Chapter 74 Shadow Beast

Sunset forest!

With Chen Yuan's speed, it didn't take too much time to get here. With Chen Yuan's guidance, the two of them went straight into the forest after arriving.

The third soul ring that Zhu Zhuqing needs should preferably be from a cat-type soul beast that is about 1700 years old, so it is enough to explore the outer and central parts of the forest.

Even though the Sunset Forest is not as good as the Star Dou Great Forest, as the premier wild soul beast forest in the Tiandou Empire, its soul beast resources are also quite abundant.

Chen Yuan was in front and Zhu Zhuqing was behind. The two of them quickly went deeper into the forest. Along the way, they encountered many soul beasts, some ten years old, some hundred years old, some thousand years old, but they never encountered a single one of the right type and age.

After several hours, they had to take a temporary break. Chen Yuan, who was skilled and courageous, not only lit a bonfire, but also caught two soft-bone rabbits, skinned and bled them, removed the internal organs, and roasted them over the fire. The sizzling aroma of the barbecue soon wafted away.

Seeing him like this, Zhu Zhuqing said softly with some uneasiness:

"If you want to eat barbecue, you can have as much as you want after you go back, but this is the Soul Beast Forest. If we attract powerful soul beasts, we may all be in danger."

Chen Yuan waved his hand and said comfortingly:
"Don't worry. Even if we encounter a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast, I am confident that I can take you away safely. If the soul beast we attract happens to be the one you need, we won't have to waste time looking for it."

Looking at Chen Yuan's confident expression, Zhu Zhuqing felt a little relieved. Indeed, with Chen Yuan's flying sword, except for the powerful flying soul beasts, the threats from many soul beasts can be ignored.

Suddenly, at this moment, there was a rustling sound coming from the forest next to her, which startled Zhu Zhuqing. She immediately stood up and walked over, saying vigilantly:
"I'll go see what's going on over there!"

Chen Yuan also put down the soft-bone rabbit that was being roasted. If there was any real danger, he would take action immediately. At the same time, he was also looking forward to what kind of soul beast would be attracted over here.

"Roar!"

Then, a low roar was heard, followed by a black shadow!
In an instant, Zhu Zhuqing suddenly fell down, as if her spirit had been severely traumatized. She fell to the ground with her eyes blank.

Chen Yuan was also attacked. Endless darkness invaded from all directions, trying to plunge him into the dark world.

But his mental power is extraordinary, and after eating the Wangchuanqiushui Dew, he can see through all kinds of strange things. He mobilized his mental power, as if a huge wave was raised on the sea, and uttered the word "break" from his mouth.

In a flash, all the darkness was expelled. Chen Yuan stomped the ground hard and rushed out immediately.

Before the black shadow pounced on Zhu Zhuqing, it kicked it away. The soul beast let out a wail, hit a big tree, and then fell to the ground again, allowing Chen Yuan to see it clearly.

It was a pitch-black leopard. Chen Yuan raised his eyebrows and said:

"The Shadow Beast is really lucky. It is a soul beast that hides in the darkness. It comes and goes without a trace. It does not hide in the darkness itself, but it pulls the enemy into the darkness and then takes the opportunity to attack. Among the low-level soul beasts, it is one of the top predators."

It happened to be a thousand-year-old soul beast, and Chen Yuan was too lazy to even summon his martial soul. He moved his feet and flew forward again. In front of the shadow beast's horrified gaze, he grabbed the back of its neck and rained down his fists as big as sandbags.

Soon, this 1700-year-old shadow beast became dying under Chen Yuan's fist.

Dragging the shadow beast, Chen Yuan returned to Zhu Zhuqing's side and saw that Zhu Zhuqing was still in a daze.

"Not awake yet!"

Chen Yuan half-knelt down, hugged Zhu Zhuqing in his arms, patted her face, and then pinched her philtrum. After a while, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes regained their spirit. After regaining consciousness and seeing Chen Yuan clearly, Zhu Zhuqing grabbed Chen Yuan's sleeve, her heartbeat quickened, her breathing became rapid, and there was still fear in her eyes. She said with some fear:

"It was so dark just now, as if my world was left with only darkness..."

Chen Yuan rubbed her hair and said comfortingly:

"It's safe now. Also, although I can wait for you to recover, this shadow beast can't hold on for too long. Kill it quickly and absorb its spirit ring. I think its ability is quite suitable for you."

Just now, Zhu Zhuqing fell into darkness. The feeling of being unable to escape and the indescribable panic still lingered. At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing looked at Chen Yuan with admiration in her eyes.

Then, she broke free from Chen Yuan's arms and looked at the shadow beast beside her. Instantly, she was possessed by the Nether Spirit Cat, and as if with some kind of hatred, it clawed at it and killed it with one claw.

Soon, the energy in its body flowed out and condensed into a purple soul ring. Zhu Zhuqing looked at the soul ring, restrained his emotions, adjusted his state, and everything recovered.

She sat down and summoned the soul ring. The purple soul ring floated over little by little, put on her body, and merged into her instantly.

Seeing that she had already started to absorb the soul ring, Chen Yuan knew that he could not help her anyway, so he returned to the campfire and roasted the soft-bone rabbit again.

A few more hours passed, and Zhu Zhuqing's aura became calm. A purple soul ring rose from under her feet and merged with the two yellow soul rings.

A 1700-year-old soul ring is not considered to be beyond the limit of absorption, so Zhu Zhuqing's absorption process was quite smooth.

He opened his eyes, which were full of surprise. He looked around and saw Chen Yuan, then he said in surprise:

"Chen Yuan, I succeeded, and my soul power has been raised to level 36. You are right. The medicinal power of Narcissus Jade Muscle and Bone has helped me raise my soul power by seven levels."

Chen Yuan was not surprised by this, but he was a little curious about Zhu Zhuqing's third soul skill. This was definitely not the Netherworld Slash from the original novel. He said:

"That's natural. By the way, how is your third soul skill?"

Zhu Zhuqing did not hide anything when she heard this:

"My third soul skill is called Netherworld Invasion. It can be activated by looking at the enemy and pulling their consciousness into the shadow world. Once successful, the enemy will fall into my previous state and their attributes will be reduced by 50%. Unless the enemy's mental strength is extremely strong, as long as I can trap them for a few breaths, I will be able to end the battle. Thank you, because of you, I can obtain such a powerful soul skill."

Chen Yuan was also a little surprised. Although it was not an attack skill, if this skill was used well, it could determine the outcome of the battle. He smiled and said:
"That's right. From now on, when control-type spirit masters or auxiliary-type spirit masters face you, they will be completely powerless to resist. Come and have something to eat. We will return to the academy later..."

At this point, Chen Yuan looked at Zhu Zhuqing with a hint of amusement:
"By the way, Zhuqing, thank you can't just be expressed verbally, is there any practical way to express it?"

Zhu Zhuqing was stunned for a moment, then bit her teeth lightly, stood up and walked towards Chen Yuan. When she got close to him, she pecked him on the face at an extremely fast speed, and then took the roasted rabbit from his hand.

Then he sat next to the campfire, with his legs together and leaning to one side, lowering his head to bite the rabbit meat to hide the blush on his face.

Chen Yuan chuckled and looked at Zhu Zhuqing who was biting rabbit meat with her head down, his eyes gradually softened.

(End of this chapter)