Deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, thick shade blocked the sun, making it hard for even fragmented sunlight to penetrate the layered branches, leaving only a dim shadow. Amid the damp scent of rotting leaves mixed a pungent, sickly sweet odor—that was the blend of a Man-Faced Demon Spider's venom and fresh blood.
At this moment, the Man-Faced Demon Spider, sized like a cow or horse, was retreating step by step. Its signature ferocious human face twisted in pain, its eight sturdy spider legs carving deep grooves in the ground, each movement laced with sluggish embarrassment—Chen Yi's earlier heavy blows had already caused cracks in several of its legs.
Chen Yi's figure darted through the forest like a agile leopard, his footwork mysterious and ever-changing, each step precisely dodging the spider webs and venom sprayed by the Man-Faced Demon Spider.
Seizing the brief moment when the Man-Faced Demon Spider was stunned by pain, he stomped the ground fiercely, his body shooting out like an arrow, instantly circling to the spider's side—that was the weak spot in its eight eyes' vision and a dead angle hard for its legs to reach.
"Ha!"
A low shout burst from Chen Yi's throat. He quickly overlapped his hands, dense soul power condensing in his palms, purple-gold light flowing between them. Without hesitation, he slammed both palms with tremendous force toward the Man-Faced Demon Spider's head.
"Bang—"
A muffled boom echoed through the forest, Chen Yi's palms striking solidly on the spider's crown, the massive impact making the ground tremble slightly. The Man-Faced Demon Spider's huge body instantly lost balance, staggering backward and snapping a bowl-thick tree behind it. Green spider blood gushed from the crack in its crown, sliding down the ferocious human face and dripping onto the rotting leaves with a "sizzle," corroding small pits.
Chen Yi gave it no chance to breathe. He followed closely, his right palm tensing, fingers exerting force, the originally broad palm instantly transforming into a sharp palm blade, soul power condensing into a thin, cicada-wing-like edge at the palm's rim.
Using the forward momentum, he twisted his wrist, the palm blade stabbing straight toward the Man-Faced Demon Spider's wide-open compound eyes.
With a "splat," the palm blade pierced without resistance, dark green venom splashing along the seams, burning several holes in Chen Yi's sleeve.
The Man-Faced Demon Spider let out a piercing, ear-splitting wail, its eight spider legs flailing wildly in an attempt to shake Chen Yi off, but he had already thrust half his forearm into its eye socket, fingertips firmly pressing its internal vital points. Then, he wrenched his wrist, soul power exploding from his palm, a powerful fist force oscillating along his arm and directly shattering the Man-Faced Demon Spider's brain tissue.
The wail stopped abruptly, the flailing spider legs freezing before drooping powerlessly, the massive body crashing heavily to the ground, stirring up dust. Its wide-open compound eyes gradually lost their luster, green blood still flowing, but with no sign of life left. The next moment, a purple soul ring slowly emerged above it.
Chen Yi slowly withdrew his arm, shaking off the bloodstains on his palm, his gaze falling on the corpse with no ripple in his eyes. This was already the second millennium soul beast he'd killed today, and the twelfth he'd defeated since entering the Star Dou Great Forest.
From initial hesitation to current decisiveness, these life-and-death battles within a hundred moves were gradually grinding away the comfort in his bones.
A breeze blew, and the Grand Elder's figure appeared beside Chen Yi. Glancing at the corpse on the ground, he said with satisfaction:
"You've performed well these past few days. Killing a Man-Faced Demon Spider within fifty moves—your strength now surpasses quite a few Soul Elders."
It had to be said, Chen Yi's adaptability was impressive. In just three short days, he could choose the most efficient and quickest ways to kill soul beasts. Even yesterday afternoon, he used an injury-for-life tactic, killing a Shadow Leopard at the cost of minor wounds—this kind of reckless fighting style greatly satisfied the old man.
Good thing Chen Yi couldn't hear the Grand Elder's thoughts, or he'd definitely flip out. Yesterday, right after he'd just repelled a millennium soul beast and was about to rest properly, a Shadow Leopard suddenly leaped from behind a tree, nearly injuring him. In the end, he had no choice but to use the injury-for-life method to kill it.
Only later did he learn that the Grand Elder, seeing his good progress over the past two days, had casually grabbed a Shadow Leopard on the hunting path and thrown it there to train his vigilance awareness, which made his face darken several shades at the time.
"After I rest a bit, I want to try that Death Demon Spider we saw this morning. Please protect me then, Fourth Grandpa."
These past few days, while searching for soul beasts, Chen Yi had stumbled upon a 3,000-year Death Demon Spider. As a top soul beast, its cultivation far exceeded Chen Yi's, and once they fought, he had no guaranteed victory, but he still wanted to try.
The Grand Elder stroked his beard contentedly; Chen Yi's progress these days was quite remarkable—his strikes were no longer hesitant like before, but sufficiently decisive and ruthless.
"No rush on the Death Demon Spider; we have a lead on your soul ring."
Hearing this, Chen Yi, who had been pondering how to deal with the Death Demon Spider, immediately looked up, meeting the Grand Elder's smiling eyes, and said in surprise:
"Really?"
The Grand Elder chuckled lightly: "Follow me!"
With that, a gentle soul power enveloped Chen Yi, and the two quickly flew toward the other side.
Watching the surrounding trees recede at high speed, Chen Yi's heart was exceptionally excited. Once he obtained the second soul ring, he could finally break through the level he'd been stuck at for so long.
Soon, they arrived at a small riverbank. Setting Chen Yi down, the Grand Elder said nothing, just indifferently looking ahead.
Following the Grand Elder's gaze, Chen Yi finally spotted an exceptionally majestic and domineering soul beast napping on the grass across the river. Its four limbs were sturdy and powerful, tiger claws exuding a chilling gleam, and its originally smooth fur emitted a dazzling golden light.
"This... this is a Golden Rift Tiger? As expected of the Star Dou Great Forest; even this top soul beast, extinct for nearly a century, is here."
The Golden Rift Tiger, one of the golden-type soul beasts, a top power-type soul beast. Legend has it that shortly after birth, this soul beast can tear gold and split stone, and with millennium cultivation, it can challenge ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beasts. However, this soul beast has low fertility and high compatibility with the Star Luo Imperial Family's inherited martial soul, so it vanished years ago—which is why Chen Yi hadn't initially considered it.
As a golden-type soul beast, the Golden Rift Tiger perfectly matched Chen Yi's body martial soul. Though it lacked lightning attributes like the Mad Thunder Vajra, its terrifying power was enough to bridge that gap.
Chen Yi quickly calmed his emotions and asked the Grand Elder: "Fourth Grandpa, I remember Golden Rift Tigers evolved high stealth abilities for hunting. How did you discover it?"
Golden Rift Tigers were naturally attuned to metals; near metal ores, their aura blended almost seamlessly. Even a mental-type Soul Sage might overlook it if not careful. The Grand Elder hadn't been targeting these extinct soul beasts lately, so why bother searching for a Golden Rift Tiger?
Hearing Chen Yi's doubt, the Grand Elder grinned, revealing a set of well-maintained white teeth.
"Originally, I planned to look for other soul beasts, but on the way here, I saw a Soul Emperor wandering nearby. He lingered for a bit and left. His sneaky behavior made me curious, so I followed to check."
This only confused Chen Yi more. In the Star Dou Great Forest, seeing a Soul Emperor was normal, even Soul Douluos weren't unusual—maybe the person was scouting for enemies?
As if hearing Chen Yi's thoughts, the Grand Elder continued: "Heh heh, that Soul Emperor was from the Star Luo Empire's Roaring Tiger Guard."
"Roaring Tiger Guard?!"
Hearing the name, Chen Yi immediately understood. The Roaring Tiger Guard was a secret death squad trained by the Star Luo Imperial Family, small in number but all top assassins, loyal only to the Star Luo Emperor.
Realizing this, Chen Yi's eyes lit up. A soul beast personally inspected by the Roaring Tiger Guard meant what? It meant this Golden Rift Tiger had long been targeted by the Star Luo Imperial Family—didn't this mean he was essentially robbing someone else's soul beast?
Indeed! In this day and age, snatching from someone else's bowl is the sweetest.