We Are Not Soul Beasts! We Are Arrancars!

Xiao Wu, outside the door, was utterly stunned by this "racial declaration."

[Arrancars...]

[Break the masks of soul beasts and gain new life...]

She subconsciously touched her own face.

Wasn't she herself also someone who had broken the "mask" of a soul beast?

She had abandoned a hundred thousand years of cultivation and given up the form of a Soft-Boned Rabbit in exchange for this human body.

The process had been filled with pain and struggle, filled with fear of the unknown.

She had always believed it was a "sacrifice," a price she had paid so that, like her mother, she could experience the human world.

Yet in Lu Ming's words, this transformation had become an "evolution," a step toward a higher level of life!

This earth-shattering theory plunged her mind into chaos.

[Was he... right?]

[Were we soul beasts truly nothing more than "masks" meant to be broken?]

[Then what was the difference between my Beast Transformation and their "Arrancar" transformation?]

Xiao Wu thought of herself.

After her Beast Transformation, she no longer bore any traits of a soul beast. She was as flawless as a real human.

Yet Zhu Mao and the others bore those bizarre Hollow Holes.

[Is this Hollow Hole the fundamental difference between them and me?]

[Is it the price they paid for their immense strength? Or... its source?]

Xiao Wu's heart was filled with countless questions.

She felt that Lu Ming had opened a door to a new world for her. The sight beyond it was strange and fantastical, yet held a deadly allure.

She wanted to step inside. She wanted to see the truth behind it all...

The meeting inside the house continued.

"Enough about our understanding of our identities." Lu Ming's voice pulled everyone's thoughts back. "Now, let's get back to tomorrow's battle."

"Remember, our objective is to subdue them, not kill them."

"I want them alive."

"Zhu Mao, watch your attacks. Aim for their limbs whenever possible. Don't strike their vital points directly."

"Feng Qie, the same goes for your wind blades. Focus on harassment and cutting their joints."

"Yue Xi, if they're injured too badly, heal them promptly. Don't let them die."

Lu Ming laid out every detail...

"Do you all understand?"

"Yes, Master!" the three Arrancars answered in unison.

"Good. Go get some rest and conserve your energy. Tomorrow, the Arrancar Legion will fire its first shot!"

With Lu Ming's order, the meeting ended.

Soft footsteps sounded once more. Feng Qie, Yue Xi, and Zhu Mao left the wooden house one after another, each returning to their rooms.

Xiao Wu hurriedly held her breath and pressed herself motionlessly against the door, terrified of being discovered.

Only after confirming that everyone had left did she slowly slide down to the floor. Her back was already drenched in cold sweat.

The amount of information she had overheard tonight was simply overwhelming.

A brand-new race called "Arrancars."

A mad plan to conquer the Star Dou Great Forest.

A coming hunt targeting two powerful soul beast lords.

All of it left her heart in complete turmoil.

She did not know whether she should warn Da Ming and Er Ming, or... remain here and witness it all with her own eyes.

[Warn them?]

[Tell Da Ming and Er Ming that there is a madman here who wants to turn soul beasts into Arrancars and even dreams of building a nation?]

[They would definitely rush over at once and tear Lu Ming to pieces...]

For some reason, at the thought that Lu Ming might die, a trace of reluctance rose in Xiao Wu's heart.

She remembered Lu Ming's patience when he taught her to build a house. She remembered his back as he shielded her behind him when facing Da Ming and Er Ming. She remembered the gentle look in his eyes whenever he looked at Yue Xi...

[He... doesn't seem like a bad person.]

[And what if he really is a human capable of leading soul beasts down an entirely new path?]

That thought took root in Xiao Wu's heart.

She bit her lip and ultimately made a decision that even surprised herself.

[I'll watch a little longer... Just one more time!]

[I want to see with my own eyes whether he's really all talk!]

[I want to see with my own eyes just how strong these so-called Arrancars truly are!]

Having made up her mind, Xiao Wu lay back down on her bed. Yet in the darkness, her eyes shone with startling brilliance.

Tomorrow was destined to be anything but peaceful...

Inside the wooden house, all was silent.

Lu Ming remained seated, his eyes half-closed and the corners of his mouth faintly raised.

[Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu... I hope tonight's "meeting" gives you sweet dreams.]

Everything that had happened tonight was a carefully staged performance.

A performance put on specifically for Xiao Wu!

He knew Xiao Wu was full of curiosity about him, and he also knew that behind her stood the Azure Sky Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, the true overlords of the Star Dou Great Forest...

If he wanted to gain a foothold in this forest and even carry out his "mad" plan, earning the approval of those two—or at least their tacit consent—was an absolutely crucial step.

Go directly to two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts to discuss cooperation? To discuss ideals?

What a joke.

It would be a miracle if they did not slap him into a pile of meat!

So, he chose Xiao Wu as his point of breakthrough.

Through Xiao Wu, he would gradually feed his "ideas," his "power," and a corner of his grand blueprint to those two forest overlords.

He wanted them to see that the birth of the Arrancars was not an evil experiment, but a great evolution!

He wanted them to understand that he had not come to destroy the forest, but to establish a new order!

Tonight's "founding declaration" was the heaviest bait he had cast.

And next, he needed to prove the strength of the Arrancars...

The next day, dawn had only just broken.

A thin veil of morning mist still hung over the valley.

Taking Zhu Mao, Feng Qie, and Yue Xi with him, Lu Ming quietly left the valley while Xiao Wu was still "sound asleep."

Yet just after they left, the door of another wooden house creaked open a crack...

Xiao Wu poked out her little head and furtively looked outside. Only after confirming that Lu Ming and the others had gone far away did she quietly follow after them.

She had barely slept all night!

Lu Ming's "mad ravings" from the night before had echoed through her mind again and again.

She had to see for herself just how this madman planned to use his twenty-second-level soul power to challenge two soul beast lords over two thousand years old!

From her current perspective, Feng Qie and Zhu Mao were strong, but against those giant demon brothers, they could not possibly be a match...

Yue Xi might be a rare Moonlight Deer, but before becoming an Arrancar, she had not even reached the thousand-year soul beast level. How powerful an enhancement could she possibly provide Feng Qie and Zhu Mao?