Thousand-Year Crystal Bear

As they walked forward, the bushes ahead suddenly rustled, and a towering figure appeared in Gu Yue's field of vision.

It was a massive bear, fully three meters tall, its body covered in tawny fur. Its paws were especially huge, and its eyes gleamed a crystalline yellow.

The moment it saw Gu Yue, it let out a roar and lunged at her like lightning.

"A thousand-year soul beast has appeared. Should we remind her to teleport out?" a staff member asked Wu Zhangkong.

"Let's watch a little longer." Wu Zhangkong stared intently at the screen. He wanted to see just how far Gu Yue could go, and Xiling was also approaching that area.

The Thousand-Year Crystal Bear was an extremely rare soul beast. It belonged to the same type as the Dreadclaw Bear and had emerged through a weakened mutation.

It lacked long-range attack abilities and could only fight at close quarters, so its strength was actually inferior to that of a Dreadclaw Bear.

However, it possessed a special ability. Any opponent struck by it would experience crystallization in their body, and a second strike would shatter them outright.

Only powerful soul power could resist the crystallization, or the struck area had to be cut off to avoid it.

Facing the Thousand-Year Crystal Bear, Gu Yue did not panic. The yellow soul ring beneath her feet flashed, and her first soul skill, Elemental Tide, activated.

Immediately afterward, silver light flashed and Gu Yue vanished from where she stood. The Thousand-Year Crystal Bear's pounce missed, and it crashed straight into a large tree, knocking it down.

She did not choose to confront it head-on. A tornado formed from wind element whipped up countless leaves, blocking the Crystal Bear's vision. Then, with another spatial teleportation to change direction, she turned and ran.

Wu Zhangkong and Long Hengxu both nodded in satisfaction at Gu Yue's response.

"Hm?" Wu Zhangkong looked toward another screen, as if he had noticed something.

At that moment, Gu Yue was running directly toward Tang Wulin.

Meanwhile, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had just finished dealing with a hundred-year One-Horned Dragon and had not even had time to catch their breath.

Silver light flashed, and Gu Yue appeared not far from their side.

A deep roar sounded behind her, followed by the appearance of a massive figure.

"Damn, a Crystal Bear? It's that huge?!" Xie Xie's eyes widened, and Tang Wulin was startled as well.

Another flash of silver light, and Gu Yue moved the two of them in front of her.

Xiling appeared at the place where Gu Yue had encountered the Thousand-Year Crystal Bear. Sensing the faint spatial fluctuations in the surroundings, his expression turned somewhat strange.

It was hard for him not to suspect that Gu Yue had done this deliberately. Had seeing the Spirit Ascension Platform reminded her of the present-day Star Dou Forest, leaving her feeling resentful?

With that thought in mind, he followed after them anyway.

On the battlefield ahead, without the boost from the first seal, the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around the Thousand-Year Crystal Bear was easily torn apart. His soul power continued to drain away, leaving Tang Wulin no choice but to take out two Thousand-Forged Heavy Silver Hammers to fight.

Note: The Heavy Silver Hammers were completed when Tang Wulin reached Thousand Forging. The Tungsten-Steel Hammers had been given to him by Mang Tian.

The Crystal Bear had skin like copper and bones like iron. Its only weak point was the back of its neck, where its central nerves connected, making it the most vulnerable spot.

Xie Xie had told them this right at the start of the battle.

Bang, bang. After two more collisions, the Crystal Bear raised an arm and blocked Tang Wulin's attack.

Getting smashed by Heavy Silver Hammers weighing several hundred kilograms combined was not a pleasant experience. This barrage of attacks had undoubtedly enraged it as well.

Yellow light flashed across the Thousand-Year Crystal Bear's body as it roared and charged toward Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin grabbed hold of the Blue Silver Grass and launched himself into the air, evading the attack.

At the same time, a blade of light slashed across its neck at incredible speed. The Crystal Bear growled in pain, let out an angry roar, and turned its head to the side.

The instant it turned its head, dozens of ice spikes and dozens of fireballs crashed down from the other side!

The ice and fire elements collided violently, exploding into a vast cloud of steaming white mist that instantly engulfed the Thousand-Year Crystal Bear's enormous head.

Gu Yue had made her move!

The dual assault of ice and fire struck the Crystal Bear's tough fur. The searing heat and biting cold layered together, driving the already enraged giant bear even further into a frenzy as its enormous body shook violently.

But that brief moment of stiffness had already exposed a perfect opening.

"Wulin, now!" Xie Xie shouted. His first and second soul rings lit up at once as Light Dragon Slash and Light Dragon Storm struck the Crystal Bear in rapid succession.

The chained bombardment of two soul skills completely disrupted the Thousand-Year Crystal Bear's defensive rhythm.

Seeing this, Tang Wulin, who had used the force to propel himself into the air, suddenly sharpened his gaze. He did not hesitate in the slightest.

He gripped the two Thousand-Forged Heavy Silver Hammers tightly with both hands, his arm muscles tensing as every last trace of soul power he had was poured into the hammerheads.

The heavy hammers, each weighing hundreds of pounds, tore through the air with a piercing whistle.

"Hah!"

Tang Wulin let out a low shout and brought the twin hammers together, smashing them down with flawless precision onto the back of the Thousand-Year Crystal Bear's neck.

Boom!!

Its hard, thick tawny fur split apart instantly, followed by the sound of its spine breaking.

"Did we do it?"

Seeing the Thousand-Year Crystal Bear's huge head slump forward, Xie Xie immediately jumped up in excitement.

With cultivation levels no higher than two rings, being able to kill a thousand-year soul beast was absolutely something to be proud of.

But if nothing unexpected happened, then something unexpected happened.

A powerful layer of yellow light suddenly erupted from the Thousand-Year Crystal Bear's body. The light was not large, extending only about one meter, but it was enough to envelop Tang Wulin.

"Wulin!" Xie Xie screamed after realizing what was happening.

At that critical moment, the space around Tang Wulin twisted slightly. In the next second, he vanished and reappeared beside Xie Xie.

Before they could even breathe a sigh of relief or figure out what had happened—

A burst of crisp, calm, unhurried applause suddenly rang out from high in the forest.

Clap, clap, clap clap clap—

The applause was not loud, yet it was exceptionally clear. The three of them looked toward the sound and saw Xiling sitting on a large tree not far away, his legs gently swinging as a faint smile rested on his lips.

"Not bad, not bad. You all did quite well."

The moment they saw him, the three of them relaxed. Xie Xie beamed. "Brother Ling!"

Xiling jumped down from the tree, and Gu Yue naturally came to his side. She asked curiously, "When did you get here?"

"I arrived right after you did." Xiling turned his head and gave Gu Yue a meaningful look.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable under his gaze, Gu Yue turned her head a little and thought, Did he see through me again...?

Just as the three of them were delighted by Xiling's arrival, a series of rustling sounds came from the surrounding woods. Something seemed to be approaching, and there were a great many of them.

The disturbance instantly put Gu Yue and the others on alert. They had barely any soul power left and were unable to endure another prolonged battle.

Figures with dark bluish-green fur emerged from every direction, more than several dozen in total. They were green wolves.

Their yellow eyes glinted coldly as they slowly approached, surrounding them.

Blue Wolves were ten-year soul beasts, though there were quite a few hundred-year ones among them. They fed on carrion; put simply, they scavenged for easy gains.

Even if these Blue Wolves generally only had ten years of cultivation, there were simply too many of them.

Seeing their tense expressions, Xiling was speechless. "Did you forget about me?"

Then, with a snap—

Xiling snapped his fingers. There was no earth-shattering boom, no dazzling special effects.

Yet in that instant, the movements of the dozens of Blue Wolves slowly closing in from all directions froze in unison, and their heads exploded!