Flender looked at the Soul Beast feeding in the distance, his face full of regret.
"Lin Mo, that gorilla over there is a Great Strength Gorilla, one of the Soul Beasts you mentioned earlier."
Flender lowered his voice. "What a shame. For most Soul Masters, this Soul Beast would be absolutely perfect for a Second Soul Ring."
"From what I've observed, I can say for certain that its cultivation is somewhere between six and eight hundred years."
If this Soul Beast had a thousand years of cultivation, then he would have fulfilled his promise to Lin Mo on this trip. After killing it, he could take Lin Mo straight back.
Lin Mo smiled. "Its cultivation is a little low, but its bloodline is too weak as well."
"Just going by quality, this Great Strength Gorilla's bloodline is even inferior to the Vajra Ape I ran into in the Soul Hunting Forest when I got my First Soul Ring."
At that, Flender couldn't resist teasing him. "You and Tang San sure are lucky, you two brats.
"You managed to run into two top-grade Soul Beasts, the Vajra Ape and the Azure Vine, in the Soul Hunting Forest near Notting City."
"Who knows?" Lin Mo smiled and shook his head. "Maybe Tang San and I really are lucky."
"Then you'd better pray your luck is still with you this time, brat." Flender raised a hand and patted Lin Mo on the shoulder.
Then he lifted his other hand and pointed at the Great Strength Gorilla in the distance.
"Enough. Go over there and fight that gorilla. Let me see how good you are in actual combat."
Flender's tone suddenly turned serious.
He had never actually seen Lin Mo fight.
As the head of Shrek Academy, he felt it was necessary to assess his student's true combat ability himself.
"But this is the Star Dou Great Forest."
Lin Mo put on a surprised look and pointed at himself. "What if I attract other Soul Beasts?"
"I didn't tell you to kill it."
Flender smiled. "As long as you don't draw blood, generally speaking, no Soul Beasts will notice the commotion here. Besides, I already checked the surrounding area."
"There aren't any Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts nearby, or even high-ranked thousand-year Soul Beasts."
"All right, all right." Lin Mo nodded.
He had only been putting on an act. Since Flender had said so, this was a perfect chance to stretch his muscles.
With a thought, he activated his Inversion of Three talent again. The flesh and skin around his body instantly turned into qi, and he entered the Innate Life State.
His black hair turned white.
The first stage of Inversion of Three: flesh and skin turned to qi, Dragon-Tiger Power coursing through him.
Lin Mo set off toward the Great Strength Gorilla.
He walked slowly, almost leisurely. The fallen leaves beneath his feet rustled softly, their sound especially clear in the quiet forest clearing.
The Great Strength Gorilla, enjoying its lunch, was startled when it saw the human Soul Master approaching.
Its instincts as a Soul Beast made it instantly alert.
The Great Strength Gorilla quickly tossed the meat in its hands aside.
With a roar, it kicked off the ground with its thick hind legs and leaped right in front of Lin Mo.
It had already drawn back its right arm in midair, and now swung its fist toward Lin Mo's face.
Great Strength Gorillas were known for their strength. With close to eight hundred years of cultivation, its full-force punch was enough to make even some thousand-year Soul Beasts avoid its edge.
Thud!
Before its fist could reach Lin Mo, his jade-white palm rose and caught it without budging an inch.
Their fist and palm collided with a dull thump.
The Great Strength Gorilla's pupils suddenly shrank.
The other party's slender-looking palm hadn't moved at all. Its own fist, on the other hand, had been shaken numb.
Before the Great Strength Gorilla could react, Lin Mo turned his wrist and exerted a casual bit of force, gripping two of its thick fingers.
Roar—!
Lin Mo applied a little pressure, and the Great Strength Gorilla let out an agonized howl.
The pain was so intense that its entire body trembled, its feet stamping frantically against the ground.
It struggled like a madman to yank its fingers out of Lin Mo's grasp, its face twisted into a savage grimace from the effort.
When it finally managed to pull its fingers free, it saw that the joints had been completely deformed, bent at an unnatural angle.
Lin Mo had broken its bones outright.
Disbelief flashed through the Great Strength Gorilla's eyes, then boiling fury swept it away.
Its rage overwhelmed its pain.
It let out a deafening roar.
It charged forward, its entire body crashing toward Lin Mo like a small mountain.
Its fists pounded down in alternating swings, a torrent of blows aimed at Lin Mo's head.
This was the Great Strength Gorilla's signature attack.
Lin Mo remained as calm as ever. He raised his hand, blocked, brushed the blows aside, and shoved them away.
There were no fancy moves, only the most basic blocks and deflections. He effortlessly stopped every punch the Great Strength Gorilla threw in its fury.
The sight was incredibly strange.
On one side was a raging beast, as fierce as thunder. On the other was a young man whose every movement radiated calm.
The contrast between them was simply too stark.
From the moment Lin Mo joined the fight, it was nothing but a one-sided beating.
The Great Strength Gorilla threw another punch, only for Lin Mo to seize it.
This time, Lin Mo gave it no chance to break free.
His five fingers clamped down, his jade-white palm locking around the gorilla's fist like an iron vice.
Crack!
A sharp snapping sound rang out, and the Great Strength Gorilla let out a shrill howl.
Its entire right arm went limp.
Thud!
Lin Mo quickly lifted his leg and whipped a kick into the Great Strength Gorilla's chest.
The unstoppable force surged from its chest throughout its body, sending the entire gorilla flying.
The Great Strength Gorilla had toppled over, and only barely managed to get back up. Now the ferocity in its eyes had completely faded, and it couldn't muster even a trace of fighting spirit.
All that remained in its eyes was unprecedented terror and timidity.
In just a few breaths, the Great Strength Gorilla, famed for its strength, had been beaten senseless by Lin Mo. It hadn't been able to fight back at all.
Lying on the ground, the Great Strength Gorilla trembled as it watched Lin Mo approach.
It even curled up instinctively, letting out a faint whimper, its eyes full of pleading.
But to its surprise, Lin Mo stopped a short distance away.
Looking down at the trembling Great Strength Gorilla, Lin Mo said, "Get lost!"
The Great Strength Gorilla couldn't understand human speech, but it guessed that the human before it didn't intend to take its life.
It froze for a moment. Once it understood, joy at having survived filled its eyes.
As if pardoned, it clutched its dislocated, fractured arm and bolted.
Lin Mo looked away and turned toward Flender.
"Dean, are you satisfied with my performance?"
Flender was already standing there, stunned.