Rest Up and Prepare for the Kill!

Yang Que and Huang Dabiao still kept their auras hidden as they sat on a rock at the edge of the pitch-black mountain range.

Yang Que tapped his fingers lightly against the stone. His mind raced as he tried to devise a foolproof plan to lure out the Saber-Toothed Demon Tiger and fight the six people hunting him to the death. That was no easy task.

After all, the Saber-Toothed Demon Tiger was no fool. How could a creature that had cultivated for nearly fifty thousand years be one?

The older a Soul Beast was, the more intelligent it became. Those between a thousand and ten thousand years old had the intelligence of children. Those between ten and fifty thousand years old were like adolescents. Beyond fifty thousand years, their intelligence was comparable to an ordinary adult's.

Most terrifying of all were Soul Beasts that reached a hundred thousand years of age. They could speak human language, and their wisdom was no less than a human's.

Yang Que stared at the mountain and kept thinking. It was giving him a headache.

He could lure the tiger out and kill it alone, but he wasn't strong enough. Or he could draw it toward those six people and drag them into the fight, but he still couldn't beat it.

Damn it! Isn't there a perfect solution?

Suddenly, Yang Que spotted two Soul Beasts playing on the mountain!

Are those...?

Yang Que quickly rubbed his eyes. Once he was sure he hadn't seen wrong, excitement surged through him.

Huang Dabiao was puzzled. What was this about? Why was Yang Que so excited again? Had he gone mad from wanting that Soul Ring?

"Brother Huang! Look at the top of the mountain! Do you see anything?" Yang Que asked excitedly, urging Huang Dabiao to look too.

Huang Dabiao followed his gaze and saw two small Soul Beasts as well.

"Huh! There are actually two Saber-Toothed Demon Tiger cubs here! What a surprise. Those little ones bring some life to this mountain."

"Wait. That's not right! The Saber-Toothed Demon Tiger I met last time was male. A male can't give birth to cubs! Could it be...?" Huang Dabiao blinked, then horror spread across his face.

Yang Que blinked too, stunned. "The one you met was male? You mean there are two adult Saber-Toothed Demon Tigers in this mountain range? A male and a female?"

Yang Que was speechless. Great. There went his chance. The pair lived here together. One had probably gone out hunting, leaving only the other for now, but who knew when it would return? How was he supposed to make a move? One tiger would have been manageable.

Wait. This might actually be an opportunity. Yang Que's eyes flickered.

"Brother Huang, let's watch them here for three days before deciding whether to stay," Yang Que said.

"Stay?" Huang Dabiao was even more bewildered. There were two of them, and Yang Que still had his sights set on the family? How could he be so reckless?

Yang Que glanced at him without speaking, but his look seemed to say, Obviously. How else are we going to hunt one?

For the next three days, Yang Que watched the dark mountain range, studying the Saber-Toothed Demon Tigers' habits.

By the third evening, he finally had a clear picture.

Every day, one tiger went hunting in the morning and returned at noon. The rest of the time, both stayed in the mountain. Yang Que had even followed the male to its hunting grounds once. They weren't too far away; the trip had taken just under an hour.

The male was likely afraid that if it strayed too far from its den, its mate and cubs would be in danger. Most of the Soul Beasts it brought back were ten to twenty thousand years old. It was clearly formidable.

The female was different. Yang Que had taken a close look at the two cubs, and they seemed to have been born only recently. That meant the female had given birth not long ago, which was bound to affect her strength. She would be doing well to wield even half her usual power.

Even so, one hour was a tight window.

An hour was neither long nor short.

It was enough time to lure her out and kill her, but absorbing the Soul Ring afterward would be difficult. He needed a foolproof plan.

"System, is there a device that can store a Soul Ring?" Yang Que asked.

"Are you kidding? This system can do anything and has everything! Of course it has a little thing for holding Soul Rings!" the system said smugly.

"...If you have one, just say so. Why the smug act? How much does it cost?" Yang Que asked, exasperated.

"Let me show you the options, host!"

Soul-Sealing Device (low-grade): Can seal a Soul Ring inside and prevent it from dissipating for one year. Can hold a Soul Ring under ten thousand years old. Capacity: 1 Soul Ring. Price: 3,000 Gold Coins.

Soul-Sealing Device (mid-grade): Can prevent Soul Rings from dissipating for ten years. Can hold Soul Rings under one hundred thousand years old. Capacity: 10 Soul Rings. Price: 30,000 Gold Coins.

Soul-Sealing Device (high-grade): Can prevent Soul Rings from dissipating for one hundred years. Can hold Soul Rings under one million years old. Capacity: 100 Soul Rings. Price: 1,000,000 Gold Coins.

Soul-Sealing Device (supreme-grade): Can prevent Soul Rings from dissipating forever. No limit on the age or number of Soul Rings it can hold. Price: 10,000,000 Gold Coins.

What?!

They're that expensive?!

One mid-grade device will nearly wipe me out. That hurts!

Beside him, Huang Dabiao saw Yang Que suddenly clutch his chest, looking pained. Unsure what had happened, he hurried over to support him. "Leader, what's wrong?"

Yang Que pushed Huang Dabiao away and waved to show that he was fine.

Huang Dabiao was full of questions, but he went off to keep watch.

Yang Que turned back to the system. "Fine, I'll buy one. If we kill her and I don't have time to absorb the Soul Ring, that'll be awful. Give me a mid-grade one."

"Understood, host. Purchasing it now!" the system replied.

A notification sounded in his ear. "Ding! Congratulations, host! You have purchased a mid-grade Soul-Sealing Device for 30,000 Gold Coins!"

Yang Que opened his status screen.

[Infinite Upgrade System]

[Host: Yang Que]

[Level: LV40]

[Title: Half-Step Soul Ancestor]

[Soul Power: 400000/400000]

[Gold Coins: 3024]

[Martial Souls: Nine-Headed Demon Lion (no Soul Rings), Soul-Slaying Sword (Soul Rings: purple, purple, black)]

[Arts: Azure Yang Art, Jade-Suppressing Nether King Body (first part), Thunderclap Sword Shadow Steps, Dragon-Tiger Roaring Heaven Art (unusable)]

[Weapons: Ice Sword, Heaven-Slaying Grudge Demon Calamity (sealed; unusable)]

[Pet System: Mysterious Golden Egg (incubating)]

Yang Que let out a soft breath and looked up at the sky. He was broke again, with practically nothing left. When would this ever end?

He gathered himself. Once he put the plan into action, even that Soul Emperor would have a hard time catching him at his speed. Still, to be safe, he should buy an Aura-Concealing Pill.

And there went another 2,000 Gold Coins. Only about 1,000 remained in his inventory. It hurt!

But the thought of soon obtaining a nearly fifty-thousand-year Soul Ring filled him with excitement.

"Brother Huang, get ready. We make our move tomorrow," Yang Que told Huang Dabiao.

Huang Dabiao's eyes widened. What? They were actually going to do it?

There were two Saber-Toothed Demon Tigers over there, and Yang Que still dared to provoke them? Did he have a death wish?

Seeing Huang Dabiao look as if he'd seen a ghost, Yang Que shook his head with a smile and explained his plan.

After the male Saber-Toothed Demon Tiger left to hunt tomorrow, Huang Dabiao would wait an hour, then draw the female away. Yang Que would step in, seize one of the cubs, and lure the female into chasing him. He would handle the rest. After all, he was fast, and Thunderclap Sword Shadow Steps was no empty boast.

After hearing the plan, Huang Dabiao could only marvel at Yang Que's nerve. If the male returned unexpectedly, wouldn't they both be finished?

Ah, young people really are young people—full of drive and ready to act on impulse.

Yang Que didn't explain what came next, but Huang Dabiao could guess. He would probably kill the cub and pin it on the six pursuers. Then those six would fight the female to the death, and the two of them would swoop in like fishermen profiting from a fight between a snipe and a clam.

Huang Dabiao was shaken. Was Yang Que really a twelve-year-old boy? Such composure and cunning were frightening.

And his talent was extraordinary too. Perhaps this was the gulf between a genius and an ordinary person.

The two began their preparations, resting up and gathering their strength for tomorrow's fight with the Saber-Toothed Demon Tiger...