Unexpected Encounter

Unable to persuade Zhu Zhuqing otherwise, Lu Shi had no choice but to compromise.

"But you have to listen to me."

"Mm-hmm!"

Over the next ten-plus days, the two of them continued searching for a White Tiger with suitable attributes.

They explored from the outskirts of Star Dou Forest bordering the Balak Kingdom all the way to the outskirts bordering the Hargen Das Kingdom.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger possessed six major attributes: darkness, evil, space, time, wind, and lightning.

The White Tiger Lu Shi intended to subdue needed to possess at least one of those attributes. He did not dare hope to find a Soul Beast with darkness, evil, or space attributes.

Those were far too rare.

Finding a White Tiger with wind or lightning attributes would already be excellent.

On the morning of the fifteenth day, Lu Shi and Zhu Zhuqing sat leisurely on a tree branch, eating fruit they had picked and admiring the scenery.

The sea of trees before them had long lost its appeal, but with the person beside them as company, even a forest held a unique charm.

They never tired of looking at it.

An angry shout suddenly rang out from the left, startling flocks of birds into flight from the canopy.

It also shattered the ambiguous atmosphere.

"Li An, what are you trying to do?!"

Lu Shi frowned. Where had these humans come from? Why had he not noticed them earlier?

He and Zhu Zhuqing rose at the same time and headed toward the voice.

In a small clearing in the woods stood three people, one man and two women, surrounded by five others. Another person sat on a tree root, smiling smugly.

A pitched tent and a steaming cooking pot stood nearby.

They had clearly just arrived and were preparing to spend the night there.

Another case of a hunting party stabbing someone in the back?

Lu Shi shook his head.

The Soul Master called Li An wore a long robe of dark purple and crimson. He rose from the tangled tree roots, thick as pythons, and said with a smile, "Zhao Jingxing, I already told you this trip was dangerous."

His eyes were full of smug satisfaction.

"Why, Li An?!" Zhao Jingxing cried hoarsely. The drug had taken effect quickly. He had been able to shout just moments ago, but now his body felt as though it were pinned beneath ten thousand tons of stone. He could not move at all and had no strength left. "We've been friends for ten years!"

Why were they attacking them?

He had never imagined that when his younger sister needed to obtain her second Soul Ring, the brother he had known for years would happen to lead a Soul Master hunting party. Trusting him, Zhao Jingxing had hired them and even paid them extra.

Why?!

"Why?" Li An's expression was calm. "Because it isn't fair, do you understand? My Innate Soul Power was only rank 2. I was born into poverty, working from before dawn until after dark every day just to fill my stomach, and all I earned was barely enough to keep me from starving. But you people were born as young masters and young ladies of Suotuo City! You had everything you could ever want. One of you even had Innate Soul Power at rank 4, and the other at rank 5!"

What astonishing talent.

Why was this world so unfair to me?!

It was all this world's fault!!

"But it doesn't matter." His expression suddenly changed, his indignation turning into laughter. "I found another method of cultivation. As long as I torture someone to death and sacrifice them, I can greatly increase my Soul Power."

"This is a reward bestowed upon me by the gods!"

The world had abandoned him, but the gods and fate had not!

Ever since awakening his Bat Martial Soul, he had felt an inexplicable thirst for blood. As his Soul Power increased, that thirst had grown stronger and stronger. Once he reached rank 20, he could no longer suppress it. That day, Li An tortured two herb-gathering commoners he happened upon to death. Following the guidance in his bloodline, he carried out a cruel sacrificial ritual, and his Soul Power actually increased directly!

Tears streamed down his face. So this was the path he was truly meant to walk.

Sacrifice!

He slowly approached Zhao Qinghe and the other two.

Zhao Qinghe's delicate face was pale. Her dark hair clung to her smooth forehead with sweat. Still attending the academy, she had never encountered anything like this before. She could only summon her Bamboo Flute Martial Soul and her sole Yellow Soul Ring, trying to resist.

But it was useless. She could not intimidate anyone. She was merely a one-ring auxiliary Soul Master, alongside Shen Qingqing, a one-ring agility-attack Soul Master. And Zhao Jingxing, lying on the ground, could not move. Who would be scared off by the two of them?

The five Soul Masters around them all sneered disdainfully, anticipating the division of spoils to come.

The Zhao Family was a famous wealthy family in Suotuo City. As the patriarch's only two children, the brother and sister definitely carried plenty of treasures!

Li An had agreed with them from the outset that no matter what valuables they obtained, he would take only ten percent, while the other five divided the rest.

Compared with other teams that split things fifty-fifty or sixty-forty,

Li An was practically a saint!

"Ah!"

The weakest among the five, a young male auxiliary Soul Master, suddenly collapsed to the ground. His face turned deathly pale as he screamed, "Don't come closer! Don't come closer!"

He kept waving his hands, as though truly trying to block something.

This strange behavior displeased everyone, especially Li An. "Wang Dun, be quiet before the sacrifice begins!"

What the hell are you going crazy for?!

Yet Wang Dun seemed not to hear him at all. Completely ignoring everyone's reactions, he panicked on his own. Before Li An could berate him, he fainted to the ground, his lips turning purple as his body convulsed unconsciously.

What was happening?

Li An frowned. This looked like... poisoning?

The other four had just started toward Wang Dun to inspect him when Li An immediately shouted them down.

"Don't move. There's an enemy!"

Before his words even faded, a scarlet figure shot from the forest behind one of them. Before the man could turn around, sinister fangs claimed his life.

Squelch!

Two holes opened in his chest, blood pouring endlessly from them.

The remaining three retreated rapidly, forming a circle around Li An. They summoned their Martial Souls, and several Soul Rings lit up. Only two were Purple Soul Rings; the rest were white and yellow. They appeared to be a group of two-ring and three-ring Soul Masters.

They were all between twenty and forty years old.

Among the three, the agility-attack Soul Master possessed a monkey Martial Soul, the power-attack Soul Master possessed a gorilla Martial Soul, and the defense-type Soul Master possessed a turtle Martial Soul. All were exceptionally common Martial Souls.

Including the dead auxiliary and agility-attack Soul Masters, this was a textbook team composition.

"What kind of Soul Beast is that?!"

The agility-attack Soul Master on Li An's left cried out.

It was too fast.

With its strange color and speed, no one present had seen what it was.

Zhao Qinghe had no idea what was happening. She could only curl up in the corner with Shen Qingqing, protecting her brother, while Zhao Jingxing lay on the ground and watched the scene unfold.

Nothing but despair remained in his eyes.

No...

Li An vigilantly scanned his surroundings, using the bat's unique hearing to try and lock onto the target. But there was too much interference in the forest, making it impossible for him to detect anything.

"Don't panic. We're in the outer region. There are no powerful Soul Beasts here. It must know it cannot confront us head-on, which is why it chose a sneak attack."

"As long as we don't split up, there's nothing it can do to us."

Though he said that, he cursed inwardly. These useless fools were eager whenever there were benefits to be gained by following him, but the moment danger appeared, they all shrank back and dared not move.

After this sacrifice, he would reach rank 39. Once he obtained his fourth Soul Ring, he would immediately sacrifice these four as well.

Useless trash that only held him back!

As he was thinking, Li An suddenly sensed a disturbance overhead and instinctively looked up.

A... burning FireRed figure.

"Scatter!"

He roared, kicking off with both legs and retreating at once.

The remaining three had yet to react before they were swallowed by a pillar of flame that blasted toward them.

"Ah!"

They screamed one after another. They still managed to escape, but their bodies had been charred black.

Yet they had no time to catch their breath.

The greatest difference between human Soul Masters and Soul Beasts was cultivation speed. A Soul Beast had to cultivate for a hundred thousand years before it could contend with a Titled Douluo who had cultivated for merely a hundred years. Of course, someone like Dugu Bo did not count.

Because Soul Beasts chose to mutate, strengthening one or two attributes to the extreme—such as the Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear's strength, the Nine-Section Jade's venom, or perhaps...

Flames and speed!

In the blink of an eye, the pillar of flame struck again. The power-attack Soul Master was burned to ash, while the agility-attack Soul Master was pierced straight through.

Only Li An and one defense-type Soul Master remained.

The defense-type Soul Master knew he could not escape. He activated his third soul skill, strengthening his skin so that it became hard while retaining flexibility.

His defense increased by fifty percent!

For some reason, his expression suddenly changed drastically as well. Breathing rapidly, he shouted that there were snakes—so many snakes—then fled in a panic.

"Trash!"

Li An's face turned livid as he cursed. He wanted to run away using any excuse he could think of?

Once Li An returned, he would definitely torture him until he wished he were dead!

In his panic, Li An saw countless venomous snakes slither out of the woods, accompanied by the rustling of grass and leaves. Their scarlet tongues flickered as they surged toward him.

Snakes!