Five thousand years, and no need for Absolute Blade! (Two chapters in one)

"Straight ahead. That's the one."

Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin exchanged a glance and followed.

The three headed northwest through the forest. They moved slowly but maintained their formation, with Ye Zhiqiu in front, Dong Qianqiu on the left, and Lan Mengqin on the right.

After nearly a thousand meters, Ye Zhiqiu suddenly raised a hand, and both girls stopped.

"Something up ahead." He lowered his voice, closed his eyes, and spread his Gravity Wave again.

The thousand-year soul power fluctuation was exceptionally clear within his Gravity Wave perception. Its heat signature was concentrated, its body medium-sized, and it moved mainly by leaping. Its hind limbs were well developed, and it followed a zigzagging route. The hundred-year soul beasts along its path all kept their distance.

Ye Zhiqiu opened his eyes and said quietly, "A thousand-year soul beast. Not very big, moves by jumping, with particularly thick hind legs. Probably some kind of frog or toad."

"A frog? The swamp kind?" Dong Qianqiu asked with a slight frown.

Soul beasts of that type were quite rare.

"There's water nearby. There should be a wetland about a hundred meters ahead. It probably came from there." Ye Zhiqiu quickened his pace as he continued, "Come on. Let's catch it while it's still on level ground."

They passed through a patch of low ferns. The trees ahead suddenly thinned, revealing a small, muddy hollow with several rocks half submerged along its edge.

A massive blue-gray frog crouched on a rock across the hollow. It stood about a meter and a half tall, with thick limbs, hind legs folded against its sides, and round suction pads at the tips of its toes. Dark brown markings covered its back, and its two bulging eyes turned slowly.

"A Blue Rock Toad Frog, just over a thousand years old. It can jump a long way, and its tongue shoots out with a paralyzing toxin," Lan Mengqin said, recognizing it at a glance.

Ye Zhiqiu nodded, quickly running through a strategy in his head.

"It jumps far, so it'll easily escape if we attack head-on. First I'll pin it to the ground, then stop its hind legs from pushing off. Qianqiu, strike its head. Mengqin, seal off its escape routes."

Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin both nodded.

Ye Zhiqiu raised his left hand. A silver-gray orb appeared, and his first soul ring lit up.

Absolute Gravity.

Gravity around the rock beneath the Blue Rock Toad Frog abruptly increased more than tenfold. Its body sank under the pressure, all four legs pressed against the rock, its belly flattened. Its bulging eyes blinked twice.

It gave a low croak, desperately straining its hind legs to jump away. But under the crushing gravity, each kick lifted its body only a few centimeters before it slammed back down!

Dong Qianqiu was already charging in. Her Ice Spear swept in from the side as she reached the rock in just a few strides. Its tip aimed at the lump behind the frog's head, a weak point in toad-type soul beasts unprotected by scales.

The instant the spear pierced it, white frost spread along the wound, freezing part of its head stiff.

Lan Mengqin stood ten meters away, the phantom of the Heavenly Snow Woman floating behind her. She extended both hands, and a row of Ice Cones rose from the ground, enclosing the frog's escape routes. Four Ice Cones formed a square, trapping it in the middle.

Then Ye Zhiqiu turned his right hand over. Absolute Blade appeared, its tip aimed at the center of the frog's head, and he made a light slash.

The blade sank in instantly. The frog convulsed violently, its limbs kicked once, and then it went still.

Points of light rose, split into three streams, and sank into their soul rings.

"A thousand-year beast gives quite a bit more Spirit Energy than a hundred-year one." Dong Qianqiu put away her spear and flexed her wrist.

"Keep going." Ye Zhiqiu spread his Gravity Wave again and headed deeper.

Over the next hour, the three worked together to clear out five or six nearby soul beasts, some hundred-year and some thousand-year. Each time, Ye Zhiqiu located it first, assessed its weaknesses, and assigned their tactics. Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin carried them out, and he delivered the finishing blow.

Everything was clean and decisive. Not a single soul beast lasted more than three exchanges.

"Who exactly taught you to command like this?" Lan Mengqin asked after one finishing strike. She looked at Ye Zhiqiu with a complicated expression and continued, "You're only eleven. How are you more practiced than those upper-year team captains?"

"Talent," Ye Zhiqiu said casually.

"Could you stop being so obnoxious every time?"

"I'm telling the truth."

Lan Mengqin rolled her eyes.

Dong Qianqiu smiled. "He really is. I've fought him for three years. His brain works faster than his hands when he fights. I used to think he was just putting on an act, but then I realized he really was that fast."

"See? Qianqiu understands me." Ye Zhiqiu beamed.

"Tch," Dong Qianqiu said expressionlessly.

They continued deeper. Soul beasts grew more numerous, and their ages rose as well, gradually shifting from a little over a thousand years to two or three thousand.

Ye Zhiqiu kept his Gravity Wave perception at maximum range. Whenever they encountered a soul beast, he spent two or three seconds assessing its type, age, and weaknesses before assigning their tactics.

He rarely drew his blade against soul beasts under a thousand years old. Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin could handle those together while he controlled the battlefield and cleaned up.

Only those above a thousand years made him take things seriously, and even then, only a little.

Unfortunately, ten-thousand-year soul beasts were scarce in the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform. At least, they had yet to encounter one.

About half an hour later, Ye Zhiqiu suddenly stopped.

He closed his eyes and abruptly expanded his Gravity Wave to its limit, extending his perception to nearly a thousand meters. Then he sensed it.

About eight hundred meters to the northwest, a soul power fluctuation was outrageously strong.

It was deep and steady, carrying a heavy sense of pressure. Every surrounding soul power fluctuation had retreated far away. No other soul beast dared approach within several hundred meters.

"There's a big one," Ye Zhiqiu said seriously as he opened his eyes.

"How old?" Dong Qianqiu asked.

"At least five thousand years. Possibly older." Ye Zhiqiu paused, then continued, "Very large, walks on four legs, low center of gravity, heavy footsteps. Probably some kind of large cat or bear."

"A tiger?" Lan Mengqin asked.

"Possibly. Let's take a look."

They headed northwest, moving a little more slowly than before. Ye Zhiqiu led the way, continuously spreading his Gravity Wave to monitor the fluctuation's distance and condition.

The closer they got, the more pronounced that pressure became.

Dong Qianqiu tightened her grip on her spear slightly, and Lan Mengqin's Heavenly Snow Woman phantom became much more solid. Neither girl spoke, but both looked noticeably more serious.

After about five or six minutes, the trees ahead suddenly thinned, giving way to an open stretch of rocky ground. Large blue-gray rocks lay exposed, with sparse weeds growing in the cracks.

A massive tiger-shaped soul beast lay in the center of the rocky area.

It was about six meters long and nearly two and a half meters tall at the shoulder. Silver-white fur covered its body, patterned with dark gray stripes whose edges shimmered with a faint metallic sheen.

Its four paws were thick and powerful, their black claws dug deep into the rock's surface, leaving shallow claw marks.

Its long, thick tail ended in a tuft of silver fur and swayed slowly from side to side.

Its head was enormous, its muzzle broad, and two ears stood upright atop its head. Its eyes were half closed, as though it were resting.

But Ye Zhiqiu noticed its ears turning slightly toward them.

"A Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger. Adults range from five to nine thousand years old. It excels at close combat and has tremendous strength. Its claws and teeth can tear through rock, and it's very fast. Almost no obvious weaknesses," Lan Mengqin said quietly.

"How old is this one?" Dong Qianqiu asked.

Ye Zhiqiu closed his eyes and swept over it again with his Gravity Wave.

The Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger's weight, breathing rate, heartbeat, and the speed of its internal soul power circulation all passed through his perception.

He opened his eyes. "Around five thousand years. Extremely dense muscles, and its bones are much stronger than those of the soul beasts we fought earlier."

Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin stood on either side of him, their martial souls already summoned. The Ice Spear and Heavenly Snow Woman were poised for battle.

"You two fight this one," Ye Zhiqiu said suddenly.

Dong Qianqiu turned toward him, surprised. "You're not fighting?"

"I am." Ye Zhiqiu paused, then continued, "But I'll only use gravity to control the battlefield, not Absolute Blade. The blade's too sharp. No matter how thick this tiger's hide is, it won't survive two cuts. Then you won't get any practice."

Lan Mengqin glanced at him. "Are you sure? A five-thousand-year tiger, and you're only controlling the battlefield without your blade? That's dangerous for you too."

"What danger? It can't even touch me." Ye Zhiqiu shrugged, his tone utterly casual. "I'll control its speed and the rhythm of its movements. You two do the damage. Finish it quickly. Don't drag it out."

Dong Qianqiu stared at him for a moment, then nodded without another word.

She understood what Ye Zhiqiu meant. The purpose of this trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform was to increase the ages of all three of their soul rings. She and Lan Mengqin both needed intense combat experience, especially against an opponent on the level of a Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger.

If Ye Zhiqiu killed the tiger in two cuts, they would gain very little from the trial.

"Then I'll take the lead, and Mengqin can suppress it from the rear," Dong Qianqiu said.

"Mm." Lan Mengqin answered, and the Heavenly Snow Woman phantom floated a step forward. Four purple soul rings lit up simultaneously.

Ye Zhiqiu raised his left hand. The silver-gray orb floated above his palm, the miniature galaxy inside spinning faster. At the same time, three purple soul rings and one black one rose from beneath his feet.

He surveyed the terrain with his perception, then said, "I'll disrupt its movement first, then weaken its force. Watch the timing."

"Okay."

As the word fell, Ye Zhiqiu stepped forward with his left foot, turned his left palm downward, and pressed lightly.

Absolute Gravity.

The silver-gray orb flared for an instant. Beneath the Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger, whose eyes had been half closed, the ground silently sank several inches. Fine cracks spread across the rock's surface as though an invisible hand had pressed down on it.

The Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger's body abruptly sank, its limbs bending under the pressure. Its front claws scored two shallow marks across the rock.

Its eyes snapped open.

The instant those amber slit pupils opened, they locked onto the three of them. An exceptionally deep roar rose from its throat.

"Roar!"

It struggled to stand, muscles tightening beneath its fur as a series of faint cracks came from its bones.

Ye Zhiqiu could feel it resisting the gravity, and powerfully at that.

A five-thousand-year tiger soul beast really was different.

He increased the gravity from twentyfold to thirtyfold before the Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger's body bent down again slightly.

But it did not give up.

Its claws dug into the rock, its back arched, and its tail stretched straight behind it. Muscles bulged and pulsed beneath its fur, and then it suddenly sprang upward.

Although it failed to break free of gravity completely, it rose at least half a meter. Its front claws traced an arc through the air, striking straight toward Ye Zhiqiu.

Ye Zhiqiu tilted his head. The wind from its claws swept past three inches from his cheek, stirring a fierce gust.

"It's pinned, Qianqiu!"

Dong Qianqiu was already moving.

Her Ice Spear thrust in from the left, its tip wrapped in white frost as it aimed straight at the side of the Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger's neck.

The tiger turned its head and bit at the spear with its fangs. Dong Qianqiu twisted her wrist, changing the spear's direction in midair to avoid them. Her thrust became a sweep, and the shaft struck its cheek.

With a sharp crack, the shaft slammed into the tiger's face, and white frost burst across its fur in a spray of shattered ice.

The Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger shook its head, looking irritated, but suffered no real injury. Its fur provided too much protection for the Ice Spear's physical impact alone to deal effective damage.

Lan Mengqin's Heavenly Snow Woman had already acted.

Standing ten meters away, she pushed both hands forward. A row of Ice Cones rose from the ground, forming a fan that blocked the tiger's escape routes.

A second volley of Ice Cones followed immediately, aimed at the gaps in the joints of its four legs.

The Ice Cones pierced the fur near its joints. The tiger gave a muffled grunt, its movements visibly faltering for an instant.

Ye Zhiqiu seized the moment and turned his left hand over.

Absolute Traction.

The silver-gray orb flashed. Just as the tiger prepared to lunge sideways, an invisible force jerked its body backward. Its front paws had barely left the ground before it was dragged forcibly back into place.

Dong Qianqiu seized that opening and thrust again, this time aiming for the shallow groove beneath the tiger's neck.

That was where a tiger soul beast's windpipe and blood vessels were concentrated, and its fur was relatively thin.

The spear tip broke through its skin and sank about two inches deep. Icy power seeped inward through the wound, and Dong Qianqiu felt the muscles touching the tip contract sharply.

The Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger bellowed in pain, unleashing a deafening roar.

"Roar!"

A violent blast of air erupted from its body, forcing Dong Qianqiu two steps back. Her spear slipped out of the wound, drawing a thin trail of blood.

Ye Zhiqiu's Gravity Wave detected its soul power surging abruptly in that instant.

It was burning its soul power.

Ye Zhiqiu immediately increased the gravity, taking it straight from thirtyfold to fiftyfold.

The tiger's body, which had just begun to rise, was pressed down again. Its limbs bent, its back sank, and even its roar was forced back into a muffled rumble.

Ye Zhiqiu sensed that fiftyfold gravity would not hold it for long.

Not because he could not sustain it, but because the tiger's own strength was actually beginning to adapt to the pressure.

He relaxed his left hand, reducing the gravity, and the tiger's body sprang upward.

But the instant it sprang up, Ye Zhiqiu had already moved in again.

He rushed to its left side and pressed his left palm against the outside of its shoulder blade.

His second soul ring lit up. Gravity Anchor.

He left an invisible anchor on the tiger's shoulder blade, then immediately retreated.

The Silver-Striped White-Plumed Tiger's first reaction upon landing was to pounce toward Dong Qianqiu. But Ye Zhiqiu drew back his left hand and activated Gravity Anchor. The tiger was violently yanked backward in midair, its forward momentum forcibly broken. Its limbs paddled uselessly twice before it crashed heavily back to the ground.

It landed precisely within Dong Qianqiu's attack range.

And Dong Qianqiu did not waste the opening.

Her Ice Spear thrust straight at the tiger's right eye.

The tiger turned its head. The spear tip grazed its eye socket, leaving a bloody cut in the fur at the corner of its eye.

Roaring in fury, it swung its head around and opened its blood-red maw to bite Dong Qianqiu.

Dong Qianqiu retreated half a step and held her Ice Spear across her body. The tiger bit down on the shaft, white frost and hot breath churning where they met.

A crack appeared in the shaft. Dong Qianqiu's arms went numb, but she gritted her teeth and held firm.

Ye Zhiqiu pressed his left hand down again, bringing Absolute Gravity back upon it.

Gravity forced the tiger's mouth downward, and its teeth slipped off the spear shaft.

Lan Mengqin's third volley of Ice Cones followed immediately, all piercing the joints of the tiger's hind legs.

This time, it finally lost its footing.

The joints of both hind legs were frozen by the Ice Cones, while gravity pressed down on its upper body. Its front legs still held, but its hind legs had buckled, leaving its body high in front and low behind.

Ye Zhiqiu sensed its soul power fluctuating violently. It was making one final, desperate attempt.

"Qianqiu, its neck! Go!"