The third month, in the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Ancient trees towered into the sky in Shadow Valley, their crowns blotting out the sun. Slick moss carpeted the ground, and pale purple miasma drifted through the air. It was so silent that one could hear only one's own heartbeat.
This was the Ghost Shadow Leopard's territory. Even other Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts regarded it with considerable fear.
Tang Feng moved through the woods with his mental power fully extended, tracking every rustle of wind and grass within fifty zhang.
Suddenly, a shadow flashed past the edge of his perception, so fast it seemed like an illusion.
"It's here!" Tang Feng stopped short. The Clear Sky Hammer appeared in his hand, and every muscle in his body tensed.
The next instant, a black shape pounced like a phantom from the shadow of an ancient tree to his left.
It was a leopard-type Soul Beast four meters long, pitch-black all over. Its fur gleamed silver-purple beneath the ghostly phosphorescence, and its slit pupils resembled two lamps of netherworld ghostfire.
Three afterimages trailed behind it as it ran, making its true body indistinguishable from its phantoms. Wherever its claws passed, even the shadows were torn apart!
A sixteen-thousand-year Ghost Shadow Leopard, a king among speed-type Soul Beasts!
Tang Feng struck first. His First Soul Skill, King Kong's Wrath, amplified his strength as he swung the Clear Sky Hammer in a full arc at the middle shadow.
Bam!!!
The hammerhead struck the ground, but all it shattered was the earth. Moss flew everywhere. He had missed!
A chill wind struck from behind. Tang Feng instinctively twisted aside, but the wind from its claws still swept across his left arm, leaving three bloody gashes deep enough to expose bone.
The wounds did not bleed. Instead, black Qi seeped from them-the Ghost Shadow Leopard's unique power of dark corrosion, which could corrode Soul Power.
So fast! Tang Feng's heart tightened. Bolstered by his Second Soul Skill, Dark Gold Berserk, he blasted his massive hammer forward. A shock wave spread from its face, shattering three afterimages, but none was the true body.
The Ghost Shadow Leopard appeared ten zhang away and landed gracefully, a trace of mockery actually showing in its eyes. It pounced again, this time with seven afterimages attacking simultaneously from seven directions!
Tang Feng unleashed the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, defending with layer upon layer of hammer shadows, so tightly that not even water could splash through.
Yet the Ghost Shadow Leopard's true body slipped through gaps in the hammer shadows like a phantom, occasionally leaving another claw mark on Tang Feng.
Within moments, Tang Feng's arms, back, and thighs were covered in bloody marks, his clothes in tatters.
"This won't work. Ordinary methods can't even touch it!" Thoroughly agitated, Tang Feng sent a hammer strike after the Ghost Shadow Leopard's true body.
Yet the instant the hammer's tip touched it, the Ghost Shadow Leopard's body dissolved into black mist. Another afterimage!
Its true body pounced from an ancient tree above Tang Feng, its sharp claws stabbing straight at the crown of his head. Tang Feng barely managed to tilt his head back, and a claw sliced open his cheek, leaving a burning pain.
Tang Feng staggered backward, breathing rapidly. More than half his Soul Power was gone, wounds covered his body, and black Qi curled around him.
A new plan came to Tang Feng, and he prepared to unleash his big move. He deliberately exposed an opening, planting the Clear Sky Hammer on the ground and swaying as though his strength had run out.
A flicker of hesitation crossed the Ghost Shadow Leopard's deep-blue slit pupils, but its bestial instincts finally overpowered its caution.
The Ghost Shadow Leopard circled behind Tang Feng, its true body interweaving with its afterimages as it lunged like black lightning at the center of his back. This blow was meant to kill Tang Feng!
"Now!" A brilliant gleam flashed in Tang Feng's eyes. He spun around, and his Fourth Soul Ring suddenly lit up, the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring shining with black light!
"Fourth Soul Skill, Flame Dragon Soul-Chasing Break!"
His mental power surged out like a tide, branding a Dragon Flame Mark onto the Ghost Shadow Leopard's true body in the instant it paused. The moment the lock-on succeeded, its phantom-like figure actually became as sluggish as slow motion in Tang Feng's perception!
"Flame Dragon Wings, unfurl!"
The dragon patterns at his shoulder blades blazed with scorching light, and a pair of dragon wings two zhang long burst open. All attributes increased by 50%, and speed by 100%!
The Clear Sky Hammer gripped tightly in Tang Feng's right hand became a streak of crimson light. With a 50% attack boost from his First Soul Skill, 120% from his Second Soul Skill, 200% from his Fourth Soul Skill, and 50% from his External Soul Bone, totaling a 420% attack boost, its force reached over eighteen thousand jin.
The Clear Sky Hammer transformed into a gigantic flaming hammer and hurtled toward the Ghost Shadow Leopard. Its pupils did not even have time to contract.
Boom!!!
The flaming hammer struck the Ghost Shadow Leopard squarely in its lower spine, the most vulnerable "node" of feline Soul Beasts.
The Ghost Shadow Leopard let out an utterly piercing wail, its voice filled with unwillingness and despair. Its body cracked apart inch by inch in midair, black blood spraying like ink. Before that blood could reach the ground, the intense heat evaporated it into foul-smelling black mist.
By the time the Ghost Shadow Leopard slammed heavily into the ground, it had become a charcoal-like corpse, its fur scorched and its flesh carbonized. Only its deep-blue slit pupils still held the terror of its final moments.
A deep black Soul Ring slowly rose from the corpse, giving off a dim glow in the dark forest.
Tang Feng folded his Flame Dragon Wings and landed, dropping to one knee and panting in great gulps.
That strike had exhausted ninety percent of Tang Feng's Soul Power. Every muscle in his body was now utterly fatigued, and waves of stabbing pain coursed through his meridians.
Yet exhilarating satisfaction and excitement burned in Tang Feng's eyes. This was the first time he had slain a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast alone!
"Huff... huff..." Tang Feng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and tried to stand with the support of his Clear Sky Hammer.
Suddenly, Tang Feng sensed an extremely faint fluctuation of Soul Power from the Ghost Shadow Leopard corpse's left leg. It was as weak as a heartbeat, yet carried a peculiar rhythm.
A Soul Bone? Wild joy filled Tang Feng's heart. Fighting back his exhaustion, he quickly scanned his surroundings.
Only after confirming that there were no traces of other Soul Masters within a hundred zhang did Tang Feng hurry forward and dig the Soul Bone from the charred flesh. Without time to inspect it, he quickly put it into his storage ring.
He swallowed a Soul Recovery Pill refined by his maternal grandfather. As its medicinal potency spread, his parched meridians finally received a little nourishment. Unfurling his Flame Dragon Wings, he became a streak of crimson light and flew toward his waterfall base.
The waterfall thundered, its curtain of water hanging like a drape.
Tang Feng passed through the curtain of water and returned to the cave dwelling he had carved out. He eagerly took out the Ghost Shadow Leopard Left Leg Bone, focusing his perception on it and examining it closely.
It was a dusky-purple left leg bone, about a chi long. Phantom-like shadow patterns flowed across its surface, as though black mist were circulating inside the bone.
The Soul Bone felt faintly cold in his hand. It was clearly of the darkness attribute.
"A sixteen-thousand-year Ghost Shadow Leopard Left Leg Bone, in excellent, intact condition. Unfortunately, this Soul Bone has the darkness attribute and enhances speed and darkness-attribute attack skills. It doesn't suit my strength and fire attributes."
Tang Feng shook his head, suppressing the impulse to absorb a Soul Bone for the first time, and put it into his storage ring.
He muttered inwardly, What I want is a Soul Bone that perfectly matches the Clear Sky Hammer. Either that, or a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone...
The sense of loss from giving up the Soul Bone lasted only an instant before a firmer conviction replaced it. Tang Feng sat cross-legged on the stone bed and began cultivating, regulating his breathing to recover his Soul Power.
In the sixth month, an eerie stillness filled the woods. Even the insects had fallen silent, as though every living thing feared something.
Tang Feng crouched among a dense patch of ferns, suppressing his presence until it was barely perceptible.
Suddenly, Tang Feng's brows drew together slightly. At the edge of his mental power, he caught intense mental fluctuations coming from three li away, deep in the forest.
Such powerful mental power? Tang Feng's pupils contracted slightly. Concealing his presence, he quietly approached.
Crossing a stretch of woodland that had been ravaged into a complete mess, Tang Feng saw a gaunt old man. He wore a teacher's uniform embroidered with the word "Canghui" and was facing off against a pitch-black "unicorn."
A spiral horn grew from the unicorn's forehead, wreathed in dense fluctuations of Soul Power. From its appearance, its cultivation had already reached twenty-five thousand years.
Tang Feng hid behind a massive tree and watched coldly. Judging by the old man's attacks and Soul Power fluctuations, he should be a Mental Attribute Soul Master, and his Soul Power had probably already reached rank seventy. It looked as though he was searching for a suitable Seventh Soul Ring.
The present situation was clearly that this formidable Soul Beast had blocked the old man's path while he was searching for a Soul Ring.
Both were panting, their bodies flecked with blood. They had clearly been locked in fierce combat for a long time.
Suddenly, dazzling seven-colored light erupted from the old man's head! The phantom of a crystalline skull appeared, its patterns dreamlike and illusory. A terrifying power of illusion instantly enveloped the unicorn.
The unicorn gave a mournful cry, its eyes turning vacant as though it had fallen into an endless dream.
Tang Feng's pupils abruptly contracted. He immediately understood that this was a Head Soul Bone Skill. This man actually possessed such a priceless treasure!
The old man clearly knew that he was still no match for that "unicorn" and could only seize the opportunity to flee, escaping the battle.
Tang Feng followed from far behind, keeping himself hidden.
A quarter of an hour later, the old man stopped beneath a large tree. Although he had escaped danger, his condition was now extremely poor. His face was as white as paper, his legs trembled, and he needed to lean against the trunk just to stand.
After repeatedly activating his Soul Bone Skill to battle a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the old man's mental power was completely depleted, and less than a tenth of his Soul Power remained.
The old man warily surveyed his surroundings. After confirming that no one was there, he sat cross-legged. Just as he was about to regulate his breathing, heal his injuries, and recover his Soul Power, an indifferent voice sounded behind him.
"Senior, do you need help?" Having observed him in secret and seen that he no longer posed a threat, Tang Feng slowly emerged.