[Second perspective: Spirit Hall Academy student, Zhang Ming (Level 19)]
Eastern Wasteland.
Beside a pond in an ordinary little mountain village.
"Phew!"
Zhang Ming let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead in satisfaction.
The Shui Lanhua that had crowded the pond's surface were now gone, leaving only clear water and a few tattered leaves.
On his back was a bulging bundle fashioned from his clothes.
It was packed with Shui Lanhua, which he regarded as "heavenly treasures."
"So many..."
Zhang Ming hefted the weighty haul on his back, his face brimming with irrepressible excitement.
"When I return to the Douluo Continent and offer all of these to His Holiness the Pope, he'll definitely reward me handsomely!"
"Maybe... His Holiness will even take me as his personal disciple!"
"When that happens, the Golden Generation, Xie Yue, Yan-they'll all be beneath my feet! I, Zhang Ming, will become famous across the continent!"
Imagining a future where he, too, would be respected and surrounded by followers like Xie Yue and Yan, Zhang Ming felt his entire body fill with drive.
Then he looked around. "Looks like there's nothing more to squeeze out of this little mountain village."
"Time to move on. I have to make the most of these three months, explore thoroughly, and bring back more surprises for His Holiness!"
His mind made up, Zhang Ming shouldered the large bundle of Shui Lanhua.
He followed the muddy path at the village entrance and headed farther afield.
"Big brother, are you leaving?"
Just then, Wang Erniu's childish call suddenly came from behind him.
Wang Erniu seemed to have finished his meal and was squatting by the gate of his family's fenced yard.
Seeing Zhang Ming about to leave the village, he hurried over with a trace of worry.
Zhang Ming nodded. "Yes, it's time for me to go."
"But..."
Wang Erniu looked up at the sky. The setting sun was already sinking in the west, and daylight was gradually fading.
"Big brother, it'll be dark soon. The mountains aren't safe at night. Wild beasts often come out!"
"You should stay in our village for the night and leave after sunrise tomorrow!"
"With my pa here, no wild beasts dare come to our village!"
"Wild beasts?" Zhang Ming frowned slightly. "Aside from wild beasts, are there Soul Beasts?"
Wang Erniu scratched his head, looking utterly bewildered. "What's a Soul Beast?"
Hearing there were no Soul Beasts, Zhang Ming relaxed, but then another thought struck him: what if they simply called them something different?
So he cautiously asked again, "Erniu, is your pa very strong? Is he a Soul Grandmaster, or a Soul Ancestor-level expert?"
"Soul Grandmaster? Soul Ancestor?"
Wang Erniu grew even more confused, but a proud smile still appeared on his face. "I don't know what you're talking about, big brother, but my pa is the best hunter in all the villages around!"
"The best... hunter?"
Zhang Ming froze for a moment, then couldn't help laughing.
So he's just an ordinary person. I was scaring myself...
Zhang Ming no longer worried. After all, what threat could beasts that even a hunter could hunt pose to him?
He was a dignified Level 19 Lord Soul Master!
"Don't worry. Mere wild beasts are nothing to me."
With that, Zhang Ming waved at Wang Erniu and continued on without looking back.
After leaving the village, Zhang Ming followed the winding dirt road.
Dense bushes and woods lined both sides, casting long shadows in the lingering sunset and lending the surroundings a somewhat deep, secluded air.
"I wonder if there are any towns up ahead..."
"The people in this world seem to have settlements, too. If I can find a town, perhaps I can learn more about treasures."
As he walked, Zhang Ming calculated how to reap the greatest possible benefits from this world, so that after returning, he could distinguish himself before the Pope and within Spirit Hall.
But just then...
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly glimpsed what seemed to be two dim green "lanterns" lighting up deep in the dark, dense forest to the right of the road.
Zhang Ming instinctively stopped and looked over curiously.
Amid a faint rustling, an enormous figure slowly padded out of the forest's shadows.
It was a giant wolf roughly two meters tall!
Its fur was pitch-black as ink, and those supposed lanterns were its eyes, gleaming with a cruel green light.
"This is a wild beast?"
Looking at the giant wolf's size, Zhang Ming was startled.
But soon, a trace of contempt appeared in his eyes. He couldn't sense any Soul Power fluctuations from this giant black wolf at all.
"No Soul Power? Sure enough, it's just a relatively ferocious wild beast."
"It's a little big, but it's probably only a bit stronger than an ordinary wild wolf..."
"Well, then!"
"I was just getting hungry from traveling. Someone delivers a pillow the moment I feel sleepy! You'll be tonight's dinner!"
Zhang Ming hesitated no longer and gave a low shout. "Martial Soul, possess!"
In an instant, pale cyan light surged from his body, and a faint wolf-shaped phantom could be seen overlapping him.
His fingernails sharpened, and a hint of wolfish ferocity entered his eyes.
A yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring lit up beneath his feet.
"First Soul Skill, Gale Blade!"
The Gale Wolf phantom behind Zhang Ming let out a low growl. He swept his hands across his chest, instantly condensing a pale green, crescent-shaped blade of light about a foot long.
Whoosh-!
With a whistle through the air, the Gale Blade slashed toward the black wolf's neck at tremendous speed.
To Zhang Ming, this strike was more than enough to behead this "ordinary" black wolf.
Yet what happened next instantly froze the smile on Zhang Ming's face, and his pupils abruptly contracted!
Faced with the oncoming Gale Blade, the black wolf did not dodge. Instead, it opened its bloody maw...
And bit straight at the Gale Blade in its energy form!
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out, as though it had bitten through ice.
The Gale Blade Zhang Ming had been so confident in was actually bitten to pieces by the giant black wolf's fangs, turning into specks of pale green light that dissipated in the air.
"What?!"
Zhang Ming could hardly believe his eyes!
His Soul Skill... had actually been bitten apart by a wild beast's mouth?! How was that possible?!
A chill instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Zhang Ming finally realized that things probably...
Were not as simple as he had thought.
At that moment, the black wolf seemed enraged by Zhang Ming's attack. It lingered no longer and, beneath the newly risen moon, let out a low howl filled with murderous menace.
Then it pushed off with all four paws, its entire body turning into a bolt of black lightning as swift as a phantom.
With a reeking gust, it lunged fiercely at Zhang Ming!
"Gale Blade! Gale Blade!"
Zhang Ming was so frightened his soul nearly scattered. He scrambled backward in disarray while frantically driving his Soul Power, unleashing two pale green blades of light in succession to try to stop the black wolf's pounce.
Yet this time...
The black wolf did not even bother dodging.
Clang! Clang!
Two crisp sounds of metal striking metal rang out, accompanied by flying sparks!
The Gale Blades Zhang Ming had unleashed with all his strength struck the black wolf, but it was as though they had hit not flesh and blood, but hard, refined iron!
"This... this is impossible!"
Meanwhile, back toward the little mountain village.
Wang Erniu's pa, a sturdy, dark-skinned middle-aged man.
Faced with his son's pleading, he helplessly picked up his hunting bow and walked out of the yard.
"That outsider really wouldn't listen... I hope there's still time."