The clouds changed from white to yellow, before they were tainted purple. Mo Feiyun launched a myriad of attacks, and every strike was ten times stronger than the previous one.
Even though the ten thousand year Blazefire Monkey was incredibly strong, Mo Fieyun suppressed it until it didn"t have a chance at all. The purple clouds swiftly expanded and arrested the ten thousand year Blazefire Monkey within.
Huo Yuhao didn"t extend his Spiritual Detection into the purple cloud mist. He had a subconscious feeling that the purple cloud mist would affect his own spiritual power. Even though it probably wouldn"t have any toxic backlash, he didn"t want to reveal his own abilities.
The purple cloud mist suddenly became black. However, Huo Yuhao and his friends could acutely feel an immense pressure that resembled dark clouds looming over an entire city that could whittle it into dust. An agonizing cry could be heard from within the dark ma.s.s of clouds, and a golden-red flame flickered once before it was completely extinguished.
The clouds dissipated, and Mo Feiyun walked out with a gloomy look on his face. He was holding the Blazefire Monkey"s corpse in his right hand. The Blazefire Monkey was soft like a ragdoll, as if its skeleton had been completely crushed into pieces.
Mo Feiyun arrived before Wei Na in a flash. Wei Na"s face was pale from the trauma and he said, "Your… Wei Na, are you okay?"
Wei Na patted herself on her supple chest. Her breathing was a little faster than normal and she replied, "I"m fine. Fortunately, the giant cauldron took a hit for me."
Mo Feiyun turned towards Huo Yuhao and the others. His gaze landed upon Xiao Xiao, and he said sincerely, "Thank you for your timely aid, Xiao Xiao. If not, Wei Na would have been wounded by the Scarletfire Monkey even if she wasn"t kidnapped. That was my fault - I was too careless. I didn"t think this pack of Scarletfire Monkeys could have been so scheming and dangerous."
Xiao Xiao giggled and said, "We"re all in the same boat. You don"t have to be so polite, Uncle Mo."
Wei Na"s emotions calmed down a little, and she hurried before Xiao Xiao and grasped her hands. "Thank you, Xiao Xiao. Thank you for helping me just now."
Everybody quickly circled around. They looked at Huo Yuhao and his friends with warmer expressions than before, and even Mu Xue"s eyes didn"t appear so ice-cold.
w.a.n.g Dong"s withdrew his Radiant b.u.t.terfly G.o.ddess" wings, but he turned towards the Blazefire Monkey"s body. Its golden-red fur glimmered with pale hues, and appeared unnaturally brilliant.
"Can you sell this Blazefire Monkey to me, Uncle Mo? The Blazefire Monkey"s hide and fur are extremely rare and valuable. After it reaches over ten thousand years of cultivation, the relations.h.i.+p between fire and light will be much clearer. My element is light, and it will be extremely beneficial for me if I can use its hide as a fur coat. Do name a price."
Mo Feiyun smiled and replied, "What price? Didn"t Xiao Xiao just mention that we are in this together? You guys saved Wei Na, so this Blazefire Monkey should be yours. I hope we can have even better chemistry in the future. Here, it"s yours." He tossed the Blazefire Monkey"s corpse before w.a.n.g Dong as he spoke.
"Thank you, Uncle Mo." w.a.n.g Dong grabbed the Blazefire Monkey without excessive formalities and put it away inside his storage-type soul tool.
The Blazefire Monkey wasn"t that big, so it wasn"t enough to forge a fur coat or any kind of clothing. However, the Blazefire Monkey"s element was extremely similar to his Golden Light Left Arm Bone, and was complementary in its effects. It could be forged into an armguard.
They returned to the trail, while Huo Yuhao and his friends changed positions. Their initial doubts and suspicions were a lot lower after Xiao Xiao"s timely reinforcement. Furthermore, both Xiao Xiao and w.a.n.g Dong had displayed extraordinary abilities as Soul Elders, so Mo Feiyun ended up arranging for them to travel with Wei Na and Mu Xue. Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong stood in front, while the three girls walked behind them.
"What is your martial soul called, Xiao Xiao? It looks like an enormous cauldron, and it looks incredibly tough. The Scarletfire Monkey couldn"t shake the cauldron one bit when it struck it, "Wei Na asked inquisitively. She felt intimate with the person that had saved her life.
Xiao Xiao answered, "My martial soul is called the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron. It"s mainly defensive, so it"s natural for it to be tough."
"What about them?" Wei Na lowered her voice and pointed at w.a.n.g Dong in front.
Xiao Xiao said, "His martial soul… I think you should just ask him yourself."
Wei Na pouted and said, "I don"t want to do that. He"s still young, but he looks like he doesn"t like talking to strangers - what a waste of good looks."
Xiao Xiao giggled and said, "Are you interested in him, Wei Na?"
Wei Na"s pretty face flushed red, and she glared at Xiao Xiao. "Nonsense."
The company entered the Great Star Dou Forest"s Hybrid Region, and everyone"s speed was obviously slower than before. Mo Feiyun was a mighty Soul Sage, but even he had to be extra careful. Ten thousand year soul beasts could have vastly different standards - he could handle a Blazefire Monkey below thirty thousand years, but he would find it challenging to deal with anything stronger than that. If they were faced with a top-tier soul beast like the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, it would be calamitous for the entire company even if it only had ten thousand years of cultivation.
They also fought battles much more frequently. Fortunately, most of their encounters were with thousand year soul beasts, as they were barely over the Hybrid Region"s borders. The relatively more intelligent soul beasts could feel the danger brought by this company of humans, and they wouldn"t come near for no reason. Even so, the entire company took more than an hour to travel ten kilometers while maintaining their heightened vigilance. The day gradually proceeded into midday.
Mo Feiyun found a vantage point with a relatively wide field of view, and ordered the company to take a break.
Everybody carried their own snacks and ate their respective shares while they rested. n.o.body dared to light a fire inside the Great Star Dou Forest, and everyone started to meditate to restore their energy after eating.
Mo Feiyun gathered everyone around after a little more than thirty minutes and said, "There will be occasional ten thousand year soul beasts appearing around this location. We cannot venture any deeper, so we will proceed laterally to find suitable soul beasts. We will retreat from the Hybrid Region before evening, rest in its outer zones and continue our search tomorrow."
Huo Yuhao and his friends realized that Mo Feiyun and those with him had faith in their abilities and were about to spend the night inside the forest. This would undoubtedly increase their chances of finding appropriate soul beasts, but it would also raise the danger level exponentially.
Mo Feiyun changed their direction after everybody was done resting. They didn"t venture forward any longer, and started moving laterally as he had just said. They traveled a lot slower than before, and he released his Cloud martial soul from time to time to search for suitable soul beasts.
Huo Yuhao naturally wasn"t idle either. Mo Feiyun was scouting for everyone, so there wasn"t much pressure on him. He decided to concentrate his Spiritual Detection towards a single direction so that he could detect things at a much greater distance. He swept from left to right, and attempted to find a soul beast suitable for himself while avoiding Mo Feiyun"s clouds as much as possible.
Huo Yuhao discovered after repeated observation that Mo Feiyun"s martial soul was vastly different from normal soul masters" martial souls. His soul rings amplified the clouds" strength, from white to yellow, then to purple, and finally to black. Every amplification was different, and the clouds" ferocity was also different after materializing - it was almost an exponential increase in power. The Cloud could be said to be all-in-one: crowd control, detection, and a.s.sault. No wonder his comrades had so much faith in him. Huo Yuhao was positive that Mo Feiyun had eliminated more than seventy percent of potential threats and dangers.
"Roar-!" A fearsome roar that resembled a tidal wave boomed in the distance. Mo Feiyun immediately stopped in his tracks and his expression changed drastically, before he turned around and placed his index finger to his lips.
A shrill and piercing cry was heard after the ear-splitting roar. It wasn"t as intimidating as the roar, but it was as piercing as it was, and wasn"t masked by the fearsome roar at all.
Mo Feiyun retreated before his comrades carefully and whispered, "There appear to be two soul beasts locked in battle. Judging from the sounds, both ent.i.ties are at least ten thousand years old, and could be even more than thirty thousand years old. We will go around - hurry." He turned around as he spoke and s.h.i.+fted towards the outer zone. He moved much more carefully than before, and the clouds he spread around him were reduced to a radius of about fifty meters.
Huo Yuhao"s perception was incredibly sharp. Even though his hearing wasn"t as good as his vision, he could faintly tell that the roar came from at least three kilometers away from where they were.
"Yuhao, get over there. A soul beast suitable for you has appeared." Suddenly, the hibernating Skydream Iceworm spoke in Huo Yuhao"s spiritual sea.
Huo Yuhao felt a wave of excitement and said with look of surprise, "That"s a ten thousand year soul beast, brother Skydream. Do you actually think I can a.s.similate a ten thousand year soul ring?"
The Skydream Iceworm grunted coldly and replied, "Of course you can"t. But, miracles can happen sometimes with me around. Do you really think sleeping is all I know how to do after fusing with you?"
Huo Yuhao actually wanted to ask, "Is that not true?"
The Skydream Iceworm continued proudly, "I have been investigating the different functionalities of spiritual power even in my sleep, and I think I have gained some knowledge recently. You can"t a.s.similate a ten thousand year soul ring. In fact, you"re quite far off from being able to do so. However, your body has become extremely tough and resilient after being remade by Electrolux"s Life Gold. Even ten thousand year soul rings can"t immediately damage your body when you first attempt to absorb them. I can use spiritual power to lock part of the ten thousand year soul ring"s power so that it will be suppressed into a thousand year soul ring for you to absorb its power. When you are powerful enough, you can gradually a.s.similate the rest of its power. With your current cultivation speed, the refining from several soul bones, and in addition to the Life Gold"s amplification, you will definitely be able to absorb ten thousand year soul rings when you have four. Of course - the seal has its limits, so I can only help you seal a soul ring with roughly ten thousand years of soul power. Your own limits of absorption should be limited to around five to six thousand years, so that means your target of choice will be appropriate as long as it doesn"t have over fifteen thousand years of cultivation. One of the two soul beasts locked in battle is suitable for you. You have to hurry up, this opportunity won"t appear again."