Chapter 81: The Great Military Exercise of the Star Dou Forest (Part 2)

At the same time, the team leader started supporting the team's defensive soul king.

With the powerful True Dragon martial soul and his exceptional talent, his words radiated unmatched confidence.

"We seven are all Soul Kings, equipped with one-word battle armor and specially prepared disposable top-tier soul guidance devices. Even if we encounter a ten-thousand-year Beast King, we can still retreat unscathed."

"Moreover, the Star Dou Forest is now divided into a core zone and a mixed zone. We are only operating on the outskirts of the mixed zone, and we can always retreat to the Star Dou Fortress without any issues."

After delaying for some time, the other team members started to back up the leader's words.

"Don't waste any more time. The soul guide merchants from the Spirit Pagoda don't give away the entry tickets for the Star Dou Forest for cheap."

"We have to hunt as many soul beasts as possible within the seven-day deadline to increase our chances of obtaining soul bones."

When the term "soul bones" was mentioned, a deep desire flickered in the eyes of most of the soul masters present.

In an era where soul beasts were hidden from public view and soul spirits replaced the role of soul beasts, soul bones had become even more valuable than before.

Stirred by greed, the earlier fearful young girl found her anxiety lessen significantly.

With the group's pressure, they proceeded deeper into the Star Dou Forest.

Soon after, the team's scout, the agility type Soul King, returned.

"Captain, at three o'clock, there's a fire monkey group. There are no less than a hundred fire monkeys, with everything from hundred-year-old regular fire monkeys to a ten-thousand-year-old fire monkey king."

When the mention of the ten-thousand-year-old leader came up, the soul masters present all noticeably twitched their ears.

Generally speaking, the older a soul beast, the higher the probability of it producing a soul bone.

Additionally, the ten-thousand-year soul beasts had matured in wisdom, and as the leader of a soul beast tribe, if they witnessed their group being wiped out, the emotional turmoil could greatly increase the likelihood of a soul bone appearing.

Even if no soul bone was produced, the hundreds of soul beasts' corpses could still bring a good profit, whether through Spirit Pagoda's recovery or materials suitable for making soul guidance devices. It was a profitable business.

"Good!"

"Let's go!"

At the captain's command, the group of seven quickly made their way towards the three o'clock direction.

Before long, they reached the fire monkey clan's territory.

They had no plans to sneak attack, as they intended to crush the fire monkeys with overwhelming strength.

After all, with the Soul King's cultivation combined with one-word battle armor, their power was equivalent to that of seven Soul Saints, so they had no fear of a hundred or so soul beasts.

However, when they truly approached, the leader of the fire monkey group, the ten-thousand-year-old fire monkey king, did not immediately organize the tribe to attack, nor did he order the fire monkeys to flee.

Instead, the fire monkey king let out a sharp, shrill scream.

"Eek—!"

All the fire monkeys, over a hundred of them, did something completely contrary to the usual behavior expected of soul beasts.

Each and every one of them ran back into their respective ironwood tree hollows.

In their large heads, there was only one question.

Had these soul beasts gone mad? Did they think they were safe just hiding in their caves? Weren't they afraid of being caught in the trap? It didn't make sense at all.

Even though hundred-year-old and thousand-year-old soul beasts could be a bit dim-witted, the fire monkey king, a ten-thousand-year soul beast, certainly wouldn't act so foolishly.

Was it that they were stunned by their miraculous weapons? Were they about to surrender?

Of course, their confusion didn't last long. Soon, they were completely stunned and befuddled.

In the perception of the seven soul masters, every single one of the fire monkeys had completely vanished!

They disappeared without a trace, as if they had evaporated from existence, leaving not a single clue.

Even when they used their most advanced soul guidance devices to search, they received the same result.

During this brief moment, while the soul masters were still stunned, the ten-thousand-year-old fire monkey king boldly attacked.

"Eek!"

With a sharp screech, the fire monkey king, its hands ablaze with flames, grabbed at the defensive auxiliary soul master, the one with the weakest defense.

With a powerful strike, the auxiliary soul master was sent flying.

"Eek—!"

The fire monkey king's hands trembled slightly as it gripped something that wouldn't burn no matter how fiercely the flames blazed—a piece of metal that resisted the flames.

The thrown auxiliary soul master quickly steadied herself.

The one-word battle armor had already been activated, but the dazzling glow of the armor had dimmed. The piece of armor on her left shoulder was crushed and deformed, her clothes torn, and her pale skin exposed with deformed bones, blood staining her clothes.

Though her life wasn't in danger, the damage was still considerable, especially the cost of repairing the battle armor, which would be a heavy burden for her.

Her anxiety was amplified, and her weapon spirit, the "Tongyun Treasure Appraisal," reached its maximum alert.

Had it not been for the special alloy used to forge her one-word battle armor, which didn't need to be stored in a soul guidance storage ring and could be summoned at will with a thought, she wouldn't have been able to withstand the ten-thousand-year soul beast's fierce attack.

Without that protection, her defense as a five-ring Soul King auxiliary soul master would not have been enough to survive a full-strength blow from a ten-thousand-year soul beast.

She immediately cried out, "Captain, we need to retreat!"

The captain, wearing his one-word battle armor, his tiger-like eyes wide open, understood the situation.

Although his body was strong, he wasn't a fool.

The abnormal behavior of the fire monkey group and the attack by the fire monkey king contradicted all expectations, proving that something was wrong.

After a brief moment of thought, he made a swift decision.

"Retreat!"

Just as the captain issued the retreat command, a flash of silver light appeared from behind them, and a dragon-like figure with thorns grew from its back suddenly appeared.

The dragon, covered in sharp black spikes, landed on its hind legs, its silver eyes gleaming with a fierce light. Its skin was also silver.

The dragon's gaze was vicious as it launched a space-based attack at the group of soul masters.

"A ten-thousand-year Thorn Dragon!"

"Captain! Be careful!"

The agility soul king quickly lunged at the Thorn Dragon's vulnerable spot to save the captain.

The captain, who had already been caught off guard, barely managed to withstand the Thorn Dragon's sudden attack.

"Move, now!"

"Quick, get out of here!"

At this moment, the seven soul masters no longer cared about soul bones. Only panic filled their hearts.

Although they could handle a couple of ten-thousand-year soul beasts, who knew if there would be a third one?

Unfortunately, it was too late.

"Roar—Roar—"

"…"

Silver starlight flickered, and more and more ten-thousand-year soul beasts materialized like phantoms.

The faces of the soul masters from high-ranking academies turned pale with fear as they realized what was happening.

The appearance of these soul beasts, along with the earlier disappearance of the fire monkey group, clearly indicated the use of a special spatial ability.

"Roar—!"

At the forefront of the group was a ten-thousand-year Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear, which let out an enraged roar, further increasing the pressure on the group.

(End of Chapter)