Jiang Tieyi: Savage Ancient Ape Martial Soul (Su Chen's Fourth Companion)

In the end, Spirit Hall's three Soul Emperors did not dare set foot on Thunderstorm Peak's summit.

Su Chen stood at the cliff's edge, watching the three streaks of light hover at the edge of the thunderclouds for a moment before finally vanishing into the depths of the forest.

He did not pursue them.

At his current strength, he could not take on three Soul Emperors working together.

Frightening them off was already the best possible outcome for now.

"Move. Before they can mobilize their forces, we disappear completely."

Su Chen withdrew his gaze, his voice especially cold in the wind.

The group descended the mountain overnight, avoiding the main roads and traveling through the shadows along the western side of the Star Dou Great Forest for two days.

At noon on the third day, a remote town blanketed in mining slag and dust appeared on the horizon.

Ironfang Town.

Other than poor wheat beer and cheap spirit ores, there was nothing here. Precisely because of that, Spirit Hall's spies had yet to infiltrate this crack in the land.

Su Chen stopped outside town and raised a hand.

Thirty streaks of light instantly shattered, turning into countless specks of starlight that returned to his palm.

Chu Yao stretched her stiff shoulders and let out a long breath.

"Finally, I don't have to eat dry rations while staring at ten Fearclaw Bears every day. That kind of pressure was making me worry I'd get indigestion."

Su Chen ignored her teasing.

He changed into an inconspicuous gray cloak, concealing his distinctive combat outfit.

They entered the town separately. Mo Qianye went to tend to his injuries, while Chu Yao took charge of supplies.

Su Chen headed toward the eastern side of town with Yan Wuji.

There lay a massive open-pit mine, and dull crashing sounds echoed from the depths of its dark tunnels.

The rhythm was extraordinarily steady.

Once.

Then again.

With every impact, the grit on the ground jumped.

Yan Wuji frowned. "That force doesn't sound like an ordinary blasting charge."

Su Chen said nothing and walked straight into the pitch-black mine tunnel.

The air was thick with dry stone dust and a beastlike, scorching presence.

After turning through a narrow bend, the sight before him made Su Chen stop.

A young man stood there, bare from the waist up.

Before him was a century-old Rock Armor Beast covered from head to toe in granite armor.

This type of soul beast was famed for its defenses. Even an ordinary Great Soul Master's soul skills could at most leave a pale mark on it.

Yet now, the Rock Armor Beast was trembling.

The young man was nearly two meters tall, with astonishingly broad shoulders. The muscles across his back writhed like pythons with every breath.

Behind him, the translucent phantom of a gray giant ape silently roared at the heavens.

It was the Savage Ancient Ape.

A supreme martial soul recorded only in ancient texts, possessing ultimate strength and the Extreme Gravity Domain.

"Die!"

The young man spat out a single word and threw a vicious right punch.

There were no dazzling effects from soul skills, only an utterly pure collision of flesh and force.

Crack.

The Rock Armor Beast's skull, strong enough to withstand blades and swords, shattered beneath that punch like brittle porcelain.

Its enormous corpse crashed to the ground, kicking up dust everywhere.

The young man wiped the mining dust from his face, revealing a somewhat honest-looking round face.

"Heh, looks like we'll have a good meal tonight."

Yan Wuji felt the corner of his eye twitch.

Such a top-tier assault-type martial soul was being used to hunt low-level soul beasts for food?

Su Chen stepped out of the shadows, his gaze fixed on the ape phantom behind the young man.

"Is your martial soul the Savage Ancient Ape?"

The young man turned around warily, his thick, short brows drawing together.

"Yeah. My pa said this martial soul's strong, so I can mine three times faster than other folks. Said I was born to be a mine foreman."

Su Chen fell silent.

There could be no greater waste of talent.

"What's your name?"

"Jiang Tieyi."

Su Chen looked at him, his tone as calm as if they were discussing tomorrow's weather.

"Come with me. I'll make sure you're fed."

Jiang Tieyi froze. An intense longing flashed through his large eyes.

"Fed? Meat every meal?"

"Meat every meal. As much as you want."

Thud.

Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Tieyi dropped to both knees on the mining slag, making the ground tremble.

"Big Brother! From today on, this life of mine is yours!"

Yan Wuji stared from the side, dumbfounded.

Wasn't this recruitment process a little too hasty?

After returning to the inn's rear courtyard, Su Chen decided to test the quality of this "raw iron."

"Iron Wall, come out."

A dark-golden flash appeared, and the enormous body of the ten-thousand-year Fearclaw Bear instantly filled the courtyard.

Jiang Tieyi still had half a braised pork knuckle stuffed in his mouth. He asked indistinctly, "Big Brother, that bear looks pretty fat. Can we roast it?"

Iron Wall let out an angry growl.

It had sensed the provocation.

"Stand firm. Take one of its strikes," Su Chen ordered.

Jiang Tieyi put down the pork knuckle and settled into a horse stance.

The Savage Ancient Ape's phantom instantly solidified, and a ring of gray gravity field violently spread outward from him.

Iron Wall's right claw, wrapped in dark-golden sharpness, slammed heavily onto Jiang Tieyi's shoulder.

It was power enough to shatter a city wall.

Boom!

The blue bricks beneath Jiang Tieyi's feet instantly crumbled, and both his legs sank into the ground up to his knees.

Yet he did not so much as sway.

Only a faint white mark was left on the armor formed by the ancient ape phantom.

Iron Wall froze.

Refusing to accept it, it swung its claw again. This time, it carried the primordial power of a ten-thousand-year soul beast.

The air tore apart with a piercing shriek.

Jiang Tieyi remained as immovable as a mountain. He even found time to pat the dust off his shoulder.

"Pretty strong. That scratch felt good."

Iron Wall withdrew its claw, and an almost human trace of frustration appeared in its eyes.

Su Chen nodded in satisfaction.

The fourth of the Abyss Seven Generals had been found.

An unshakable frontline core.

Late at night.

Su Chen stood on the terrace atop the inn, holding a freshly purchased piece of intelligence.

"Silverfeather Edict?"

Chu Yao stood behind him, her face slightly pale.

"Spirit Hall has gone mad this time. The bounty is worth ten years of tax revenue from three main cities."

"They aren't merely after your life. They want to hunt you down as though you were the leader of evil soul masters."

Su Chen casually shook the intelligence into powder.

The scraps of paper danced in the night wind.

He showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he looked deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.

There, he sensed an extremely faint yet exceptionally familiar aura.

It carried the scent of another of his "kind."

"Interesting."

Su Chen murmured softly.

"The roles of hunter and prey will soon be reversed."