At this moment, a vast surge of soul power drifted out from the corpse of the Iron Bamboo Soul Beast.

Ye Guchen wiped away his sweat and looked up with difficulty, seeing the pitch-black soul power gathering and condensing into a black soul ring, hovering in mid-air.

It radiated the terrifying pressure unique to a seventy-thousand-year soul ring.

Only then did Dugu Bo fly over from the distance, landing by his side and looking at the massive soul ring with a complex expression.

He casually injected a wisp of soul power into Ye Guchen's body.

"What a little monster!"

"Rest assured and absorb the soul ring; I shall stand guard for you here."