The Gold Jigu Beast was a soul beast that fed on ore.
Constantly devouring minerals had made its scale armor as hard as iron; ordinary blades and weapons could barely scratch it.
Its claws were extremely sharp, easily able to slice open all kinds of tough and sturdy metal ores.
If those claws struck the human body, a person could be torn into eight pieces in an instant.
Besides that, when it encountered danger, it would immediately dig underground and flee.
Its powerful defense and attack, combined with highly flexible evasive abilities, made the difficulty of hunting a Gold Jigu Beast skyrocket.
Even professional soul hunting parties were reluctant to provoke it.
However, it was indeed an extremely suitable soul beast for Lin Yang.
As time passed, Lin Yang searched the vast forest, checking every place where Gold Jigu Beasts were likely to live, but did not find a single trace.
He sighed softly. If this last location yielded no Gold Jigu Beast, he would have to settle for his backup target.
Afterward, the two of them passed through a layer of shrubs and arrived at a rocky clearing.
As soon as they stepped into this area, Lin Yang caught sight of various gnawed mineral fragments scattered on the ground.
Without a doubt, these were the leftovers from a Gold Jigu Beast's meals.
There was definitely a Gold Jigu Beast somewhere around this place.
Lin Yang's breathing unconsciously hitched. He quietly gestured to Zhao Bufan.
Zhao Bufan nodded slightly, his footsteps turning light as he fell far behind Lin Yang, keeping his distance.
With Transparent World, suppressing his presence was as natural to Lin Yang as eating and drinking.
Using the rocks and shrubs as cover, he finally found the target under the shadow of a massive cliff face.
It was a soul beast nearly ten meters long, shaped like a giant lizard, its entire body covered in dark-gold keratin plates that looked heavy and solid.
Most eye-catching of all were the short but thick spikes growing along its back.
They made it look ferocious and brimming with power.
Lin Yang silently counted—there were seven spikes in total, indicating that this Gold Jigu Beast had seven hundred years of cultivation.
A seven-hundred-year soul ring—equivalent to what most soul masters could handle as their second ring.
Should he take it?
If he chose this beast, he would have to face the risk of over-level soul ring absorption.
But if he didn't, it might be hard to find another Gold Jigu Beast in the short term.
This thought flashed through Lin Yang's mind for only two seconds before he made his choice: He'd take this one.
He wasn't making this decision on impulse.
To absorb a soul ring over one's safe limit, the most important factor was physical fitness.
Half a year of life-risking training, plus Sun Breathing, had pushed his bodily potential further.
The other reason was his Demon Blood Spirit.
Even if he couldn't withstand it, with the Demon Blood Spirit around, his body would recover anyway—at worst, he'd lose a soul ring.
Time to move.
With a thought, "Hizama" appeared in his hand, and his eyes turned sharp.
In the next instant, his figure shot out like an arrow leaving the bow.
The blade's chilling arc was wrapped in spiraling, blazing flames as it thrust toward the Gold Jigu Beast's eye.
"Sun Breathing, Seventh Form: Sunflower Thrust!"
The Gold Jigu Beast's eyes were tiny, but they were enough for Lin Yang.
Clang—!
Right at the moment the nichirin blade's tip was about to pierce its eyeball—
Already reacting, the Gold Jigu Beast snapped its eyes shut, its thick armor plates instantly clamping down to protect its eyes.
The collision of blade tip and armor produced a metallic clang.
A violent tremor ran through Lin Yang's arm, his tiger's mouth going numb. The beast's defense far exceeded his expectations.
Using the recoil, Lin Yang twisted in midair and flew backward.
His soles scraped against the ground, carving out two straight tracks.
By now, the Gold Jigu Beast had fully reacted. Its dark-gold vertical pupils locked onto Lin Yang, the intruder.
It opened its jaw and let out a low, metallic roar.
"Hoo… Not bad. Very impressive."
Lin Yang drew a deep breath. A massive amount of oxygen and soul power filled his body.
A crimson flame-shaped scar surfaced on his forehead, as though a burning fire slept beneath his skin.
Markings—on!
Once he activated the markings, Lin Yang felt his heart pounding like a war drum, his entire soul power boiling, surging from his heart to every inch of his body.
The Gold Jigu Beast also sensed that the human's aura was suddenly spiking, rapidly becoming dangerous.
Its four thick limbs braced against the ground, dark-gold plates creaking.
In the next instant, its four legs slammed down.
The huge body charged like a heavy war chariot, surging toward Lin Yang with the momentum to crush everything in its path.
Dust billowed, its aura terrifying—as if even iron walls would be smashed to pieces before it.
Yet, in the vision of Transparent World, that seemingly unstoppable charge was riddled with flaws.
Every muscle fiber's direction, each joint's load-bearing point, was crystal clear.
Even the killing blow it was hiding—those extremely sharp claws—was fully visible.
Just as it was about to ram into him, a crafty light flashed in the Gold Jigu Beast's eyes.
The claws it had hidden until now whipped out.
Five iron-hook-like talons shot forward, slicing through the air with a piercing shriek, tearing toward Lin Yang with lightning speed.
This move was extremely sinister; countless soul masters had fallen to it.
Rip—!
The sharp claws only shredded a lingering afterimage.
"Sun Breathing, Fourth Form: Fake Rainbow!"
Lin Yang's calm voice came from above the Gold Jigu Beast.
As it looked up in shock, its vision was filled with a magnificent arc of blazing fire.
"Sun Breathing, Ninth Form: Setting Sun Transformation!"
Precise. Swift.
Graceful. Dazzling.
Following a flawless arc, the flame-wreathed nichirin blade glided gently across the gap between its neck and skull.
Boom!
The Gold Jigu Beast's huge, ferocious head separated from its body and crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Crimson blood quickly dyed the rocks red.
A bright yellow soul ring slowly condensed above the corpse.
"Haa…"
Lin Yang let out a soft breath. The markings on his forehead faded, and his surging soul power gradually calmed.
In the distance, Zhao Bufan stared blankly.
Just moments ago, when he'd seen Lin Yang "torn apart," he felt as if the sky had collapsed.
Yet in the blink of an eye, that terrifying Gold Jigu Beast was already decapitated.
That said… what was his role supposed to be?
Weren't they supposed to set up an ambush and prevent the beast from escaping?
He'd prepared for so long, and ended up as nothing but a spectator.
"Zhao Bufan."
"Here, Boss!" Zhao Bufan immediately emerged from his hiding place.
"Guard me. I'm going to absorb the soul ring."
"Got it. Don't worry, Boss."
Zhao Bufan patted his chest.
Guiding the soul ring with his soul power, Lin Yang located the Gold Jigu Beast's lair nearby.
After a brief clean-up and some preparations—
Those preparations weren't only for soul beasts, but also for humans.
You could never be too careful with people—especially when there was a soul bone trade between him and Zhao Bufan.
Once he adjusted his state to his peak, Lin Yang stared at the soul ring in front of him, eyes glinting as he drew the ring closer with his soul power.
The yellow soul ring rapidly contracted and slipped precisely over Hizama.
The instant it settled on the blade, an unprecedented pressure bore down on Lin Yang, making his bones creak.
A savage, razor-sharp energy flooded in through his martial soul, like water bursting through a dam, pouring madly into his body.
In a flash, it spread to every part of him, threatening to tear him apart.
Lin Yang didn't dare relax for a second. He focused his entire mind on running the Great Sun Meditation Technique, guiding the power to slowly refine into soul power.
The energy contained in a seven-hundred-year soul ring far exceeded expectations.
Fully refining it was destined to be a slow grind.
Just then, Lin Yang felt something silently siphoning off a portion of the soul ring's power.
He focused inward and discovered that the source was actually his Demon Blood Spirit.
Strangely, upon absorbing the soul ring's energy, the Demon Blood Spirit seemed to feel "full" for the first time in a long while.
Had his strict "fasting" regimen paid off? Since he forbade it from eating flesh and blood, had the Demon Blood Spirit switched to devouring soul rings instead?