We Promised to Take You Home!

As the beast tide surged, Jiang Hao could see a swath of collapsing forest through the Telescope even from afar. He moved swiftly, weaving between Soul Beasts until he appeared near the camp. At his arrival, the many Clones sprang into action, drawing their bows and loading their Crossbows.

"I hope this beast tide doesn't last too long."

The first wave of long-range attacks would do little to slow it, but it could eliminate most of the weaker Soul Beasts.

"Loose!"

Arrows hissed through the air.

A rain of arrows swept over Jiang Hao's head and struck the Soul Beasts behind him. Those around ten years old fell where they stood, then were trampled into mud by the beasts charging at their heels.

Jiang Hao vaulted the wall and landed beside Owl Bro. "With a beast tide this big, Shrek City should do something, right?"

One of Jiang Hao's Clones had asked the question, but everyone knew Shrek's ways. Until the Soul Beasts broke through Shrek City's East Gate, why would it send anyone to deal with a beast tide that could not reach it?

They all understood. Without a word, they drew their bows.

"Second line, collapse the trap!"

Owl Bro waved a hand, passing the order through the Sea of Consciousness. The defenses they had prepared in advance now proved their worth. As the first wave of Soul Beasts crossed a stretch of ground covered in Blue Silver Grass, the earth suddenly caved in. Countless thick wooden stakes jutted up through the pit. Clumsy Soul Beasts plunged onto them and were impaled, while the nimble beasts behind them sprang off the corpses and out of the pit, charging onward.

The first rain of arrows had eliminated the numerous small Soul Beasts that could easily slip into the city and wreak havoc. The pit took care of the lumbering beasts with tough physical defenses. Only at the third line would the Soul Masters truly come into their own.

"Elemental Soul Masters, use your long-range Soul Skills! The Main Body Old Rogue has money now. Once this is over, we'll get everyone offensive Soul Tools!"

"Yes!"

Owl Bro waved again. Waves of light, streams of venom, fireballs, and water bullets began thinning the Soul Beasts leaping out of the pit. Elemental Soul Masters were the rarest, but they also had the strongest long-range attacks, serving as precise marksmen in battle. Behind them stood the final line, formed by beast-type Soul Masters, tool-type Soul Masters, and support Soul Masters. They were determined to stop every Soul Beast there.

Through round after round of slaughter, some Soul Beasts used their strength and agility to evade attack after attack. They reached the low wall and clashed with the Clones around it.

"Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, First Soul Skill: Fire-Spitting Rosy Clouds!"

Xiao Xiao's resolute voice rang out behind Jiang Hao and Owl Bro. Three enormous cauldrons appeared from nowhere and slammed into the Soul Beasts leaping out of the distant trench. Flames poured from every cauldron.

Her First Soul Skill had changed. It was no longer Cauldron's Tremor. Then Jiang Hao gave a wry smile. Of course. My existence changed how the story unfolded. Wasn't that exactly what the butterfly effect meant?

This skill was more like one from the Power Attack System. The three blazing cauldrons kept crashing down on Soul Beasts trying to climb out of the pit. Their immense weight and lashing tongues of flame sent the beasts scrambling to keep their distance.

"Banner Bro's ability is too dangerous to show here. We'll have to do this ourselves."

Jiang Hao gave the order to the Clones returning from their hunts. Baozi Bro appeared among them. "Come on, Main Body Old Rogue! Try my big buns!"

Speaking through the Sea of Consciousness kept outsiders from hearing them. Baozi Bro pressed two plump buns into Jiang Hao's hands. "First Soul Skill: Secret-Recipe Savory Soup Dumpling! And Second Soul Skill: All-or-Nothing Red Bean Bun! The first restores Soul Power so you can fight longer. The second doubles the damage of your attacks for three minutes."

Jiang Hao stuffed the buns into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Heat rose from his body and would not dissipate. Gripping his greatsword, he vaulted the wall with the nearby Clones and hacked at the Soul Beasts escaping the pit. Countless Soul Rings rose from the ground, ten-year and hundred-year alike, piling up in glistening white and brilliant yellow.

Now and then, a Clone screamed and was forcibly sent back to the Sea of Consciousness. A moment later, he reappeared behind the low wall among the Healing System Soul Masters, where his wounds were treated and his strength restored.

Xiao Xiao stood atop the low wall, her gaze firm as she repeatedly drove the Soul-Suppressing Cauldrons down. The longer she used her Martial Soul, the fiercer the flames inside the cauldrons grew. Fire spurted from their vents, burning any Soul Beast that drew near.

"Damn it, archers, shoot! More and more ten-year Soul Beasts are getting through!"

Jiang Hao cut down an elk, then turned to urge the archers behind him to keep firing.

"Old Rogue, watch out!"

A Clone's warning rang out beside him. The next instant, Jiang Hao felt himself lifted off his feet. He flew backward and spat a mouthful of blood.

Jiang Hao looked toward where he had just stood. A rat-like Soul Beast had burrowed up there and was gnawing on half a corpse clutched in its paws. Its ears twitched incessantly, and its tail whipped back and forth.

"Damn it! Get them! Loose arrows!"

The Cannon Fodder Group!

Jiang Hao had always called them that in jest.

He had never thought they would truly give their lives for him.

Tears spilled from Jiang Hao's eyes, his voice shaking with emotion. "Here and now, I, Jiang Hao, swear I'll slaughter every Soul Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest! Attack! Nobody hold back! Banner Bro, get out here and refine their souls!"

Jiang Hao stamped his foot and roared within the Sea of Consciousness. Banner Bro emerged slowly from one side of the forest, his eyes red as well. "The Great Wind Rises, Clouds Soar! Today, either the heavens die or I do! Refine them!"

Soul Power surged. The motley Soul Power around him streamed straight into Banner Bro's body without being purified.

His whole body swelled, and his veins bulged.

The next instant, he raised the Soul Banner and wrenched the Undead from the corpses on the ground. They became remnant souls and hurtled straight toward the mass of Soul Beasts.

An explosion followed. He no longer cared which Soul Beasts were valuable and which were not. Every beast that had come here today would become fuel for his blasts.

"Art is an explosion!"

Explosion after explosion rang out, while the Soul Beasts pouring in from behind grew stronger and stronger. First came a Thousand-Year Soul Beast, then a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Banner Bro's body was already at its limit. He had forcibly absorbed too much impure Soul Power. His Soul Power Level would probably not advance for some time, not until he expelled all the impurities from his body.

He absorbed living souls more and more slowly. His meridians felt as heavy as if they had been filled with lead, leaving him unable to draw on the Soul Power within him. His Soul Power Level stopped at twenty-seven.

"If I've blown up everything I just collected, I'll start on my reserves!"

Banner Bro looked up. The phantom Rhinoceros that had contributed so much to the battle charged without hesitation at the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast before him. White light flashed. The blast from the Thousand-Year Soul Beast blew the Ten-Thousand-Year Tree Spirit to pieces. A black Soul Ring rose on the spot, leaving it no chance to revive.

The death of the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast caught every Soul Beast within three hundred meters in the blast, leaving them severely wounded.

"If only I could learn Corpse Explosion!"

Banner Bro muttered the words, then pitched forward. Jiang Hao swiftly sent him back through the Sea of Consciousness and deposited him in the rear Treatment Camp once more.

As more Soul Master Clones were seriously wounded, Jiang Hao grew increasingly exhausted. He was used to overwhelming enemies with numbers. Only now, facing two armies in a real battle, did he see his shortcomings.

If I survive this, I have to buy Soul Tools to arm us!

Of his more than two thousand Clones, half were now seriously wounded. The beds in the rear had long since filled, and the injured were being laid out on the ground.

"Everyone, let me lend you a hand!"

A rough voice rang out. Several Soul Masters streamed from the inn behind them, bearing three Soul Rings, five Soul Rings, and even, in one case, six. They had been hiding inside, originally intending to pack their belongings and flee. But after watching Jiang Hao and the Thirty-Person Group defend the town, and seeing so many wounded, they could not bear to leave.

In the end, their consciences won out, and they emerged from the Shelter.

"Hmph! You Thirty-Person Group are something else. Your Soul Power isn't as high as mine, but you've got a lot more guts! Today I'll show you what a three-ring Soul Elder can do!"

With a roar, the burly man's body swelled and grew fat. He charged into battle like a wild boar and casually crushed two Hundred-Year Soul Beasts that rushed at him.