She Meixiao frowned as she looked at the screen. Aside from Sheng Feilong, Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui, the screen also showed the Soul Beast Sheng Feilong had noticed earlier; It was a ma.s.sive beast of at least ten metres in size, with four muscular legs and an overall ma.s.sive frame. Atop its neck sat a long, ma.s.sive head akin to a dragons, with long horns reaching behind its head."Song Weihan, what is that..?" Despite her extensive knowledge, She Meixiao had never seen such a Soul Beast before, nor did Ye Wanxing or any of the others onlookers. In comparison, the researchers inside the laboratory had stiff expressions, seemingly knowing what this beast was.
Song Weihan looked at the screen with a calm smile. "A 10.000-years-old Soul Beast, obviously. We"ve called it a Draconic Forest Tyrant. This one should be around 14.000-years-old." His words caused the various onlookers to frown, while She Meixiao cut to the chase. "What is that thing? I"ve never seen such a Soul Beast before."
"Naturally. That"s because it"s not a Soul Beast. It"s a Spirit Soul; A replica of a Soul Beast that doesn"t exist in reality. We created it in this very laboratory." Song Weihan spoke lightly, his eyes still fixed on the screen showing the happenings inside the Spirit Ascension Platform.
Ye Wanxing frowned as well, looking at Song Weihan with a stern expression. "Whatever it is; What is it doing there?" His question sounded random, but most of the onlookers understood what he meant; What was such a powerful Soul Beast doing in the outskirts of the Spirit Ascension Platform, at the place where they sent Sheng Feilong and the others in, at that.
"Protecting its territory from the invaders, what else?" His voice as still as casual as before, but She Meixiao finally had enough. "Protecting its territory? In the place where you sent Feilong and the others? Where no such powerful Soul Beast should even be? Why did you place it there?!"
Song Weihan simply continued to smile, still not averting his gaze from the screen. "...A team, no matter how prestigious or powerful, is only as strong as its weakest link. With Huang Jialong out of the picture, Feilong and Yehui will have to deal with this themselves. I consider this visit of the Spirit Ascension Platform not only as a test for the platform itself but also for them."
He paused for a moment, but before anyone could speak up again, he continued his explanation. "The Draconic Forest Tyrant is the perfect opponent for them. Feilong can restrict its Spirit power perfectly, while Huang Jialong"s dragon type Hydra Spirit Essence will suppress its bloodline. Along with Huang Jialong"s physical strength and combat prowess, he and Feilong will be able to beat it easily if their cooperation is good."
"Feilong and Jialong can...? Then what about..." She Meixiao said with a frown before becoming silent, staring at Song Weihan. The latter finally averted his gaze from the screen, looking at She Meixiao. "That"s exactly what I want to find out. Yuanen Yehui is by far the weakest link in their team. So I want to know, just where does she think her place is in this team? Just what can she do?"
She Meixiao frowned deeply, clearly angered by Song Weihan att.i.tude, but before she could say something in response, Ye Wanxing cut her off. "It has begun." Song Weihan calmly turned his head around to the screen, looking at the imminent fight between Yuanen Yehui, Sheng Feilong and the Draconic Forest Tyrant.
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Sheng Feilong had long since formed a plan on how to deal with this Soul Beast. With Huang Jialong still absorbing the remnant energy of the three wolf Soul Beasts, there was no way they could fight the Soul Beast near him. Thus, with no other option left, Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui instead opted to intercept it before it came closer to where Huang Jialong was.
After the beast had locked on to them, Sheng Feilong immediately used his Spirit Power to shield Huang Jialong from its perception, thus making sure the beast was focusing on him and Yuanen Yehui. "I"ll restrict if from using its Spirit power; Don"t worry about that. Focus on defence. It"s too strong, physically, for us to defeat it alone. We have to keep it occupied until Brother Huang wakes up!"
"Got it!" On Sheng Feilong"s command, Yuanen Yehui released her t.i.tan Giant Ape Spirit Essence once they neared the Soul Beast. Its defence and toughness were leagues above the Fall Angel Spirit Essence; It was the perfect choice for a battle of attrition. She also immediately activated her first Soul Skill, t.i.tan"s Strength, to engage the Soul Beast.
Upon spotting them, the Draconic Forest Tyrant immediately identified Yuanen Yehui"s transformed state as the greater threat as Sheng Feilong was still hiding his Soul Power and attacked her first. The Beasts nearly ten metre tall body and Yuanen Yehui"s slightly above four metres tall stature collided, the latter being pushed back multiple metres before they came to a halt.
Yuanen Yehui"s pupils constricted sharply; Although Sheng Feilong told her that this Soul Beast had ma.s.sive physical strength, she hadn"t expected to be pushed back like that while she had already activated her first Soul Skill. Her focus increased nearly instantly and she didn"t bother to keep an eye on her surroundings any longer, leaving Sheng Feilong to deal with that.
The muscles on her arms tensed, then bulged visibly, as she used the momentum of the first clash to trip the Draconic Forest Tyrant, wrestling it to the ground and punching it repeatedly before bringing some distance between herself and the beast.
Sheng Feilong"s hadn"t been slacking during that time; Immediately after the first clash where Yuanen Yehui was being pushed back, he used his second Soul Skill, Mental Detection, to increase his own and Yuanen Yehui"s perception during the battle. With his current Spirit Power, keeping this ability activated for long periods of time wasn"t an issue at all and he could still use his other Soul Skills at the same time with relative ease.
However, that didn"t mean that he could just trap the Draconic Forest Tyrant in an illusion; Despite its brutish appearance and immense strength, its Spirit Power was actually even more terrifying, even overshadowing Sheng Feilong"s by a small margin.
After being brought down to the ground, the Draconic Forest Tyrant was furious, roaring loudly as he heaved itself up again. Sheng Feilong reacted immediately, using a focused mental attack to break the Soul Beasts roar; Not only was it loud, it was also a sound based mental attack. Judging from its Spirit Power, if Yuanen Yehui were to be hit by this, she would be stunned for at least a few seconds; A time long enough for the Draconic Forest Tyrant to mortally wound her, if not worse!
Sheng Feilong"s mental attack broke the mental attack of the Draconic Forest Attack, reducing it to a normal, booming roar, which still left their ears ringing. At the same time, the Draconic Forest Tyrant came charging at them with its maw wide open. Yuanen Yehui pa.s.sed by Sheng Feilong in an instant, putting her hands together in a fist and smashing down on the Soul Beast"s head from above.
Its head was pushed down fiercely, nearly touching the ground, but that didn"t stop its charge. It smashed into Yuanen Yehui, pushing her back and causing her to fall, with the Draconic Forest Tyrant now on top of her.
The Soul Beast roared again, ferociously biting towards Yuanen Yehui"s neck while she was incapacitated, only to be stopped by Sheng Feilong; With his two shortswords in his hands, he struck out against the Draconic Forest Tyrant"s head with all of his strength.
"Ugh-!" A m.u.f.fled groan escaped Sheng Feilong"s lips as sparks flew everywhere from the shortswords colliding with the Soul Beast"s metallic scales. The force of the impact propelled Sheng Feilong back, causing him to crash into the ground. He used the remaining momentum to roll backwards, jumping back to his feet after a few rolls.
Still, his efforts weren"t for nought as the impact delayed the Draconic Forest Tyrants attack long enough to give Yuanen Yehui the time to grab it by its neck, wrestling it to the side. The beast roared again, but was unable to stop Yuanen Yehui from breaking away from beneath it.
Sheng Feilong and Yuanen Yehui stood side by side, breathing heavily as the Draconic Forest Tyrant slowly heaved itself up from the ground again, staring at them with crazed viciousness. Despite all of their attacks, the Draconic Forest Tyrant was still in much better condition than them.
Blood was trickling down from Sheng Feilong"s lips; The single impact from before was enough to brutally shake his internal organs, causing hidden injuries inside his body. Yuanen Yehui was limping slightly as the weight of the Draconic Forest Tyrant injured her right leg, causing the bone in her shin to snap, while her whole body was aching due to the impacts with the Draconic Forest Tyrant.
Sheng Feilong wiped the blood off his mouth, then glanced at Yuanen Yehui and charged at the Draconic Forest Tyrant. "Wait for an opportunity!" He finally released his Soul Power in full, causing all six of his Soul Rings to appear behind his back. In addition to the already glowing second Soul Ring, the third lit up as well, causing his Spirit power to ripple further; His third Soul Skill, Mental Amplification, was now active as well!
He only needed half a second to accustom himself to the increase in Spirit Power. His eyes flashed again as his sixth Soul Ring lit up brightly. Seemingly out of nowhere, four exact copies of Sheng Feilong appeared next to him, charging at the Draconig Forest Tyrant as well. All of them were transparent, with the exact same expression on their faces as the real Sheng Feilong.
Yuanen Yehui was shocked for a moment, as she hadn"t seen this Soul Skill before. If was the ability Sheng Feilong gained once he broke through to become a Soul Emperor; His sixth Soul Skill, Spiirt Body Replica – a mental attack that took physical form!
Just a moment later, the four spirit bodies copied Sheng Feilong"s attire, even taking on the same colours as the original, with no indication to discern the four copies from the real Sheng Feilong. At the same time, a cute, childlike voice echoed out in Sheng Feilong"s head. "Wah~! The guessing game! I wanna play, too!"