When Luo Sanpao made a sound, Xiao Yan and the others turned their attention to him, then followed his gaze.
In the dark forest, pairs of crimson eyes gradually lit up. Six wolf-shaped Soul Beasts with silvery-gray bodies emerged, saliva dripping from their jaws as they slowly closed in on the three.
"Heh heh, they're just a few little wolves, yet they dare come looking for trouble with us."
Seeing the six wolf-shaped Soul Beasts reveal themselves, Grandmaster began introducing them to Xiao Yan and Tang San:
"They're only six ten-year Netherworld Wolves. Soul Beasts like these are of no use to you, so I'll deal with them myself."
As Grandmaster finished speaking, his bearing changed. He looked at the pack of Netherworld Wolves with disdain, and a Yellow Soul Ring flew from his body onto Luo Sanpao beside him. He shouted:
"Fart like thunder, Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao!"
"Luo luo!"
The Yellow Soul Ring landed on Luo Sanpao, and his little eyes suddenly lit up. His plump body leaped high into the air and began to swell, finally reaching an astonishing five meters or so.
"Put these on!"
At the same time, Grandmaster quickly handed two masks to Xiao Yan and Tang San. Luo Sanpao turned around in midair, and a quaking boom rang out, descending directly on the Netherworld Wolves.
"Boom!"
A tremendous force struck the ground, sending out waves of shock and kicking up dust, but Xiao Yan could see.
Of the six Netherworld Wolves in the clearing, two were now sprawled on the ground, blood pouring from their mouths. The remaining four had tucked their tails between their legs and fled into the distance.
"That's Luo Sanpao's attack?"
Xiao Yan stared in surprise at the badly injured wolves on the ground. Luo Sanpao looked harmless, yet he could unleash such surging power.
"Mm." Grandmaster nodded, his tone somewhat peculiar.
"Little San, take out a few white radishes."
Puzzled, Tang San took out two white radishes and handed them to Grandmaster, then watched as Grandmaster fed them directly to Luo Sanpao.
"A Martial Soul can eat food?"
"Sanpao is rather special. As you saw, Sanpao attacks by farting. If I hadn't had you put on masks beforehand, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to stand the smell here either."
Hearing Grandmaster's words, Xiao Yan and Tang San felt a flicker of absurdity.
They could both imagine that, for someone of Grandmaster's standing, having a Mutated Martial Soul that attacked by farting would probably wound his pride terribly...
"Sanpao can only attack three times, so after each attack, I feed him some white radish. After all, white radish... is sure to bring on farts..."
Holding a dagger, Grandmaster changed the subject and looked at the two Netherworld Wolves on the ground. Under Xiao Yan and Tang San's watchful eyes, he killed them with his blade.
"Watch carefully. The Soul Rings are about to come out."
As Grandmaster spoke, a white Soul Ring floated out of a Netherworld Wolf's body and appeared in midair.
"If I happened to be at a bottleneck awaiting a breakthrough right now, I could absorb the Soul Ring of this Netherworld Wolf I killed."
Grandmaster reached toward the white Soul Ring in midair. It flickered slightly, but did not enter his body.
"Because I'm not at a bottleneck awaiting a breakthrough, I can't absorb this Soul Ring."
Grandmaster demonstrated the process of absorbing a Soul Ring to the two of them. Just as Xiao Yan was about to speak again, Luo Sanpao let out another low growl from the side.
"Luo luo!"
This time, there was a trace of urgency in his voice.
"This is bad. A poisonous Soul Beast is approaching us!"
Grandmaster frowned slightly. A rustling sound came from the woods nearby, as though something were brushing across the leaves.
A hint of purple flashed through Tang San's eyes, even in the dim surroundings.
With his Purple Demon Eye active, he could see a triangular head gradually emerging in the distance. A snake-shaped Soul Beast was slowly approaching them.
A pitch-black humanoid Martial Soul appeared behind Xiao Yan, but at this moment, under cover of the night,
and with Xiao Yan standing farther back, Grandmaster and Tang San did not notice it.
As the Soul Division Martial Soul merged into his body, Xiao Yan's senses sharpened severalfold, and the Soul Beast in the darkness came into his view.
More importantly, with the Soul Division Martial Soul's enhancement, Xiao Yan could clearly sense a powerful feeling of danger coming from the snake-shaped Soul Beast.
"This is bad! It's a Mandala Snake!"
Finally, as the inverted triangular head emerged in the moonlight, Grandmaster got a clear look at the demon beast ahead, and his expression changed drastically.
"What is a Mandala Snake doing on the outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest? We can only pray that this Soul Beast isn't very old."
A trace of urgency entered Grandmaster's voice as he spoke to Xiao Yan and Tang San:
"Quick, scatter the realgar powder and the other things we prepared earlier. Mandala Snakes hate the smell of realgar powder. With the powder holding it back, we can buy a little time."
Xiao Yan and Tang San reacted extremely quickly.
They immediately took the realgar powder they had prepared earlier from their Soul Tools and scattered it ahead of them.
As the realgar powder fell, the advancing Mandala Snake finally stopped, though it did not leave.
"The Mandala Snake's venom is extremely potent. Not only does it have a powerful paralyzing effect, it also does severe damage to the body's nerves. It's one of the most terrifying of all poison-attribute Soul Beasts."
"Its entire body is incredibly tough, and it's extremely fast. Its only weak points are its eyes and mouth. It's highly aggressive and attacks humans on sight. It should be waiting for an opportunity right now."
Grandmaster rapidly explained the Mandala Snake's traits and weaknesses, then continued speaking to Xiao Yan and Tang San:
"Little Yan, Little San, I'll teach you another trick right now. Many rings and many bones, unleash your strength in one wave; few rings and few bones, turn tail and run."
"Rings means Soul Rings, and bones means Soul Bones. I'll explain Soul Bones to you later. What this saying means is,
if you have more Soul Rings and Soul Bones than your opponent, use your strength to overpower them. Conversely, if you have fewer Soul Rings and Soul Bones than your opponent, run immediately."
"After all, in this world, staying alive is the most important thing!"
"Fart like thunder, Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao!"
Grandmaster spoke again, and Luo Sanpao attacked the Mandala Snake in the darkness.
Luo Sanpao's attack covered an area. Although the Mandala Snake was extremely fast, at this distance it could not escape the range of his attack.
"Run!"
Seeing the Mandala Snake's body tossed into the air by the force of the shock wave, Grandmaster was startled. He immediately abandoned any thought of fighting on, turned around, and pulled Xiao Yan and Tang San along as he ran.