Chapter 64: Picking Up The Pieces

"Roar!"

A low roar echoed from deep within the forest. Xia Yi had just leaped onto the treetops when he spotted over twenty agile figures darting through the air.

They were over twenty Wind Baboon soul beasts, each more than two meters tall. With a light touch of their feet on the treetops, they propelled themselves eight to nine meters forward, as if riding the wind, their agility and speed reaching the pinnacle.

"A pack of hundred-year Wind Baboons!" Xia Yi raised an eyebrow. He remembered Wind Baboons as solitary soul beasts. How could there be a pack here?

The Wind Baboons moved swiftly, closing in to less than a hundred meters from Xia Yi in the blink of an eye. Only then did Xia Yi notice a smaller Wind Baboon trailing at the back of the group.

Unlike the others, which were over two meters tall, this one was particularly scrawny, standing less than 1.5 meters high. However, its fur was blood-red, and its eyes emitted cold, electric-like beams of light. Even at a distance of a hundred meters, Xia Yi could feel the chilling aura from those glowing eyes.

"So, a mutated thousand-year Wind Baboon gathered the nearby Wind Baboons together, huh?" Xia Yi's eyes narrowed. He could sense that the combined strength of all the other Wind Baboons couldn't match this mutated one.

Leaping down from the treetops, Xia Yi knew better than to fight the Wind Baboons up in the trees.

That would be suicide.

As he landed, Xia Yi immediately entered his Martial Soul Possession state. Two forged Azure Bronze Hammers appeared in his hands.

Wu Jin also entered his Martial Soul Possession state without delay. While he didn't take the hundred-year Wind Baboons seriously, the mutated thousand-year one required caution.

Regular soul beasts, no matter how strong, followed predictable patterns. Mutated soul beasts, however, had unpredictable abilities.

It was easy to fall into their traps.

"Roar!"

The leading Wind Baboon charged at Xia Yi, its body enveloped in a faint green glow. Leaping down from the trees, it lunged fiercely toward Xia Yi.

Xia Yi swung his hammer directly, unleashing a terrifying force that stirred up a gale. The descending Wind Baboon instinctively sensed danger and tried to escape. But mid-air, with no leverage, it was unable to dodge. Forced to face the attack head-on, it extended its claws toward Xia Yi's hammer.

"Bang!"

The two-meter-tall Wind Baboon was sent flying by Xia Yi's strike. Its arms, which had tried to grasp the hammer, were shattered into fragments.

Xia Yi's actions seemed to completely enrage the Wind Baboons. They no longer leaped down from the treetops. Instead, they raised their torsos, pounding their chests with their fists. With a roar, they tilted their heads downward, opening their mouths wide to unleash bursts of white light toward Xia Yi and Wu Jin.

As the white light shot out, the Wind Baboons once again leaped down from the treetops, their eyes filled with murderous intent as they pounced on Xia Yi and Wu Jin.

Wu Jin swung his fists, summoning a massive Snow Lion Emperor shadow behind him. As Wu Jin struck forward, the shadow's giant claws also swiped out fiercely.

The white light from the Wind Baboons was immediately dispersed, and two severely injured Wind Baboons were sent flying.

Xia Yi, lacking Wu Jin's overwhelming strength, could only swiftly dodge the white light while maneuvering his pair of Azure Bronze Hammers defensively. The hammer's movements created gusts of wind that forced the approaching Wind Baboons to back away instinctively.

When the first wave of white light dissipated, Xia Yi stomped his left foot hard on the ground, propelling himself forward at an accelerated pace.

Raising his hammers high, he aimed for the Wind Baboon he had initially injured.

The massive hammers, carrying a weight of a thousand kilograms, swept through the air with Xia Yi, leaving a blur as they smashed down on the injured Wind Baboon.

The surrounding Wind Baboons, initially rushing to its aid, hesitated upon witnessing Xia Yi's immense strength and backed away.

With a loud bang, the injured Wind Baboon didn't fly away this time. As the hammers struck its head, its body turned transparent and vanished, leaving only a faint yellow glow in its place.

Before Xia Yi could react, the yellow glow drifted toward him and transformed into soul energy that began to merge into his body.

Still in his Martial Soul Possession state, Xia Yi clearly felt a warm current flowing into his Martial Soul before being absorbed by his soul ring.

Xia Yi could sense his soul ring's age steadily increasing.

Judging by the soul energy he absorbed, Xia Yi estimated his soul ring's age would increase by at least thirty years.

"This Wind Baboon was a three-hundred-year-old soul beast."

"If this keeps up, reaching a thousand-year soul ring might not be too difficult," Xia Yi's eyes lit up. But as he was reveling in the joy of his soul ring's rapid growth, a blood-red figure suddenly appeared behind him.

A pair of claws, over fifty centimeters long and emanating a bloody aura, slashed down toward Xia Yi's head.

"As expected of a mutated thousand-year soul beast, your timing is impeccable. Looks like your intelligence far surpasses that of regular thousand-year soul beasts." Xia Yi smirked. The pair of Azure Bronze Hammers was already raised above his head.

The mutated thousand-year Wind Baboon had yet to make a move, but Xia Yi had always been on guard against it.

From the moment he saw it, Xia Yi's attention had never wavered.

"Clang!"

The claws of the thousand-year Wind Baboon failed to leave a single scratch on the forged hammers. At the moment of impact, a Dark Phoenix tattoo on Xia Yi's arm began to glow faintly.

A black phoenix emerged from Xia Yi's arm, flying straight at the Wind Baboon.

Caught off guard, the Wind Baboon attempted to counter by spitting out a blood-red light, which engulfed the phoenix.

With a deafening boom, the resulting energy wave sent Xia Yi stumbling backward.

The power unleashed by the Dark Phoenix and the mutated Wind Baboon surpassed Xia Yi's twelfth-level soul power, making it difficult for him to withstand the shockwave at such close range.

Fortunately, his physical body was strong enough. Though he was forced back, he was unharmed.

"Roar!"

Seeing Xia Yi retreat, the mutated Wind Baboon grew excited and pounced on him again, oblivious to the Lion Fist hurtling toward its neck from behind.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

A hundred punches landed squarely on the back of its neck, breaking it instantly. Like the other Wind Baboons, its body disappeared, leaving behind a purple glow that merged into Wu Jin's body.

Though intelligent, the mutated Wind Baboon was no match for Xia Yi and Wu Jin.

From the moment it failed to attack first, Xia Yi and Wu Jin had anticipated its every move.

As soon as it attacked Xia Yi, Wu Jin had prepared for a one-hit kill.

Watching Wu Jin gain a hundred years on his soul ring, Xia Yi felt envious. If only the mutated Wind Baboon had attacked Wu Jin first, allowing him to land the finishing blow instead.

With a sigh, Xia Yi hefted his Azure Bronze Hammers again and began clearing the remaining hundred-year Wind Baboons.

Without the mutated thousand-year leader, the hundred-year Wind Baboons were no match for Xia Yi and Wu Jin, and they were quickly dealt with.

Wind Baboons were too weak, their combat strength far inferior to other soul beasts of the same level. The only one worth mentioning was the mutated thousand-year Wind Baboon, but even it failed to showcase its full strength before being defeated.

"If only a group of thousand-year Soft-Boned Rabbits showed up," Xia Yi muttered. With that, not only would he achieve a thousand-year soul ring, but he might even reach ten thousand years.

Unfortunately, the Ascension Platform was designed for soul master training. The Spirit Pagoda would never include non-combative Soft-Boned Rabbits.

After all, it wasn't worth the time or effort to stock the platform with soul beasts that couldn't fight.

(Chapter End)