[Rift Herald and Rift Scuttlers]
Previously, Zhao Wuji had held Dai Mubai in high regard and had even considered taking him as a personal disciple. As a result, his favorability was quite high, at a full 69%.
This time, it rose by three points to 72%, putting it on the same level as Ma Hongjun's.
Meanwhile, Dean Flender's favorability toward him had been 65%. After rising by four points this time, it reached 69%, the same level Zhao Wuji's had been before.
And whether it was 69% or 72%, neither was low anymore.
Neither was far from the 80% needed to spawn a basic Favorability Treasure Chest.
What was more, he had achieved this without deliberately farming favorability. If he made a deliberate effort to win them over by catering to their preferences and farming their favorability,
he believed he could soon raise it to 80%.
While the three were talking, a commotion suddenly came from behind the hill ahead, as though a group of dozens or even hundreds of Soul Beasts were fleeing for their lives from pursuing predators.
Even from several hundred meters away, Dai Mubai and the other two could feel the ground trembling beneath the fleeing Soul Beasts.
"Old Zhao, protect Mubai. I'll go take a look ahead."
Sensing the disturbance, the alert and vigilant Flender immediately demonstrated the qualities of a flying reconnaissance Soul Master.
He used Martial Soul Possession, spread the eagle wings of energy behind him, and immediately flew toward the disturbance beyond the hill ahead.
"Teacher Zhao, let's go take a look too."
"I have a feeling I might have found my Soul Ring."
Although he still didn't know what Soul Beast had caused the commotion, Dai Mubai had a sudden, inexplicable premonition.
He felt that the Soul Beasts causing the disturbance included the target he was looking for.
"All right. Stay close to me, and watch out for sneak attacks from wild Soul Beasts around us."
Hearing Dai Mubai's words, Zhao Wuji, who had searched hard for several days without finding their target, grew excited as well. After a word of caution, he immediately strode off at a run toward the distant disturbance.
Dai Mubai followed close on his heels, and the two soon reached the small hill ahead.
Looking down from the hill, they saw a group of Soul Beasts in the valley on the other side. Their bodies were flat and dark green, and they looked like a cross between crabs and strange, many-legged beetles. The whole group was fleeing for its life.
At the very front of these dark-green crab-like beetles, leading the flight, was a dark-purple Soul Beast. It looked much like the dark-green crab beetles behind it, but was four or five times their size.
It had a more ferocious appearance, enormous, sharp pincers, and an eerie purple eye in the middle of the shell on its back, which could unfold like a ladybug's.
The whole scene gave him the impression of a Rift Herald leading a group of Rift Scuttlers in a desperate flight, straight out of the game League of Legends.
The moment Dai Mubai saw the scene, the Soul Beasts drew his attention.
It wasn't because the Soul Beasts looked like a "Rift Herald and Rift Scuttlers," giving him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Rather, it was because he had received and assimilated the original owner's memories, which happened to contain information on the two kinds of Soul Beasts before him.
The two kinds of Soul Beasts before him weren't called "Rift Scuttlers and Rift Heralds," but [Scout Bugs and Heavenly Dipper Bugs].
A Heavenly Dipper Bug was a Scout Bug with royal blood that had transformed after reaching a thousand years of age and awakening that bloodline.
The reason Dai Mubai knew about Soul Beasts like Scout Bugs and Heavenly Dipper Bugs wasn't that he or his predecessor had extensive knowledge of Soul Beasts.
It was because, among the standard combinations of Soul Beast rings and Soul Skills devised by the Dai Family of the Star Luo Imperial Family for the White Tiger Martial Soul,
the Heavenly Dipper Bug was a Soul Beast suited to the White Tiger Martial Soul, its Soul Ring capable of granting the martial soul an exceptionally superb defensive Soul Skill.
In fact, calling it merely suitable wasn't quite accurate. It was one of the Soul Beasts best suited to serve as the White Tiger Martial Soul's First Soul Ring.
The White Tiger Martial Soul was a top-tier Beast Martial Soul comparable to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, and its tiger bloodline was already exceptionally powerful and pure.
Even so, the Dai Family still recommended that its members choose tiger-type Soul Beasts when adding Soul Rings.
There were naturally reasons the Dai Family regarded the [Heavenly Dipper Bug] so highly, listing it as one of the best Soul Beasts to hunt for the White Tiger Martial Soul's First Soul Ring.
First, the Heavenly Dipper Bug was the king of the Scout Bug Soul Beast group, and its royal bloodline was of great benefit to the White Tiger Martial Soul;
second, the White Tiger Martial Soul needed a defensive Soul Skill for its First Soul Ring, and the Heavenly Dipper Bug excelled at defense.
Although its defense couldn't match that of Soul Beasts with extreme defensive abilities, such as the Black Tortoise, Black Water Turtle, and Black Tortoise of the North, it was not the least bit inferior to that of the Plate-Armored Giant Rhinoceros or the Diamond Mammoth.
The defenses of tiger-type Soul Beasts that specialized in defense, such as the Iron-Armored Tiger, were left several streets behind by the Heavenly Dipper Bug.
Under normal circumstances, the defensive Soul Skills dropped by defensive Soul Beasts fell into three categories: physical defense enhancement, energy-shield defense, and mental defense.
In other words, the three aspects were [physical, energy, and mental].
Moreover, these defensive Soul Skills basically covered only one aspect. Even in the rare cases where a defensive Soul Beast produced a Soul Skill that defended against two or more aspects,
apart from its primary focus, the effects in the other areas it covered were negligible, little better than nothing.
For example, the defensive Soul Skill [White Tiger Protection Barrier], which Dai Mubai's former First Soul Ring had obtained from an [Iron-Armored Tiger], focused primarily on physical defense.
Although it could also block or weaken some ranged energy attacks, the effect was minimal.
The reason the Heavenly Dipper Bug was included on the list of Soul Beasts that could provide the White Tiger Martial Soul with a defensive Soul Skill, and was even one of the most suitable,
was that the defensive Soul Skill a Heavenly Dipper Bug produced for the White Tiger Martial Soul was among the very best.
The Heavenly Dipper Bug's entire body was encased in a hard exoskeleton. In particular, the wing cases on its back, like those of a ladybug, were no less tough than the hide of a Plate-Armored Giant Rhinoceros or the skin of a Diamond Mammoth, giving it terrifying physical defense.
As a result, the defensive Soul Skill it produced could give a Soul Master an exceptionally powerful boost to physical defense;
second, Heavenly Dipper Bugs were timid by nature and poor at fighting. Even as the king of its group, burdened with protecting it, a Heavenly Dipper Bug had virtually all its abilities devoted to defense, apart from a simple, crude charge.
Besides its body's exceptionally strong physical defense, the Heavenly Dipper Bug used energy with great finesse and skill. Its Psionic Shield left many predators that specialized in energy attacks feeling as helpless as if they had run into a turtle hiding in its shell.
Thus, the defensive Soul Skill a Heavenly Dipper Bug produced also included a Psionic Shield that defended against damage from energy attacks.
And its Psionic Shield's defense against energy attacks was also top-tier;
but that wasn't all-
It could also be seen from the name [Psionic Shield] given to the Heavenly Dipper Bug's defense against energy attacks, as well as the eerie eye in the seam between the wing cases on its back.
The Heavenly Dipper Bug actually had a talent for spiritual power and was a spiritual-type Soul Beast, like the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the Evil Eye Tyrant, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, and so on.
Thus, the defensive Soul Skill a Heavenly Dipper Bug provided also included defense against spiritual power and attacks on the soul, and its defensive effect could be considered top-tier.
Not only did it have top-tier physical defense, it also included energy defense and soul defense.
That was why the [Heavenly Dipper Bug] was listed as one of the Soul Beasts best suited to providing the White Tiger Martial Soul with a defensive Soul Skill.