Chapter 8: The Millennium Soul Ring, Little Kitty~

  The sunlight was brilliant.

  Dazzling rays filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the forest floor.

  Swish—!The bowstring quivered, and the sound of something tearing through the air rang out sharply.

  A cold glint fshed.

  An arrow shot forth, pinning a fmingo to a tree. The bird let out a string of mournful cries.

  From up in the tree, Su Ye once again drew his bow. One more arrow ended the fmingo's suffering.

  "Perfect, that's number 12…"

  Swish!Su Ye leapt down from the tree, nding steadily in front of the fmingo, his clear eyes full of joy.

  "Now I should finally be able to fuse a millennium soul ring…"

  He was full of anticipation.

  It had been three days since he obtained his first soul ring.

  The Star Dou Great Forest truly lived up to its name as a paradise for wild soul beasts. Over the past three days, he had hunted ten more fire-attributed soul beasts.

  Five of them were hundred-year beasts, four were two-hundred-year beasts, and one was a five-hundred-year beast.

  Adding in this eight-hundred-year fmingo, that made twelve in total.

  Though the combined ages exceeded one thousand years, fusion and synthesis were different…

  The former involved utilizing what could be used; the tter involved full absorption and level advancement.

  Su Ye didn't mind—it just meant killing a few more soul beasts.

  "Martial Soul Possession!"

  Whoosh!A pair of dark golden wings spread out behind him, fmes bursting with them.

  Golden eyes, a golden beak, talons slicing through the air.

  The Mysterious Feathered Eagle…

  No!

  Now it was the Golden Fme Eagle.

  The once bck feathers had become a dark gold. The dull metallic sheen was gone, repced by thin, razor-sharp feathers tightly covering his body, with explosive fire dancing all around.

  Magnificent and domineering.

  Beneath his feet, a yellow soul ring glowed brilliantly.

  "Fuse."

  Su Ye didn't hesitate.

  Whoosh!The fmingo's soul ring shot directly into the yellow ring.

  Boom!A terrifying bze erupted from the soul ring, enveloping Su Ye in a blooming lotus of fme.

  The fire consumed the Golden Fme Eagle martial soul, the searing heat threatening to incinerate his flesh.

  Veins bulged on Su Ye's forehead. He clenched his teeth and remained silent, allowing the fire's power to temper both his body and soul.

  Crack!

  A crisp sound echoed from within—it was as if a shackle had been broken.

  Soul Power, Level 20—Breakthrough!After fusing twelve hundred-year soul beast rings, Su Ye's cultivation finally broke through the threshold of level 20.

  No one knew how long had passed when the fire finally faded.

  The bright yellow soul ring transformed—visibly—into a purple ring.

  Purple!

  A millennium soul ring!

  "Whew… finally, success."Having endured it all, Su Ye wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled in relief.

  His very first soul ring was now a millennium ring. Other than those with twin martial souls, even top-tier prodigies like Qian Renxue hadn't started off like this.

  And this… was just the beginning.

  Millennium.Five thousand years.Ten thousand years.Even a hundred thousand years.

  "For others, that might just be a dream…"

  "But for me—it's only a matter of time!"

  Su Ye smiled confidently, more certain than ever of his future.

  Feeling the power surge within him, he clenched his fists. The muscles in his arms groaned under the strain—explosive strength coursing through them.

  Beneath his tattered clothing, his tight muscles looked like sculpted granite.

  Even Su Ye couldn't help but admire how strong his body had become.

  "Fusing soul rings doesn't just evolve my martial soul… even my physique is growing stronger."

  "If my body's enhancement has no limit, maybe I don't even need Golden Dragon Bloodline to unlock the power of extremity…"

  "There's just one problem…"

  He gnced at his scorched, tattered clothes, and the corner of his mouth twitched—this was his st set of clothes.

  One more bze like that and he'd really be streaking through the woods…

  "But…"

  "Now that I'm level 20, it's time to start thinking about the second soul ring…"

  Su Ye was already getting excited.

  ——

  Half an hour ter.

  A crystal-clear, emerald ke.

  The smell of roasted meat wafted through the air. The fmingo's body had been gutted and cleaned, now mounted on a spit over an open fme.

  "Smells amazing…"

  Staring at the golden, crispy, and juicy roast, Su Ye ripped off a leg and started devouring it.

  At that moment, Su Ye had unknowingly transformed into General Yu Wen—he wouldn't leave a single grain of rice behind.

  The soul ring had been fused into the other ring.

  The bird's sharp beak, talons, and tendons—he had used those to reinforce his bow and arrows.

  That was true for the previous eleven soul beasts as well. Otherwise, how could an ordinary bow possibly kill an eight-hundred-year-old soul beast?

  And now, even the fmingo's meat was in his belly.

  After eating and drinking his fill, Su Ye sprinkled some insect repellent around, y back under a shady tree, and drifted off for a midday nap.

  Each time soul ring energy tempered his body, it pced immense strain on him, and he needed proper rest—plus a chance to digest.

  Swish.Covering his head with a banana leaf, Su Ye folded his arms and y down like a corpse.

  The surroundings had just quieted when the cicadas resumed their chirping.

  He completely fell asleep—everything around him ceased to matter.

  Time flew by.

  3 PM.

  As the shade shifted to the other side of the tree, the scorching sunlight shone directly on him, forcing Su Ye to wake up.

  "Ugh—"

  Yawning, Su Ye sleepily wandered toward the ke, just like before, pnning to take a bath to refresh himself before continuing his soul beast hunt.

  Suddenly, a cold female voice came from ahead.

  "Take one more step, and I won't go easy on you!"

  Swish!Su Ye immediately snapped open his drowsy eyes, his right hand instinctively dropping to his sword hilt.

  He saw a young woman who had somehow arrived unnoticed—currently bathing in the clear kewater.

  Su Ye's eyes lit up; he couldn't help but be stunned by her appearance.

  With her delicate features and moth-like eyebrows, she was strikingly beautiful.

  Her long hair cascaded down her snowy, jade-like shoulders, and her skin was exceptionally fair and smooth.

  But the woman was icy cold—expressionless, arms crossed to cover her chest. Her round eyes held no warmth, only a deathly stillness and a chilling killing intent, as if she'd been vioted.

  Elegant and aloof—that was the first impression she gave.

  Looking around and not seeing any adult soul masters, Su Ye rexed a bit, realizing she had no bodyguards with her.

  "Hey beautiful, first come, first served. Let's be reasonable here—I was here first."

  "You barged into my bathing spot without even saying hello. Isn't that kind of rude?"

  As he spoke, Su Ye pointed to the nearby area. See? His grill was still there.

  The girl's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she finally noticed the grill covered by banana leaves. Her expression turned awkward.

  The man before her was dressed in rags, with his clothes tied around his waist, chest bare and muscur. As a woman, Zhu Zhuqing instinctively turned her gaze away.

  "You… turn around!"

  Turn around?Do I look stupid to you?So you can get out and ambush me from behind?

  Swish!Su Ye quickly dashed to where the girl had pced her clothes.

  This girl was so cold and aloof—once she got out of the water, she'd definitely try to kill him.

  If that was the case, he might as well seize the advantage now.

  He was betting she didn't have a second set of clothes!

  Boom!Fmes burst from Su Ye's palm. When she realized he was about to burn her clothes, Zhu Zhuqing's already-cold eyes turned even more murderous.

  Her delicate teeth clenched with fury as she coldly spat, "Stop it!"

  Su Ye helplessly shrugged, "Come on, beautiful, I didn't want to do this either."

  "You're looking like you're ready to kill me. If I let you come ashore, aren't you just going to hack me to pieces?"

  Suppressing her fury and knowing she needed to get out of the water, Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath. "Fine. Tell me—what do you want?"

  Su Ye thought for a moment and said, "How about this—swear that you won't attack me after coming ashore. Then I'll consider giving your clothes back."

  After a brief hesitation, Zhu Zhuqing reluctantly replied, "Fine."

  Swish!In a fsh, there was a shriek.

  "Ahh!" Zhu Zhuqing's right hand, which had just been raised, instantly dropped back down.

  "You lecherous pervert!"

  Ripples spread across the ke as Zhu Zhuqing clutched her chest tightly. Her entire body nearly sank beneath the surface, her snow-white cheeks flushed bright red, overcome with shame and fury.

  Uh…

  Su Ye's eyes went dazed—he felt as if a white pnet had just smmed into his brain. His nose began to feel hot.

  "…"

  What, does her family raise dairy cows or something?

  So... aggressive!!

  (End of Chapter)