His scarlet eyes were fixed on Xiong Shaoqing. Drool dripped down his blade-like fangs, corroding deep pits in the ground.
"An Abyssal Demon Bear with thirty thousand years of cultivation."
Zhu Zhuqing drew a sharp breath, her cool face instantly turning deathly pale.
A thirty-thousand-year Soul Beast was a terrifying existence equivalent to a human Soul Saint.
Xiong Shaoqing's pupils contracted sharply as every hair on his body stood on end.
What the fuck? What was this?
This was supposed to be the safe outer zone. How had a thirty-thousand-year Abyssal Demon Bear suddenly appeared here?
Had the Star Dou Great Forest's ecosystem collapsed?
Though he was frantically grumbling inwardly and panicking like mad, Xiong Shaoqing's body reacted with incredible speed.
Faced with this sudden, fatal situation completely beyond his control, he did not hesitate. He took a large step back and spread his arms, shielding Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing firmly behind him like an insurmountable Wall of Sighs.
"Get back. Stay within ten paces of me." Xiong Shaoqing clenched his teeth, his voice hoarse and resolute.
His Level 40 Soul Power surged out without reservation. The phantom of the Archaic Heaven-Shaking Bear roared wildly behind him, attempting to contend with the Abyssal Demon Bear's presence.
"Roar!" The Abyssal Demon Bear seemed to have been fleeing something even more terrifying and was already unusually agitated. These few ants blocking his path instantly enraged him.
He slammed his enormous paw against the ground. A nearly tangible purple shock wave, laden with destructive power, swept toward the three of them with the force to topple mountains and overturn seas.
"Archaic Gang Qi!"
Xiong Shaoqing crossed his arms, pushed his dark-gold shield to its limit, and met it head-on.
Crack! The instant they collided, the supposedly indestructible Gang Qi filled with spiderweb cracks.
Xiong Shaoqing felt an irresistible, savage force slam into his chest. The bones in his arms groaned under the unbearable strain.
A metallic sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Yet his legs seemed rooted in place, nailed firmly into the soil without retreating half a step.
"Big brother!"
"Shaoqing!"
Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing's eyes strained wide, tears instantly spilling out.
"Stay back!" Xiong Shaoqing roared fiercely. Crimson blood dripped from his chin, but a lone wolf's madness burned in his deep black eyes. "I'm not dead yet. It's not your turn to take the hit!"
Watching that tall figure shield them, refusing to retreat even half a step in this sudden death trap even if a thirty-thousand-year Soul Beast shattered his bones, Xiao Wu felt her heart all but break.
I couldn't let big brother die here... absolutely not.
Xiao Wu's eyes instantly turned blood-red. She abruptly released a spiritual fluctuation only high-ranking Soul Beasts could understand, sending it spreading madly from her toward the deepest core of the Star Dou Great Forest, heedless of everything.
A few breaths later.
Thud, thud, thud.
Dull, thunderous sounds came from deep within the forest, as though a mountain were charging through it.
The earth began shaking violently, and swaths of towering ancient trees toppled.
The instant the formerly arrogant Abyssal Demon Bear sensed that presence, the savagery in his eyes turned to boundless terror. He actually whimpered and turned to flee.
"Roar!"
A black fist as enormous as a small hill descended from the sky with a terrifying sonic boom that tore through space, smashing viciously into the Abyssal Demon Bear's back.
Boom! A terrifying crater dozens of meters across formed in an instant.
The once-overbearing thirty-thousand-year Abyssal Demon Bear did not even have time to scream. That single punch shattered every bone in his body, leaving him slumped like sludge at the bottom of the crater with only a faint breath remaining.
A black giant ape, resembling a primordial demon god, stood like an iron tower at the crater's edge.
His lantern-like yellow eyes glanced coldly at the Abyssal Demon Bear below, and two streams of white vapor puffed from his nostrils.
The Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming.
Er Ming had already been thoroughly displeased with this Abyssal Demon Bear for repeatedly trespassing on his territory. He had happened to chase him all the way to the outskirts, and upon sensing Sister Xiao Wu's distress signal, his fury had soared even higher. That punch had thoroughly satisfied him.
Looking at this legendary overlord of the forest, Zhu Zhuqing was so frightened that even her breathing stopped.
Meanwhile, Xiong Shaoqing wiped the blood from his lips and looked at the Titan Giant Ape, already setting off firecrackers madly in his heart.
Hahahaha! Er Ming, my good brother, my brother-in-law!
That punch came just in time! My life was saved, and my fourth Soul Ring was sorted out too!
Chapter 82: Turning Danger into Safety
On the surface, however, he maintained his cold-faced Asura look, ready to face death without flinching. Taking a deep breath, he endured the severe pain in his arms and sat cross-legged before the Abyssal Demon Bear's enormous body.
He knew the Demon Bear was about to breathe his last.
Before absorbing this Soul Ring that far exceeded his limit, he had to complete one final, crucial round of "prebattle performance."
With a thought, the Destiny Diary opened in his sea of consciousness.
[This Star Dou Great Forest truly was a man-eating gate to hell.]
[We were clearly in the safe outer zone, yet a thirty-thousand-year Abyssal Demon Bear actually charged out like a mad beast.]
[If that Titan Giant Ape hadn't suddenly appeared and gravely wounded him with one punch, I probably really would have met my end here today.]
[Others might not know the background of that mighty figure, but I knew it perfectly well. He was Er Ming, the forest's overlord, and also that girl Xiao Wu's sworn younger brother. If not for Xiao Wu, why would Er Ming have shown such mercy and saved us today?]
[After blocking that blow just now, the bones in my arms were covered in cracks, and my internal organs hurt as though seas were churning inside me. But I couldn't retreat. If I did, those two silly girls behind me would be in danger.]
[Now this thirty-thousand-year Demon Bear lay before me with only one breath remaining. Reason told me that forcibly absorbing a thirty-thousand-year Soul Ring beyond my rank with Level 40 cultivation was no different from seeking death. The odds of my body bursting apart were extremely high.]
[But so what? This Demon Bear had delivered himself to my door. That was heaven's will.]
[Without madness, there was no survival. Without absolutely overwhelming strength, how could I fight those impossible-to-guard-against hidden weapons, overturn this world's conspiracies, or keep them safe and free of worries for a lifetime?]
[I was going to devour this thirty-thousand-year Soul Ring, no matter what.]
The resolute golden words burst into Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing's minds.
After reading the diary, Xiao Wu's heart clenched sharply, and profound shock flashed through her large eyes.
Big brother even knew who Er Ming was.
But on second thought, she felt reassured.
Big brother was a God King who had weathered countless vicissitudes and begun cultivating anew in another life.
What secret in this world could he possibly not know?
His manner of understanding everything yet silently accepting it instead inspired an even more irreplaceable sense of admiration and dependence in Xiao Wu.
Zhu Zhuqing could no longer control her tears, which rolled down like pearls from a broken string.
Throwing caution aside, she rushed over and hugged Xiong Shaoqing's broad yet trembling back tightly from behind, her voice choked beyond recognition:
"Shaoqing, don't... thirty thousand years is too dangerous. You'll die! I don't want you risking your life like this. Even finding an ordinary Soul Beast here in the outer zone would be fine. I just want you to be safe."
At that moment, Xiong Shaoqing kept his eyes closed, feeling the warmth and softness against his back and the scalding tears. Inwardly, he was positively delighted.
It was in the bag. Looking at the cat girl and bunny girl, they had already fallen completely.
Zhu Zhuqing, don't blame me for being ruthless. Without a cheat, would I dare absorb a thirty-thousand-year Soul Ring?
I had the Archaic Heaven-Shaking Bear's peerless physique!
Squelch!
Without another word, Xiong Shaoqing struck backward with a knife-hand, piercing the Abyssal Demon Bear's vital point and ending his life completely.
A black Soul Ring, deep as ink and radiating terrifying pressure, slowly rose from the Demon Bear's corpse.
"Guard me."
Leaving only those cold words, Xiong Shaoqing closed his eyes and drew the black Soul Ring onto his body.
Boom! The instant the Soul Ring entered him, Xiong Shaoqing felt a savage force capable of destroying heaven and earth charge straight into his meridians like ten thousand galloping horses.
It hurt terribly. This was no act at all. The thirty-thousand-year Soul Beast's lingering savage resentment and immense power frantically tore at his muscles, blood vessels, and meridians.
A fine layer of blood instantly seeped through Xiong Shaoqing's skin, covering his entire body in red.
"Aaagh!" No matter how much he could endure, he could not stop himself from letting out a suppressed, beastlike roar.
His features twisted, veins throbbed on his forehead, and his bones made tooth-grating cracks and pops, as though they might shatter at any moment.
"Shaoqing!" Zhu Zhuqing was drenched in tears, but dared not touch him, afraid of disturbing the balance he was desperately maintaining.
Xiao Wu also clenched her fists tightly, her heart burning with anxiety.
Time ticked past, second by second. This tug-of-war of absorbing a Soul Ring beyond his rank was like torment in hell.
Just as Xiong Shaoqing felt his consciousness about to be completely crushed by that savage power, the domineering Archaic Heaven-Shaking Bear bloodline within him finally awakened fully.
Like a monstrous, ravenous beast, it swallowed that savage thirty-thousand-year power in one utterly tyrannical gulp and forcibly refined it.
After an unknown amount of time, the formerly restless black Soul Ring finally settled, circling steadily around Xiong Shaoqing's body.
Yellow, yellow, purple, black. Four Soul Rings shone in concert.
He abruptly opened his eyes, two chilling shafts of piercing light shooting from their deep black depths.
His breakthrough had succeeded. He had officially entered the Soul Ancestor realm.
At that moment, system notifications erupted wildly in his sea of consciousness, sounding like the most beautiful music in the world:
[Ding! Host detected successfully absorbing a thirty-thousand-year Soul Ring beyond his rank! Mortal limits broken!] [Ding! Zhu Zhuqing detected developing undying love and absolute dependence toward the host. Bond Points permanently locked!] [Ding! Xiao Wu detected developing irreplaceable admiration and feelings etched into her heart toward the host. Bond Points permanently locked!] [Emotional outbursts from copy holders detected producing powerful resonance, returning a vast quantity of pure Soul Power. Host's Soul Power increased by an additional level!] [Congratulations, host, on officially breaking through the bottleneck. Current Soul Power: Level 41 (Soul Ancestor).] [System Shop fully unlocked!] [Congratulations, host, on receiving a massive Bond Points reward!] [Beginner protection has ended. The Spirit Pagoda Construction Plan, First-Generation Spirit Transmission Contract Array, and Soul Spirit Conversion Fluid have been added to the shop's redemption list.]
Listening to that string of notifications in his mind, Xiong Shaoqing slowly rose to his feet.
Feeling the terrifying strength surging through him like rivers bursting their banks, he looked at the technologies and arrays he had longed for in the System Shop. An irrepressibly wild, arrogant smile finally curled his lips.
Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, dense foliage was shoved aside by a massive body, producing a series of dull thuds.
Like a moving black mountain, the Titan Giant Ape Er Ming was racing toward his home base in the forest's core.
As he ran, he shook his enormous head irritably.
"Roar..."
Er Ming grumbled quietly to himself.
He had always utterly loathed human Soul Masters. Those fellows were greedy and cunning, and always carried a hypocritical stench that made him sick.
If he had not sensed Sister Xiao Wu's desperately urgent distress signal today, he would not have bothered with whether those ants in the outer zone lived or died.
But... that black-clad human who had stood in front of Sister Xiao Wu just now had left him particularly puzzled.
Chapter 83: Holding Back Was So Hard
Er Ming recalled the instant he had glimpsed that man while smashing the Abyssal Demon Bear to death.
That human's presence had carried none of the sour stench that repelled him. Instead, it had felt vast and weighty, even faintly bearing the domineering pressure of some primordial giant beast.
It had felt as though he were not a human, but a fellow ancient Ferocious Beast lying dormant in an abyss.
Strange fellow... forget it. If he dared mistreat Sister Xiao Wu, I'd flatten him with one punch all the same.
Er Ming scratched his enormous head. Unable to figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it.
In the outer zone, beside the crater.
Having completely stabilized his fourth Soul Ring, Xiong Shaoqing slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
On the surface, his expression was as still as water, but his consciousness had long since plunged eagerly into the System Shop.
Before you continue