Wolf packs

"Master, come taste this and see how it is."

Li Chen took it and bit into it. "Delicious. Crisp on the outside, tender on the inside."

Although they had no seasonings, the ingredients were Soul Beast meat. With Wine Fox's expert-level cooking skills, it tasted quite good.

Three days had passed since Li Chen obtained his fourth Soul Ring, but they still had not found a suitable Soul Ring for Wine Fox.

Over those three days, he had retrieved End Portal Frames, Eyes of Ender, obsidian, flint, blocks of iron, blocks of lapis lazuli, blocks of diamond, blocks of netherite, Netherite Upgrade Smithing Templates, Enchanted Golden Apples, a Smithing Table, and an Enchanting Table from Creative Mode.

Using the Crafting Table left in his inventory, he had also crafted a set of Netherite Armor for both himself and Wine Fox, along with a netherite sword, axe, pickaxe, shovel, and hoe each.

Once equipped, the Netherite Armor could be hidden-or rather, all armor could be set to hidden.

He simply had not enchanted any of it yet. Besides lacking bookshelves, he was missing something even more important: Bottles o' Enchanting.

Enchanting consumed levels in the game, but in reality, levels could not be consumed for enchanting. That left Bottles o' Enchanting as the only substitute.

The three tiers of enchantment required 4, 16, and 64 Bottles o' Enchanting respectively.

Even unenchanted, though, a full set of netherite equipment was practically a divine artifact. In its basic state alone, it reduced damage by 80%.

What was more, Enchanted Golden Apples were actually classified as immortal herbs in Douluo. Besides their basic effects of health regeneration, fire resistance, Resistance Boost, and damage absorption, eating one could raise Innate Soul Power by one level, up to a total increase of ten levels.

That single level was not to be underestimated. It could give someone with zero Innate Soul Power, who could not cultivate at all, a chance to become a Soul Master.

Raising Innate Soul Power with Enchanted Golden Apples could break through the level-ten limit and reach a maximum of innate level-twenty Soul Power. This was not the false innate level twenty Qian Renxue possessed through the blessing of her God Level Martial Soul.

Wine Fox now had innate level-twenty Soul Power, while he had become a genius with innate full Soul Power. As his Innate Soul Power increased, his level had risen along with it to fifty.

Now this was what cheating should be like. There was no need to work himself to death doing all sorts of tasks for rewards the size of sesame seeds. His level could still shoot up like a rocket.

However, since he had not decided which new command to add with his fifth Soul Ring, he chose to obtain a Soul Ring for Wine Fox first.

After a simple dinner, Li Chen sat cross-legged and began meditating, while Wine Fox took watch for the first half of the night.

At midnight, a wolf's howl rang out, followed by answering howls from every direction.

Li Chen hurried to his feet. With their equipment, they could just about handle five or six wolves, but something was clearly wrong. There had been nearly a hundred answering howls alone.

At the same time, wolf-type Soul Beasts across the Star Dou Great Forest began cooperating despite belonging to different packs, hunting other Soul Beasts in a frenzy.

Hundred-year, thousand-year, and ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts all fell within their hunting range. Countless Soul Masters who had entered to hunt Soul Beasts also perished in the wolves' jaws.

Just as they were about to leave, rustling came from the nearby bushes. Dozens of wolves had already surrounded them, and there were even two winged wolves in the air.

Gale Demon Wolves, Two-Winged Demon Wolves, Silver Moon Wolves.

The first two were precisely the suitable wind-attribute Soul Beasts they had been searching for. They had never expected to encounter them under these circumstances.

Although they were different kinds of wolf-type Soul Beasts, they now shared one trait: blood-red eyes, as though they were being controlled.

[Fifth Soul Skill: Command · Reset to Zero]

An invisible wave swept outward. Within fifty meters, every creature except him and Wine Fox had its level reduced to zero.

For these Soul Beasts, that meant their ages were all reduced to zero years. Although they were still Soul Beasts, they could no longer call upon their Soul Power.

Even though their physical attributes as Soul Beasts remained largely unchanged, they were no different from flimsy paper before a netherite sword.

Li Chen did not even need to act. The Iron Golem and Wine Fox finished off all the Soul Beasts. It was just a shame about the Soul Rings scattered across the ground.

Wolf-type Soul Beasts already had keen noses. If they stayed any longer, more wolves would surround and attack them, so they could only leave these Soul Rings to dissipate naturally.

It was only near dawn, after an entire night, that the wolf packs slowly retreated. By then, neither Li Chen, Wine Fox, nor the Iron Golem was in good shape.

The two of them had Netherite Armor and had escaped injury, but the Iron Golem was already covered in cracks. Aside from avoiding the territories of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, those wolf packs had attacked practically everything they saw, whether human or other Soul Beasts, with no regard for their own lives.

"Master, have all those wolves gone mad?"

Li Chen shook his head. He did not know either. It most likely had something to do with those first few howls, but he had no idea what kind of Soul Beast could control so many wolf packs.

The mere fact that it could make different packs cooperate proved that this was more than simply driving wolf-type Soul Beasts berserk.

"There's a great rift up ahead. Let's find somewhere there to rest for a while."

Because of the terrain, fierce winds raged throughout the rift, and lightning struck in the distance from time to time. They could only stay on its outskirts for now.

"Go get some rest. I'll keep watch for you," he said, looking at the weary Wine Fox.

Then there was the Iron Golem. He had used so many Iron Golem Spawn Eggs to bring him up to level-seventy-two strength. If he died and turned into a few iron ingots, Li Chen would suffer a crushing loss.

He immediately took out the Crafting Table again, broke blocks of iron down into iron ingots, and repaired the Iron Golem.

After resting for roughly eight hours, they finally set off into the great rift. Because of the environment, there were few Soul Beasts here.

They had been walking for half an hour when a whoosh came from overhead. A giant eagle nearly two meters in size even without spreading its wings plunged toward them at tremendous speed.

[Third Soul Skill: Command: Time Stop]

Before the giant eagle's talons could stab into them, Li Chen unleashed his Soul Skill, then swiftly swung his sword. With such a sharp weapon in hand, he easily severed half of one wing and slashed its eyes blind.

When the time stop ended, blinded and thrown off balance, it crashed straight into the ground, smashing its head into a bloody mess.

"Quick, finish it off," Li Chen urged.

Without hesitation, Wine Fox struck once more before it died completely. A purple Soul Ring slowly formed.

[Second Soul Skill · Analysis]

[Name]: Thousand-Year Soul Ring

[Source]: Azure-Beaked Wind Falcon

[Age]: 2,039 years

[Soul Ring Skill Pool]: Wind Wing Acceleration, Eagle Eyes, Wind Barrier, Howling Wind Strike, Wind Bind, Wind Burst, Afterimage of the Fading Wind [Details not expanded]

[Killed by]: Wine Fox

[Time Remaining]: 1 hour 59 minutes

"Two thousand years. Eat this Enchanted Golden Apple first, just in case."

Wine Fox took the Enchanted Golden Apple and ate it, then imitated Li Chen's earlier posture, sitting cross-legged to absorb the Soul Ring. The purple Soul Ring floated above her head and descended.

With the aid of ten-thousand-year whale glue and the Enchanted Golden Apple, Wine Fox had little difficulty absorbing it. It simply took longer.