Hunting the Cyclops
In the Silves Kingdom, on the outskirts of the Heavenly Eye Forest.
This forest was the largest gathering place for Soul Beasts in the kingdom. Rare-blooded Soul Beasts abounded within it, making it an excellent place for the vast majority of Soul Masters to obtain Soul Rings.
As far as the eye could see, towering ancient trees stood everywhere. Their dense branches and leaves blotted out the sky and sun, leaving the light beneath the canopy especially dim and changeable.
"Crack! Crack!"
The rapid snapping of trees erupted a short distance behind Su Tianyu as he fled, making his entire body stiffen and his face turn white as paper.
He whipped his head around. A black shadow leaped over a ten-meter-tall ancient tree amid a howling gale, swept just over his head, and slammed down less than ten meters ahead with a crash, sending dust billowing into the air.
"Heh... heh... heh."
An eerie, sinister laugh pierced the dust spreading through the air. A dark-green giant slowly turned around, red light blazing from its single eye. A ferocious expression appeared on its humanlike face as it stared venomously at Su Tianyu.
"Hiss-!"
Su Tianyu sucked in a cold breath, the hairs all over his body standing on end.
This was the Cyclops that had chased him out of the Heavenly Eye Forest's inner region. Drawing on the Soul Beast knowledge he had stolen from Yu Xiaogang, he, who had just reached level twenty Soul Power, instantly recognized it as a terrifying Soul Beast with a top-grade bloodline!
Su Tianyu's thoughts churned beyond his control, memories of his previous life tangling with his experiences in this one. He was a transmigrator, born with memories of his previous life in the era of Spirit Hall in Douluo, and like Tang San, he came from Holy Soul Village.
When Su Tianyu was six, his father accidentally came upon Tang San practicing the Mysterious Heaven Skill while hunting on the back mountain. After being discovered, his father was killed by Tang San's Sleeve Arrow to silence him. Su Tianyu buried his father's body, forcing down his grief, and secured admission to Nuoding Academy with Holy Soul Village's work-study student slot clutched in his hand.
Su Tianyu's Martial Soul was his eyes, naturally possessing both the spiritual and spatial attributes, and he had level six Innate Soul Power. Through relentless, grueling cultivation day after day, he broke through to level ten at age seven. With Director Su Li's help, he went to the Soul Beast Forest and obtained his first Hundred-Year Soul Ring.
The following year, Tang San entered Nuoding Academy at age six. Using the eye External Soul Bone he had obtained while hunting a Phantom Spirit Butterfly, Su Tianyu secretly learned the Mysterious Heaven Skill through its Soul Skill, Enter Dream. Later, while Tang San and Yu Xiaogang were away hunting Soul Beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest, he slipped into Yu Xiaogang's dormitory late at night and stole the Soul Beast Compendium and the Spirit Hall Soul Beast Illustrated Guide.
"Roar-!"
A deafening roar exploded like thunder, interrupting Su Tianyu's recollections.
He came back to his senses and fixed his eyes on the Cyclops before him, which looked remarkably like a goblin.
The enormous beast had short arms and long legs, its entire body covered in tough, dark-green hide. A huge single eye occupied half its head, its pupil now flashing with bloodthirsty red light. Though its limbs were disproportionate, it stood a full six meters tall, its body covered in knotted muscles. Every inch of its skin radiated explosive power, and its cultivation was exactly two thousand years!
According to the Spirit Hall's illustrated guide, the Cyclops was the undisputed overlord of the Heavenly Eye Forest, its status comparable to that of the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python of the Star Dou Great Forest. It possessed two terrifying innate Soul Skills: Giant Spirit Transformation could boost all its attributes by one hundred percent, while Soul-Shattering Roar was a spiritual attack capable of destroying souls. It committed every manner of evil in this forest and was the nightmare of countless Soul Masters.
"Mustn't panic!"
Su Tianyu clenched his teeth as cold sweat trickled down his forehead. He was only a minor Soul Master, and against a two-thousand-year overlord-class Soul Beast, his chances of victory were exceedingly slim.
"First Soul Skill, Golden Pupil Illusory Realm!"
The core of his first Soul Skill was "realm creation + soul control."
Realm creation effect: it could draw targets within range into an exclusive illusory realm, creating the realm according to an enemy's attributes to suppress them. It could also attack enemies through the spiritual power present throughout the realm. Within the realm, he could conjure doubles and simulate invisibility. It was a spiritual domain-type Soul Skill.
Soul control: it opened a soul realm within the domain to draw in an enemy's soul. The Soul Master could then search the soul using soul-control chains.
A low shout squeezed through his clenched teeth. His only Hundred-Year Soul Ring suddenly lit up, its pale yellow light especially dazzling in the dim forest. A wave of invisible spiritual power spread out in an instant, covering a hundred-meter radius in the blink of an eye like a deadly net.
This Soul Ring came from a four-hundred-and-fifty-year Phantom Spirit Butterfly and was perfectly suited to Su Tianyu's Martial Soul attributes. After he absorbed it, his Martial Soul evolved, his appearance becoming incomparably handsome and his black hair turning silver, comparable to Tang San after he awakened the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul. His Innate Soul Power also shot up from level six to level eight, allowing Su Tianyu to break through to level twenty Soul Power before he turned ten.
The invisible spiritual power silently enveloped the Cyclops. Its surroundings instantly twisted and transformed, the once-familiar forest vanishing and giving way to a pitch-black swamp that gave off a nauseating stench, accompanied by a spiritual assault.
The Cyclops, possessing a measure of intelligence, immediately noticed something was wrong. It roared furiously as blood-gold light poured from its single eye and spread across its body like molten lava. Both of its innate Soul Skills activated at once!
"Hum!"
Its dark-green skin instantly turned fiery red. The Cyclops's presence surged threefold as it became frenzied and bloodthirsty. Every hair stood on end, and the killing intent in its eye nearly took solid form. It suddenly opened its enormous mouth and let loose a deafening roar. An invisible spiritual shock wave swept out like a tsunami and slammed into Su Tianyu's illusion!
"Boom!"
The two forces of spiritual power clashed violently in the air, kicking up ripples visible to the naked eye. The surrounding trees swayed, and fallen leaves scattered through the air.
Su Tianyu felt a piercing pain in his mind, as though countless steel needles were stabbing his soul. A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He gritted his teeth and held on, frantically pouring Soul Power into the Soul Ring and consuming it.
In less than two minutes, a sharp crack rang out. The illusion fell apart like a shattered mirror, and Su Tianyu's invisibility was forcibly dispelled as well, leaving him exposed in a sorry state before the Cyclops.
At the sight of Su Tianyu appearing, the red light in the Cyclops's eye blazed. It kicked off the ground with both legs, making the earth tremble with a rumble, and launched itself like a cannonball. Its enormous hand swept toward Su Tianyu in a vicious grab, trailing a howling wind.
"Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!"
Su Tianyu's figure flickered as he slipped sideways like a ghost, narrowly evading the lethal grab.
The giant palm struck the ancient tree behind him. With a crack, the tree, a meter in diameter, snapped.
Still shaken, Su Tianyu did not dare stop. He reached into his robes and pulled out a handful of Hidden Weapons, then flicked his wrist. Countless Hidden Weapons shot toward the Cyclops like a torrential downpour, aimed at its vital points.
"Clink, clang!"
A piercing series of impacts rang out. The Hidden Weapons struck the Cyclops's body, producing only a shower of sparks. They failed even to pierce its skin, as though they were merely tickling it.
"Damn it!"
Su Tianyu's face turned ashen, and a surge of despair rose in his heart. The Cyclops's Giant Spirit Transformation was simply too terrifying. His Hidden Weapons were no better than toys now, utterly useless.