Conquer the Star Dou Great Forest? Build a New Nation?

"What?!"

This time, not only Feng Qie, but even Xiao Wu outside the door was stunned.

[He... he wants to fight personally?]

[A level twenty-two Soul Master is going to take on a two-thousand-five-hundred-year Black-Armored Troll, a creature renowned for its strength and defense?]

This was arrogance!

This was the fearlessness of the ignorant!

Xiao Wu even began to wonder whether Lu Ming's rapid increase in strength had inflated his ego and robbed him of the most basic judgment of danger.

"Master, this is far too dangerous!" Feng Qie hurriedly tried to dissuade him. "Your body... how can you collide head-on with a monster like that?"

"Who said I was going to fight it head-on?" Lu Ming chuckled. "Don't forget, I have soul skills too."

Soul skills?

Xiao Wu's heart stirred as she recalled Lu Ming's bizarre domain soul skill.

If he used his domain to trap the Black-Armored Troll, then had Zhu Mao assassinate it with his spider spears, perhaps... there really was a slim chance?

But the moment that thought arose, she rejected it herself.

The Black-Armored Troll's strength was too terrifying. That kind of pure violence was enough to tear apart any flashy technique.

Could Lu Ming's domain truly trap it?

She recalled how, that day, Da Ming and Er Ming had nearly burst Lu Ming's Gluttonous Sea of Light domain with nothing more than their oppressive auras.

Though the Black-Armored Troll was far inferior to Da Ming and Er Ming, if it went berserk and wreaked havoc within the domain, Lu Ming definitely would not be able to hold it!

"Enough. It's decided." Lu Ming's tone allowed no argument. "This is only the first step of our plan."

"Our goal is not to hide away in some corner, nor to barely survive in this forest."

Lu Ming rose to his feet. His voice passed clearly through the thin wooden boards into Xiao Wu's ears, carrying an unmistakable ambition.

"I will subdue every soul beast lord in this region and turn all of them into our companions!"

"I will establish a nation belonging to us Arrancar here in the Star Dou Great Forest!"

"I will make everyone on this continent—whether human Soul Masters or soul beasts—hear our name and tremble at our strength!"

Lu Ming's words made Xiao Wu's mind go blank...

[Build... build a nation?]

[Make everyone tremble?]

Xiao Wu had always thought Lu Ming was merely a special human with strange abilities, someone looking for a place to settle down in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Only at this moment did she finally glimpse the terrifying ambition hidden beneath that boy's calm exterior!

He wanted to conquer the Star Dou Great Forest?

[This guy... isn't he talking way too big?]

Xiao Wu's first reaction was that it was absurd.

What kind of place was the Star Dou Great Forest?

It was a holy land for soul beasts, a forbidden zone of life!

There were countless powerful soul beasts here, not to mention Da Ming and Er Ming, the two true emperors who ruled over it.

Let alone a mere level twenty-one Soul Master like him—even if the Pope of Spirit Hall came in person, they would not dare claim they could conquer this place!

But...

As she looked at the three Arrancar in the room, whose fighting spirits had been roused by Lu Ming's words, an unfamiliar feeling rose uncontrollably within Xiao Wu's heart.

It was a complicated feeling... mixed with absurdity, shock, and the faintest trace of... anticipation.

What if?

What if this boy could really do it?

If soul beasts could truly stand upon this continent in an entirely new, more powerful form, no longer mere "soul rings" waiting to be slaughtered in the eyes of human Soul Masters...

What kind of sight would that be?

Xiao Wu did not dare think any further.

She only felt that what she had overheard tonight had already far exceeded anything she could have imagined.

It seemed she had... inadvertently become caught up in a storm that was about to overturn the entire continent's balance?

And at the center of that storm was the boy inside, making the next arrangements for his seemingly impossible plan.

"...So tomorrow's battle will not only be for subduing them, but also for practice."

"Zhu Mao, you need to get used to launching frontal attacks."

"Feng Qie, you need to learn how to coordinate with your teammates. Use your speed to create opportunities instead of always fighting alone."

"Yue Xi, your healing ability is our support, but you must also learn to observe the battlefield and determine who needs your help most."

"Master, I still don't understand." There was a trace of confusion in Feng Qie's voice. "We... why are we building an Arrancar empire? Why do we call ourselves Arrancar?"

He had wanted to ask this question for a long time.

Zhu Mao and Yue Xi also looked over curiously. Clearly, they too did not understand the name Lu Ming had given them.

Outside the door, Xiao Wu pricked up her ears even more.

She wanted to know too!

The word sounded extremely mysterious, as though it carried some special meaning.

Lu Ming fell silent for a moment, seemingly gathering his thoughts.

"Because we broke our original masks and gained new lives."

His voice sounded exceptionally clear in the silent night.

"Look."

Lu Ming raised a hand and pointed at the black Hollow Hole in Feng Qie's chest.

"This Hollow Hole is proof that we abandoned our past and remade our souls."

"You are no longer the Wind Spirit Leopards who only knew how to survive by instinct, nor the Human-Faced Demon Spider that hunted in darkness, nor the weak and helpless Moonlight Deer."

"We discarded the fragile, imperfect 'masks' of soul beasts and shattered them. In doing so, we gained human forms, extraordinary wisdom, and... power far beyond what we once possessed."

"That is why we are Arrancar."

"A brand-new race, one that stands above both humans and soul beasts!"

Above humans and soul beasts!

A higher race!

These words plunged everyone present into silence...

Feng Qie, Zhu Mao, and Yue Xi looked at the Hollow Holes on their bodies, which had once left them confused. Their gazes gradually changed.

So this was proof that they had been reborn and become higher beings?

An indescribable sense of pride and belonging welled up from the depths of their hearts.

They were not monsters, nor were they inhuman, beastlike aberrations...

They were Arrancar!

A brand-new race personally created by their master, destined to rule the world!

"I understand!" An unprecedented light ignited in Feng Qie's amber eyes. "We are Arrancar! One-of-a-kind Arrancar!"

The four spider spears on Zhu Mao's back trembled slightly with excitement, giving off a faint buzzing sound.

Even Yue Xi, the most timid of them all, puffed out her small chest. Her little hand instinctively stroked the tiny Hollow Hole on her abdomen, while admiration and determination gleamed in her violet eyes.