37: Chapter 37 The Mysterious Soul Entity, the Divine Tree of the Dao Realm
Lin Yuan was now proceeding with practiced ease deep into the Crimson Forest. His target was the Tier Two Fierce Beasts, as they provided considerably more ability points, which increased his rate of improvement.
Just as Lin Yuan was focused on slaying Fierce Beasts, Liu Hansheng entered the Crimson Forest with more than a dozen people.
Three of them were friends of Liu Hansheng, all of them Tier Two Martial Artist experts, who had volunteered to come along to curry favor with him.
The other dozen or so subordinates were all retainers of the Liu Family, having all reached the Body Tempering Realm.
"Disperse and search for Lin Yuan's whereabouts. Once found, do not attack immediately. Keep a close watch on him and report back to me instantly. I will personally deal with him!" Liu Hansheng instructed his subordinates.
"Yes!"
Everyone immediately dispersed and began searching for Lin Yuan's location.
"Brother Liu, the three of us will also go search. Once we find him, we will break his legs and wait for you to take action personally," said one of the Tier Two Martial Artists.
"Good, I'll have to trouble the three worthy brothers this time. After my great revenge is achieved, I will surely reward you handsomely!" Liu Hansheng clasped his hands in thanks.
"Brother Liu, don't be so polite about rewards. This is what brothers should do."
Afterward, the three separated and led their subordinates deeper into the forest.
As for Liu Hansheng, he remained at the entrance, refusing to leave. He intended to guard the exit to prevent Lin Yuan from escaping...
...
Lin Yuan killed five Tier Two Fierce Beasts along the way, but he was not satisfied with this efficiency.
"It's been two hours since I entered, and I've only found five Fierce Beasts. This progress is a bit slow," Lin Yuan shook his head.
There was no helping it; there weren't many Fierce Beasts here. After all, this was a safe Void Rift, so it couldn't expose the martial artists entering to too much danger.
The dangerous Void Rifts were all under the control of the military. Beast tides would erupt there irregularly, and sometimes Fierce Beasts would even rush out of the Void Rifts to attack the human world.
For high-risk level Void Rifts, just being able to defend them was difficult enough. Rushing inside? That was completely an act of seeking death.
"The Fierce Beasts here are too hard to find. How about I go check near the portal to the Fierce Beast World? Maybe I can encounter some newly entered Fierce Beasts."
With this thought, Lin Yuan swiftly rushed toward the deepest part.
The highest-level Fierce Beasts here were early-stage Tier Three, and they were extremely rare; it was uncertain if any even existed.
So, Lin Yuan was quite bold. Even if he encountered a Tier Three, he could still escape using Space Warp.
After two hours of rushing, having eliminated two more Fierce Beasts on the way, Lin Yuan finally arrived before the portal.
The portal to the Fierce Beast World looked very similar to the entrance portal, except its color was deeper, tending toward blackish-purple.
Strange light spots flickered on the portal. Lin Yuan tried touching it, but his hand couldn't pass through.
"Huh? This feeling? ---"
Lin Yuan suddenly had a strange, indescribable sensation. Something in his mind wanted to grasp it but he couldn't.
"Perhaps my understanding of spatial abilities is too shallow. I'll explore the secrets of the portal when my strength grows stronger later."
With that thought, Lin Yuan stopped paying attention to the portal's principles.
Just then, dark light flashed on the portal, and two figures appeared in front of Lin Yuan—they were two mid-stage Tier Two Fierce Beasts.
The snow drifting sword was immediately unsheathed, and two Space Dimensional Slashes erupted instantly. Before the two Fierce Beasts could even clearly see the world they had entered, their heads were severed by a single strike.
Two soul bodies drifted out. Lin Yuan swallowed them in one gulp, easily acquiring a thousand ability points.
"Not bad, not bad. Fierce Beasts are entering right after I arrived. It seems waiting here for them is a good choice."
Lin Yuan decided not to move anymore. Instead of searching aimlessly, it was better to guard this spot.
Immediately after, the portal flashed with dark light again, and Lin Yuan became instantly excited.
"Here they come again! ability points are about to be delivered to my door!"
Light flashed, and just as Lin Yuan prepared to draw his sword, he suddenly froze.
Stuck in the ground before the portal was an ancient-looking wooden sword. It looked quite old, and the wood had turned somewhat discolored and pale.
"Damn, what is this thing? Where are my ability points?"
Lin Yuan was speechless. Why did a broken wooden sword teleport over?
Just as Lin Yuan was about to step forward to examine it, a milky white gas leaked out from the wooden sword, gradually solidifying into a human shape in the air.
"A human soul body!"
Lin Yuan was overjoyed. This soul body was extremely solid. Judging by experience, its level should be very high. He had never devoured a soul body of this level before.
The humanoid soul body stretched its limbs, glanced disdainfully at Lin Yuan, then grabbed the wooden sword from the ground and turned, preparing to leave.
"It even has eyes, its own consciousness, and can act independently. What level of soul body is this?"
Lin Yuan watched the scene in shock. He had devoured so many soul bodies, but none of them possessed consciousness.
The sudden appearance of an anomaly made Lin Yuan feel like he had seen a ghost...
However, as long as it was a soul body, it could not escape his Spirit Devouring. No matter how high its level, if it became a soul body, it had to obediently be devoured.
Seeing the mysterious soul body about to leave casually as if nothing had happened, Lin Yuan immediately spoke up:
"I say, you're just going to leave like that?"
The mysterious soul body paused upon hearing this, stopped its steps, then shook its head with a self-mocking air before continuing to walk away.
"You won't listen, will you? You still dare to leave?" Lin Yuan spoke again, sounding displeased.
The mysterious soul body instantly stopped and turned around abruptly, looking at Lin Yuan in disbelief. Lin Yuan was currently looking back with a slight smile.
"You—you can see me?" the soul body asked, eyes wide.
"That's right, I can see you, and very clearly," Lin Yuan shrugged and stated truthfully.
"How can you see me? That's impossible. I am a soul body."
"So what if you're a soul body? I've seen plenty. But one that can talk like you is a first," Lin Yuan said while unconsciously licking his lips, adopting a malicious look as he stepped toward the mysterious soul body.
"Kid, what do you want? I warn you, even though I am currently a soul body and extremely weak, I am not someone an ant like you can resist. Don't push me, or I'll take your life!" The mysterious soul body retreated while threatening. Since Lin Yuan could see him, he might possess the means to harm him.
"I don't want anything, I just want to devour you. I'm very curious how much surprise devouring such a powerful soul body as you will bring me..." As Lin Yuan finished speaking, he slightly opened his mouth, and the Spirit Devouring skill quietly activated, drawing a massive suction force toward the mysterious soul body.
"What! What kind of damned power is this? Ah—No!—Don't devour me! I am useful! I am still useful to you! Stop it now!" The mysterious soul body finally realized that even with its heaven-defying abilities, they were futile before this youth. As long as he was in the soul body state, he could not escape that heaven-defying devouring power.
"Oh? Then tell me what use you have?" Lin Yuan was only trying to intimidate him. He wouldn't easily devour such a special soul body, even though it did look quite delicious...
"I—I can teach you cultivation. I can tell you many things about the outside world," the mysterious soul body pointed toward the portal.
"Is that all? That's not as useful as devouring you," Lin Yuan shook his head, clearly unsatisfied.
"No—Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. With my help, you will surely grow into a strong expert quickly," the mysterious soul body said hurriedly.
Lin Yuan slightly opened his mouth, making a gesture as if he was about to devour. This soul body was being dishonest and needed further pressure.
As expected, when the mysterious soul body saw him open his mouth again, its eyes widened in fright, and it jumped up.
"Stop! Stop! Fine! Fine!—This wooden sword is forged from the Dao Realm Divine Wood from my world. With me here, I can help you activate some of this sword's abilities to defend against enemies when you are in danger.
You can consider this ability as one of your trump cards. Without my help, a divine sword of this caliber would just be a piece of scrap wood in your hands," the mysterious soul body said very reluctantly.