Intuition had always been a strange thing. You could call it accurate, but you could also call it unreasonable.
This was not Gu Yang's first visit to the Star Dou Great Forest, but something was definitely wrong this time. He truly felt as though something had set its sights on him.
Sometimes, you really could feel it when someone had their sights on you.
Hearing Gu Yang say this, Bone Douluo could only close his eyes slightly. Although nothing around them changed in the slightest, an invisible ripple spread out in secret, expanding in all directions with Gu Yang and Bone Douluo at its center.
That was Bone Douluo's formidable spiritual power!
Standing so close, Gu Yang felt Bone Douluo's spiritual power all the more clearly, and only then realized how vast the gap between them was.
Even with the enhancement of a sixty-thousand-year spiritual-type Head Soul Bone, he was still so insignificant compared to Bone Douluo.
While Gu Yang marveled to himself, Bone Douluo's spiritual power swept over an area more than ten kilometers in radius. Aside from some Soul Beasts going about their normal lives, there was nothing unusual.
"Brat, aren't you being oversensitive? There's nothing around us at all."
Seeing that even Bone Douluo had scanned their surroundings with his soul power and found nothing, Gu Yang began to doubt himself.
Could my senses really have been wrong?
Although that feeling still persisted and had not disappeared, since Bone Douluo had found nothing either, the two could only set the matter aside for now and turn to searching for a Soul Beast suitable for Li Yang's fourth Soul Ring.
They would try to obtain the Soul Ring early and leave the Star Dou Great Forest.
Yet as Gu Yang and Bone Douluo continued deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest, although the Soul Beasts they encountered grew increasingly powerful, most were still thousand-year Soul Beasts.
They encountered a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast only once.
It was a Golden-Eyed Eagle that seemed to have barely crossed the ten-thousand-year threshold. After failing to ambush Gu Yang, it immediately beat its wings and flew away, fleeing into the distance without looking back.
Bone Douluo was not having it.
You wanted to run after a failed ambush?
If I really let it get away, where would I put my face as a Titled Douluo?
His Bone Dragon Martial Soul emerged, its wings beat as he rode the wind, and Bone Douluo immediately gave chase.
Bone Douluo was by no means slow, something Gu Yang had experienced firsthand during their several journeys.
Before long, Bone Douluo's figure gradually shrank in Gu Yang's sight, finally becoming a black speck that vanished completely beyond the horizon.
With Bone Douluo off chasing the Golden-Eyed Eagle, Gu Yang naturally stayed where he was. After all, the Star Dou Great Forest was so vast that getting lost was not impossible.
The best choice was undoubtedly to wait where he was.
Gu Yang did not sit idle, either. Instead, he went over to the corpse of a thousand-year Black Teng Snake and began butchering it.
Thousand-Year Soul Beast meat was an excellent ingredient. If he took it back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and had a professional chef prepare it, it would soon become a delicious dish.
Moreover, Gu Yang's Martial Soul, Shikotsumyaku, placed extremely high demands on his body, so dietary therapy was also an option.
Before the Golden-Eyed Eagle attacked, this Black Teng Snake had attacked Gu Yang first.
Gu Yang was even wondering whether the Golden-Eyed Eagle's original target had been this Black Teng Snake.
Perhaps his killing the Black Teng Snake had made the Golden-Eyed Eagle think he had stolen its prey, causing it to attack him in anger.
Just as Gu Yang was skinning it and cutting it into sections, his eyes suddenly sharpened. His bones immediately extended from his body, completely encasing him in an instant.
Even so, a black shadow slammed into Gu Yang with the speed of thunder that left no time to cover one's ears.
The impact sent Gu Yang flying backward uncontrollably, like a cannonball, smashing through several large trees before he finally came to a stop.
Steadying himself, Gu Yang knelt on one knee. The bones covering him had now formed a semi-humanoid skeleton, but his first Soul Skill, Bone Armor, was in a sorry state. A full five of the skeleton's ribs had broken, while its other bones bore cracks of varying severity.
The violent impact left Gu Yang's internal organs burning with pain, and in the end, he could not help coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Had Gu Yang not used his first Soul Skill immediately, had he hesitated for even a moment, he would probably have died right there.
Doing his best to settle his internal injuries, Gu Yang immediately looked toward the culprit that had ambushed him.
From the shade of the trees, an enormous creature more than four meters long and fully two meters tall slowly emerged, exposing itself completely to the sunlight.
It was a... black tiger?! Its entire body was covered in flowing black-and-white patterns, and a pair of bony wings miraculously grew from its back.
Black and purple mist swirled around it, with the purple glow more intense, faintly overpowering the black.
Strangest of all was its tail, whose tip actually formed a hook like a scorpion's.
[Dark Devil Tiger, 44,235 years old, a darkness-type tiger Soul Beast capable of concealing its presence to launch surprise attacks. It also possesses unique sonic skills, hunts with extremely high efficiency, and has an extremely strong sense of territory.]
As Gu Yang sized it up, the AI promptly analyzed its information as well.
"Dark Devil Tiger... so it was this thing. No wonder Grandpa couldn't detect it."
The Dark Devil Tiger's abilities included concealed ambushes, sonic attacks, and its unique darkness-attribute attacks.
Its concealed ambush ability allowed it to hide its presence even within a Titled Douluo's range of perception.
That was why its surprise attack just now had been so swift and fierce.
Slowly rising to his feet, Gu Yang kept his eyes fixed on the enormous Dark Devil Tiger, not daring to let his guard down in the slightest.
Tigers were a high-ranking species in the Soul Beast Realm, and the Dark Devil Tiger, which ranked below only the Golden Tiger King and Dark Demon Evil God Tiger among tiger Soul Beasts, was naturally no weak fighter.
As the Dark Devil Tiger stepped forward, Gu Yang struck decisively without the slightest hesitation.
He thrust out both hands, firing two bone bullets in an instant. Explosions immediately roared, and shock waves swept wildly outward, carrying leaves and dirt.
Yet even after creating such a commotion, Gu Yang still did not dare let his guard down.
Because he had seen the Dark Devil Tiger move when he attacked, evading the center of the explosions.
Just as Gu Yang had expected, before long, the Dark Devil Tiger leaped out of the dust thrown up by the explosions, having suffered little injury.
Instead, Gu Yang's attack had enraged the Dark Devil Tiger, and it immediately pounced at him.
Gu Yang raised a finger and fired again. The Dark Devil Tiger twisted its body, dodging once more, then continued charging at him without losing any speed.
As it neared Gu Yang, its jaws suddenly opened wide, and a tiger's roar like booming thunder erupted.
The tiger's roar shook the mountain forest.
At the same time, it lashed out with a paw, aiming straight at Gu Yang's chest.
Thud!
The tiger's paw struck, and Gu Yang took the Dark Devil Tiger's blow squarely.
Yet the expected sight of Gu Yang being sent flying never appeared.
Even the Dark Devil Tiger displayed a humanlike look of shock.
Looking down, it saw that the paw resting against Gu Yang's chest had been firmly bound by bone spikes extending from within his body.
The Dark Devil Tiger was baffled. This human had chosen to take its attack head-on merely to catch hold of it?
Very soon, Gu Yang gave it an answer.
"Second Soul Skill, Bone Explosion Technique!"
"Explode!"