Xiao Wu, Show Me Your Strength?

"Xiao Wu, could you be a little more careful? We're here to obtain Soul Rings, not to go sightseeing."

Jiang Li watched Xiao Wu up ahead, hopping along as she walked, completely relaxed as if she were out on a leisurely outing. He could not help but sigh.

Although they were currently only on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, where the most common Soul Beasts were thousand-year-old and below.

Soul Beasts differed from one another as well. Super Soul Beasts such as the Titan Giant Ape and the Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear could rival Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts even when they were only thousand-year-old.

If a similar Soul Beast suddenly sprang out from somewhere, there would be no arguing with that kind of bad luck.

Xiao Wu immediately waved her hand in dissatisfaction. "Alright, alright. You're so naggy."

But she only behaved herself for a moment before tossing Jiang Li's words to the back of her mind.

Seeing that, Jiang Li knew he could not keep trying to persuade Xiao Wu. Yet after thinking it over carefully, he soon felt relieved.

Xiao Wu was a transformed Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had grown up in the Star Dou Great Forest. Coming here was no different from returning home.

To Xiao Wu, this place might have been even more familiar than Notting Academy, where she had studied for five years.

Telling Xiao Wu to be careful? That might have been rather unnecessary.

When Xiao Wu saw that Jiang Li was no longer restraining her, her actions became even more unrestrained.

Every now and then, she jumped onto a branch to check for bird eggs. Other times, she squatted beside the grass and rummaged around for ant nests.

She was supposedly a rabbit, yet Xiao Wu now looked more like an overexcited husky that had been locked up for too long before finally being let loose.

Watching Xiao Wu's childlike antics, Jiang Li could not help recalling the days when he used to catch fish and raid bird nests with his childhood friends.

The tension from entering the Star Dou Great Forest for the first time gradually eased from his mind.

Just then, a black wolf more than four meters long sprang out from behind the bushes ahead.

Jiang Li hurriedly warned her, "Watch out!"

Hearing him, Xiao Wu immediately pushed off with both legs and alertly leaped backward, dodging the Soul Beast's pounce.

Only then did the wolf-shaped Soul Beast fully reveal itself before them.

It was a wolf-type Soul Beast with a jet-black body and fur that looked as though it had been coated in oil, gleaming brightly.

Judging from the purple Soul Power it displayed while attacking and its body length of around four meters, it was a Shadow Wolf that was over a thousand years old but no more than twelve hundred years old.

After identifying the Soul Beast, Jiang Li immediately relaxed. It was merely a thousand-year-old Shadow Wolf. Even if he did not act, Xiao Wu could easily deal with it.

Come to think of it, how could super Soul Beasts like the Azure Bull Python, Titan Giant Ape, Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear, and Dark Demon Evil God Tiger be encountered so easily?

"A stray dog like you dares provoke Sister Xiao Wu? You're asking to die!" Xiao Wu shouted at the Shadow Wolf before her. "Soft-Boned Rabbit, Spirit Avatar!"

As one of the overlords of the Star Dou Great Forest, Xiao Wu had dared to kick the Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape in the face when she was angry.

How could she possibly tolerate a mere thousand-year-old Soul Beast trying to ambush her without knowing its place?

As she spoke, a pink rabbit phantom appeared behind her and turned into pink motes of light that swiftly merged into her body.

At the same time, a pair of fluffy pink rabbit ears grew from Xiao Wu's head, adding a touch of playfulness to the young girl.

Two yellow Soul Rings rose beneath her feet, and the Soul Ring belonging to her twentieth level shone brilliantly.

"Second Soul Skill, Charm!"

Xiao Wu blinked her beautiful eyes, and a pink glow filled her pupils.

As Xiao Wu blinked, a pink beam shot straight toward the Shadow Wolf nearby.

The struck Shadow Wolf let out a low whimper and lowered its previously raised tail, assuming a posture of surrender rather than battle.

This was the power of Xiao Wu's second Soul Skill, Charm. It could make a struck opponent lower their fighting stance for a short time, provided their spiritual power was inferior to hers.

But Xiao Wu was a transformed Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. How low could her spiritual power possibly be?

As long as she did not encounter a Soul Master who specialized in spiritual power or a Title Douluo, even a Soul Douluo struck by this move would be forcibly controlled for an instant.

For Xiao Wu, it was unquestionably a minor divine skill.

Having forcibly controlled the Shadow Wolf, Xiao Wu naturally would not let this opportunity slip away.

She pushed hard against the ground with both feet, leaping high into the air and flying toward the Shadow Wolf.

She did not use the Soul Skill from her other Soul Ring. Instead, she repeatedly kicked the controlled Shadow Wolf fiercely in midair.

"Take a Foshan Shadowless Kick from Sister Xiao Wu!"

One kick, two kicks, three kicks...

In the span of two short seconds, she landed eighteen consecutive kicks on the Shadow Wolf.

Wolf-type Soul Beasts were said to have heads of bronze, bones of iron, and waists of tofu, yet under those eighteen savage blows, the Shadow Wolf could only suffer the miserable fate of dying with its skull shattered.

Even until its death, the Shadow Wolf had failed to break free from the control effect of Xiao Wu's second Soul Skill, Charm.

Naturally, Jiang Li had taught her this fighting style.

In Jiang Li's view, Xiao Wu's combat style in the original work had been rather laughable.

Close combat was fine, but fighting at point-blank range...

What was the most painful way for a rabbit to hit someone? Naturally, it was to kick them with its legs!

Anyone who had been kicked by a rabbit knew just how painful a hard rabbit kick could be.

Thus, Jiang Li had combined a rabbit's jumping ability with its kicking traits to custom-design several self-created Soul Skills for Xiao Wu.

Unfortunately, this Shadow Wolf was too weak. Aside from the Foshan Shadowless Kick she had just used, Xiao Wu had not even had the chance to use the other two, stronger self-created Soul Skills that incorporated principles from Tai Chi and Eight Extremes Fist.

After easily dealing with the Shadow Wolf, Xiao Wu clapped her hands and turned to Jiang Li behind her. "Well? Isn't Sister Xiao Wu impressive?"

"Since Sister Xiao Wu is so impressive, why not go kill a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and show us your strength?" Qian Renxue drifted out from behind Jiang Li and teased.

Xiao Wu ignored Qian Renxue and looked at Jiang Li. "Jiang Li, why don't you absorb this Soul Ring? Then this trip will be over."

Hearing that, Jiang Li glanced at Xiao Wu.

"Why not have our great Sister Xiao Wu directly sacrifice a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring to little Jiang Li?" Qian Renxue continued teasing Xiao Wu.

This Shadow Wolf was only around a thousand years old. Even an ordinary Soul Master might not think much of it as a third Soul Ring, let alone Jiang Li, who had consumed plenty of Whale Glue over the past few years.

His third Soul Ring needed to be at least two thousand years old, perhaps even three thousand years old.

Seeing the thoughtful expression on Jiang Li's face, Xiao Wu immediately drew back her ears and said timidly, "Just pretend I never said anything."

Jiang Li said nothing. He simply flipped his hand and drew out a dagger before stepping forward to work on the Shadow Wolf's corpse.

Although the Shadow Wolf was a thousand-year-old Soul Beast, it was not particularly valuable.

But there was no helping it. They were poor!

Whale Glue was a major expense. Even though few people currently knew its uses and its price was still relatively cheap, that cheapness was only relative.

As something produced by sea Soul Beasts, how cheap could it really be in an inland city like Notting City?

It was like seafood being cheap along the coast, while mushrooms were everywhere in the mountains.

Suddenly, Jiang Li stopped moving.

A faint, ghostly glow emanated from the spot he had cut open with his dagger.

"A Soul Bone dropped!"