Sunset Forest

After entering Sunset Forest, Yang Xiong became extremely cautious.

Sunset Forest was known as one of the three great Soul Beast Forests and contained abundant Soul Beast resources. While it might not necessarily have Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, there was no shortage of high-level Soul Beasts.

In particular, Sunset Forest covered an enormous area. Though it was not as vast as the Star Dou Great Forest, its diameter still stretched for several hundred kilometers. Its depths were even more mysterious and unfathomable, with several Soul Beasts that were seventy or eighty thousand years old.

An 80,000-Year Soul Beast was roughly as powerful as a peak Soul Douluo. It could even serve as an excellent Ninth Soul Ring for a Soul Master, demonstrating just how formidable it was.

Yang Xiong had recently studied the maps of Sunset Forest carefully and gained a general understanding of the entire forest.

Yet only after truly entering Sunset Forest did he understand the terror of a Soul Beast Forest.

The ground seemed covered in every kind of weed, with only faintly visible paths scattered throughout.

Trees of all kinds rose one after another, tall and short alike. Every one of them appeared brimming with vitality. Though they were not necessarily Soul Beasts, they were all extremely old.

However, Sunset Forest was also exceptionally dangerous. Soul Beasts would occasionally dart out from the thick weeds. If Yang Xiong's senses had not been fairly sharp, he would have been easily ambushed.

Given Sunset Forest's terrifying environment, an ordinary person could only move at a very slow pace. For a Soul Grandmaster like Yang Xiong, it was hard to say whether he could even travel ten kilometers in a day.

Whenever Yang Xiong spotted a Soul Beast, he quickly avoided it. Getting injured while fighting Soul Beasts in the forest was a grave taboo.

In just half a day, Yang Xiong encountered seven or eight thousand-year Soul Beasts, not to mention even more hundred-year Soul Beasts. Their variety far exceeded that of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but that also meant greater danger.

In particular, Yang Xiong encountered a thousand-year Iron Bone Snake. It hid in the grass, completely concealing its aura. There were not even fluctuations of Soul Power or temperature, making it just like a hunter.

When Yang Xiong passed by within five meters of it, it suddenly launched an attack, startling Yang Xiong as well.

An attack from a thousand-year Soul Beast at such close range was impossible for an ordinary Soul Grandmaster to evade. Even a Soul Elder could be easily killed.

Yang Xiong only felt a violent blow strike his body. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and it felt as though his bones were about to fall apart—perhaps several had even broken.

At the crucial moment, Yang Xiong flashed and directly teleported dozens of meters away.

But the Iron Bone Snake reacted incredibly quickly and immediately pursued Yang Xiong. Especially when it slithered at full speed, it was even faster than someone who had just entered the Soul Ancestor realm. It appeared to be an Iron Bone Snake over two thousand years old.

Yang Xiong gritted his teeth. Soul Power rippled across his back and ribs, and a tortoise shell two meters in diameter immediately extended outward. Yang Xiong's entire body was enclosed within it. This was his External Soul Bone, the Dark Tortoise Armor.

The Dark Tortoise Armor had two methods of use. It could transform into an enormous tortoise shell to protect his entire body, wrapping him layer upon layer in its shell until he looked like a massive turtle shell.

Originally, the Dark Tortoise Armor had only been a little over five hundred years old. Yet after so many years of cultivation, it had already reached the thousand-year level.

The Iron Bone Snake was less than ten meters long and only forty centimeters thick. Faced with a massive tortoise shell two meters in diameter, it immediately found itself at a loss.

Given the Dark Tortoise Armor's formidable defense, let alone a mere thousand-year Iron Bone Snake, even a thousand-year Titan Giant Ape might not be able to break it.

Moreover, given the Dark Tortoise Armor's enormous size, it was impossible for the Iron Bone Snake to swallow it, much less digest it.

According to Yang Xiong's estimation, no Soul Beast below ten thousand years should be able to do anything to the Dark Tortoise Armor, unless it was an exceptionally powerful elite Soul Beast.

After all, with the Dark Tortoise's defenses, even an opponent one major realm higher might not be able to kill it. Yang Xiong's Dark Tortoise Armor had essentially replicated the Dark Tortoise's formidable defense. Tortoise-type creatures were the pinnacle of defense—their shells could cover their entire bodies, leaving virtually no weak points, and could even withstand forces dozens or hundreds of times their body weight. The Dark Tortoise stood at the very peak among tortoise-type Soul Beasts.

In particular, the Dark Tortoise Armor had two states when used, along with defensive Soul Skills. If fighting with a turtle shell on his back did not look so awkward, it would absolutely be the ideal defensive Soul Bone. Once it reached the ten-thousand-year level in the future, he could probably swagger through all of Sunset Forest.

Looking at the massive tortoise shell before it, the Iron Bone Snake was unwilling to give up food that was already at its mouth. Its pair of sharp fangs bit down on the Dark Tortoise Armor, yet the entire shell did not budge in the slightest.

The Iron Bone Snake even coiled its entire body around the Dark Tortoise Armor, seemingly intending to crush it with all its strength. Unfortunately, the Dark Tortoise Armor remained completely unmoved.

The Iron Bone Snake struggled for a full half hour, but it could do nothing against the giant turtle shell. In the end, it could only leave.

Yang Xiong had been extremely worried while hiding inside the Dark Tortoise Armor, but he finally relaxed once he realized that the Iron Bone Snake had no way to deal with him.

Only after confirming that the Iron Bone Snake had completely left did Yang Xiong withdraw the Dark Tortoise Armor and quickly depart from the area.

This was the first time Yang Xiong had faced mortal danger in Sunset Forest. Fortunately, he had a means of preserving his life. An ordinary Soul Elder would likely have died long ago.

If the danger during the day was visible to the naked eye, then at night, Sunset Forest became like a terrifying giant beast, as though it would devour every human who entered it.

Visibility was extremely poor at night. Many Darkness Attribute Soul Beasts could conceal the fluctuations of their Soul Power. It could be said that only at night did a Soul Beast Forest become a true hunting ground.

Yang Xiong directly dug a burrow and placed the droppings of high-level Soul Beasts all around it, which could intimidate some weaker Soul Beasts.

Throughout the night, Yang Xiong remained somewhat on edge. Forget sleeping—he could not even meditate with complete focus. Soul Beasts in the forest came in all shapes and forms, and if one attacked, he needed to react immediately. In particular, some Soul Beasts in a Soul Beast Forest could launch spiritual attacks. The slightest lapse in concentration could bring fatal danger.

The first day was also the most nerve-racking and the one that left Yang Xiong most terrified. This was the first time in his life that Yang Xiong had lived in such a dangerous environment. Fortunately, his mentality was not that of an ordinary eleven-year-old boy, or he would never have endured such constant mental strain.

Moreover, one of Yang Xiong's purposes in coming to the Soul Beast Forest was to temper himself in such a perilous environment. After all, Soul Masters could only truly grow amid danger.

Over the next few days, Yang Xiong gradually adapted to life in Sunset Forest. At this point, he was extremely glad that he had cultivated Heart Separation Control in advance, allowing him to remain aware of his surroundings while cultivating.

He would not use the turtle shell too often, and the back shell would evolve away eventually. At that point, it would be truly perfect.