Ten-Year Soul Ring

"We're really unlucky. We'd only just arrived in Mato City, and we already killed the City Lord's son. I wonder if the Mato City Lord only has one son. If he was an only child, then we've made a serious enemy."

By the campfire, Hu Jiu poked at the firewood with a branch as he spoke.

More than half a day had passed since they had killed Ma Feng and the others. There had been quite a few onlookers at the scene, and he couldn't exactly kill every witness. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he had hurried along with Sister Xiao Wu, eventually reaching the outskirts near Monster Forest.

According to their original itinerary, they should have been resting in Mato City at this time.

Unfortunately, plans never kept up with change.

"It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, Xiao Jiu, you probably would have arrived safely by now!" Sister Xiao Wu looked at Hu Jiu apologetically, blaming herself.

"What nonsense are you saying? I'm more than happy that you're accompanying me to Hunt Soul Ring. Why would I blame you?" Hu Jiu smiled and rubbed Sister Xiao Wu's head.

"Oh, and put that expression away! Could you at least try not to look so fake when you're pretending to be upset?"

"Hmph! Bad Hu Jiu, all you know is how to make fun of me." Sister Xiao Wu returned to normal and waved her fists at him fiercely.

"Seriously, though. We killed that City Lord's son today. Won't that bring you unnecessary trouble?"

Then, as if she had thought of something, Sister Xiao Wu suddenly grew a little dejected.

"Haha, it's not that much trouble. We'll rest for the night, then head straight into Monster Forest tomorrow. Once we've hunted a Soul Ring, we'll leave immediately."

That way, even if that Ma Tong City Lord wanted to find them, it wouldn't be so easy.

"Mm!" Sister Xiao Wu nodded firmly, secretly hardening her resolve. If they really came after them, she would definitely protect Xiao Jiu.

After resting for the night, the two arrived at Monster Forest early the next morning.

As they traveled deeper, they occasionally began to spot animals.

That was right. Because Monster Forest was such a low-level place, many ordinary animals lived there—creatures that weren't even Soul Beasts.

"Wow! Xiao Jiu, look! There's a monster over there with human hands!" Sister Xiao Wu suddenly cried out in surprise.

"That's a Metamon. Maybe it saw a human at some point, so it transformed human hands."

Hu Jiu chuckled. This Metamon was quite mischievous.

After that, they encountered even more Metamon. Some had transformed branches on their heads, some had cat faces, some had fox tails. All sorts of bizarre shapes could appear on Metamon.

Unfortunately, the Metamon they encountered were far too low-level. They weren't even Soul Beasts, so they had no value at all.

Metamon were soft-bodied creatures, like oversized blobs of jelly. They were squishy and covered in greasy slime, while their bodies were filled with acid. They couldn't be eaten at all, and other animals avoided them.

Gradually, they reached the core gathering area of the Metamon.

"Eh? Why is there a tiger among the Metamon? That's so strange." Standing at a distance, Sister Xiao Wu looked at the tiger amid a cluster of Metamon in confusion.

"Sister Xiao Wu, that's our target. Can't you tell? It's a Metamon too, and it's even a ten-year Soul Beast."

Beside her, Hu Jiu looked delightedly at the tiger in the distance. His Second Soul Ring depended on it.

Raising his iron hammer and circulating Soul Power beneath his feet, Hu Jiu charged toward the Tiger Metamon in a blur of afterimages.

There was no need for any technique against a ten-year Soul Beast. He just had to charge straight in.

Hu Jiu's physical condition was now at Level 20. Though he couldn't compare to a Battle Soul Master of the same level, fighting someone weaker than him was a complete crush.

"Ha! Die!"

Hu Jiu's appearance threw the Metamon into chaos. Many weak Metamon were startled by the aura around him and scattered in every direction.

Only the Metamon King that had become a Soul Beast lowered its body when it saw Hu Jiu rushing at it. It dropped onto all fours and let out a series of warning growls.

Unfortunately, Hu Jiu had always been merciless in battle. Once he determined that something was an enemy, he never held back.

The iron hammer whistled through the air as he swung it at the Metamon King's head.

"Roar!"

Facing the incoming hammer, the Metamon King roared wildly and kicked off the ground with all four limbs. It actually leaped backward in an instant, dodging Hu Jiu's attack.

Then, in the blink of an eye, its body began to shrink and transform. Its head became smaller, and the feathers of some unknown bird appeared across its body.

"Not good, it's trying to escape! Sister Xiao Wu, help me hold it down!"

The Metamon King moved so quickly that even Hu Jiu couldn't keep up with it.

With one backward leap and a blink of an eye, it had instantly become a large bird. It was unbelievably fast.

"Hehe! Leave it to me—Waist Bow!"

Sister Xiao Wu didn't even need Hu Jiu to tell her. She had stayed by his side all along precisely in case of something like this.

In a flash, just as Hu Jiu pulled back his hammer and prepared to attack again, Sister Xiao Wu had already shot forward and arrived in front of the Metamon, which had transformed into a large bird.

How could a Metamon with only ten years of cultivation possibly be Sister Xiao Wu's match?

With a simple grab, Sister Xiao Wu caught the large bird by the neck the very next second.

"Haha, well done, Sister Xiao Wu." By then, Hu Jiu had reached her side. He swung his iron hammer and brought it down in a single blow, instantly killing the Metamon, whose body had already transformed halfway into a snake as it prepared to escape again.

"Hehe, I'm Sister Xiao Wu, of course I did well." Sister Xiao Wu proudly lifted her chin and gave Hu Jiu a charming smile.

"But this Metamon is really interesting. It would be great if you could gain an ability like this." Sister Xiao Wu was a little envious of the Metamon's Transformation ability. Although this Metamon was very weak, the methods it had used against them just now were enough to prove how useful that ability was.

Unfortunately, although Soul Masters could obtain a Transformation skill from Metamon, it was far too weak. It could only make slight changes to one's facial features and couldn't even completely turn someone into another person. It was practically useless.

"Haha, Xiao Wu, did you forget? My soul rings can level up very quickly. Maybe when it reaches a hundred years or a thousand years, it'll be able to do what Metamon does! By then, perhaps I'll even be able to turn you into other animals!"

Although he knew the chances were slim, if a thousand years wasn't enough, what about ten thousand? A Hundred Thousand Year?

With Metamon's Transformation ability alone, Hu Jiu could come up with all sorts of tricks...

At that moment, a pale white soul ring emerged from Metamon's body. Its faint color indicated that it had only just reached the ten-year level.

"This..." Xiao Wu looked at the soul ring with disdain and hesitated. "Xiao Jiu, have you thought this through? Are you really going to use it as your Second Soul Ring?"

Xiao Wu had known this would happen long ago. She thought she had prepared herself mentally, but when such a low-grade soul ring truly appeared before her, she still found it deeply distasteful.

"Hehe, didn't we agree on this already? Don't waste time. Help keep watch for me—I'll absorb the soul ring first." Hu Jiu looked at the soul ring without the slightest concern, and there was even a trace of delight on his face.

Xiao Wu, for your safety, I sacrificed my Second Soul Ring!