Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear

The trees in the mixed zone grew ever taller and denser, their canopy blotting out the sky and slicing the sunlight into scattered flecks that fell across the thick layer of dead leaves.

After traveling for roughly an hour, the two had still found nothing. Although they encountered several ten-thousand-year soul beasts, they were either unsuitable or had not quite reached ten thousand years. They had even come across a soul beast nearing fifty thousand years of cultivation.

Fortunately, neither of them disturbed that fifty-thousand-year soul beast, and they smoothly avoided the territory it occupied.

Suddenly, Zhang Lexuan's eyes shifted slightly. Immediately afterward, a deep howl sounded from somewhere ahead, followed by a gale carrying scorching waves of heat that rushed toward them.

Ye An's gaze sharpened, and he instinctively grabbed Zhang Lexuan beside him.

Several dozen meters away, the bushes suddenly exploded as a massive creature slowly stalked out.

It was an enormous tiger, over six meters long, its body covered in dark red fur with faint flames flowing across its surface. Most terrifying of all were the two upward-curving saber fangs in its mouth. Each was half a meter long, crimson like molten lava, with scorching saliva dripping from their tips and raising wisps of smoke the instant it touched the dead leaves below.

With every step it took, the soil beneath its paws hissed from the heat, leaving behind a trail of charred claw marks. Its eyes were locked firmly onto Ye An and Zhang Lexuan, clearly having already marked them as prey.

This was...

Ye An frowned as he studied the giant tiger. Zhang Lexuan recognized the soul beast first. "It should be a fairly common Blazing Sabertooth Tiger. Judging by its size and tail length, it should be just over ten thousand years old—around eleven thousand years."

"Neither its attribute nor its age is suitable. There's no need to waste time on it."

Ye An shook his head. "But... it doesn't seem inclined to let us go."

As soon as he spoke, the Blazing Sabertooth Tiger indeed took several more steps forward, its tiger eyes filled with undisguised hunger.

"Then we'll find a way to force it back."

The moment she spoke, Zhang Lexuan released her Martial Soul. Two yellow, one purple, and two black Soul Rings slowly rose from beneath her feet. Then, her recently acquired fifth Soul Ring suddenly flashed.

At the sight, the Blazing Sabertooth Tiger's pupils contracted sharply. It instinctively lowered its body and slowly backed away.

Before long, the Blazing Sabertooth Tiger had vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared at all.

"That soul beast ran pretty fast." Zhang Lexuan chuckled as she withdrew her Martial Soul. "Come on. Let's continue looking for a Soul Ring suitable for Xiao An."

Ye An nodded lightly, paying no mind to the minor interruption.

Soon, Ye An and Zhang Lexuan arrived in the central region of the mixed zone. The vegetation here was much sparser, replaced by jagged clusters of enormous boulders.

Ye An stepped closer and inspected them carefully for a while—the surfaces of these boulders were covered in deep claw marks, and some had even been forcibly split in two. Their cuts were remarkably smooth, as though what had been cleaved was not stone, but soft tofu.

"These claw marks look fresh, and... to split a boulder like this in half with a single swipe, it must have been a soul beast with tremendous offensive power."

"The soul beast that left these claw marks... should be nearby."

Ye An and Zhang Lexuan took two steps back, then abruptly looked toward the distance.

Beneath a massive rock in the distance stood an enormous figure with its back to them. Even from afar, it was a full size larger than the Blazing Sabertooth Tiger they had encountered earlier, its entire body covered in dark golden fur as hard and cold as refined iron.

Of course, its most striking feature was its terrifying pair of foreclaws.

Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear!

A top predator of the Star Dou Great Forest, a powerful soul beast possessing the bloodline of the ancient divine beast Behemoth. Xiong Jun, the clan leader of the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear race, even possessed a terrifying cultivation nearing five hundred thousand years!

During the beast tide, even a level ninety-seven senior member of Shrek Academy had been utterly unable to resist Xiong Jun!

"This Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear is probably close to thirty thousand years old."

Zhang Lexuan deliberately lowered her voice, but it was still filled with gravity.

A top-tier soul beast like a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear was practically synonymous with fighting above its level. A thousand-year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear could rival an ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beast, while this thirty-thousand-year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear... might even possess strength close to that of a Titled Douluo!

Ye An's expression was equally solemn, but his eyes shone even more brightly.

The Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear was unquestionably a top-tier soul beast with a powerful assault attribute. The quality of its Soul Ring would certainly be among the finest, and more importantly, killing one might yield the precious External Soul Bone, the Darkgolden Terrorclaw.

Although he could freely control his own bones and use them as weapons, and the close-combat form of his first soul skill could likewise grow sharp bone spikes from his finger bones as weapons, obtaining the Darkgolden Terrorclaw would still be no small gain.

More importantly, if the External Soul Bone, the Darkgolden Terrorclaw, could fuse with his bones and become a weapon unique to him... the boost and improvement it would bring him would undoubtedly be immense!

"You want to choose this soul beast as your fourth Soul Ring?"

Seeing Ye An's expression, Zhang Lexuan instantly understood his intentions and let out a long breath.

With only the two of them, hunting a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear with thirty thousand years of cultivation... would not be easy. Even though she had now obtained an External Soul Bone and an eighty-thousand-year left leg bone, she did not have absolute confidence.

But since Xiao An had chosen this Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, she would do everything she could to give it a try.

"There's no need for the two of us to make a move. This Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear isn't something we can take down by ourselves."

Ye An pulled Zhang Lexuan farther back and smiled softly. "Although I really want to hunt soul beasts myself and gain more practical combat experience, I still know my limits. We'll leave this to Uncle Peng and Uncle Yu."

An ordinary thirty-thousand-year soul beast was already comparable to a Soul Emperor among Soul Masters, while some top-tier soul beasts could even stand shoulder to shoulder with human Soul Saints. As for the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear... its strength would only be more terrifying, at the very least equivalent to that of a Soul Douluo.

As soon as he spoke, Jin Peng and Yu Bo appeared beside Ye An and Zhang Lexuan.

Jin Peng looked at Ye An with a faint smile. "This twenty-eight-thousand-year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear—there would be no need for the Young Sect Master to ask. I would have stepped in myself."