Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear!

Flender swallowed hard, his gaze burning as he looked at Lin Mo.

Lin Mo felt a chill under Flender's stare and instinctively shrank back. "Dean, what's wrong with you? Are you perhaps dissatisfied with my performance?"

"Satisfied, satisfied, extremely satisfied." Flender nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

However, he quickly shifted his gaze to the Great Strength Gorilla that had already escaped to the side. "But our plan will have to change slightly. Judging by the combat power you displayed just now, if we were to use a soul beast of the Great Strength Gorilla's level for your soul ring, it would truly be an insult to your talent!"

A Great Strength Gorilla with nearly eight hundred years of cultivation would be equivalent to a level 20 Soul Grand Master.

Moreover, this was a soul beast exceptionally skilled in strength; in terms of raw power alone, it would never be inferior to an average thousand-year soul beast.

Yet, it had been so thoroughly crushed by Lin Mo in terms of strength that it was even severely wounded by him in a single exchange.

To Flender, this was simply unheard of.

Even if a thousand-year Great Strength Gorilla were placed before them now, Flender would not be willing to let it become Lin Mo's soul ring.

The quality was too low; it wasn't worthy of Lin Mo's talent.

This only made Flender more determined in his resolve: this time, he had to secure a top-tier thousand-year second soul ring for Lin Mo.

Thinking of this, Flender patted Lin Mo on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Lin Mo, we may need to stay in the Star Dou Great Forest a bit longer to help you find some better soul beasts. Let's just filter out soul beasts of the Great Strength Gorilla's quality; it isn't worthy of you!"

Hearing Flender's words, Lin Mo glanced at him with slight surprise, thinking to himself: It seems that sometimes, not hiding one's light is actually a good thing.

Otherwise, the "best soul ring" promised by Flender, even if not a Great Strength Gorilla, would likely have been of a similar caliber.

"Then I thank you, Dean." Lin Mo nodded slightly.

"Let's go, we'll continue to head deeper."

Flender identified the direction. "The Great Strength Gorilla's activity area is still too close to the periphery; the real treasures are all hidden inside."

Lin Mo acknowledged and followed closely behind.

The two moved one after the other, weaving through the forest.

After their encounter with the Great Strength Gorilla, Flender led Lin Mo through the Star Dou Great Forest for over a week.

During this time, they did encounter several thousand-year soul beasts that Flender deemed quite suitable for Lin Mo's needs.

However, Flender merely marked their territories and locations, leaving some traces on them so they could be tracked if needed later.

Flender was in no rush to have Lin Mo hunt them for a soul ring immediately.

The reason was the same as when they met the Great Strength Baboon: while these soul beasts were usable, they were not the best.

Over this week, Flender had taken Lin Mo through many places.

The locations and characteristics of these soul beasts, which Flender considered barely acceptable, were all recorded in a small notebook.

"These are the backups of the backups."

Flender tucked the notebook into his robes. "If we truly can't find anything better, we'll have to choose from these. But I don't think our luck will be that bad."

Lin Mo followed Flender through the Star Dou Great Forest, his clothes torn to shreds by tree branches.

But Suzuki himself didn't care about such things; instead, his anticipation only grew.

The more selective Flender was, the greater the chance they would encounter a high-quality thousand-year soul ring.

During this week, Lin Mo hadn't been idle either.

Whenever they encountered those thousand-year soul beasts, Lin Mo would carefully observe their habits and combat styles, then commit them to memory one by one.

Who knew when these experiences might come in handy in the future.

Flender was observing Lin Mo as well.

Having stayed in a place like the Star Dou Great Forest for over a week, any other soul master just past level 20 would have been complaining endlessly.

But Lin Mo remained calm throughout, never once voicing a complaint.

This made Flender even more determined in his decision.

Then, on the morning of one particular day, just as Flender was about to lead Lin Mo to avoid a ten-thousand-year soul beast engaged in a battle not far away, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The small eyes behind his black lenses became incredibly sharp. He gazed into the distance, his expression turning solemn as he muttered to himself:

"I had assumed such a massive commotion was caused by two ten-thousand-year soul beasts, but I never expected one of them to only have a thousand-year cultivation."

The sounds of battle echoing from afar were incredibly intense; just by listening to the din, one could imagine how fierce the combat was over there.

Lin Mo also halted his steps, following Flender's gaze as he looked toward the distance.

As he watched, Flender explained to Lin Mo, "While the bloodline quality of a Ghost Tiger isn't considered top-tier among ten-thousand-year soul beasts, it certainly isn't weak either.

Even if it isn't in peak condition, it shouldn't be trading blows evenly with a soul beast that has only recently entered the thousand-year level."

Hearing this, Lin Mo felt a stir in his heart.

In the distance, the soul beast engaged with the Ghost Tiger finally emerged from the woods.

It was a bear-type soul beast, its physique shockingly robust, covered from head to toe in dark fur, with long arms that hung down past its knees.

The muscles on those forearms were knotted and bulging, but the most terrifying feature was its pair of claws.

Just as he reached this point, a note of confusion suddenly crept into Flender's tone.

The more he looked at the thousand-year soul beast fighting the Ghost Tiger, the more familiar it seemed.

At this, Flender squeezed his eyes shut and began tapping his skull incessantly, quickly recalling where he had heard of it before.

"Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear!"

Flender snapped his eyes open, turned around, and gripped Lin Mo's shoulders, his tone brimming with excitement.

"I remember where I heard of this soul beast; Old Zhao once told me about it.

Old Zhao, that is Zhao Wuji, he is also a teacher at our Shrek Academy, a seven-ring Soul Saint with a Vajra Bear martial soul."

Lin Mo nodded, signaling for Flender to continue.

Flender lowered his voice and said, "Old Zhao once told me that the Star Dou Great Forest is home to a super soul beast known as the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, which carries the reputation of being an Earth Ripper.

Generally speaking, a soul beast's abilities are specialized, such as speed, attack, or defense.

But the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear is a rare anomaly among soul beasts, as it excels in both attack and defense.

Its coat of dark gold fur grants it immense defensive power, while those terrifying giant claws possess equally formidable offensive capabilities."

Flender's voice was very low, but he could not mask the excitement in his tone.