"Charm!" In a moment of desperation, Zhu Wu quickly cast his charm ability, his eyes glowing purple.
The tiger's body froze instantly, stunned and dazed on the spot.
"As expected, spirit attributes are truly my strength," Zhu Wu thought to himself while steadying his stance. He aimed a full-powered kick at the tiger's nose, sending the massive beast stumbling backward and falling. At that moment, the tiger, smarting from the pain, snapped out of it, scrambled to its feet, and ran without even glancing back at Zhu Wu.
That was very realistic behavior.
In the soul beast world, once injured, the scent of blood in the air easily attracts other predators. So, except for some especially savage or truly unintelligent soul beasts, most will stop after causing a certain amount of damage. Zhu Wu understood this well.
Not just in the soul beast world— even ordinary animals in his previous life mostly followed this survival rule.
"Though their intellect isn't fully developed, they are creatures that have lived for hundreds of years, so survival instincts remain."
Shaking his head, Zhu Wu decided not to give chase. Instead, he withdrew his weapon spirit's possession and, carrying Xiaobai, flew up to sit on a tree branch to rest and think.
"My current physical strength is indeed decent. I can handle a strength-type soul beast like a tiger for a while. If this were the human world, I'd probably rank among the top aggressive soul masters," he reflected. Soul beasts are naturally far superior physically to humans. Although this patterned tiger is only an average-level strength soul beast with a 600-year lifespan, if they fought seriously, even a Soul Sovereign wouldn't dare trade blows directly. One wrong move and an open wound isn't just talk—it's fatal.
"So, compared to raw physical fighting, it seems my spirit abilities might give me the advantage."
He thought quietly to himself.
"Spirit interference, spirit shock, spirit confusion—these skills don't cause backlash. If I can master them, I can disrupt my enemies first and then engage in close combat with much less risk. And if my spirit power grows strong enough, a simple illusion or charm could control or mentally cripple my opponent with one spirit shock. That would be even easier."
"Even if my spirit power isn't extremely strong yet, the boost to perception and insight still lets me gain the upper hand. For example, by carefully observing an enemy's movements, I can anticipate their attacks and respond early, perhaps even counterattack effectively."
For some reason, Zhu Wu suddenly thought of the Sharingan from an anime he used to watch in his past life. He used to like Itachi as a kid, but now, he only saw him as a backstabbing traitor.
Knowing full well his clan was being persecuted, targeted even, Itachi didn't think about helping them resist—he simply wiped out his entire family and clan.
What kind of twisted logic is that?
"Anyway, I have the Vajra Longevity Cultivation for my body, and the Longevity Cultivation for my spirit. I cultivate both body and mind. If I can develop my spirit attribute abilities and work on my weapon spirit's transformation skills, wouldn't I be a supercharged version of Itachi? At worst, I'd be a 50/50 Kakashi," he thought with a grin, rubbing his chin.
"The key is, how do I develop it? That's the question!"
"Well, for now, I'll just master the abilities I already have. I can't neglect close combat either—it's lifesaving in critical moments and also improves my body control. Right now, I can focus on watching opponents' movements and predicting their predictions. Every tall building starts with a solid foundation. First, lay the groundwork."
With that decided, he calmed himself and focused on recovery.
After some time, he opened his eyes, jumped down from the branch, and pressed deeper into the forest.
Soon, he encountered a pack of soul beasts again—several green wolves, all over 500 years old. Zhu Wu immediately took to flight and ran.
Two fists can't fight four hands, especially not a pack of wolves. He wasn't foolish enough to pick a fight he couldn't win, nor was there any need to.
His current mission was to find soul beasts for one-on-one battles to train his reflexes, close combat, and body control, and to help Xiaobai find medicinal herbs. Everything else was better avoided.
One versus many would have to wait until he was more experienced.
He knew his limits.
About half an hour later, he landed and faced a 500-year-old wind baboon.
This humanoid soul beast specialized in close combat but wasn't particularly powerful. Zhu Wu engaged in a man-to-man test of strength.
In the end, relying on his excellent damage resistance, he barely won.
"Maybe I should start practicing with soul beasts like wind baboons—those with average attack power and no instant-kill moves—to gain combat experience."
That fight was a great lesson for Zhu Wu.
Not being afraid of death doesn't mean seeking death.
Step by step is the right way.
No sooner said than done. After healing his wounds, Zhu Wu set off immediately.
From then on, within the hundred-year soul beast territory, there was an indestructible little fighter who specialized in picking fights with medium and small-sized soul beasts, as well as a shameless medicine thief.
With clear goals and a fearless, relentless attitude, Zhu Wu's progress was rapid.
"Bring it on again!" Wounds kept appearing on his body, only to be healed repeatedly. Day after day passed in this cycle.
Until four months later, deep inside the hundred-year soul beast zone.
"Thank goodness for the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone," Zhu Wu sighed, gently touching a bone injury on his chest.
After two months of fighting weaker soul beasts, he had accumulated enough combat experience and was no longer the novice who had just entered the forest. As a result, he started looking for stronger, more aggressive soul beasts.
Just now, in the weapon spirit possession state, he defeated a 900-year-old saber-toothed wolf—fast and fairly strong.
The key was, it had a frenzy skill and a truly fierce attack desire.
The result wasn't great. Although he won, he took a solid claw swipe. The wolf's speed was beyond expectation, and his vision sometimes couldn't keep up. Towards the end, his eyes felt dry and gritty; he blinked once and was caught.
He had encountered fights like this several times in the past two months.
"Ah, looks like to hunt down the second soul ring, I'll need explosives."
A thousand-year soul beast is a huge leap from a hundred-year one. Zhu Wu didn't think he could win a solo fight.
Besides, he wanted a second soul ring with top-tier spirit attributes.
"So where's Tianmeng? Is she being watched too closely by fierce beasts? Or hasn't even arrived in the Star Dou Forest yet? Or is her cultivation still below a million years, so she can't escape? Here I am, a spirit attribute soul master sitting right here, and she hasn't come looking for me!"
"Or maybe she just isn't interested," he muttered, shaking his head and activating the Blue Silver Emperor's leg bone skill to heal.
As energy entered his body, a cool, comfortable sensation spread over his wounds. Looking down, the bleeding had stopped.
"My soul power is already level 19. At my current speed, breaking through to level 20 should take no more than a month. I can't linger here in the hundred-year soul beast territory—I have to move deeper into the thousand-year soul beast zone."
With that thought, he quietly waited for full recovery.
Half an hour later, fully healed, he rested a little more, then turned to Xiaobai and said,
"Xiaobai, weapon spirit possession!"
Soon, he transformed into the 900-year-old saber-toothed wolf he had just defeated and ran deeper into the forest.
Lately, he had been traveling by transforming into various soul beasts to seek new battles. The reason was simple: to better understand his weapon spirit's transformation abilities and to grasp the traits and combat styles of different soul beasts.
Switching to beast form for combat was one of his weapon spirit's skills.
To truly master fighting in that form, he needed to personally experience what it felt like to truly be a soul beast—perhaps even to become a soul beast leader.
Not long ago, he had transformed into a ghost wolf, challenged and defeated the leader, and experienced leading a pack. Hunting and fighting with them felt like being a real wolf pack leader. Even the female wolves would rub up against him and flirt shamelessly. He couldn't handle it after a few days and ran off.
Also, with his current cultivation, even a small soul beast form couldn't be maintained for long. Changing forms multiple times a day was troublesome and felt like a waste of time.
"I'll wait until I'm stronger and can maintain it longer. Then I can truly enjoy being a pack leader."
Suddenly sensing danger, he stopped instinctively, transformed into a crested serpent, and flew up to scout.
It was a thousand-year-old scale-armored beast.
After a quick glance and memorizing its appearance, he transformed back into the armored beast and continued on his way.
(End of Chapter)
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