Yu Xiaogang, also a Great Soul Master, almost died dealing with a 400-year-old Soul Beast. Even if Mathew Nuo was stronger than him, his strength should be quite limited, right?
Mathew Nuo smiled slightly.
"Don't underestimate this old man, kid. Forget about six or seven hundred-year-old Soul Beasts, even if we encounter a thousand-year-old Soul Beast, I'm confident I can get you out of here safely."
Li Qing's eyes lit up. It seemed his strength was probably higher than he had anticipated.
At least his ability to survive was.
Li Qing had heard that his Martial Soul seemed to be a hawk, a very fast bird of prey. He guessed he had some escape Soul Skill, otherwise, he wouldn't say something like that.
However, would this mean his combat power was somewhat discounted?
...
Li Qing and Mathew Nuo left Nuoding City in the afternoon. They rested for a night at an inn in a city along the way in the evening, and didn't arrive at the Star Dou Great Forest until noon on the third day.
"Little Qing, from now on, you must stay by my side at all times. Don't wander off."
Despite his excellent escape methods, Mathew Nuo couldn't help but give a reminder, because the Star Dou Great Forest was full of hidden dangers, and any kind of danger could occur.
"Okay, Grandpa Mathew Nuo."
Looking at the dense primeval forest, Li Qing nodded seriously. He wouldn't joke with his own life.
"Alright, let's go."
After saying that, Mathew Nuo led Li Qing into the Star Dou Great Forest.
Upon entering the Star Dou Great Forest, death qi of varying strengths swept in from all directions. It truly lived up to its name; the aura of death was thick.
As one of the largest Soul Beast habitats, the Star Dou Great Forest had a very good ecological environment.
Leaving aside the towering trees that blocked out the sun, the various strange flowers and plants were dazzling to Li Qing's eyes, and the Soul Beasts they occasionally encountered were of different kinds.
They even occasionally encountered Soul Beasts not recorded in the Soul Beast Compendium.
However, although those Soul Beasts were not recorded in the Compendium, Mathew Nuo recognized them, because the Soul Beast Compendium hadn't been updated for many years.
And as long as Li Qing asked, Mathew Nuo would patiently introduce them to him, without the slightest hint of impatience.
However, this patience came to an abrupt halt when the two entered the hundred-year-old Soul Beast zone, because this area was not like the periphery. Danger could appear at any time, and Mathew Nuo had to be cautious.
"Roar!"
Not long after entering the hundred-year zone, the two heard a penetrating tiger roar, accompanied by miserable screams.
"Let's go, we'll take a detour."
From the might of the tiger's roar alone, Mathew Nuo could sense that it was a fierce tiger. Since it wasn't their target Soul Beast, there was no need for them to court disaster.
"Grandpa Mathew Nuo, let's go this way."
Mathew Nuo was about to detour to the left, but Li Qing stopped him and pointed to the right, because he felt a very special kind of death qi coming from that direction.
Other death qi was simply the aura of death, but the death qi he felt now was full of vitality.
He didn't know how this contradictory death qi was born, so he wanted to go and see, because his intuition told him it might be a Soul Beast that matched his Martial Soul.
"Alright!"
Mathew Nuo didn't think much of it. There wasn't much difference between going left and right anyway.
Li Qing then said, "Grandpa Mathew Nuo, my Martial Soul has given me an instinct that can sense death qi. I sensed a strange death qi."
"I suspect it's emitted by a Soul Beast that matches my Martial Soul."
"However, although I can sense the death qi, I can't judge its distance from us or its specific location. I want to follow the death qi to find it."
Mathew Nuo was surprised. There was such a good thing? He immediately said, "Alright, I'll follow you."
Li Qing nodded and began to lead the way. However, because they weren't sure of the specific distance, they didn't dare to directly activate their Martial Souls and fly over.
After all, what if the distance was too far and they ran out of soul power and needed to fight?
As time passed, the sky gradually darkened. Since they didn't know the specific distance, they couldn't travel at night. The two found a relatively open area.
They prepared to set up camp.
Mathew Nuo was responsible for setting up the tent, while Li Qing used snake repellent powder to mark out the area around them. After that, Mathew Nuo explained some things to Li Qing that needed attention when spending the night in a Soul Beast forest.
"Be careful."
Just as he was speaking, Mathew Nuo's voice suddenly paused. He cautiously reminded Li Qing and then stood up.
Seeing this, Li Qing also quickly stood up. His black composite bow instantly appeared in his hand, and an arrow was nocked. He also watched the surroundings intently.
"Martial Soul, Possess!"
Before Li Qing could sense any abnormality, Mathew Nuo had already begun to release his Martial Soul.
Two yellow Soul Rings rose from the soles of his feet. Sharp and fierce claws extended from his fingertips, and a pair of brown wings with a wingspan of over three meters grew from his back.
There weren't many other significant changes.
Suddenly, Li Qing also felt a strong sense of danger from the sky.
Mathew Nuo, however, shot into the air.
He didn't fly straight up, but circled around, catching a black shadow descending from the sky in an arc, and fiercely punched the black shadow.
"Bang!"
A muffled sound rang out. The black shadow was sent flying by Mathew Nuo's punch, crashing into a large tree before sliding to the ground.
It was only then that Li Qing saw its form clearly. It was a black owl only about two meters long. He couldn't immediately distinguish its specific species.
Because there were many types of owls, and theory was, after all, just theory.
But regardless of its species, Li Qing raised his hand and shot an arrow. Since it dared to attack them, it must have been prepared to die.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow cut through the air, precisely piercing the head of the owl, which was dizzy from Mathew Nuo's punch. A white Soul Ring rose from its corpse.
A ten-year-old level Soul Beast dared to attack them? Truly courting death.
"Shadow Owls. They move silently and can blend in perfectly with the darkness. They are kings of the night, very fierce birds of prey."
Mathew Nuo landed in front of Li Qing, explaining to him.
Hearing his explanation, Li Qing remembered the information he had read about Shadow Owls. It seemed that traveling ten thousand miles was indeed better than reading ten thousand books.
Unless it was a Soul Beast with very obvious characteristics, it was difficult to match it to the Compendium the first time they encountered it.
After all, the drawings in the Soul Beast Compendium were too abstract. For Soul Beasts like owls, which had countless species within one category, it was really difficult to distinguish them.
After all, they all looked pretty similar.
Mathew Nuo looked at the Shadow Owl's corpse and said, "Let's go, we need to change campsites. The smell of blood here will quickly attract other predators."
"Okay!"
Li Qing nodded and began to help pack up their things.
Then the two traveled in the dark, finding a new open area about two kilometers from the original campsite, and set up camp again.
PS: Contract signed, seeking collection, seeking recommendations, seeking investment!