After learning the Seven-Colored Star Deer's exact age, Huo Yuhao stopped concealing his presence and stepped openly into its path.
A ten-thousand-year soul beast had keen senses. When the deer, which had been drinking, saw two humans suddenly intrude on its territory-and two such weak humans at that-it immediately flew into a rage.
Without a trace of a herbivore's docility, the Seven-Colored Star Deer snorted angrily and hurled its ten-meter-long body at them.
"Huo Yuhao, watch out!" Xu Jiujiu quickly dodged aside. Seeing that Huo Yuhao made no attempt to evade, she cried out in alarm.
"Just in time!"
Genetic origin energy surged throughout Huo Yuhao's body, gathering in his fist as he met the charging Seven-Colored Star Deer head-on.
Boom...!
A thunderous crash rang out, and sand filled the air. As though struck by a massive truck, Huo Yuhao was sent flying several dozen meters. He had lost the first clash completely.
There was some wariness in Huo Yuhao's expression, but excitement outweighed it. Despite the tremendous force of that collision, he had suffered no injury. Having experienced the strength of this world's soul beasts, he was thrilled. This was his first true battle.
An Intermediate Warlord's punching force of sixteen thousand kilograms was indeed somewhat inadequate against a ten-meter-long beast weighing several thousand kilograms.
The force of that charge had been more than twice his own. But that was precisely what made this interesting.
Golden light swirled in Huo Yuhao's eyes as he released his golden Spirit Eyes martial soul, adding the threefold amplification of his second awakening.
At that moment, his imposing aura surged, and his fighting spirit boiled.
The Seven-Colored Star Deer was bewildered to see Huo Yuhao stand up again. It had clearly knocked him down, so why had he gotten back up? Unable to understand, it could only gather its strength and charge at Huo Yuhao once more.
"Third Soul Skill, Star Radiance Technique!"
Seeing Huo Yuhao at a disadvantage, Xu Jiujiu did not stand idly by. Her Star Crown martial soul shone brilliantly in the night, and with the starlight overhead strengthening it, her Star Radiance Technique was twice as powerful.
Feeling the enhancement wash over him, Huo Yuhao smiled faintly, thinking that Xu Jiujiu was useful after all. Her Star Radiance Technique had increased his overall strength by thirty percent. His punches now carried roughly sixty thousand kilograms of force.
Utterly unaware that its opponent was no longer the same as before, the Seven-Colored Star Deer continued its headlong charge toward him.
They collided again, but this time, Huo Yuhao did not budge. Instead, the Seven-Colored Star Deer came off worse in their head-on clash.
The terrifying impact shattered its beautiful antlers, leaving blood streaming down. Its enormous body felt as though it had struck a mountain of iron, and the collision left it thoroughly dazed.
I'm standing right in front of you. How much do I look like the man I was before?
Huo Yuhao pressed his advantage, hammering terrifying punches into every part of the Seven-Colored Star Deer's body. Each blow made the deer howl.
There was no technique to any of Huo Yuhao's punches. He simply crushed it with brute strength.
The Seven-Colored Star Deer tried to fight back several times, but unfortunately, Huo Yuhao's fists were simply too hard. As for fleeing, its enormous size condemned it to a last stand with its back to the river. Retreat was out of the question.
Just then, silver light flashed across the Star Deer’s body. Its soul power merged with the Star Power overhead, and countless radiant rays gathered in its eyes. The next instant, a soul-chilling aura emerged, and a white orb of energy carrying terrifying power shot from its eyes straight at Huo Yuhao.
Unfortunately for the Seven-Colored Star Deer, Huo Yuhao had already detected its intention to inflict mutual destruction.
A second before the terrifying attack reached him, Huo Yuhao dodged it. Compared with his speed, the Seven-Colored Star Deer's movements were as slow as a snail.
"Fourth Soul Skill, Star Guard!" Xu Jiujiu's voice suddenly rang out. Huo Yuhao's pupils instantly widened, and a slightly exaggerated look of concern appeared on his face.
At some point, Xu Jiujiu had appeared behind the spot he had just vacated. The beam had not stopped; it was now hurtling toward the pale-faced Xu Jiujiu.
As her fourth soul ring lit up, a mass of intense starlight erupted from her body. At that moment, the starlight blazed like a dazzling sun, forming a brilliant barrier before her. Eighteen stars appeared on its surface, radiating splendor.
This was her strongest defensive soul skill, as well as her life-saving trump card: Star Guard.
The Star Crown Lineage could cultivate their soul skills through starlight, increasing their power.
However, to use more powerful soul skills, they had to accumulate starlight within their bodies. Her Star Guard possessed such formidable defensive power precisely because it required eighteen days of charging.
At the critical instant when she unleashed Star Guard, the beam carrying the Star Deer’s full power arrived and slammed ferociously into the barrier. Unfortunately, the Star Deer’s attack also used Star Power, giving it an innate ability to neutralize the Star Power barrier.
And Xu Jiujiu was merely a Soul Ancestor. How could she possibly withstand the deer's lethal strike? Within a single breath, before she could escape the beam's range, Star Guard was forcibly shattered.
Xu Jiujiu suffered a backlash and froze for an instant. Feeling the scorching heat rushing toward her, she closed her eyes and experienced the fear of death for the first time.
But when a tremendous explosion rang out, she opened her eyes to discover a figure standing before her, blocking that lethal attack.
Interwoven silver starlight and incandescent white light set off Huo Yuhao's otherworldly bearing. In Xu Jiujiu's eyes, Huo Yuhao, holding back the blast with one hand, seemed like a god.
Today, I finally learned what it means to strike where your enemy must defend. Although I deliberately arranged it myself, this is still a lesson. From now on, I'm never bringing dead weight along to drag me down in a fight, Huo Yuhao thought.
By the time the white light dispersed, Huo Yuhao's entire palm had blackened somewhat, but it was nothing serious. Xu Jiujiu's Star Guard had neutralized seventy to eighty percent of the attack, and the remaining damage was little more than a tickle.
Huo Yuhao loosened his hands and feet, then silently unleashed his speed. The next instant, he appeared above the Seven-Colored Star Deer, which had expended an enormous amount of energy and now looked somewhat frightened.
The enhancement from Star Radiance Technique had already vanished, but he no longer needed it. With a few blows, he disabled the exhausted deer's four limbs, then tossed the dying Seven-Colored Star Deer directly in front of Xu Jiujiu, who was still too shaken to recover her senses.
"Recover a little, then finish it off. The longer the night, the more dreams it brings," Huo Yuhao reminded her.
Excitement filled Xu Jiujiu's face. In her flustered haste, she had no time to marvel at Huo Yuhao's strength or thank him.
She immediately sat cross-legged and began recovering. Although the soul skill's backlash had left her pale, delight far outweighed everything else on her face. With such an exceptional soul ring, her strength would undoubtedly rise to new heights.
A quarter of an hour later, color returned to Xu Jiujiu's face. Excitedly, she carried a blade over to the unconscious Seven-Colored Star Deer and stabbed it into a major artery. Blood poured out in torrents. Moments later, the ten-thousand-year-old Seven-Colored Star Deer breathed its last, and a pitch-black soul ring quickly formed above its body.
Xu Jiujiu hurriedly released her Star Crown martial soul. In the night, the dazzling, starlit martial soul shone like a bright lamp, illuminating the surrounding darkness.
Under Xu Jiujiu's guidance, the black soul ring settled directly over her Star Crown. The absorption officially began.
While Xu Jiujiu absorbed the soul ring, Huo Yuhao did not remain idle. He began searching the corpse for loot. After all, only hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were guaranteed to yield soul bones; for all others, it was random. Finding a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone would count as a worthwhile gain.
Unfortunately, killing soul beasts did not earn him any Withdrawal Points. It seemed he would have to try killing a person sometime in the future.
After dissecting the Seven-Colored Star Deer's entire body, Huo Yuhao found no bones with soul power flowing through them. He could only pin his hopes on the head, the last part he had yet to examine.
"Hey, it actually dropped something!" Huo Yuhao was surprised. While dissecting the head, he had distinctly sensed a flow of soul power. Ordinary bones generally contained no flowing soul power after a soul beast died. Only soul bones did.
Huo Yuhao therefore carefully dissected the deer's head, extracting the crystal-clear Head Soul Bone little by little. He feared damaging even the tiniest part and diminishing its value. After all, this was his spoils of battle.
There will be another update tonight. I had quite a few classes today, so this was late. I'm truly sorry. Also, thank you all for your monthly votes, recommendation votes, and bookmarks. I'm genuinely touched. Your support is my greatest motivation to keep writing. These past few days, I've experienced a joy I never had when working alone.
(End of chapter)
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