Though he watched the direction Zhao Wuji had fled, Su Changge did not order anyone to pursue him.
With the forces he currently had at his disposal, he could manage a defensive counterattack or a positional battle against a Spirit Saint like Zhao Wuji, who possessed a top-tier Beast Martial Soul.
But if he foolishly chased after him without knowing when to stop, he would only dig himself into a massive hole.
"Keep moving! All Musket Cavalry, keep your muskets loaded and stay on high alert."
Over the next few days, Su Changge led the group of Soul Hunters through various parts of the Star Dou Great Forest's outer region, searching for powerful Soul Beasts around five thousand years old.
But the bloodlines, aptitude, and potential of those so-called powerful Soul Beasts were all beneath Su Changge's notice.
In the blink of an eye, the eighth day arrived.
After hesitating again and again, Su Changge and his group crossed beyond the outer region and entered the edge of the mixed region.
Su Changge did not know that, just as they entered the mixed region, a hulking figure in the shadows behind them was suppressing a frigid killing intent... and staring fixedly at his head.
Rustle, rustle...
The Soul Beasts in this region were older and more numerous than those in the outer region.
If the outermost fringe was a paradise for Ten-Year Soul Beasts and weak Hundred-Year Soul Beasts,
and the outer region was home to Hundred-Year Soul Beasts and Thousand-Year Soul Beasts...
then the Soul Beasts living in the mixed region were mostly Thousand-Year Soul Beasts and Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. It was by no means unusual to find Soul Beasts tens of thousands of years old, either.
Knowing this, Su Changge did not dare lead his troops deeper in. He only moved through the ten-mile strip where the mixed region bordered the outer region.
"That's... a Golden Nine-Headed Lion!!!"
Several hours later, after avoiding several powerful Thousand-Year Soul Beasts that were not part of Su Changge's plans, he finally found his target.
The Golden Nine-Headed Lion!
One of the many peak clans in the Star Dou Great Forest.
The Golden Nine-Headed Lion's nine heads corresponded to skills from nine different energy systems.
Even with bad luck, it was guaranteed to have elemental skills like wind, fire, thunder, earth, or poison. With good enough luck, it might even unlock a blind-box skill from the space, holy light, darkness, or even time systems.
"It's the one!"
At Su Changge's signal, dozens of Soul Masters and two hundred Musket Cavalry instantly formed up, while the Divine Fire Thunderbolt Cannon V2.0 was lowered into position.
The Golden Nine-Headed Lion had obviously sensed Su Changge and the others, too. It slammed both paws into the ground, and its body swelled several times over.
All nine heads spat out energy at once, blasting toward the area where Su Changge and his group stood.
Fortunately, the dozens of Soul Hunters had worked well together during their eight days in the Star Dou Great Forest.
At the first signal, they unleashed twenty or thirty defensive Soul Skills, barely managing to withstand the Golden Nine-Headed Lion's first attack.
"Fire! Don't give that beast a moment to catch its breath."
At the cavalry commander's order, nearly two hundred matchlock muskets spat flames.
However, the Golden Nine-Headed Lion's formidable body deflected most of the specially made armor-piercing steel bullets. Only a very small number pierced its hide... embedding themselves where the skin joined the flesh.
Seeing how tough the Golden Nine-Headed Lion was, many people's faces changed.
The matchlock muskets couldn't even break through its defenses. How were they supposed to fight it?
"Don't panic! All musketeers, aim for the Golden Nine-Headed Lion's eyes. Fire in three ranks!"
"Soul Hunters with control-type skills, prioritize using them to control and hem in the Golden Nine-Headed Lion!"
"All gunners, and Soul Masters with ranged attacks, aim at the head furthest to the left... Concentrate your fire on one point. We'll take them down one by one."
Su Changge's voice trembled slightly.
In some ways, fighting a powerful Soul Beast with an immensely tough body and the ability to battle across ranks was even trickier than facing a Spirit Saint like Zhao Wuji.
As the Golden Nine-Headed Lion's leftmost head was blasted apart, it instantly went berserk.
Colored light shimmered across its eight remaining heads. Terrifying energy gathered into a massive ball, then interwove in midair to form a colossal black hole that frantically devoured every living thing and object caught in its reach.
Several Musket Cavalry members who had been too far forward were dragged into the black hole in the blink of an eye, vanishing without a trace.
"Can a Thousand-Year Soul Beast really develop a skill like this?"
"Could this Golden Nine-Headed Lion be the direct-blood descendant of some king of the Golden Nine-Headed Lion clan?"
Watching the scene unfold, Su Changge's mouth twitched, but a fiery gleam passed through his eyes.
The black hole before him wasn't a true black hole. It was formed by the interweaving of the eight types of energy spat out by the Golden Nine-Headed Lion... and once that energy ran out, the black hole would vanish completely.
Its fatal weakness was its limited duration!
But... it was still a black hole.
Even a knockoff was more than enough to serve as a trump card beneath the divine realm.
"Thank goodness this Golden Nine-Headed Lion hasn't reached the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast level yet. Otherwise... we wouldn't be able to escape today, even if we wanted to!"
"All Soul Hunters, attack the black hole with Soul Skills in staggered bursts! The whole army, fall back slowly! Keep firing the cannons as you retreat... Now blast off another head!"
Su Changge's judgment proved correct. As the black hole's energy ran out, it vanished completely.
During the brief interval before it disappeared, Su Changge's forces blasted off three more of the Golden Nine-Headed Lion's heads.
Thick golden blood splattered down, staining the ground beneath the Golden Nine-Headed Lion in a sea of gold.
Su Changge's gaze swept across the faces of the many Soul Hunters who had nearly exhausted their Soul Power. After a brief moment's thought, he changed tactics.
"Someone, pile all the black powder here! The whole army, keep retreating and lure the Golden Nine-Headed Lion forward."
Seeing the detestable humans trying to "escape," the rampaging Golden Nine-Headed Lion dragged its heavy body forward, intent on tearing all these insolent humans to pieces.
But just as it continued onward and stepped into the area where Su Changge had buried the black powder, several fire-type Soul Skills came crashing down, igniting more than twenty barrels below.
In an instant, a small mushroom cloud rose into the sky. The Golden Nine-Headed Lion, caught at its core, was swallowed by the terrifying energy and let out a heartrending howl.
As the shock waves faded, the Golden Nine-Headed Lion's battered state came into view.
It lay at the bottom of a crater, half its body destroyed and its golden bones exposed. Blood gushed out like a fountain.
Its four remaining side heads had been completely destroyed. Only the central head remained.
At that moment, the powerful Thousand-Year Soul Beast had lost all ability to fight back.
Su Changge let out a long breath and walked toward it, Steel Ruyi Staff in hand.
It was time to finish off the Golden Nine-Headed Lion and absorb its Soul Ring.
Rustle! Rustle...
Just as Su Changge approached the Golden Nine-Headed Lion, a burly figure turned into a blur and lunged at him, moving so fast that the Soul Hunters and Musket Cavalry had no time to react.
But Su Changge seemed to have expected this. He instantly released his first Soul Skill and swung it at the incoming figure!
"Zhao Wuji! I've been waiting for you for a long time!!!"