Chapter 30: Soul Hunting Expedition, Part One
Because Ye Wen was already familiar with the soul beasts in the surrounding forests, he felt they might not be worthy enough to become his disciples' soul rings. So he decided to organize a major soul hunting expedition, leading his disciples into the outer reaches of the Star Dou Forest.
For Ye Wen, mere hundred and thousand year old soul beasts posed no challenge.
Ayin, however, was eager to join the expedition, but Ye Wen gently refused, citing the chaotic nature of the Star Dou Forest, where beasts of every kind wandered. One of Ayin's best qualities was that she listened well and preferred not to cause trouble quite unlike Xiao Wu, who, despite her circumstances, took reckless risks. Xiao Wu's eventual sacrifice, in Ye Wen's view, was due to her own choices. Even the deaths of Da Ming and Er Ming had been a direct result of protecting her. Had they fled back to the safety of the Lake of Life, they might have survived. But alas, they were sacrificed to the unstoppable progression of Tang San's destiny, becoming his soul rings and bones in his journey to ultimate power.
"Master, we've arrived at Beit City," said Huo Quan, who was driving the cart.
Ye Wen had considered running there himself, but given that his five youngest disciples were still too tender for such a long journey, he purchased a cart to take them there. After all, it was good practice for an aspiring Soul King.
Beit City was the closest town near the Star Dou Forest. Since it would be troublesome to go back and forth, Ye Wen planned to leave his disciples here temporarily, while he ventured deeper into the forest to hunt his fifth soul ring. He also saw this as an opportunity for his disciples, who had grown up in a small village, to gain some exposure to the larger world.
"I'm leaving the five younger ones in your care, Huo siblings," he instructed. "With your Soul Elder level, as long as you don't start any trouble or wander into questionable places, you should be fine here in Beit City. I'll be back in half a month."
With that, Ye Wen turned and left in a flash.
The seven exchanged glances, then entered the bustling streets of Beit City. Following Ye Wen's teachings, they knew well the perils of the outside world. Their primary rule was to be cautious and courteous.
Meanwhile, Ye Wen had already stepped into the Star Dou Forest, with a clear goal in mind: to hunt a soul beast known for constructing nests, preferably an ant or bee species.
Though not formidable individually, ant and bee type soul beasts shared a unique racial trait of building colonies. Ye Wen hoped that by acquiring a soul ring from such a beast, his spatial spirit Nab could develop into a defensive barrier to block attacks or even enable flight. After years of physical training, he estimated that his body could withstand a soul ring up to 30,000 years, though he was wary of the spiritual strain of a ten thousand year soul ring.
Though such insect type soul beasts were common in Star Dou Forest, it was rare to find one past the thousand year mark. Because of the queens' jealous tendencies, any rogue reaching beyond that age was often hunted by its own colony.
After a week of searching, Ye Wen decided to explore the mixed zone. With his Inner Space technique active, anything under 50,000 years couldn't sense him.
The core of the Star Dou Forest lay before him.
Finally, after five more days, he found what he was looking for: a nearly three meter long, jet black ant with a hard exoskeleton and six piercing eyes the thousand jin ant king.
Ye Wen chuckled, realizing this was likely a renegade, a rebellious youngling that had managed to survive by defying its colony's rules and growing to nearly 30,000 years.
"Perfect," he murmured.
Ye Wen aimed his crossbow and let an arrow fly.
Ding!
A sharp metallic sound echoed through the forest, catching Ye Wen by surprise. The iron arrow he'd fired was lying on the ground, bent, having barely dented the ant king's head.
"Not bad," he muttered, "This exoskeleton might as well be iron armor. No wonder it stopped my arrow."
The ant king looked around, its senses heightened, wary of its unseen assailant. Though it wasn't the ruler of the mixed zone, its powerful bite and robust shell deterred most other beasts.
It scanned its surroundings, but its six keen eyes saw nothing but trees. Bewildered, it eventually resumed its aimless wandering.
Ye Wen, hiding nearby, observed the ant king carefully, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Didn't expect I'd use this technique for the first time against you," he murmured, "but since there's no audience, why not show you the power of gravitational force?"
He summoned his Nab ability, conjuring two overlapping portals, one above the other, and withdrew ten sharp swords from within.
Releasing the swords into the top portal, Ye Wen let gravity take over.
The natural force of gravity accelerated the swords through the portals, faster and faster until they moved as a streak of silver light.
This skill wasn't complex in principle but required precise spatial control. By arranging portals to create a path, he exploited the combined effects of gravity and mass to produce overwhelming force a technique he called Gravity Forge.
In the absence of friction, the swords' speed approached supersonic.
"Farewell," he whispered as he adjusted the portals' angle.
A high pitched hum cut through the air as a streaking blade found its mark.
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