"Little Yuan, interested in trying a real fight?" Wang Xian'er asked with a smile, holding Su Yuan's hand.
After entering the Frozen Forest, they had begun encountering soul beasts. Although they had only just reached its outskirts, the extreme environment meant that soul beasts with low cultivation did not dare wander outside.
Of those Su Yuan had seen, not a single one had less than a hundred years of cultivation.
Before they could even approach, Luo Shan's Soul Douluo aura scared them away.
If Su Yuan nodded, Luo Shan would begin selecting suitable soul beasts to let through and become his opponents.
For the past two months and more, Su Yuan had sparred with Luo Shan and Mo Yunxing every day, but that was not real combat, after all. Neither man would truly hurt him, nor could they give him a genuine sense of danger.
Su Yuan understood this, and he did not refuse Wang Xian'er's offer. "Sorry for the trouble, Elder Luo. Pick a hundred-year soul beast with relatively low cultivation first, so I can try my hand."
Since they had come out soul hunting, the experience really would not be complete without exchanging blows with a soul beast.
Not long after Su Yuan made his decision, they encountered another soul beast: a fiercely wild Snow Wolf with around two hundred years of cultivation.
Wang Xian'er and the other two vanished in an instant, leaving Su Yuan standing alone.
Only after they disappeared did the Snow Wolf notice Su Yuan. It immediately bared its teeth, revealing its hostility without restraint.
This was an instinctive enmity between soul masters and soul beasts, rooted in their blood. Any soul beast would launch an attack the moment it saw a soul master.
Even two soul beasts that were natural enemies, locked in a fight to the death, would unite against a human soul master if one appeared.
Being stared down by those utterly irrational, bestial eyes made Su Yuan's scalp tighten.
This had nothing to do with experience or cultivation. It was simply an intelligent creature's instinctive response to the threat of a predator.
Su Yuan was not afraid. He knew that, in terms of cultivation and combat strength, a Snow Wolf of around two hundred years was no match for him. As long as fear and cowardice did not make him expose a fatal opening, he would surely win.
The Snow Wolf opposite him had already attacked. It opened its mouth and spat an icy-blue ball of light at Su Yuan, then darted across the snow like lightning, charging toward him with its teeth bared.
"Second soul skill, Ice Dragon Scale Armor!"
Bang!
The icy-blue ball struck Su Yuan, but it failed to break through his second soul skill. His legs remained firmly rooted in the knee-deep snow.
Su Yuan could not match this native wolf's agility, and his movement speed in the snow was far inferior. Rather than dodge clumsily and expose a fatal opening like his neck, he was better off blocking it directly with a defensive soul skill.
With his cultivation, the Snow Wolf's ball of light could cause a little pain at most. It could not injure him at all.
With his defenses greatly strengthened, Su Yuan took the Snow Wolf's blow head-on, and a fierce glint flashed through his eyes.
"First soul skill, Ice Dragon Claw!"
His hands transformed into ice-crystal dragon claws, nearly tripling their strength and greatly increasing his attack power.
Because he had not hastily dodged, he had plenty of time to gather his strength. His gaze locked onto the Snow Wolf charging at him, and he clenched his right fist, holding it at his side like a tightly drawn bow.
At that moment, the Snow Wolf lunged in front of him, jaws gaping as it bit at Su Yuan. Its rank, feral breath washed over his face.
At that instant, Su Yuan's fully charged right fist blasted out.
Rising Dragon Punch!
"Hah!!"
The Ice Dragon Claw, clenched into a fist, smashed upward into the Snow Wolf's wide-open lower jaw, sending it briefly airborne. The violent pain left its mind completely blank.
And in that instant, its opening was exposed.
Canines had bronze heads, iron bones, and tofu waists. After the blow to its jaw launched it into the air, its soft belly was left wide open.
"Victory doesn't come easily. I won't let this chance slip away!" Su Yuan's expression turned ruthless. His free left hand curled into a claw and plunged straight into the Snow Wolf's abdomen.
Without caring what he had grabbed, he first churned his sharp claws through its insides, then seized whatever came to hand and ripped it out.
Scarlet blood and unidentifiable organs scattered across the surrounding snow, splashing all over Su Yuan as well.
"Awooo-"
The Snow Wolf let out a wretched howl and fell from midair, crashing into the snow and writhing madly. But Su Yuan's sequence of one stunning blow followed by a killing strike had already dealt it a mortal wound.
After struggling for only a short while, its life force gradually faded, and its body quickly grew cold.
No, wait. It had been cold to begin with.
"Phew... so this is combat?"
Su Yuan panted heavily, his mind equally blank.
His earlier ruthless attacks had flowed like drifting clouds and running water entirely because Luo Shan and Mo Yunxing's two months of intensive training had made fighting almost instinctive for him.
But this was, after all, his first genuine fight against a soul beast. It felt completely different from being led over to deliver the finishing blow before absorbing a soul ring.
His body had essentially dragged his mind along through the fight.
As he watched the bright yellow soul ring gradually form before him, Su Yuan's heartbeat and breathing, sent racing by a surge of adrenaline, slowly began to settle.
Luo Shan and Mo Yunxing's combat instruction was indeed effective, far beyond anything an independent soul master trained through makeshift methods could offer. Even a raw recruit like Su Yuan, who had never fought before, could develop the most basic combat instincts.
If he were still in the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, how could Su Yuan have enjoyed the first-class treatment of personal instruction from two Soul Douluos?
"Not bad. Decisive attacks, every strike aimed to kill. Those past two months weren't wasted!" After returning to Su Yuan's side, the normally unsmiling Luo Shan showed a rare smile.
"Your timing and your ability to pinpoint openings were also excellent. But your mindset still needs to be steadier. You can't rely entirely on instinct," Mo Yunxing added.
If a soul master fought entirely on instinct, wouldn't everything descend into chaos?
"But overall, performing this well in your first unexpected battle was already outstanding."
"That's all thanks to your guidance, Elder Luo, Elder Mo." After gathering some ice and snow to scrub the blood off himself, Su Yuan bowed to the two men.
"Next, I'd like to fight a few more soul beasts. As long as I don't suffer a serious injury or a fatal attack, I hope you'll let me handle the entire battle myself!"
Luo Shan and Mo Yunxing exchanged a glance, then both turned to Wang Xian'er.
Both men knew that Su Yuan's request was reasonable. Only a combat soul master who had endured blood, sweat, and life-and-death struggles could be considered a qualified combat soul master.
Given their temperaments, they would readily let Su Yuan fight, tempering a warrior's will amid this world of ice and snow.
But the decision was not theirs to make.
Who in the entire Wang residence did not know by now that Su Yuan was Wang Xian'er's most treasured darling?
They were willing to let Su Yuan fight on his own, but Wang Xian'er might not have the heart to let him shed blood and suffer injuries.
Sure enough, hesitation immediately appeared on Wang Xian'er's face when she heard Su Yuan's words. In the end, however, she nodded.
"Since that's what you want, Little Yuan, go ahead and fight without holding back. With me here, no matter how badly you're hurt, I can heal you!"
Before you continue