177 Eyed Demon Ape

When Teacher Wu battled the Soul Emperor Guang Biao, he didn’t use a singlesoul skill! He completely destroyed Guang Biao with only his comprehension ofhis martial soul! So in the end, it wasn’t a disparity of soul power, but oneof insight!

It was as though a door unlocked within his heart, revealing a new path tohim. While Soul Masters were divided into systems such as Assault, Agility,Control and so on, in reality, these classifications were not mutuallyexclusive but instead interconnected. This meant that the crux of the matterwas in how a Soul Master utilized their martial soul and abilities.

Why was Gu Yue so powerful? Her miraculous six-element martial soul alonecouldn’t make her strong; rather, it was her nimble control over the sixelements.

“Teacher Wu, spiritual power isn’t as simple as a container for spirit souls,right?” Tang Wulin suddenly asked.

Wu Zhangkong looked back at him with pleased eyes and nodded. “The fact thatyou’ve understood this proves that you have felt it for yourself.”

Thrilled to have his hypothesis confirmed, Tang Wulin vigorously nodded. Ineed to improve on a lot more than just my soul power!

Perhaps it was due to the sparsity of soul beasts, but the intermediate spiritascension platform was lush with foliage, undisturbed by wandering creatures.As the two penetrated deeper into the forest, the dense trees towered into theheavens and blotted out the sun, creating a world of evergreen gloom.

Their advance slowed a bit when four soul beasts appeared before them, but itgave Wu Zhangkong another opportunity to gift spirit power to Tang Wulin. Whileone was at the thousand-year level, the others were at the hundred-year level,yielding very little spirit energy.

“Follow closely. Now that we’ve entered the middle region, we could run into aten-thousand-year soul beast at any time. At this level, soul beasts haveundergone a qualitative change. Their intelligence far surpasses that of beastsat the thousand-year level, with some even on par with humans.”

Intelligence? It wasn’t something humans particularly cared for having grownto take it for granted over the ages. Soul beasts, however, depended on it todisplay their full might, especially when faced with humans.

A truly terrifying soul beast possessed high intelligence. If Tang Wulin andhis friends had encountered a shrewder hundred-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear inthe spirit ascension platform, he would have had no chance of survival—Xie Xiewould have died the moment he attempted a sneak attack.

A ten-thousand-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear could single-handedly destroy atown armed with both foresight and strength.

Tang Wulin calmly released his Bluesilver Grass in preparation for any suddenattacks. He understood his vulnerability in this forest that forced him to relyon Wu Zhangkong’s strength. Since he’d be useless in battle, all he could dowas act prudently and prepare to defend himself against any soul beasts theyencountered.I still have a long ways to go…

“Stop!” Wu Zhangkong halted in his tracks forcing Tang Wulin to do the same,nearly bumping into his teacher’s back.

“Something’s off.” Wu Zhangkong’s expression became solemn.

“What’s going on, Teacher Wu?”

Wu Zhangkong answered, “It’s too quiet. Even if soul beasts are sparse in theintermediate level, there should still be some insects around. Don’t you feelthat it’s getting dimmer and dimmer? And it’s not just because of the treesblocking the light either. No, this is something else. We may have encountereda powerful soul beast, and if my guess is correct, we’re in for a lot oftrouble.”

Wu Zhangkong’s vigilance alarmed Tang Wulin, but even so, he could onlycontinue relying on him.

Tang Wulin disliked this feeling of powerlessness as if he had no control overhis own fate. Unfortunately, he knew it all too well.

Wu Zhangkong stood in place, poised with his Skyfrost Sword. Waves of frostrolled off of it as he surveyed their surroundings with icy yet calm eyes thatoccasionally glowed with a purple sheen.

Tang Wulin felt it now; it was eerily quiet, devoid of even the sound of thewind through the trees.This definitely isn’t normal. I wasn’t paying enoughattention.

Around them, shadowy figures suddenly appeared and glided towards the duo,faintly discernable among the trees.

What are they?

Wu Zhangkong remained still, aware of the encroaching figures. Though theSkyfrost Sword swayed in his hands, pointing from one direction to another, themovements were calm and unhurried. The last of the light snuffed out, and anabsolute darkness descended on the forest.

Even as the shadowy figures grew near, Tang Wulin couldn’t sense anything.

Then, fast as lightning, a black figure suddenly shot toward them. With thePurple Demon Eyes activated, Tang Wulin could just barely discern its trueappearance. Shockingly, that black figure was himself!

Without a doubt, it was an exact copy of Tang Wulin! The only difference wasthat it was shrouded in darkness and exuded a chilling, bloodthirsty aura.

Wu Zhangkong slashed out, releasing a Frost Scar from its tip that slicedtoward and through the shadow Tang Wulin. Completely unaffected, the shadowsuddenly sped up and pounced on Tang Wulin.

“Hmph!” Wu Zhangkong let out a cold derisive snort. Purple light flashed inhis eyes, and the shadowy figure shrieked as it dispersed in a puff of smoke.

Wu Zhangkong swung his head around, glaring at a mirror figure of himself thatwas dashing toward him. The shadow Wu Zhangkong shrieked and turned into smoke.

This is possible? The Purple Demon Eyes can do this?

Tang Wulin contemplated the wonders of the Purple Demon Eyes as the purpleshimmer faded from Wu Zhangkong’s eyes.Teacher Wu is so awesome! What can’t hedo?

Wu Zhangkong’s face still carried a grave expression. “A darkness andspiritual dual-attributed soul beast. How powerful.”

The remaining shadows no longer dared to approach, intimidated by thefrightening power of the Purple Demon Eyes. They quietly turned around andretreated, but in their place, a black fog appeared. The moment he laid eyes onthe billowing smog, fear gripped Tang Wulin’s heart.

At that moment, Wu Zhangkong’s second soul ring lit up, and a chilling mistspread out to envelop the two of them, eventually clashing against the blackfog.

When the two met, the black fog condensed to become drops of black liquid thatreleased a bizarre smell into the air.

This was a collision between elements of ice and darkness. Could thisdarkness-attribute soul beast possess the rumored domain ability?

He heard that within the domain, the ability user had absolute control.Despite some exaggerated elements, it was certainly true that their strengthwould be greatly amplified in the domain.

The trouble now wasn’t resisting the opponent’s ability but locating theiropponent! If they couldn’t find their enemy, then they couldn’t defeat it!

Domain?

Tang Wulin had a revelation. He immediately crouched down and touched theBluesilver Grass on the ground, closing his eyes.

As he grew to understand his martial soul, he became more intimate with allplant life, especially wild Bluesilver Grass. Sometimes, he could even sensetheir emotions.

Through the network of Bluesilver Grass, he attempted to extend his sensoryrange. Considering the forest’s lush environment, it would have been an amazingplace for him to cultivate had it not been the spirit ascension platform.

During the previous battle, Wu Zhangkong had reminded him of the importance ofspiritual power and creative uses of abilities, and now he was putting thatadvice to use. He silently concentrated on the gentle spiritual fluctuations ofthe surrounding Bluesilver Grass.

It’s true! The corner of Tang Wulin’s mouth lifted; he knew how to find theiropponent now. Its ability to strike fear into the hearts of both him and theBluesilver Grass ultimately allowed him to locate their foe.