Nine-Spirit Bat

Xiao Xiao nodded, then followed Lin Yao deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.

Because Xiao Xiao wanted to challenge a thousand-year soul beast, Lin Yao had doubts about her physical condition, but he still decided to take her to search around the area near the mixed zone.

As the greatest gathering place of soul beasts on the Douluo Continent, the Star Dou Great Forest's soul beast population in this era was nothing to worry about.

The only troubling part was finding a soul beast suited to the Nine-Phoenix Flute.

When it came to choosing that kind of soul beast, the two of them were basically groping in the dark, without the slightest clue.

At Xiao Xiao's suggestion, they could only head farther into the Star Dou Great Forest first and try their luck.

The two of them quickly passed through the outer area of the Star Dou Great Forest, entered the mixed zone, and circled around the edge of it.

They ran into a few thousand-year soul beasts along the way, but judging from their attributes, none of them were very compatible with Xiao Xiao's Nine-Phoenix Flute.

Neither Lin Yao nor Xiao Xiao wanted to settle for this soul ring, so they continued searching.

Near noon, Lin Yao prepared to find a tree hollow or cave to hide in temporarily, then continue looking for a target after the blazing sun had passed.

"Brother Yao, look, there's a cave over there." Xiao Xiao walked beside Lin Yao and suddenly pointed in a direction Lin Yao had not been looking.

Lin Yao turned his head and looked in the direction Xiao Xiao was pointing. Sure enough, up ahead on a rock wall, he saw an opening more than a person tall.

The two of them walked over to the rock wall. Looking at the cave entrance, Lin Yao stopped Xiao Xiao, who wanted to go straight in and scout the path, then took a fire striker from his storage Soul Tool and lit it.

After lighting the fire striker, he threw it inside. A ball of flame followed the arc of Lin Yao's throw and flew into the cave entrance.

The firelight went out not long after flying into the cave, but immediately after, two red points of light suddenly appeared.

Then came a second pair, a third pair... a full eighteen points of light appeared before the two of them.

Lin Yao shielded Xiao Xiao behind him, then possessed his martial soul.

With his experience from multiple soul hunts, he knew very well that they had encountered a soul beast.

Just then, the sound of wings flapping came from inside the cave. Lin Yao turned, scooped Xiao Xiao into his arms, and used the Ender Dragon Martial Soul to fly up, charging into the bushes.

One gray giant bat after another flew out. While facing these bats, Lin Yao began condensing dragon breath, his eyes rapidly tracking the bats' movements as he counted their number.

Eight bats, and judging by their body length and the aura they gave off, they should all be hundred-year soul beasts.

For hundred-year soul beasts to directly occupy a place in the mixed zone, these bats' level should not be low.

At first, Lin Yao did not want to make enemies of these bats. Unfortunately, their senses seemed extraordinarily sharp, and their eyes did not seem to be mere decorations like those of ordinary bats.

The eight bats circled in the air, then dived straight toward the bushes where the two of them were hiding.

The instant the eight bats charged at him, Lin Yao stood up. His second soul skill, Ender Dragon Claw Flash, and his fourth soul skill's dragon breath attacked the bat swarm together.

Blue dragon-claw flames and dragon-breath fire burst out at once. The eight bats instantly crashed to the ground, revealing ring after ring of yellow soul rings.

Lin Yao wiped away his sweat, but he did not immediately relax his vigilance. Instead, he instantly activated Dragon Transformation, turned back, and threw a punch.

Eighteen eyes had appeared just now. One bat had two eyes, which meant there were nine bats, but there were only eight here.

Without a doubt, the one that had not come out was their king.

Lin Yao retreated backward and saw that this bat was larger than the previous ones by a size, with ring after ring of patterns in its eyes.

Lin Yao had observed earlier that among those hundred-year soul beasts, the one with the greatest number of patterns in its eyes had eight rings, one fewer than this one's nine rings.

Lin Yao looked at the bat, and the bat also sized up Lin Yao. Neither side seemed prepared to make the first move; both were waiting for the other to reveal an opening.

Lin Yao took a deep breath. Immediately after, he saw the bat suddenly open its huge mouth, and a shriek, accompanied by solidified sound waves, struck toward Lin Yao.

Lin Yao dodged sideways. The sound wave brushed past his chest and snapped a tree as thick as an arm behind him in half at the trunk.

Lin Yao frowned and was just about to swing his dragon claw again when the bat took the initiative, opening its mouth and spraying out a second sound wave. Just as Lin Yao prepared to dodge again, a beautiful flute melody rang out at that moment.

The flute melody collided with the shriek, and the piercing sound immediately weakened greatly. As the sound weakened, the solidified sound wave also dissipated by more than half in midair. By the time it reached Lin Yao, it was already like a spring breeze brushing his face.

"Xiao Xiao, this bat is actually quite suitable for you," Lin Yao called to Xiao Xiao. Then he stepped out and struck the bat's chest with his palm.

This punch stacked Dragon Transformation with the strengthening power of his first soul skill, instantly sending the bat flying backward until its whole body was embedded in the rock wall.

Its chest had been caved in, but relying on the powerful physique of a soul beast, the bat did not die immediately. Instead, it glared at Lin Yao with its dying breath, its eyes filled with unwillingness.

Lin Yao stepped aside and said to Xiao Xiao, "Come on. Based on my observation, this should be a soul beast that broke through to the thousand-year level not long ago."

The hundred-year soul ring dropped by the bat with eight rings of patterns in its eyes carried a trace of purple, making it an existence close to a thousand-year soul ring.

Then with one more ring of patterns than that, this bat was most likely a bat king that had only just broken through to the thousand-year level.

Xiao Xiao nodded. With a clang, she drew a dagger flashing with cold light, then walked up to the bat.

For the first time, a look of terror appeared on the bat's face.

Xiao Xiao shook the dagger and said to the bat, "I'm sorry. This is something unavoidable between humans and soul beasts. If you could defeat us, you definitely wouldn't let us go right now either."

After Xiao Xiao finished speaking, she drove the blade into the bat's forehead, then fiercely slid it downward, chopping off the bat's head.

A purple soul ring floated out with it. Xiao Xiao sat cross-legged, looked at that pale purple soul ring, and reached out to guide it.

Because Xiao Xiao had dealt the final blow, this soul ring naturally flew toward Xiao Xiao's martial soul, nesting around that emerald-green Nine-Phoenix Flute.

A thousand-year soul ring did not yet have any so-called soul shock, so absorbing this soul ring this time would rely entirely on Xiao Xiao's body's ability to endure it.

Lin Mo knew that at this point, there was no especially good way to help him. He only silently switched to the Enchanted Golden Apple martial soul and sliced off a piece of flesh from it...