Sunset Forest.
Elsewhere.
Gangzi led the New Shrek Seven Devils, now supplemented by their newest member, Dugu Yan, deeper through the forest.
Flender looked a little miserable and scratched his head.
"Why are we seeing fewer Soul Beasts the farther in we go? This is worse than a few days ago."
Zhao Wuji was just as baffled, like a towering monk unable to reach his own head. "That shouldn't be happening. Most powerful Soul Beasts live deep in the forest. We should be seeing more and more of them."
Gangzi frowned. This was different from his previous life.
In his previous life, with the God King Tang around, attracting Soul Beasts had been effortless. There had been no need to search so miserably.
He had originally wanted to replace a few Soul Rings for the other six Monsters, giving them a head start at the starting line. But from the damned look of things, forget replacements-even finding one suitable beast would be difficult.
Suddenly, something whistled through the air.
Everyone present looked up and saw a dark shape flying toward them from the distance. It landed on the ground, flames still burning across its body.
It was the Earth King!
The pitiful Earth King hit the ground with a thud. After a few spasms, it burned to death in the flames covering its body, kicking out several legs at once as it went off to enjoy the afterlife.
Once Ma Hongjun got a clear look at the Soul Beast that had flown in from the horizon, his expression changed instantly.
"Holy shit, isn't that the Earth King? What the hell happened?!"
Ma Hongjun wanted to cry but had no tears. He pointed at the Earth King on the ground, his finger trembling nonstop.
"Th-this... what are we supposed to do now?"
In his previous life, he had chosen the Earth King for his fourth Soul Ring. It had been tremendously powerful, and Ma Hongjun himself had been very satisfied.
That was also the main reason Gangzi had brought everyone to Sunset Forest this time.
But unexpectedly, their biggest objective this time was simply gone.
Nearby.
Gangzi's eyes widened, utterly bewildered. He had never imagined things would develop this way.
Then he took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
"Don't panic. It might be because we arrived a few days late. Sunset Forest has plenty of Soul Beasts. We'll find a suitable one for you to choose eventually."
Without the immortal herbs, the Shrek Six Monsters had all cultivated much more slowly. They had reached level forty over a month later than in their previous lives, and Oscar had not even reached level forty yet.
Gangzi guessed that this might have caused the Soul Beasts that should have been there to leave. But with things as they were, all he could do was reassure everyone.
"This is all Heaven's unseen guidance. Perhaps the Soul Beast best suited to you, Ma Hongjun, isn't this Earth King."
"Your future development won't stop here. Don't lose heart, understand?"
Liu Erlong and Zhao Wuji exchanged a glance, both finding this rather strange.
Something had happened to Gangzi a few days ago. First, he had kicked Tang San out. Then he had started saying every day that these remaining six would become gods, that he had nurtured six gods.
If Gangzi had not still been capable of normal conversation at times, they would have thought he had gone mad.
"By the way, Dugu Yan, your Martial Soul is the Jade Phosphorus Snake. I've already chosen a Soul Beast for you this time: the Man Faced Demon Spider."
"The Man Faced Demon Spider can enhance your Martial Soul's poison attribute. Its effects are powerful."
Gangzi turned toward Dugu Yan and said, "You have tremendous potential, the makings of a god. You must build a solid foundation."
"Yes!"
Dugu Yan nodded, her expression utterly serious. After Gangzi's diligent hoodwinking over the past few days, she had successfully been duped lame, just like the God King Tang before her.
As for the "makings of a god" Gangzi kept mentioning every day, Dugu Yan was rather confused. She did not know what it meant and simply took it as a kind of expectation.
Suddenly, Flender stretched out a hand, his face filled with delighted surprise.
"Finally, something!"
The earth ahead bulged as something burrowed steadily toward a spot in the forest. Seeing this, Liu Erlong immediately stepped forward, unleashed her Martial Soul Avatar, and dragged the Soul Beast out of the ground.
An enormous spider flew out at once and landed upside down with all eight legs in the air. A dark shape was flung out along with it.
Man-Faced Spider Emperor!
Gangzi's eyes lit up the moment he saw the spider appear.
"Excellent, that's the one!"
"This is the Soul Beast best suited to you. Dugu Yan, hurry and absorb it."
At the same time, everyone got a clear look at the dark shape that had been flung out. It was a dark red, chicken-shaped Soul Beast with a tail shaped like foxtail grass.
Flender looked it up and down in surprise. "What Soul Beast is this? Grandmaster, do you recognize it?"
Gangzi stroked his chin, stepped forward for a look, and said, "This should be a mutated Earthfire Phoenix Chicken, a fire-attribute Soul Beast with a trace of phoenix blood. Judging by its tail, it's roughly four thousand years old."
"Something has happened in Sunset Forest. Ma Hongjun, just absorb this one."
Hearing this, Ma Hongjun froze, his face full of resistance.
"Is... is that really suitable?"
His Martial Soul was already flawed without the tempering of the immortal herbs, and every so often, his Evil Fire would pop up and wreak havoc for a few days. If he absorbed a chicken-type Soul Beast now, he feared he really would end up developing into a pheasant.
At this rate, what Phoenix God could he become? Pheasant God would be more like it!
Seemingly noticing what Ma Hongjun was thinking, Gangzi reassured him, "Don't worry. This chicken has phoenix blood in its body. It won't have much impact."
"In terms of your ultimate development, it might even be better than the Earth King."
With Gangzi having said that much, Ma Hongjun could hardly say anything more. He could only sigh, walk forward silently, and begin absorbing it with a miserable expression.
By then, Dugu Yan had finished absorbing the Man-Faced Spider Emperor, and her expression was a little strange.
Gangzi immediately stepped forward. "What's wrong?"
"This is a nearly ten-thousand-year-old Man-Faced Spider Emperor. Its poison is extremely potent. According to my theory, it should greatly enhance your Martial Soul's toxicity."
Dugu Yan closed her eyes and sensed it for a moment before saying hesitantly, "Grandmaster... the Man-Faced Spider Emperor's poison is powerful, but it conflicts with the poison innate to my Martial Soul."
"With the two conflicting, it seems my poison has actually weakened quite a bit..."
Hearing this, Gangzi immediately found it rather hard to save face and coughed twice.
"It's fine. Have you heard of mixed poison? Once we find other poisonous animals to supplement it later, your poison will grow stronger again. This is merely a temporary weakening. You must look to the future!"
At those words, the doubt vanished from Dugu Yan's eyes, and she nodded.
"So that's it! I understand, Grandmaster!"
Looking at the girl he had duped lame, Gangzi turned his head away. In truth, he had been talking nonsense too. Gangzi knew nothing about poison. This so-called mixed poison was merely a novel term he had remembered after hearing the God King Tang mention it a few times.
The main reason he had Dugu Yan absorb the Man-Faced Spider Emperor was that Gangzi knew this was the very beast he had prepared as the best Soul Beast for the God King Tang in his previous life.
This way, Tang San could only find another Soul Beast to absorb, and in Gangzi's view, that would slow his development considerably.
"Besides, without our help, how could that fellow Tang San possibly defeat the Cave Spider Emperor?"
Gangzi sneered. He did not know that Tang San had already joined Spirit Hall and still thought he was wandering alone outside.
"The stupidest thing is that he didn't even take Xiao Wu with him. With his current strength, he probably wouldn't even dare enter Sunset Forest."
"So what if he took the immortal herbs? If he can't hunt Soul Beasts, it's all for nothing."
"Tang San, I'll make you understand that without my guidance, you can never become a god!"
Before you continue