Huo Yuhao could only increase his cultivation bit by bit, and had to gradually grow accustomed to his origin power. However, Huo Yuhao"s spiritual power had experienced rapid progress due to a long period of acc.u.mulation. This was especially so during his recent closed-door cultivation, where he"d consistently been enlightened, causing his spiritual level to skyrocket. His spiritual sea was now ten times larger than that of most Soul Elders; even Soul Kings couldn"t rival him in terms of pure spiritual power—and this was excluding his second one.
The four powerful soul skills that Skydream had bestowed upon Huo Yuhao with his first soul ring had been greatly boosted as well, and now both soul rings on his Spirit Eyes had transcended five thousand years in power.
His spirit-type martial soul directly complemented his spiritual power, and he also had a million year soul beast—the Skydream Iceworm—constantly refining it. Huo Yuhao"s spiritual power had therefore reached a relatively astounding level. However, one"s spiritual power had more growth limitations than soul power, thus advancing would become harder and harder as time pa.s.sed. Despite this, if Huo Yuhao managed to completely absorb the Skydream Iceworm"s million years" worth of spiritual power one day, he"d become the number one individual in the world in terms of pure spiritual power.
"What do we do now?" w.a.n.g Dong stared at Huo Yuhao with a shocked look.
Huo Yuhao answered, "The Deviltiger Cat"s injuries aren"t severe, its spirit just took a powerful hit. He"ll recover after a while. Let"s just put it on the tree it launched itself from and keep moving; we"ll just avoid it."
He grabbed the Deviltiger Cat"s pudgy body once he"d finished speaking, then climbed up the big tree that they were resting beside and placed him on a branch that was relatively high up.
Thousand year soul beasts" recovery abilities were relatively formidable, and Huo Yuhao could feel that the disorganized and scattered soul power inside the Deviltiger Cat was beginning to congregate and stabilize.
He came down from the tree and immediately departed with w.a.n.g Dong and Xiao Xiao, and the three of them ventured deeper into the Great Star Dou Forest.
"We"ve traveled about ten kilometers, Yuhao." w.a.n.g Dong whispered to Huo Yuhao in front of him after about fifteen minutes of walking.
"Alright. We"ll proceed along the outer regions from now on."
The Great Star Dou Forest was vast. Most of the soul beasts that were gathered within ten kilometers of the forest"s outer regions were mostly ten year and hundred year soul beasts. Besides the thousand year Deviltiger Cat that they had just encountered, they weren"t met with any other ambushes in the subsequent two hours. They did come across several thousand year soul beasts, but they were mild and had gentle temperaments. These soul beasts weren"t the kind to actively attack others, and they weren"t what the three of them needed either.
Huo Yuhao glanced at the sky. It was almost evening. "Let"s go back and rest outside the forest. We"ll stop here today.
Xiao Xiao couldn"t resign herself to fate. "It"s still early—the sky hasn"t turned dark yet."
Huo Yuhao shook his head and replied, "The forest trails aren"t easy to walk. We can"t move too fast either, as we have to maintain the Spiritual Detection"s area of effect, so it"s better if we go back slightly earlier. We can always come back at dawn. Have you already forgotten what I said? We can"t be hasty and impulsive, we have to place our safety before everything."
"Alright." Xiao Xiao immediately nodded her head.
They were still young, and their cultivation levels were at a bottleneck. It was natural that they desired another soul ring to boost their abilities, and even Huo Yuhao thought the same way. The only difference was that he was comparatively more patient.
They discerned the right direction and began walking out of the Great Star Dou Forest.
They traveled for about fifteen minutes before Huo Yuhao suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"What"s wrong?" w.a.n.g Dong knew that Huo Yuhao"s abrupt halt hadn"t been for no reason. However, his Spiritual Detection"s area of effect didn"t show anything threatening.
Huo Yuhao"s squinted and said, "I don"t know why, but I have a feeling that someone"s watching us—someone dangerous."
Xiao Xiao giggled and said, "You mean that they"re watching us from over a hundred meters away? With so many plants here, how could he even see us? Maybe you"re feeling our teacher"s aura."
Even though the three of them hadn"t brought it up, everyone knew that Elder Xuan was definitely following them in the shadows to ensure their safety.
"No, it"s not. This is hostile." Huo Yuhao spun around, grabbed w.a.n.g Dong"s hand this time and immediately stepped in front of Xiao Xiao.
"Meow…" A sharp and shrill sound rang loud, and patches of thick vegetation around them rustled as if a sudden gust of wind had billowed past them.
A powerful and intimidating aura immediately appeared in the next moment, and this intimidating pressure was also charged with the sharpness of metal.
Huo Yuhao raised his Spiritual Detection to the highest possible level in the blink of an eye. The area of effect that was originally one hundred meters instantly expanded to more than three hundred meters. He knew that doing so would greatly consume his soul power, but he also knew that an extra hundred meters of Spiritual Detection could possibly save their lives.
A shadowy figure appeared soundlessly about one hundred meters in front of them. Huo Yuhao"s Spiritual Detection"s area of effect was three hundred meters in length and one hundred and fifty meters out to either side, but he didn"t feel much when this figure surged fifty meters within his range, and neither was he able to capture its movement - this speed was simply too frightening.
Huo Yuhao"s expression changed a little from the immense pressure, and the golden hues in his pupils grew more intense. The sky was starting to dim now that it was sunset, thus his concentration was raised to a maximum.
It was a Deviltiger Cat that was more than a meter long. Emerald-green patterns glowed faintly on the surface of its black fur, its blood-red eyes were filled with acute hostility, and its entire body emanated ferocity. There were subtle and plain greenish-black lights rippling within three meters of its body. There was also a Deviltiger Cat with purplish-red eyes and greenish-black fur on its back - wasn"t this the one they had just taken down earlier?
Xiao Xiao mumbled, "We hurt the small one and attracted the old one. Looks like sometimes we just can"t be merciful!"
Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong"s expressions had also become serious. They didn"t expect to run into such peril on their first day inside the Great Star Dou Forest, but they had brought this menace upon themselves with their benevolence!
This Deviltiger Cat that was over a meter long was clearly a ten thousand year soul beast. Its fur flickered with a layer of flowing emerald-green light, and one could tell that it wasn"t a soul beast that had just entered ten thousand years.
This was their first time encountering a ten thousand year soul beast; how could they not be nervous? The lightning speed that this Deviltiger Cat had just displayed was far superior to that of a normal agility-type Soul King.
Soul beasts were vastly different from soul masters; their visceral capabilities probably trumped those of soul masters, while soul masters held an advantage in intelligence and mutable battle tactics.
This ten thousand year Deviltiger Cat was the greatest danger they had ever encountered in their lives. This wasn"t a compet.i.tion - it was a battle to the death.
This ten thousand year Deviltiger Cat wasn"t hasty to attack. Its blood-red eyes were charged with a terrifying aura, and its black vertical pupils contracted from time to time. According to Huo Yuhao"s Spiritual Detection, the Deviltiger Cat"s vigorous aura could erupt with explosive power at any time, and they probably wouldn"t be able to defend themselves against this force.
Huo Yuhao murmured, "Seems like our opinions were a little wrong,"
w.a.n.g Dong said nothing, but pressed his lips tightly together.
These kinds of situations brought out their qualities as Shrek Academy"s core disciples. The three of them didn"t relax because Elder Xuan was protecting them from the shadows; the only solution they had to deal with this Deviltiger Cat was to rely on their own abilities.
"Meow!" The ten thousand year Deviltiger Cat"s shrill roar rang out again and it began to move.
Huo Yuhao"s Spiritual Detection had the right precognition. This time, he was the Deviltiger Cat"s target of choice.
This ten thousand year Deviltiger Cat was just too fast—it was almost too fast for the naked eye to follow. It left behind an after-image when it sprung forwards, even though its body was clearly pouncing through the air, which only dissipated once it had arrived in front of Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao didn"t retreat. Xiao Xiao was behind him, and w.a.n.g Dong was beside him. He was their team leader; he couldn"t simply retreat. Furthermore, even if he did, how could he match his opponent"s speed?
w.a.n.g Dong stepped behind Huo Yuhao at the same moment that the Deviltiger Cat launched its attack, and the two of them moved together as if they were a single ent.i.ty. The center of Huo Yuhao"s left hand curved inwards, while he pushed his right hand outwards, both of which were completely covered in a layer of compact ice as he used the Ice Empress" Pincers.
"Hoot…" The Ninephoenix Wors.h.i.+pping Flute was extremely useful at this point. When the note from the flute rang out, even though the ten thousand year Deviltiger Cat was only slowed for a moment, it still gave Huo Yuhao another moment to adapt.
"Clang—" A series of sparks was created, Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong were thrown sideways. The Radiant b.u.t.terfly G.o.ddess" wings opened when this happened so that the two of them didn"t slam into a tree.
The Deviltiger Cat"s body twisted the moment it clashed against Huo Yuhao, and was flung sideways and spun around as if it had lost its center of gravity, negating its fatal claw.
Huo Yuhao felt a wave of numbness in his arms. His palms throbbed painfully as if they were being torn apart, and a deep white gash appeared on the ice pearls that the Ice Empress" Pincer had given him. Even though he had successfully defended himself against the Deviltiger Cat"s a.s.sault, his s.h.i.+rt was torn at his chest. One could only imagine how sharp the Deviltiger Cat"s attack was.
However, he couldn"t be bothered with his trembling and sore palmsarms that had been amplified by the Ice Empress" Pincer and the Mysterious Jade Hands, and he hurriedly exclaimed, "Watch out, Xiao Xiao!"
The two of them were flung aside, and that meant the Deviltiger Cat was now closest to Xiao Xiao.
The ten thousand year Deviltiger Cat landed on all fours. It didn"t make a sound, as if it were cotton flowers fluttering to the ground, before its body launched explosively in the next moment. It was still going after Huo Yuhao, but it would definitely cross Xiao Xiao"s path. It swiped horizontally with its right claw, and a dark green light light slashed right toward Xiao Xiao.
Other two-ringed soul masters would have been slashed in half if they faced the Deviltiger Cat"s tremendously quick attacks; it just didn"t seem like anything else was possible. Two-ringed soul masters attempting to defend against a ten thousand year soul beast"s onslaught - wasn"t that just foolish?