174 Ice Fire Demonic Tiger

Lush foliage monopolized this viridian world, the differences between theintermediate and elementary levels minute but Tang Wulin was still aware theyexisted.

It was highly likely he would encounter thousand-year soul beasts in theintermediate level. There was even a small chance of encountering powerfulten-thousand-year soul beasts!

Wu Zhangkong stood beside him, his white robes fluttering from the cold aurahe emanated as he observed their surroundings. Tang Wulin was filled with a sense of security with Wu Zhangkong beside him.

“Follow me!” Wu Zhangkong strode forward. A ring of light rose with each step.Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, and black.

It wasn’t Tang Wulin’s first time seeing Wu Zhangkong’s soul rings.Nonetheless, he was still shaken.This is an expert! I wonder how long it willtake me to reach six rings…

A blue light coalesced in Wu Zhangkong’s right hand and transformed into theSkyfrost Sword. His actions clearly indicated how seriously he regarded theintermediate level.

Only those with less than seven rings could enter the intermediate level.

Tang Wulin followed behind him silently. Ten minutes later, they still hadn’tencountered any soul beasts.

“Don’t you find this strange? Why aren’t there any soul beasts?” Wu Zhangkongasked Tang Wulin.

“Yeah!” Tang Wulin nodded. From his experiences in the elementary spiritascension platform, he knew that they should have been attacked by now.

Wu Zhangkong indifferently said, “The spirit ascension platform is modeledafter the largest soul beast forest on the continent, the Great Star DouForest. In the past, there were Ten Great Beasts, the strongest soul beasts inthe world. All ten beasts exceeded one-hundred-thousand-years in age, and theGreat Star Dou Forest was actually home to five of them.”

“The Great Star Dou Forest is divided into four regions. The outer region,middle region, inner region and the territory of the Great Beasts. When battlearmor was introduced thousands of years ago, humanity’s strength exploded andwe began to suppress soul beasts. Yet even though we’re developing and usingmost of the forest now, the territories of the Great Beasts remain untouched.I’ve have never been there, but I heard that after some powerful Battle ArmorMasters ventured into their territory, they have never returned. Thoseterritories are one of the few forbidden regions on this continent.”

“Soul beasts surpassing one-hundred-thousand-years in age can take on a humanappearance so if we send too many Battle Armor Masters to attack them, it islikely they will abandon their territories and wage guerilla warfare throughoutthe continent. We have a mutual understanding with those beasts now; as long aswe don’t enter their territory, they won’t attack humanity.”

Tang Wulin’s brows knitted. “Teacher Wu, what about the soul beasts in theother regions then?”

Wu Zhangkong said, “Soul beasts have almost all been exterminated by humanityafter all these years. This is one of the reasons why the Spirit Pagodapossesses such great status. Artificial spirit souls are the only option gainsoul rings for most Soul Masters now, and natural spirit souls are nearimpossible to obtain.  Without any soul beasts to kill, soul rings can nolonger be obtained directly.”

Tang Wulin asked, “Then are soul beasts becoming extinct?”

A sigh escaped from Wu Zhangkong’s lips. “It is certain that as soultechnology continues to develop, soul beasts will eventually be extinct. Yet,this isn’t necessarily a good thing for humanity. It’s true that battle armorcan greatly increase a Soul Master’s strength, but compared to the Soul Mastersof the past, we are truly lacking in terms of soul rings. Soul skills providedby artificial spirit souls are different from those given by soul beasts.Furthermore, there is no doubt that their extinction will bring about anecological imbalance. According to the research, the number of people whopossess soul power when they awaken their martial souls has dwindled over thelast several hundred years. I suspect that once soul beasts disappear, SoulMasters will soon follow. That is the price for destroying the ecologicalequilibrium.”

“Now, back to the topic. Entering the elementary spirit ascension platform issimilar to entering the outer region of the Great Star Dou Forest. The outerregion is filled with ordinary soul beasts that reach the thousand-year levelat most. Here in the middle region, however, the forest has thousand-year soulbeasts, and even some at the ten-thousand-year level. With soul beasts of suchpower present now, the forest is definitely split up into territories, so thereis a lower density of soul beasts. It’s normal that we haven’t run into oneyet, but if we do encounter one…”

Wu Zhangkong abruptly stopped mid-sentence and his gaze sharpened. An icydraft swept out as he pointed with his Skyfrost Sword.

A deep roar reverberated through the air, announcing the arrival of a soulbeast, a tiger that stood over one and a half meters in height and over sixmeters from head to tail.

Purple stripes stood out in sharp relief against its bronzed fur. Its eyeswere dual-coloured, frosty blue and fiery red. Its bizarre appearance wascompleted with a pair of blue and red wings on its back.

“It seems our luck isn’t that good today. This Ice Fire Demonic Tiger is atleast four-thousand-years in age. It’s no wonder no other beasts roam thisterritory. Just focus on protecting yourself and ignore the rest. Got it?” WuZhangkong had twisted his body slightly towards Tang Wulin, but his eyes neverleft the tiger.

Ice Fire Demonic Tiger? Tang Wulin recalled the records he had read on it. Itwasn’t as fierce as the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, but it was on the same levelas the Man-Faced Demon Spider.

It excelled in both long-ranged and close-ranged attacks and could control iceand fire. It could also fly short distances with its wings. This fearsomecombination placed it as one of the most fearsome beasts. There was a peculiarlegend attached to the tiger; it was said that once killed, it would providetwo soul rings, one of ice and one of fire.

Of course, in the spirit ascension platform it couldn’t provide any rings, butstill, encountering such a fearsome beast had broadened Tang Wulin’s horizonsonce more.

Wu Zhangkong’s gaze never left the tiger as it spread its wings open andcircled them, growing closer with every pass. With each step, its wings of fireand ice flared brighter, as if foreboding the eminent devastating attack.

Wu Zhangkong stood still, simply turning so that he always faced the tiger.

Tang Wulin had already released several strands of Bluesilver Grass andattached them to nearby trees. The moment the situation took a turn for theworst, he would be able to launch himself out of there.

An overpowering odor assailed Tang Wulin as the distance closed between thetwo parties.

He wasn’t the same ignorant boy when he first entered the spirit ascensionplatform; faced with a thousand-year soul beast now, it wasn’t fear thatoverwhelmed him, but excitement.

He obviously understood just how powerful the thousand-year Ice Fire DemonicTiger was and knew that he was no match against it, but he didn’t have to worryabout that. His safety was assured, so he could whole-heartedly observe justhow strong this tiger was.