Tang Wulin was the first to finish absorbing. A gentle breeze brushed his face, carrying the fresh scent unique to the forest.
With the breeze came the clear chirping of birds. Following the pleasant sound, Tang Wulin slowly opened his eyes. The instant he looked ahead, he could no longer tear his gaze away.
Jiang Mingyuan sat quietly on a thick branch of the ancient tree ahead. Sunlight filtered through layers of green leaves, casting a soft, hazy halo over him.
Several fluffy little tits perched affectionately on the branches on either side of him, chattering softly. A few beautiful birds of unknown species circled and fluttered around him. The Emerald Swan and Little Black Eagle rested on his shoulders like loyal guards.
What softened Tang Wulin's heart most was the sight of two hummingbirds with long, pointed beaks carrying a carefully woven flower crown and placing it on Jiang Mingyuan's head.
Jiang Mingyuan sat on the branch, swinging his feet. He seemed truly able to understand the birds chirping beside his ears, occasionally letting out a laugh as clear as silver bells.
The Emerald Swan gently brushed Jiang Mingyuan's cheek with her feathers, lowered her neck, and nodded her head toward Tang Wulin.
Only then did Jiang Mingyuan notice that Tang Wulin had awakened. He waved, seemingly bidding the birds farewell. Sliding forward, he dropped straight down, his Phoenix wings beating to counter his downward momentum. He landed gently on the ground. Little Black Eagle flew from his shoulder and landed beside Zhang Yangzi, who was about to awaken.
"Oh, Wulin. That was pretty quick." Jiang Mingyuan walked up to Tang Wulin. A faint fragrance of flowers and grass drifted into Tang Wulin's nose.
Seeing Tang Wulin standing there in a daze without responding, Jiang Mingyuan reached out and waved a hand in front of his face.
Only then did Tang Wulin snap out of that beautiful scene, Jiang Mingyuan's clear laughter still echoing in his mind.
By then, Xie Xie and the other two had also awakened one after another. In this timeline, thanks to Jiang Mingyuan's presence, everyone's soul spirits were considerably older than in the original story.
Xie Xie stretched luxuriously, unable to suppress a soft groan.
"Woohoo! I feel like my soul spirit's about to reach the thousand-year level!"
"Mine too." Zhang Yangzi gently rubbed Little Black Eagle's head, not noticing that the eagle's gaze was fixed firmly on Jiang Mingyuan.
At some point, Jiang Mingyuan had taken the flower crown off his head and slipped it onto his wrist, making it slightly less conspicuous.
"All right, I've already gathered some information. There's a group of wind baboons fifteen hundred meters to the northeast. Their leader only has a hundred years of cultivation."
Xie Xie immediately perked up. He couldn't cut through that turtle shell, but surely he could cut through a wind baboon? Raising his dagger, he charged ahead.
"Everyone, charge!"
The other four were speechless, black lines practically hanging over their foreheads. Not one of them moved. Finally, Tang Wulin couldn't stand watching anymore and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Xie Xie! You're going the wrong way! That's west!"
Ten minutes later, guided by the birds, the Class Zero team finally arrived near the wind baboon group. Jiang Mingyuan carefully parted the grass.
About thirty wind baboons were resting in the clearing ahead. The largest one sat right in the center with a mate tucked under each arm. It had to be the group's leader.
Jiang Mingyuan quickly devised a strategy, which was actually quite simple. Zhang Yangzi would first use Dark Veil to obscure the wind baboon group's vision over a wide area, then Jiang Mingyuan would unleash Phoenix Meteor Shower. Under that wide-area AOE barrage, the younger wind baboons would either die or be crippled. Finally, Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi would move in to finish them off.
As for Xie Xie, Jiang Mingyuan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, then shook his head and sighed helplessly.
It was enough for Xie Xie to stay alive.
Looking at that towering, powerfully built wind baboon leader, Jiang Mingyuan wondered whether Xie Xie could even beat it one-on-one.
Just as they were about to act, something unexpected happened.
A streak of white light suddenly appeared above the wind baboon leader. Jiang Mingyuan looked closely and saw rings of rapidly spinning Ice Wheels.
The wind baboon leader had no time to react before the Ice Wheels sliced down toward him. With danger upon him, he could only protect himself. A layer of pale yellow light appeared over his arms, and his skin abruptly hardened, forcibly blocking the cutting Ice Wheels.
His mates, however, lacked the strength to withstand them. After a series of agonized howls, not a single living creature remained beside the wind baboon leader.
The wind baboons guarding the perimeter were instantly terrified by the sight. Instinctively, they tried to flee into the forest.
From the woods opposite Jiang Mingyuan and the others, a young man of sixteen or seventeen slowly emerged. Three soul rings-two yellow and one purple-circled his body, and he held an oddly shaped Ice Crystal Staff.
Behind him, a pretty, delicately sculpted little girl peeked out. Her pale blue hair was tied into two braids, and she looked about the same age as Jiang Mingyuan and the others, perhaps even younger.
She also held an exquisite staff, with a single Yellow Soul Ring floating around her.
The young man raised his Ice Staff and traced a large circle in the air. At the same time, a ring of light ten meters across suddenly appeared above the wind baboon group, and countless hailstones rained down from it.
As hailstones struck their heads, the wind baboons covered their heads and scurried away like rats. Only the wind baboon leader's eyes gradually filled with hatred. He glared fiercely at the young man, swearing to make him pay for what he had done today.
He slowly raised his right hand, pointed a finger at the young man, and let out a roar.
At that cry, the wind baboons immediately stopped. A trace of hesitation appeared on their faces, but the leader's years of oppressive rule had sunk deep into their baboon hearts.
A few smaller wind baboons finally turned around, dropped onto all fours, and charged at the young man. With someone taking the lead, the others could only follow.
Seeing this, the young man with the Ice Staff curled his lips into a smile and laughed heartily.
"Hahahaha! Since you don't want to run, you can all stay here!"
The young man pointed his Ice Staff forward. His third soul ring immediately lit up, and an intense ball of blue light burst forth at the staff's tip. An icy-blue Ice Laser shot out.
Holding his Ice Staff, the young man swept it sideways just once. When the soul skill ended, every wind baboon had been frozen into an ice sculpture.
The young man strode forward cheerfully and casually swung his Ice Staff, shattering one of the wind baboon ice sculptures.
He looked back and saw that the little girl was still too timid to approach, so he beckoned and said gently, "Little sister, it's all right. I've frozen them all."
The instant the young man turned his head, the leader's ice sculpture, hidden among the baboon group, suddenly cracked open. The leader sprang up, tightly gripping a dagger ground from the bone of some unknown soul beast.
Unlike the other wind baboons, the leader had once been a genuine soul beast. These ordinary baboons had all been created by the Spirit Pagoda using soul beast genes. From birth, they had never encountered the outside world, nor did they possess any inheritance within their bloodlines.
The memories within the baboon leader's bloodline told him that ten thousand years ago, a wind baboon had dared to bare its fangs at a god in the heavens.
Today, he, the wind baboon leader, would recreate his race's glory here!
The young man noticed the change in his little sister's expression and instantly turned around, but it was already too late. The wind baboon was too close; he had no time to fight back.
At that hair's-breadth moment, a figure shot forward as fast as lightning. Holding a dagger that gleamed with cold light, he effortlessly slit the wind baboon leader's throat. Blood instantly sprayed out, and the wind baboon leader lost all his strength and collapsed to the ground.
Xie Xie landed stylishly and smoothed his hair.
When I couldn't break through their defenses, you could call me useless. Now that I can, what are you going to call me?