Chapter 25: The Golden-Armored Bull
The next morning, after a quick wash and breakfast, Lin Beiya once again made his way to the Angel Temple.
There, waiting patiently for him, was Demon Suppressing Douluo, who had clearly arrived long before him.
"Ready?" he asked casually. "Then let's head out."
"I'll be in your care, Seventh Worship."
"Care? Hardly." Demon Suppressing Douluo chuckled, a rare smile tugging at his lips. "I've got high hopes for you, kid—so don't let me down."
When Lin Beiya went on his first soul hunt, the cautious Yu Lin had chosen to take a carriage to ensure he was in perfect condition before entering the Star Dou Great Forest. But Demon Suppressing Douluo was a different kind of man—far too confident in his own strength to bother with such mundane things.
In a blur, his figure flashed before Lin Beiya. Without warning, he grabbed the boy by the back of his collar and shot into the sky, flying straight toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Uh… senior!" Lin Beiya yelped midair.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're afraid of heights?"
"Not quite, but… could you maybe, uh, carry me a little less roughly?"
Lin Beiya pointed helplessly at the powerful hand gripping the back of his neck like a misbehaving cat.
Demon Suppressing Douluo raised a brow, amused. With a faint snort, he lifted one hand, and a coiling dragon staff appeared. It expanded in an instant, becoming a broad golden pillar large enough for two people to stand on.
"You're full of requests, kid. Fine—get on."
"Heh, much appreciated, senior."
Both of them leapt onto the massive staff, which soared forward at incredible speed under Demon Suppressing Douluo's control, cutting through the morning clouds toward the heart of the forest.
"So, have you chosen your target soul beast for the second ring?"
"Yes," Lin Beiya answered without hesitation. "I'm looking for a thousand-year-old Golden-Armored Bull."
Demon Suppressing Douluo's eyes flickered with surprise, though he wasn't entirely shocked.
'So it really is as I thought,' he mused.
The boy's ambition is remarkable—and a little insane. When he was ranked twenty, he wouldn't have dared approach a thousand-year beast.
"Alright then," he said at last, nodding. "Let's go find your Golden-Armored Bull."
After an entire day of travel, the two finally arrived at the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest. Demon Suppressing Douluo didn't even suggest resting—he simply stepped forward, his spiritual pressure parting the dense fog as they walked straight into the forest's depths.
"You've been here before, so you know the rules. Don't stray too far from me."
"Understood, senior."
Lin Beiya summoned his Aries Gold Cloth, the armor shimmering faintly around him.
Then he closed his eyes, letting his sharpened senses guide him as he followed in Demon Suppressing Douluo's footsteps.
The Golden-Armored Bull was a large, herbivorous soul beast—finding one meant searching in regions with the densest vegetation. Both men knew this, and after orienting themselves, they began heading east.
"You've got sharp senses," Demon Suppressing Douluo remarked, glancing sideways at the boy who walked with closed eyes yet moved without missing a step. "You've put a lot of work into this, haven't you?"
"Yes, I've been deliberately training my sensory perception," Lin Beiya replied earnestly.
The Demon Suppressing Douluo nodded approvingly. He wasn't some naive youngster like that little angel girl who thought heightened perception was a waste of effort. He understood perfectly well that acute senses could be the difference between life and death for a soul master.
"Still," he added, "don't neglect your cultivation. No matter how sharp your senses are, you'll need strength to back them up."
"I understand. Soul power is the foundation of a soul master."
As they spoke, several wolf-shaped soul beasts emerged from the undergrowth—
a pack of Nether Wolves, led by a hundred-year-old Wolf King.
The leader took one look at Demon Suppressing Douluo, and its eyes widened in terror. With a sharp, trembling howl, the entire pack bolted into the woods and vanished without a trace.
"Hmph. At least they know their place," Demon Suppressing Douluo muttered, lowering his staff.
Neither of them had any interest in unnecessary slaughter. Since the wolves had the sense to flee, that suited them just fine.
Lin Beiya's ears twitched slightly—every faint rustle within several kilometers, even tens of kilometers, entered his hearing.
After walking nearly a hundred kilometers deeper into the forest, he finally caught the faint sound of flowing water.
"Senior, there's a river about five kilometers ahead. Should we wait there for the Golden-Armored Bull?"
Demon Suppressing Douluo stroked his chin, thinking briefly before nodding in agreement. Rather than aimlessly wandering, it was far smarter to wait near a place the Golden-Armored Bull had to visit.
And given what he'd seen so far, he didn't doubt Lin Beiya's senses in the slightest.
"Alright then, we'll stake out by the river."
Following Lin Beiya's directions, they soon arrived at a narrow river cutting through the forest. After carefully surveying the surroundings, the two chose a massive tree on the far bank as their vantage point.
Carrying Lin Beiya by the collar once again, Demon Suppressing Douluo leapt onto the wide trunk and sat cross-legged.
"Here's a good—wide view, hidden position."
Lin Beiya nodded, sitting cross-legged beside him. The pair—one old, one young—quietly began cultivating on the thick branch, several dozen meters above the ground.
From time to time, soul beasts came to the riverside to drink. Whenever a carnivorous beast arrived, the herbivores would quickly retreat, waiting until the predators left before returning to the water.
From this, it was easy to see that soul beasts weren't much different from normal animals—they too lived by nature's food chain.
None of these creatures was Lin Beiya's target, and neither of them wished to disturb the forest unnecessarily. When night fell, they simply shared some dry rations atop the tree, maintaining patience and focus.
At last, after nearly ten full hours of waiting, three figures—two large and one small—slowly emerged into view.
"They're here," Lin Beiya murmured.
"Mm. The male's cultivation is around fifteen hundred years—not suitable for you. The calf's less than two hundred—also unsuitable. But that female... She's around eleven hundred years old. What do you think? Want to give it a try?"
The newcomers were exactly what they'd been waiting for—a small family of Golden-Armored Bulls.
Their golden hides gleamed faintly under the moonlight. For the species, the patterns on their bodies revealed their age: curved motifs for hundred-year beasts, and auspicious cloud-like markings for thousand-year ones. The male had five distinct cloud patterns—Demon Suppressing Douluo's basis for judging their cultivation levels.
Lin Beiya didn't hesitate. He turned to the Demon Suppressing Douluo, eyes firm and resolute.
"I'll take the mother. The one around eleven hundred years old."
"Alright."
He'd tried to dissuade the boy before, but knowing Lin Beiya's determination, Demon Suppressing Douluo didn't press further.
If anything went wrong during the absorption, he could intervene immediately to stop it—that was, after all, the true reason the temple had sent him along.
Lin Beiya didn't intend to waste strength on killing the beast himself. This would be his first attempt at absorbing a soul ring beyond his theoretical limit—he needed to stay at his absolute peak.
With a flash, Demon Suppressing Douluo vanished from sight. In an instant, he appeared above the three Golden-Armored Bulls.
A terrifying wave of soul power descended from the heavens, pinning the beasts to the ground before they could even react.
The two male bulls collapsed under the crushing pressure, unable to move a single muscle.
Then, with a casual swing of his Coiling Dragon Staff, Demon Suppressing Douluo knocked the female unconscious.
Wrapping her body in soul power, he disappeared once again—reappearing atop the giant tree where Lin Beiya waited.
"Let's go. Too many soul beasts pass through this area."
Before Lin Beiya could respond, the Demon Suppressing Douluo grabbed him by the collar once more and shot into the sky, leaving behind the distant cries of the bull's mate and calf.
"Mooo—!"
They flew to a quiet, desolate area on the outer edge of the forest, where soul beasts rarely roamed. There, Demon Suppressing Douluo dropped the unconscious Golden-Armored Bull to the ground with a dull boom, leaving a deep crater in the earth.
"Go on. I'll be watching. The moment you can't endure anymore, I'll stop the absorption process."
"Understood."
Lin Beiya stepped forward, calm and steady. Reaching out, he placed his fingers on the bull's eye socket— and whispered:
"Starlight Extinction."
In the next instant, a faint starlight shimmered from his fingertips. The massive beast shuddered violently for a moment, then went completely still.
Its life force faded into silence, and a soft purple soul ring slowly rose from its corpse.
Lin Beiya met Demon Suppressing Douluo's gaze. Both nodded silently.
Then Lin Beiya sat cross-legged on the ground, taking a deep breath. He released his Athena Statue Martial Soul and began drawing the ring toward him—the start of his true trial.
—
End of Chapter