Despicable Humans—No Honor in Sneak Attacks!

Half a month later, in the Millennium Soul Beast Living Area.

Crackling sounds rang out as a strange soul beast less than five feet tall, resembling a mongoose but with abnormally long, razor-sharp foreclaws, rolled across the ground several times before scrambling back up and looking toward the Three-Eyed Demon Fox ahead.

Its cheeks drummed a few times before it turned and fled.

The next moment, light flashed around the Three-Eyed Demon Fox, and a handsome young man appeared where it had stood. It was Zhu Wu.

He watched the Millennium Sickle Weasel dart into the forest without pursuing it. In truth, he had not dealt killing blows to any soul beast he had defeated in single combat, allowing them all to escape. There were indeed many soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, but soul masters also had a great demand for soul rings. If soul beasts went extinct, the profession of soul master would vanish with them. That was no exaggeration. Wanton slaughter was no good thing.

He had to spare a thought for future generations, didn't he?

As long as the training achieves its purpose, that's enough. With that thought, he strode forward, crouched down, and began digging up ginseng.

It had to be said that the Star Dou Great Forest possessed extraordinarily abundant medicinal herb resources. The only problem was frequently running into soul beasts, which made gathering troublesome. His strategy was simple: fight those he could beat, such as small soul beasts like Sickle Weasels, whose defenses he could generally pierce. If he encountered something thick-skinned and tough, then he could only resort to underhanded methods.

Usually, he had Little White lure them away while he secretly dug up herbs.

It would transform into a predator to issue a challenge, or into a female of the same species to send out mating calls—whatever worked. The key was bluffing, cheating, and tricking them.

Before long, Zhu Wu handed the freshly dug ginseng to Little White and continued deeper into the forest.

He had searched for more than half a month. His cultivation was practically about to break through, yet he had encountered only a few spiritual-attribute soul beasts, let alone high-quality ones.

He was indeed growing anxious.

"I need to speed things up." With that thought, he immediately called Little White over, still gnawing on ginseng, to possess him. He then used Illusion Transformation to become a tiny Hummingbird—small, low in Soul Power consumption, and highly stealthy—and flew forward.

Able to fly backward, forward, and hover, while still being quite fast, Hummingbirds truly had many advantages.

Time passed swiftly, and another ten or so days went by.

Since his target was a soul beast between one thousand and fifteen hundred years old, Zhu Wu did not venture deep into the Millennium Soul Beast Living Area. Instead, he circled around its outskirts.

As for which country's territory he had wandered into by now, even he had no idea. He was relying entirely on luck.

Am I just cursed with terrible luck?

More than a month had passed, and his Soul Power had already reached level 20, yet he still had not found one. It truly made him question his life.

Are spiritual-attribute soul beasts really that scarce, or has my luck hit rock bottom?

It was frustrating, but there was nothing he could do except keep searching.

And with that search, another half month passed.

"Roar!" Two beastly roars sounded in quick succession beside his ears. From the sound of them, one seemed to belong to a lion and the other to a wolf.

Among top-tier spiritual-attribute soul beasts, the only lion-related one Zhu Wu knew of was the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. He knew his own limits very well—if he saw her, his only option would be to run, and he might not even be able to do that. Her combat power was already absurd, able to rival a ten-thousand-year soul beast despite being only a thousand years old, and she had a Ferocious Beast bodyguard, the Three-Headed Crimson Demon Dog, following behind her. He was a one-ring soul master. How was he supposed to escape? He would probably be knocked unconscious by a single roar.

Of course, the odds of that were tiny, because the Three-Eyed Golden Lion would basically never appear on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Yu Xiaogang's Soul Beast Illustrated Handbook, which he had given Tang San, did not even contain a relevant entry. That alone showed how unlikely it was for humans to encounter such a creature.

Of course, it was also possible that someone had seen one before, but without exception, they had all died.

Judging by the timeline, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion should be around five thousand years old at this point, right? he could not help thinking.

As for top-tier spiritual-attribute soul beasts related to wolves, there were Silver Moon Wolves and Silver Eagle Beasts. Zhu Wu felt that he still had a chance against those two.

As he pondered, he arrived at a tree branch not far from where the sounds had come from.

Looking over, he saw a golden-maned lion with crimson eyes. He recognized this soul beast. It was called a Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion, a strength-type soul beast. It was considered a high-ranking species among lion soul beasts and possessed two innate skills: Berserk and Lion's Roar. Aggressive by nature, it excelled at close combat.

Judging by its build, it should be around thirteen hundred years old.

On the other side was a wolf-type soul beast. Two sharp, diamond-shaped Horns protruded from its head, its eyes were blood-red, and silver Scale covered its entire body. The scales on its upper body and back were especially thick, while those around its neck had even extended into rows of sharp dorsal spikes. Silver fur grew along the edges, giving it a rather flowing appearance. Its limbs were thick and powerful, and its claws were broad and sharp.

It looked like a heavily armored warrior, brimming with Bloodthirst and savagery, powerful and imposing.

Its bloodline grade is probably not low, Zhu Wu thought to himself.

"But this doesn't look like a Silver Eagle Beast either?" Yu Xiaogang's Soul Beast Illustrated Handbook did contain records of Silver Eagle Beasts, though they were not called Silver Eagle Beasts at this stage. They were known as Silver Shadow Wolves, described as agility-type soul beasts with the ability to replicate an opponent's skills. Perhaps spiritual-attribute soul masters were too rare, so no one had yet absorbed a Silver Eagle Beast soul ring and gained the Mental Replication skill.

Of course, the records might simply have been scarce to begin with. It was a rare species, after all.

"Let's watch first." Zhu Wu decided to be a spectator for now.

Both beasts were over three meters long. Just from their appearances, he could tell this would be a battle between brutes, and it was sure to be spectacular.

Then, blood mist rose from the Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion's fur as its body swelled at a visible rate. Veins bulged from its limbs, and its eyes became completely engulfed in crimson.

"Roar!" It threw back its head and roared, turning into a bloody gale as it charged toward the scaled silver wolf ahead.

The latter braced itself on all fours and howled toward the sky. Blood mist also rose from its body as its muscles bulged inch by inch.

"This one can use Berserk too?" Zhu Wu was slightly startled. "This really is a clash between brutes. Neither one is willing to give in!"

Then, the Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion leaped several meters into the air, closing the gap between them to five meters in an instant.

Next, it raised its head and roared. The ground around it seemed to have been struck by an air cannon, with turf and grass blown away, while towering ancient trees all around trembled and shed branches and leaves in a frenzy.

Good thing I'm far enough away. Zhu Wu secretly rejoiced, though curiosity also rose within him.

What species is this silver wolf? It took that head-on? That's bold!

Within his sight, the silver wolf maintained its braced posture, claws gripping the earth. Its ears were half-closed, clearly a response to the Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion's Lion's Roar skill. Still, its entire body was shoved half a meter sideways, plowing two deep trenches into the ground before it.

This showed just how powerful the Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion's roar had been.

Seeing that Lion's Roar had failed, the Berserk Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion had clearly lost its wits and charged straight in.

"Roar!" Just as it leaped, the silver wolf raised its head toward the Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion's forehead and unleashed a thunderous roar.

It was also a soundwave skill.

With a bang, the Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion was sent flying on the spot.

The next second, the silver wolf turned into a silver wind, moving at tremendous speed. It drove its hard head forward with a savage thrust. Pfft! Its Horns pierced directly into the Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion's chest, then lifted, flinging the bloodied lion away.

Without the slightest hesitation, the silver wolf followed up again. Its entire body leaped up, and it swatted the Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion beside the brow with a raised paw. It opened its jaws and bit down on its opponent's neck, shaking its head madly while its limbs viciously pinned the Crimson-Eyed Golden Lion down. In the blink of an eye, rip! The silver wolf tore off a large chunk of flesh from its opponent's neck.

With a flick of its head, it tossed the flesh aside, then rammed forward once more. Its Horns drove through the wound and straight into the lion's throat.

Swift, fluid, savage—that was how Zhu Wu felt.

I should have guessed it. It can remain rational after using Berserk, so its spiritual power must be quite high. His body had already flown above the silver wolf's head.

Berserk and Lion's Roar aren't innate skills at all. They were replicated.

Damn it, this is a Silver Eagle Beast—maybe even a mutated one.

"Holy shit!" He canceled Martial Soul Possession and instantly activated the flight skill of his Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone. With a swipe of his right hand at his waist, a coconut-sized explosive made from a clay pot appeared in his hand. He lit it without hesitation and threw it down.

Then came a second one, then a third, as he hurled them down in rapid succession.

"Roar!" The Silver Eagle Beast possessed considerable spiritual power and quickly sensed something falling from overhead. It instinctively leaped to one side and looked up.

The sunlight was blinding in broad daylight, and it could only glimpse several black lumps.

"Roar!" It immediately used the replicated Lion's Roar skill.

Bang, bang, bang. The closest Clay Pot Bombs were destroyed before they could achieve anything, blasted into smoke on the spot.

However, the Clay Pot Bombs falling toward the Silver Eagle Beast's lower body and the area around its rear were unaffected. They exploded before reaching the ground. Countless shards of clay mixed with iron needles, iron nails, and other Hidden weapons burst forth in an instant, shooting in every direction.

Zhu Wu did not know how to use the hand-thrown Hidden weapons from Tang San's Soul Tool, so he had added some extra ingredients to his clay pot explosives.

Pfft, pfft, pfft! Though the Silver Eagle Beast was covered in scales, the area beneath its tail was a weak spot. Without any suspense, blood sprayed out instantly—and kept spraying.

"Awooo!" Intense pain struck the Silver Eagle Beast, interrupting its Lion's Roar skill. Boom! A massive explosion erupted above its head. The Gunpowder that had scattered overhead ignited, blossoming into dazzling fireworks and enveloping the Silver Eagle Beast's entire body. Then came the chain reaction caused by the successive blasts. The Silver Eagle Beast was hurled about until it finally fell to the ground and rolled around.

It hurt. It hurt terribly, especially its lower body. The pain was so severe that its legs trembled beyond control, and it could not even stand.

Despicable human! No honor in sneak attacks!

Using the corner of its eye, it finally saw the enemy who had attacked it. It was actually a human child.

And he could fly. That was unfair!

Elsewhere, the violent explosions shook the ground, their sound echoing in all directions. Birds and beasts alike scattered in terror.

The tremors were far too intense to have been caused by an ordinary predator. They instinctively knew they were no match for it.

Boom! When the final explosion faded away, a purple soul ring emerged from the flames.

"Little White, put out the fire!" Zhu Wu shouted.

Ignoring the soul ring on the ground, he took off his belt Soul Tool and flew to one side. Knowing that he might need Gunpowder, he had long ago had Little White absorb a large amount of river water by the riverbank, while he had also filled his Soul Tool to the brim.

The Star Dou Great Forest was filled with shrubs and ancient trees. If a forest fire really started, it would be no joke.

"Chirp!" Little White, who had already reached the designated area, flashed seven-colored light repeatedly from her brow, scattering a great curtain of water out of thin air.

On the other side, Zhu Wu repeatedly swung his Soul Tool, likewise flinging out sheets of water.

The battle between the two beasts earlier, especially those roars, had already cleared out a large open space around them. As a result, the flames raised by the later explosions had not spread to many shrubs or dead grasses. What they needed to do now was promptly extinguish the fire spreading around the perimeter, creating a firebreak.

The process was not long, taking only a quarter of an hour. After all, the homemade explosives were not especially powerful by themselves. Their main purpose was to injure enemies with the outer materials blasted apart by the explosion. And the materials Zhu Wu had used happened to all be fireproof.

Thus, they had not produced many sparks.

"Whew, my streak of terrible luck is finally over." Taking a deep breath, Zhu Wu slowly descended onto the devastated ground.

"Sorry, brother." He cupped his hands toward the Silver Eagle Beast beside him, which had already been burned pitch-black.

Then, he took a carpet from his Soul Tool and spread it beside the Silver Eagle Beast before sitting down to absorb the soul ring.

Although the surrounding soul beasts had been scared away, he could not be sure when they would return.

He absolutely could not waste time now. The longer he delayed, the more dangerous it became.

It was daytime, so he immediately began circulating the Vajra Power Exercise.

The moment his Soul Power stirred within him, the purple soul ring was drawn in. It floated above Zhu Wu's head, then slowly descended.

"Hiss!" As violent energy entered his body, Zhu Wu immediately felt a tearing pain in his meridians.

As expected of a thousand-year soul ring. With a silent sigh, he began splitting his focus to activate support from the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone.

Sensing the pull, threads of cool energy seeped forth, flowing into Zhu Wu's meridians like little streams. While soothing the violent soul ring energy, they also repaired his slightly torn meridians. It was, after all, a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. A mere thousand-year soul ring was clearly nothing before it.

Of course, the prerequisite was that Zhu Wu's physical body was strong enough. Otherwise, if his meridians burst on the spot, even a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone could not save him.

Time passed bit by bit. Around two hours later.

Under Internal Vision, in the familiar vast white space, Little White, who had grown somewhat larger again, twisted her body. A stream of unfamiliar information entered Zhu Wu's mind—the ability Little White had inherited after absorbing the soul ring.

It was not the Mental Replication that Huo Gua had obtained, but Imprint.

Mental Replication was a soul skill produced by the fusion of an absorbed soul ring with one's own martial soul, while Imprint was the innate ability of the Silver Eagle Beast.

"???" Zhu Wu suddenly opened his eyes, his face filled with shock.

"Damn, that's amazing!" After fully sorting through the information, Zhu Wu blurted it out unconsciously.

It was still Imprint, but its effects were completely different. As far as he knew, the number of times a Silver Eagle Beast could use Imprint each day was limited, and once it was used up, it needed to be imprinted again. But Little White's inherited Imprint skill had no such restriction! The number of times she could use it and whether she could successfully imprint something depended entirely on her spiritual power, while its strength depended entirely on her cultivation.

Moreover, it was permanently retained! As long as Little White successfully imprinted something once, it would be recorded forever.

So, is this mutated Silver Eagle Beast simply incredible, or is my Little White incredible? Little White can use Illusion Transformation to mimic the appearance of any soul beast she has seen, even perfectly replicating its aura. That itself is a kind of recording ability. Did her innate ability fuse with Imprint? Or did the advancement of the Dragon God Bloodline within me over this period elevate the Imprint skill?

Zhu Wu could not be certain, but that did not stop him from being delighted.

Permanent Imprint offered far too many possibilities.

Looks like I'll need to stay in the Star Dou Great Forest for a while longer. I'm going to imprint soul beast skills like crazy! It doesn't matter if I can't learn them; as long as Little White can, that's enough. Having many skills has its advantages. For example, no matter what soul skill my opponent uses, I can always find something to counter it. Zhu Wu thought happily. Besides, just because I can't learn them now doesn't mean I won't be able to in the future.

The Dragon God possessed the ability to control many elements. I truly don't have those attributes right now, but what if my bloodline improves in the future? Then my affinity with the elements would increase, and I could sense all kinds of elemental energy between heaven and earth. At that point, could I learn these imprinted skills? Mm, I need to imprint more elemental skills next.

Let the data speak!

The more skills I have, the more material there'll be for reference and study. Surely I can figure something out from them eventually, right?

There are also spiritual-attribute skills.

Perhaps next, I can use Imprint to experience all kinds of soul beasts' spiritual skills, then summarize some principles behind their use and master them. Zhu Wu's thoughts soared as he considered it more deeply. However, with my current spiritual power, I can't really cut down on my daily cultivation time, and recovering spiritual power takes quite a while too. The number of skills I can imprint each day is probably limited.

Also, I'm afraid I won't be able to replicate skills from soul beasts whose cultivation far surpasses mine.