Five-Thousand-Year Dimensional Void Beast
Su Tianyu found a restaurant and ate a simple meal. Then he went out onto the streets and bought enough supplies to last a month. He had to prepare everything in advance, because once he entered the Star Dou Great Forest, he would have little time to prepare food.
Unlike other, smaller Soul Beast Forests, the Star Dou Great Forest was home to more Soul Beasts with powerful, rare bloodlines. Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts often appeared even in its outer region, forcing Soul Masters who came to obtain Soul Rings to tread carefully every time they entered, for fear of disturbing a Soul Beast with a noble bloodline.
Early the next morning, Su Tianyu rose, checked out of his hotel room, and set off for the Star Dou Great Forest, traveling light.
After walking for less than an hour, Su Tianyu caught sight of the Star Dou Great Forest looming faintly in the distance.
Ancient trees soared skyward, reaching an astonishing height of over fifty meters. They stretched on in dense, unbroken ranks. As far as the eye could see, the distant Star Dou Great Forest was like a great woven net, quietly waiting for prey to walk into it.
Upon entering the Star Dou Great Forest, Su Tianyu saw dense undergrowth and ancient trees everywhere he looked. He drew a long saber from his Soul Tool and swept it through the grass ahead.
Every time he came to the Star Dou Great Forest, he had to clear this undergrowth, which slowed his progress and undoubtedly made his search for Soul Beasts less efficient.
Su Tianyu took a map from his Storage Soul Tool and studied it. After confirming he was headed in the right direction, he made for his destination.
Two days later, Su Tianyu arrived at a canyon where Void Beetles gathered. Not far from the Void Beetles was a group of Earth Worms with a faint power of space. These Earth Worms lived in a marsh and fed on microorganisms found there.
Void Beetles were the Earth Worms' natural predators and their bane. Wherever Earth Worm Soul Beasts appeared, Void Beetle Soul Beasts could usually be found as well.
As their name suggested, Void Beetles were Soul Beasts with the space attribute. Their innate Soul Skill was usually Spatial Ray, which allowed them to shoot a ray from their mouthparts, attacking enemies with cutting and annihilating destructive power. Soul Beasts with weak bloodlines would usually flee or take a detour when they encountered a Void Beetle.
Su Tianyu watched several hundred Void Beetles fly out from the bottom of the canyon, a trace of disappointment flashing in his eyes. Their innate Soul Skill was not the type he wanted. Although Spatial Ray had astonishing destructive power, it was a far cry from the spatial Soul Skill he was looking for. He shook his head and turned toward the location of his next target.
Three days later, Su Tianyu emerged in a basin in the Star Dou Great Forest. He watched a Void Mantis hunting a Soft Boned Charm Rabbit in the basin. The Void Mantis unleashed a Spatial Slash, and in an instant, the Soft Boned Charm Rabbit's body was cut in two as it leaped through the air.
The two halves of the Soft Boned Charm Rabbit's body twitched on the muddy ground for a while before it died. Yellow motes of light slowly emerged from the corpse, forming a deep yellow Soul Ring directly above it.
The Void Mantis swiftly moved to the Soft Boned Charm Rabbit's corpse and swung the two serrated blades on its forelimbs, cutting the body into chunks of varying sizes. It then stabbed the pieces with the blades and brought them to its mouth, chewing with a crunch.
"The Void Mantis's innate Soul Skill is really good. Spatial Slash is an extremely powerful Soul Skill. It's a pity that it's so difficult for a Void Mantis to reach ten-thousand-year cultivation."
Su Tianyu spoke regretfully as he watched the Void Mantis feeding in the basin. Void Mantises usually only grew to around nine-thousand-year cultivation. Once they reached ten-thousand-year cultivation, other Soul Beasts would hunt them down and kill them. As a result, a Void Mantis with ten-thousand-year cultivation was rarely seen among their kind.
Void Mantises were the most precious Soul Beasts in the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest. Most Soul Beasts rarely possessed the space attribute, and those that did were often treated with hostility by other kinds of Soul Beasts, which would gang up on them and kill them. If Soul Beasts with the space attribute were allowed to grow, it would be a devastating blow to other Soul Beast species.
"What a pity. If the Void Mantis species could reach ten-thousand-year cultivation, they would be a powerful Soul Beast race. Unfortunately, like the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, Void Mantises are shunned by other kinds of Soul Beasts, which naturally won't let them grow."
Unlike the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, Void Mantises did not possess multiple attributes, so they were generally extremely few in number and rare to encounter. He had been lucky to see one here this time.
Over the next month, Su Tianyu traveled back and forth through the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest, searching for Soul Beasts with the space attribute. During that month, most of the Soul Beasts he encountered were common types, such as Wind Demon Wolves, Mysterious Water Turtles, Flame Lions, leopards, and Tyrant Dragons.
Perhaps fortune was on his side, for Su Tianyu unknowingly arrived at a mist-shrouded basin.
Watching the mist rise around him, Su Tianyu warily scanned the basin. Two Soul Rings, one yellow and one purple, slowly rose from beneath his feet.
"Crack!"
Su Tianyu slowly retreated toward the entrance to the basin. Just then, he stepped on the bones of a Soul Beast, which broke with a crack.
Looking at the many Soul Beast bones scattered throughout the basin, Su Tianyu knitted his brows. Clearly, this basin was a Soul Beast's territory, and that Soul Beast was truly formidable. The bones he could see alone numbered more than two hundred.
Just then, a roar came from within the mist, shaking apart the thick fog rising all around and revealing a Soul Beast with a translucent body.
The Soul Beast had a dragon's head and a body patterned with tiger-like spots. Standing in midair, it lowered its dragon head and opened its fang-filled jaws in a furious roar. Its bowl-sized dragon eyes glowed red as it glared viciously down at Su Tianyu, who had trespassed into its territory.
Su Tianyu studied the Soul Beast before him, carefully recalling the contents of the books he had read about Soul Beasts. After observing it and making comparisons, he realized that neither the Spirit Hall's illustrated guide to Soul Beasts nor the records compiled by Yu Xiaogang contained any information on the creature before him.
"Could this be a Soul Beast that broke through the dimensional barrier from somewhere outside the Douluo Continent?"
Looking at the ghastly white Soul Beast bones covering the ground, Su Tianyu felt the first stirrings of an urge to retreat. But on further thought, even the Spirit Hall had no record of this Soul Beast, which meant it definitely was not native to the Douluo Continent. If he gave up on it, he would be filled with regret whenever he thought back on it.
At that thought, a look of madness appeared on Su Tianyu's face. The belt he had helped himself to from Flender was fastened around his waist. He reached down and brushed his hand across it, and after a flash of light, several Hidden Weapons appeared in his palm.