"Big Brother Zhou Yang, you're so strong."
Na'er walked up and looked him over, only this time far more seriously than before.
"I told you..."
Zhou Yang pointed at the sky and declared confidently, "I am the man who walks the path of heaven, rules over all, and is destined to be king."
"Hehe, this time, I really believe you." Na'er nodded, not arguing with Zhou Yang this time.
During that battle, she had felt the tremendous power hidden within Zhou Yang's attacks. To so easily annihilate an Icefire Demon Tiger on par with a Man-Faced Demon Spider with only two rings offered a glimpse of just how terrifying he was.
"But what a shame... you actually blasted it out of existence."
She had heard that Icefire Demon Tiger meat was particularly unique. Thanks to its dual elements, both its texture and flavor were distinctive.
But now, where was there any trace of the Icefire Demon Tiger? Not even a single hair remained.
Na'er gazed at the deep crater left behind by the Icefire Demon Tiger's death and swallowed, feeling rather regretful.
After transforming into Zi-O, Zhou Yang could perceive everything in the surrounding area through the sensors that came with the Rider System itself.
With the Icefire Demon Tiger's oppressive presence gone after he dealt with it, the Soul Beasts elsewhere seemed to sense its presence gradually weakening and dissipating, and began emerging one after another.
He also sensed and worked out the locations of some Soul Beasts again, taking Na'er hunting along the way.
With Zhou Yang's terrifying stats starting in the tons, practically every Soul Beast they encountered exploded in one hit, making their journey unusually smooth.
Na'er was already growing somewhat numb to the scenes before her.
Was this how Soul Masters hunted?
Weren't you supposed to investigate carefully, search for traces of Soul Beasts, stay alert to their movements, analyze their trails, and, after all sorts of twists and turns, finally find one and engage in a heart-pounding soul hunt before taking it down and harvesting its spiritual power?
Why did you find a Soul Beast just by glancing around? How could you find one straight away?
Soul hunting on the Spirit Ascension Platform wasn't supposed to be like this!
I refuse to accept this!
Unlike the somewhat numb Na'er, Zhou Yang remained full of vigor.
Seeing all sorts of Soul Beasts that were already extinct according to textbooks and other books felt particularly novel to Zhou Yang, not to mention getting to have a thoroughly exhilarating battle with these Soul Beasts every so often.
Whether it was thorough, he didn't know, but he certainly found it exhilarating.
Blasting beasts apart felt great!
The strong were meant to humiliate the weak!
What's this? A Silver Moon Wolf? One punch. Next.
What's this? A Ghost Tiger? One punch. Next.
Like a machine on an assembly line, Zhou Yang worked at a furious pace, processing a great heap of Soul Beasts.
Before they knew it, he and Na'er had also accumulated a large amount of spiritual power.
Twilight faded, and the sky gradually darkened. Zhou Yang finally stopped his "inhumane" conduct on the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Although the two had defeated plenty of Soul Beasts, because the Spirit Ascension Platform only let them absorb spiritual power equivalent to one-tenth of a defeated Soul Beast's age, the amount they absorbed seemed large but was actually only so-so.
That thousand-year Icefire Demon Tiger seemed to have been the strongest Soul Beast Zhou Yang encountered. Among the Soul Beasts he farmed afterward, those over a thousand years old could be considered rare. He didn't know whether it was because they had bad luck.
"Seriously... we fought so many today, so why were their ages all so low?"
Beside him, Na'er seemed to realize something and averted her gaze, looking a little awkward and guilty.
Zhou Yang found a quiet cave to serve as a camp where they could rest.
He had spent the entire day fighting beasts, transforming into Zi-O and farming to his heart's content, but even that had its limits.
Zhou Yang decided to rest and recuperate here with Na'er, then continue tomorrow.
After all, as long as they weren't beaten out by Soul Beasts or pressed their own survival buttons, they could stay on the Spirit Ascension Platform indefinitely.
More importantly, Zhou Yang had also noticed that Na'er had gradually grown distracted today, her hand reaching toward her Soul Tool from time to time, only to come up empty. While he fought Soul Beasts, her gaze kept falling on them with a rather eager look.
He understood. This fat dragon was craving food again.
Zhou Yang took out several Soft Bone Rabbits, which he had killed in passing along the way. Even Na'er couldn't tell where he had taken them from.
Looking at the pile of ingredients heaped together beside them, Na'er's big, mascara-ad eyes looked even more adorably vacant.
Had he been carrying these all along?
One nice thing about the Spirit Ascension Platform was that as long as the corpse wasn't completely destroyed, Soul Beasts would leave materials behind.
That had given Zhou Yang an opportunity. At a Soft Bone Rabbit warren earlier, he had killed several dozen and tossed them into the Mirror World.
All he could say was that these rabbits really could breed.
"Go gather some firewood." Zhou Yang began working on the supports they would need for the barbecue, using materials at hand.
"Huh?" Na'er looked a little blank, still not having caught on.
Only when she watched Zhou Yang skillfully make a simple stove from nearby materials did she realize something.
"After all, we've been on the Spirit Ascension Platform for an entire day. We only had breakfast before coming here this morning, so it's hardly strange to feel hungry now."
"You've been drooling the whole way. Don't you want to eat?"
As Zhou Yang spoke, he prepared the ingredients, his movements flowing like drifting clouds and running water. Clearly, even being out in the wilderness couldn't hinder his pursuit of good food in the slightest.
Na'er's pretty face reddened. She hadn't expected Zhou Yang to have noticed everything she had done along the way, and couldn't help giving an embarrassed smile.
Still, Zhou Yang's care and attention warmed her heart and made her happy.
"Okay!" she answered eagerly, then flashed another radiant smile and headed outside with the Silver Dragon Spear in hand, her movements cheerful and nimble.
Zhou Yang smiled and shook his head, skillfully preparing the Soft Bone Rabbits.
There was no danger nearby. He had checked when choosing this place to settle down.
Besides, half of the Silver Dragon King, encountering danger in a Soul Beast forest? That would be very dangerous indeed.
Suddenly, he heard a tremendous racket from outside, as though something were cutting down trees. It was particularly noisy.
"That girl..."
After a commotion that sent chickens flying and dogs leaping, Na'er returned carrying a heap of wood.
Seeing the fresh moisture still on it, Zhou Yang's mouth twitched.
Clearly, this freshly chopped timber wasn't up to standard.
Left with no choice, he summoned Dragreder.
Emerging from a reflection, Dragreder let out an excited roar. Perhaps because it had consumed so much spiritual power today, it was especially lively.
It seemed to think a battle was coming and was excited about it.
"You, dry out this wood for me, then light a fire."
Dragreder: "Roar?"
Dragreder lowered its eyes, looking at the wood on the ground, then at Zhou Yang.
You called me out just to have me light a fire?
In the end, Dragreder still lit a fire and dried out the wood.
After all, it had eaten so much following the boss around today. What was wrong with letting the boss have a hot meal?
Beside them, Na'er's eyes widened, fixed firmly on Dragreder as it "communicated" with Zhou Yang.
This was also her first time seeing Zhou Yang's Spirit Soul.
But rather than a Spirit Soul, Na'er felt that the bond between the crimson dragon and Zhou Yang ran even deeper than that of a Spirit Soul.
More importantly, she actually sensed an incomparably terrifying presence from it, a pressure that came from the level of its bloodline.
The crimson dragon before her actually had a bloodline no less powerful than hers, even though she possessed half of the Dragon God?!
Although she was half of the Dragon God's other half, that did not change the fact that she was still the Silver Dragon King, the most noble, proud, and powerful of dragon bloodlines.
Just what sort of being was this crimson dragon before her, one never recorded among the dragons?