Chapter 6: The Unknown Soul Beast, Absorbing the First Soul Ring

The only difference is that this one is much larger, as tall as an adult, with eight yellowish-brown stripes on its forehead, and it's almost at the ninth one.

There is no doubt that these two dark mantises have a close relationship.

"Do forehead wrinkles indicate the age of the person?"

Gu Changge looked at the dark mantis baring its teeth at him in the distance, his eyes brightening slightly: "Dark attribute, nearly a thousand years old, and its attack power seems quite high, so I've chosen you."

"call out!"

Director Su fired another arrow, the fiery red arrow shooting towards the dark mantis.

However, the Dark Mantis immediately disappeared into the darkness, and the fiery red arrow pierced through, hitting the trunk of a large tree behind it.

"There are such soul beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest? What exactly are they?" Cold sweat broke out on Director Su's forehead, and he felt a sense of retreat.

The unknown is often the most terrifying.

The Dark Mantis's ability to blend into the darkness is truly impossible to defend against.

"Director Su, I think it's quite suitable as my first spirit ring." Gu Changge came to Director Su's side and said something surprising.

"this……"

Director Su looked distressed, but still nodded: "Changge, let's join forces and try our best to take it down."

He had witnessed Gu Changge annihilating the small Dark Mantis.

He was deeply moved by this.

But there was no time for too much shock, after all, there was still a formidable enemy at hand.

Gu Changge killed its offspring and so on. Judging from that soul beast's posture, it was definitely going to fight to the death.

"Um."

Gu Changge nodded, and relying on his extraordinary perception, immediately turned around: "Director Su, behind us."

Without hesitation, Director Su turned around and, relying on his intuition, fired an arrow into the darkness.

But how can intuition be so accurate?

"Whoosh!"

The Dark Mantis attacked again, this time even faster than before.

Director Su's eyes narrowed, and he instinctively moved to the side.

Gu Changge did the same, but he made more responses than Director Su.

As he dodged to the side, he slashed down at the Dark Mantis with his Thousand Blades, the dark attribute they carried causing the mantis's body to tremble.

"Bang!"

Dark Mantis raised its wrist blades and took the blow head-on.

"Third Soul Skill, Fiery Arrow!"

This gave Director Su an opportunity, and his third spirit ring lit up.

It was still a fiery red arrow, but its power was greater than the previous arrows, and it could produce a fiery explosion upon impact.

"call out!"

As the arrow flew, the Dark Mantis, with only a hundred years of cultivation, dared not take the soul skill, which was nearly a thousand years old, head-on.

It instinctively tried to retract its wrist blade and dodge for the time being.

"Disperse."

Gu Changge gave it no chance at all, directly controlling the two Thousand Blade Fragments to shoot out and knock the retreating Dark Mantis back.

The fiery arrows have arrived.

"Click-clack!"

Dark Mantis has no choice but to take the hit head-on, crossing its wrist blades in front of it.

"Whoosh!"

However, Gu Changge extended the Thousand Blades Blade and, relying on brute force, cleaved the crossed wrist blades in two with a single strike.

Now, the Dark Mantis had no choice but to take the hit head-on with its body.

Under the fire of the flaming arrows, the Dark Mantis was sent flying backward and crashed violently into the main tree trunk.

"Boom!"

Immediately afterwards, an explosion was heard.

The dark mantis was immediately severely injured, with several scorch marks on its body and some of its hairs burning with flames.

"Whoosh—"

Gu Changge gave him no chance, extending his Thousand Blades once more and slashing down at his head.

This time it's not the dark attribute, but the destructive attribute.

The Dark Mantis's hard shell was actually shattered by the Thousand Blades of Destruction, unleashing a terrifying destructive force.

"Click click click..."

The Dark Mantis's aura weakened, and it fell silent.

moment.

A soul ring with a hint of purple condensed above the corpse of the Dark Mantis.

The hint of purple in the mantis indicated that it was nearly a thousand years old.

"This..." Director Su was shocked by what he saw.

Compared to the age of this spirit beast, he was more shocked by Gu Changge's martial spirit.

What exactly is that martial spirit?

Even though it hasn't been equipped with a soul ring yet, it can not only extend its lifespan but also separate into fragments, which is truly unheard of.

"Director Su, the fighting just now was quite loud."

"Let's take this mantis to the outer area and let it absorb soul rings there."

As Gu Changge spoke, he pulled the corpse of the dark mantis toward the edge of the dense forest.

This spirit ring won't dissipate anytime soon, so there's no rush to fuse with it.

The most urgent task is to ensure safety.

"Okay."

Director Su was so shocked that he nodded like a 'novice'.

He had only taken two steps when he suddenly remembered something, and decisively turned back to put the dark mantis corpse, which had been split in two, into his one-cubic-meter storage ring.

"What kind of soul beast is this? Let's take it back and ask."

Director Su muttered something to himself and walked out of the dense forest.

The two moved quickly, soon leaving the dense forest and returning to the safe area where they had rested earlier.

"Director Su, thank you for your help."

Gu Changge casually tossed the Dark Mantis's corpse in front of him and sat cross-legged.

"Changge, don't worry about the fusion. This time, the director will definitely not let the soul beast get close." Director Su showed an apologetic smile.

"normal."

Gu Changge's voice remained calm, and he didn't take it to heart.

He activated his soul power, gently beckoned, and drew the century-old soul ring on the corpse toward himself.

In an instant, a massive surge of energy flowed from the soul ring into Gu Changge's body, causing his meridians to swell.

"As expected of a soul ring with a lifespan of nearly a thousand years, its energy is terrifying."

Gu Changge frowned slightly, feeling a series of sharp pains coming from his body.

Although it's painful, it's not heartbreaking.

He could clearly feel that his soul power level was rapidly increasing under the impetus of the soul ring's energy.

"This child... really doesn't seem like a child."

Director Su glanced at Gu Changge with a complicated expression, then stopped thinking about it and became alert to his surroundings to prevent the soul beasts from getting close.

Unbeknownst to him, Gu Changge, who was fusing with his spirit ring, had tiny silver-white scales flashing across his neck.

The scales appear one layer at a time, then disappear, like waves, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden.

This strange occurrence appeared suddenly and disappeared just as quickly.

……

Several hours later.

The century-old soul ring above Gu Changge's head gradually dimmed, as if it had lost its energy luster.

Then, it completely disappeared and disappeared into the body.

"Buzz".

A buzzing sound seemed to echo within Gu Changge's body, and the rise in his soul power level had stopped.

First spirit ring successfully absorbed.

"The absorption speed is unexpectedly fast. Could it be due to the origin of divine punishment?" Gu Changge slowly opened his eyes, a hint of purple flashing in them.

From the initial integration to the gradual improvement that followed.

Gu Changge felt that things were going more and more smoothly, and the stinging pain in his meridians was getting weaker and weaker.

Gu Changge could not think of any other possibility besides divine retribution for such a change.

"Changge, how are you?" Director Su didn't notice the issue with the time it took to absorb the soul ring, but instead inquired about Gu Changge's physical condition with concern.

Gu Changge smiled slightly: "It went very smoothly. I feel that my physical fitness has improved a lot. The age of this soul ring should be close to nine hundred years."