The Appearance of Er Ming

Only in his sixth life, when he had been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast capable of taking human form—a Soft Bone Rabbit—had he learned that the Star Dou Great Forest's fearsome overlords, the Sky Azure Bull Python, Da Ming, and the Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming, had not grown into Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts over a hundred thousand long years.

Their hundred thousand years of cultivation had been, from beginning to end, a carefully engineered case of pulling up seedlings to make them grow. Di Tian, the supreme ruler of Soul Beasts, had used the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's boundless Soul Power, vast as the sea, to force them into becoming top-tier fighters. They had been raised as watchdogs for the Lake of Life.

Da Ming and Er Ming had never been the only two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts by the Lake of Life. Many powerful beasts of that age had come and gone before them. Di Tian had raised them whenever he awoke, intending for them to intimidate Soul Masters who ventured deep into the Star Dou Great Forest and ensure that none could explore the Lake of Life.

Da Ming and Er Ming would always treat Xiao Wu as their elder sister. It had nothing to do with cultivation, seniority, or age. In the bewildering years when Di Tian had been forcing their growth, Ah Rou had cared for and protected them while they were still young. She had been their only warmth and support through their long years of growing up.

Back then, Bibi Dong had hunted Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts far and wide to complete the Soul Rings for her Second Martial Soul. She had scoured the Star Dou Great Forest, slaughtering countless Soul Beasts. Ah Rou, trapped in mortal danger, had not been without a way out, nor had she been unwilling to flee back to the Lake of Life for shelter.

The sole reason she could not return was Di Tian's indifference and prohibition.

The human world divided people into high and low, noble and base. In the cruel world of Soul Beasts, the barriers between ranks were even more rigid, cold, and unforgiving. Even a Soft Bone Rabbit whose cultivation had reached a hundred thousand, or even two hundred thousand years, remained nothing but low-blooded prey, base from birth, in the eyes of a supreme ruler like Di Tian.

Huang Tieyi still remembered the words Di Tian had spoken when Ah Rou begged him for help. That indifferent whisper from on high had chilled him to the bone, each word piercing the heart: "A mere Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit thinks herself worthy of exposing the sacred secret of the Lake of Life? Worthy of having me personally come to her rescue?"

RUMBLE!

A deep, domineering beast roar suddenly exploded from the deepest reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest. The solid earth heaved violently, as though an ancient monster had burst from beneath it, while an overwhelming bestial pressure swept in every direction.

Leaning against an ancient tree with his eyes closed, lost in memory, Huang Tieyi snapped back to himself. He twisted and sprang nimbly to his feet. A blazing light flared in his dark eyes, and he could not keep an excited grin from spreading across his face.

"It's here! I knew the wait wouldn't be for nothing. My Seventh Soul Ring is finally coming!"

Just as anticipation filled him, a cool voice suddenly came from above and doused most of his excitement.

"A Yi, you're celebrating too soon."

Lei Zhenyun leaped lightly into the treetop to look out, then jumped down and said, "The Titan Giant Apes have appeared, yes. But judging by the color of the fur between their brows, none of them has an earth-attribute foundation. They don't meet your Martial Soul's requirements at all."

At those words, Huang Tieyi's delight collapsed into disappointment.

The species was born powerfully built and possessed astonishing strength. Its many branches had different attributes, and the rarest and strongest of them were the earth-attribute Titan Giant Apes.

When Huang Tieyi had lived beside Er Ming in his sixth life as a Soft Bone Rabbit, Er Ming had told him that ordinary Titan Giant Apes lived no longer than eighty thousand years. Those who broke through the shackles of time on their own and survived to a hundred thousand years were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Di Tian had chosen to raise Er Ming solely because he possessed the rare earth attribute.

Huang Tieyi exhaled softly, pushed down his hopes and disappointment, and said evenly, "Then let's just watch for now."

The Titan Giant Apes fought wildly. They opened their mouths and fired energy waves of various attributes to destroy the webs laid by the Crab-Claw Demon Spiders, then charged in swinging their huge fists.

The Crab-Claw Demon Spiders fought with far more strategy. No matter how many webs the Titan Giant Apes destroyed, the spiders kept spinning more: large webs, small webs, tiny webs, large webs wrapped around small ones, and small webs fitted inside great elastic nets. The apes were caught in nets, tripped headlong, or had both hands bound...

The Titan Giant Apes soon looked battered, but not a single one had died. The Crab-Claw Demon Spiders, by contrast, had already suffered many deaths. Some had been trampled; others had been torn apart...

The Titan Giant Apes and Crab-Claw Demon Spiders were natural enemies, so by all rights the battle should not have been this one-sided. Titan Giant Apes were also a little less clever than Crab-Claw Demon Spiders of the same age. What was happening was strange indeed, almost impossible to understand.

"A Yi, look. There's another Titan Giant Ape standing in the distance, and I think someone's on its shoulder," Lei Zhenyun said from the treetop, pointing ahead.

Huang Tieyi leaped up and climbed to an even higher treetop in a few quick movements. There he spotted Er Ming, the Titan Giant Ape, and Ah Rou, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, standing in the distance. Ah Rou held a Bamboo Flute and blew it in a measured rhythm. It was no flowing melody; it sounded more like some kind of command.

Huang Tieyi listened closely and suddenly remembered hearing that flute in his sixth life. That time, Ah Rou had used it to direct other Soul Beasts in an attack on Spirit Hall's Soul Masters.

"So that's why this fight felt wrong!" Huang Tieyi released his Golden Sacred Body. The purple Third Soul Ring beneath his feet lit up. "Fight dirty, will you? Then take my Third Soul Skill—Six Meridian Divine Sword!"

The Sword Qi that burst from Huang Tieyi's fingertips flashed like lasers and thunderbolts. It was blindingly fast, long-ranged, and devastating.

Absorbed in playing her flute, Ah Rou failed to notice the danger until it was too late. Er Ming reacted, raising his hand to block the attack by force. The Six Meridian Divine Sword pierced his hand before its power was spent. The hole through his palm did not bleed; the lightning's instantaneous heat had seared the wound shut.

Er Ming roared in pain and charged toward them, furious. Seeing him fly into a rage, Ah Rou stood on his shoulder and tried to soothe him, but the constant pain in his hand made it hard for him to calm down. Er Ming stormed into the battlefield between the Titan Giant Apes and the Crab-Claw Demon Spiders, striking indiscriminately as his feet shook the earth. All he wanted now was to fight the human who had ambushed them to the death.

Huang Tieyi stood in the treetop and calmly watched Er Ming charge closer. An evil smile touched his lips. "My chosen Seventh Soul Ring has finally come to me. In that case, I won't hold back..."

"Fifth Soul Skill—Big Ball Rasengan!" Huang Tieyi sprang from the canopy and raised both hands as though cradling something. A huge ball of water quickly formed in the air, its contents spinning at tremendous speed.

Using the force of his fall, Huang Tieyi slammed it toward...