A short while later, the Wind Baboons had all vanished.
Seeing this, the orange figure stopped and gazed at the empty woods, saying somewhat helplessly:
"Pretty much all the Wind Baboons in this forest have fled. It's about time I found another target to test my moves on."
Indeed, this orange figure was none other than Zeng Tian, who had spent the past month growing.
Although he was still a Charmander, his body was noticeably larger, and his once-scrawny arms had grown strong.
The flame on his tail, which represented a Charmander's life force, burned more fiercely than ever.
"What a shame. I wanted to test the power of my newly created Fire Claw, but it looks like that'll have to wait."
With that, Zeng Tian walked over to the dead Wind Baboons, hoisted the two oldest onto his shoulders, and turned toward his current dwelling.
Zeng Tian was no longer the same as before. Not only had he honed his three previous moves to perfection, but he had also learned new ones, including Smokescreen, Dragon Breath, Dragon Tail, and Fire Fang.
Ember had the highest proficiency among them, having reached lv9, just one step away from the maximum of lv10.
Apart from Dragon Tail, which he had only just learned, all his other moves had surpassed lv5 in proficiency.
His progress with Fire Fang, a move of his own type, was astonishingly fast. He had learned it less than ten days ago, yet it had already reached lv7. Otherwise, he could never have combined it with his claw attack to create Fire Claw.
Most importantly, Zeng Tian had now broken through to level fifteen, leaving him just one level short of evolving into Charmeleon at level sixteen.
Forget hundred-year Soul Beasts-even many thousand-year Soul Beasts were no match for Zeng Tian now. In the surrounding Soul Beast forest, he had become an undisputed local tyrant.
What was more, Zeng Tian could evolve at any moment. Once he became a Charmeleon, his strength would take another enormous leap.
"Croak, croak-"
As a faint scent of tea drifted through the air, a pitch-black shadow shot down from a tree like a sharp blade, aiming straight at Zeng Tian as he carried the two Wind Baboons below.
Zeng Tian dropped the Wind Baboons and sidestepped the attack, then frowned at the shadow opposite him.
"You again. You were lucky to escape last time. I didn't expect you to dare show yourself before me again."
Before Zeng Tian stood a three-meter-long snake, peach-pink from head to tail, with a flower-shaped protrusion on its head. It was a thousand-year Mandala Snake.
Before reaching a thousand years of cultivation, Mandala Snakes were dark green, growing one meter longer every hundred years.
As they approached a thousand years of cultivation, their bodies could reach nearly ten meters in length.
Once they passed the thousand-year mark, however, their power would condense, and they would begin shedding their skin. Their bodies would shrink back to one meter, their color would change from dark green to pink, and they would then grow another meter every hundred years.
After reaching two thousand years of cultivation, they would shrink again, and their pink coloration would deepen.
Upon reaching ten thousand years, Mandala Snakes would turn yellow.
What happened at a hundred thousand years was unknown, since no Mandala Snake had ever reached that age.
"Croak, croak-"
The Mandala Snake let out a series of strange cries, then abruptly sprang into the air.
In midair, the Mandala Snake lashed its long tail through the air with a sonic boom. Its body became a streak of pink light as it lunged at Zeng Tian.
"Hmph! You really don't know your place!"
Zeng Tian snorted coldly at the sight. If this Mandala Snake had not fled so quickly last time, it would already have died in his flames.
He had not expected its nerve to grow so much in the short time since they last met. Even after its ambush failed, it still dared to attack him head-on.
Zeng Tian opened his mouth. Flecks of orange light gathered before it, and in an instant, orange-red fireballs the size of ping-pong balls shot out one after another.
Indeed, this was the effect of lv9 Ember. Though the move was called Ember, its projectiles could already be considered fireballs.
Any one of these fireballs could injure a thousand-year Soul Beast, and Zeng Tian could launch twenty or thirty at once. If all of them struck, even a three- or four-thousand-year Soul Beast without fire resistance would be gravely wounded.
Seeing Zeng Tian use this move again, a trace of wariness flashed through the thousand-year Mandala Snake's eyes.
Last time, just one fireball had struck it, and the scales it took such pride in had instantly cracked apart as though they were made of paper.
The thousand-year Mandala Snake opened its mouth and expelled a cloud of pink mist. A rich scent of tea spread through the air.
Despite its pleasant fragrance, this pink mist was formed from the Mandala Snake's venom. A single breath could poison an ordinary person to death, making it one of the snake's important hunting tools.
Even Zeng Tian held his breath, not daring to inhale the scented air.
Charmander had no poison resistance, so being poisoned would be rather troublesome.
As the pink poison mist approached Zeng Tian's fireballs, it began to hiss. The energies of fire and poison clashed violently, and after consuming three fireballs, the pink mist was burned away completely. The remaining fireballs continued hurtling toward the thousand-year Mandala Snake.
Seeing this, the thousand-year Mandala Snake lashed its long tail again, changing direction in midair once more in an attempt to evade Zeng Tian's Ember attack.
"Do you still think I'm the same as before?"
After their last battle, when only one of his twenty-odd fireballs had struck the thousand-year Mandala Snake, Zeng Tian had returned and undergone special training to address Ember's difficulty in hitting extremely fast targets.
Now, he could hit Wind Baboons moving at high speed from a hundred meters away without missing a shot. It had all been for this moment!
As the thousand-year Mandala Snake changed direction, Zeng Tian adjusted his aim along with it. More than twenty fireballs shot out, all but sealing off the snake's path.
While Zeng Tian and the Mandala Snake fought fiercely, two young men and a young woman hid behind a large tree nearby, secretly watching the battle.
"Bei Bei, that's a thousand-year Mandala Snake! I want it!"
Tang Ya excitedly nudged Bei Bei beside her.
Bei Bei replied somewhat helplessly, "Teacher Xiao Ya, wait a little longer. This Mandala Snake is quite old. We should make our move once these two Soul Beasts have both battered each other."
"But what if that fire-breathing lizard kills the thousand-year Mandala Snake during the fight?"
Tang Ya bit her finger, looking hesitant.
Just then, Huo Yuhao spoke quietly from beside them. "Teacher Xiao Ya, eldest senior brother, do you recognize that orange Soul Beast? None of the books I've read mentioned that kind of Soul Beast."
Huo Yuhao did recognize the Mandala Snake. It was one of the finest among ordinary Soul Beasts, and one of the most terrifying Poison-type Soul Beasts of all.
At Huo Yuhao's question, both Tang Ya and Bei Bei froze.
Well... it seemed they did not recognize it either.