On the other side, somewhere in the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Whoosh whoosh..." Arrows formed from soul power sliced through the air, skimming over tall branches and knocking down several withered leaves.
"Thud thud thud..." On the ground below, a black-clothed girl darted through the underbrush with lightning speed, her body moving with exaggerated agility to conceal herself among the clustered shrubs.
"Rip!" Her body inevitably brushed against the bushes. The fabric tore, and fine bloodstains appeared on her skin.
"Ugh!" In pain, she clenched her teeth, a muffled groan escaping from her lips as her body instinctively paused.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..." Three arrows immediately followed from behind, seizing the momentary opening. "Thud... thud... thud..." One arrow pierced her back shoulder, another grazed her thigh, and the third struck her side.
The pain, along with the force of the arrows, caused the black-clothed girl to lose balance. Her body, propelled by inertia, toppled forward. In the next second, driven by a powerful will to survive, she used her palms to catch herself and pushed off the ground with her fingers, launching forward like a nimble black cat.
Her limbs moved in unison, and she quickly vanished into the forest.
_Slap!_ A sharp, crisp sound echoed in the air. The soul master who had just used a soul skill to shoot the arrow that pierced the girl's shoulder was suddenly slapped across the face. He quickly lowered his head in apology.
"Keep chasing," came a commanding female voice.
No one knew how much time had passed. In another part of the forest, inside a pit under a large rock, Yang Yunhai, who had been sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes.
"Whoo..." He exhaled a deep breath and twisted his neck. "Level 32, not bad!" he muttered, then looked up at the crack above, sensing his surroundings carefully. He found nothing unusual.
Letting out a sigh of relief, he thought to himself, Not bad! The weather's cool, air pressure is low, so the scent didn't spread. And since it was a plant-type soul beast that died, not an animal, there's no blood smell.
With that thought, he pushed aside the boulder, leapt out of the pit, and stood on the ground, scanning his surroundings.
The sunlight was warm. Judging from the angle of the rays, it was probably early afternoon. The soul ring absorption hadn't taken too long.
"Just finished absorbing the soul ring, and I'm in great condition. To be safe, better get out of this thousand-year soul beast area as soon as possible," Yang Yunhai thought as he turned his head downward.
Looking at the motionless corpse of the vine gourd on the ground, he couldn't help but complain, "Tang San got an external soul bone from a 2,000-year-old soul ring, and I just absorbed one that's over 3,000 years, and got nothing? This world is just unfair!"
"Sigh, guess I'm just not main character material."
With a sigh, he activated the flying skill from his Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone and soared into the sky. As he flew toward the forest's edge, he summoned his martial soul to examine it.
"That's quite the transformation!" he exclaimed in amazement.
Its initial length was already over 25 centimeters, but now it was clearly longer, resembling a vine.
At the root, pale yellow root hairs had sprouted. Moving upward, the color gradually shifted to a greenish-blue. Even from the outside, it was obvious the surface had become much tougher, and the golden threads inside were no longer visible.
Perhaps due to the increased length, there were now more barbs on the vine. The tips were a pale golden color, and under the sunlight, they looked almost translucent. On the inner side of each barb, he could even make out tiny holes.
"You'd barely notice them without looking closely. They look like syringe needles. Is this the mouthpart for releasing parasitic spores, evolved from the vine gourd soul ring fusing with my martial soul?"
Yang Yunhai pondered. His third soul skill, unsurprisingly, was indeed a parasitic-type ability.
"The devouring ability has probably improved too. Once I reach the forest outskirts, I'll find a hundred-year soul beast to test it on..." He thought this as he reached out and gently touched the vine.
"The barbs are tougher too!"
He was delighted. Moving his fingers to the root area:
"These root hairs... could it be they inherited the vine gourd's ability to store energy? That would be amazing! With this structure, I could temporarily store external energy instead of risking immediate absorption."
"And this essentially boosts my mana pool. I can absorb, store, and fight all at once."
"Only thing is, I don't know how much it can store yet..."
"No rush,I'll experiment when I have time." Thinking this, he looked upward and continued examining.
The leaves were still greenish-blue, and the veins hadn't changed color, but their toughness had clearly improved.
From soft leaves to hardened ones,that's the gist of it.
"No wonder higher-level soul rings bring such significant upgrades to the martial soul. With these base enhancements, who needs a soul bone?"
"Be content with what you have," he muttered, shaking his head and letting go of the thought.
Looking up at the sky, he increased his flight speed.
Time passed, and soon the sun began to set. From what he observed, the soul beasts below were mostly hundred-year ones, and the forest ahead still stretched endlessly. His soul power was almost depleted. Just then, he faintly heard the sound of running water nearby, so he immediately changed direction toward the source.
He still had some drinking water in his bamboo flask, but it wasn't nearly enough to wash off the mud he'd collected from digging and hiding in a pit. He was covered in dirt and needed to find a river for a proper wash.
Not just for comfort,this was also his only intact set of clothes. His previous one had been ruined after repeated lightning strikes.
Also, where there's running water, there's fish. And since he could generate electricity, catching fish would be easy.
"Tonight, I'm having a fish feast!"
With that excited thought, he swiftly reached the water source.
There was a break in the tree canopy above, allowing him to clearly see the ground through the opening.
Blue Silver Grass grows on the ground, not in the air or in rivers. So in such places, his ability to link with it for shared vision was useless. For safety, he had to rely on his own eyes.
Looking down, he saw a narrow stream less than two meters wide.
To the left, although the canopy blocked most sunlight, plunging the area into darkness, the sound told him there was a small waterfall nearby.
He had heard the sound of rushing water earlier precisely because of the height difference.
"I'll check the area first. Afterward, I'll go see if there's a pool below the waterfall for bathing."
With that thought, he gently landed on the grassy bank.
First, he connected with the surrounding Blue Silver Grass to probe the area. Fortunately, no soul beasts were nearby.
Of course, he couldn't check the water, since there was no grass there.
He dropped his bundle on the ground and strode toward the stream.
The daytime weather had been good, and there was a crescent moon at night. For a camp, it was better to have some light. The sun had dried out the ground, making it suitable for lying down. If a soul beast appeared, he could spot it more easily. With sunlight, the Blue Silver Grass had also grown lushly, creating a good environment for camouflage. After eating, he could train peacefully.
So, he decided to sleep here for the night.
"Perch!" Before even stepping into the water, Yang Yunhai spotted a few perch swimming under the moonlight.
"Perch are drawn to light,heh... well, they're all too small. Ah well, I'll just zap more of them," he said decisively. He summoned his martial soul, extended a vine root into the water, and shouted:
"Give me electricity!" Blinding lightning burst forth.
Zzzzzzz... The entire surface of the water trembled. Several fish flipped belly-up and floated to the surface.
Splash! A loud splash followed.
"???" Yang Yunhai froze for a moment. Then his eyes lit up, and he turned toward the waterfall with surprise.
"A big fish?! Or maybe there was a soul beast drinking from the pool below that I didn't detect? Or a soul beast in the water?"
"Did the shock make it jump out?"
"A hundred-year soul beast? Even if it's not dead, I can still beat it. Extra meat, extra meal! Besides, those small fish would've drifted down the waterfall anyway,I'll collect them all together."
With that thought, he took off running toward the waterfall. In just a few breaths, he reached the top.
Peering down, the smile on his face instantly froze.
"It really is... one big, pale fish!" His ears turned red. Instinctively, his heart exclaimed those words.
If you want to read 40 advanced chapters and 3 new chapters daily, please subscribe to my : patreon.com/Moorowkeel