"Phew!"
It was only after a long while that Tang San finally recovered from the terrifying pressure, letting out a deep breath.
At that moment, he hadn't even dared to breathe too loudly, fearing that he might attract the attention of the Titan Giant Ape.
Only now did Tang San realize that both Xiao Lin and Xiao Wu were far stronger than him.
Xiao Lin, though initially stunned, recovered quickly—unlike Tang San, who took quite some time to calm down.
As for Xiao Wu, Tang San had nothing to say.
That girl had always been carefree and heartless.
"So it was a Titan Giant Ape. No wonder we hadn't run into any soul beasts before."
At this moment, Xiao Lin also gave Xiao Wu an excuse.
While he'd been observing her earlier, he had noticed her suspicious movements.
Whether it was her secretly scattering some unknown powder or the conspicuous storage-type soul tool she carried on her hand.
"By the way, Brother Lin, shouldn't a forest king like the Titan Giant Ape be in the core area?"
Tang San voiced his doubts now, a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.
"Who knows? Maybe it came out for fun."
Xiao Lin replied casually.
"Alright, alright. Since there's a Titan Giant Ape around here, that means there won't be any other powerful soul beasts. Why don't we go explore inside?"
At this moment, Xiao Wu put on an excited expression, hopping around in front of the two.
If they kept chatting, the Lightning Leopard would run away.
Without waiting for their response, Xiao Wu charged ahead with great adventurous spirit.
"Not good! Xiao Wu is in danger!"
Seeing her sudden action, Tang San was startled to the point of losing half his soul and quickly followed to warn her to be more cautious.
"Terrible acting. Weak script."
Xiao Lin muttered softly from behind before also following them.
After a while, Xiao Lin gradually slowed his pace.
Seeing Tang San and Xiao Wu standing still up ahead, staring in shock at a "corpse" of a soul beast, Xiao Lin walked up beside them.
"Brother Lin, look—it's the Lightning Leopard you were looking for!"
Xiao Wu pointed excitedly at a leopard on the ground with blue markings.
Xiao Lin frowned slightly at the sight.
The leopard in front of them was over two meters long—a large predator.
With its lean body and powerful muscles built for explosive strength, Xiao Lin was convinced it was a top-tier hunter.
Unfortunately, most of the leopard's body had been crushed—its bones and muscles flattened like they'd been run over by a steamroller. It could only glare at them fiercely with its dying eyes, as if trying to kill them with a stare.
Sadly, glares can't kill.
Xiao Lin saw blood flowing from all over its body, with much of its fur matted with blood and pulp. Still, he could see that the leopard's black fur was marked with blue, cloud-like streaks.
"Brother Lin, what are you hesitating for? Kill it quickly or it'll die on its own!"
Tang San looked confused. Why was Brother Lin hesitating?
"This isn't a Lightning Leopard."
Xiao Lin replied calmly.
"Ah! How can that be?"
Xiao Wu looked shocked. Did Er Ming catch the wrong beast?
"Look at its markings—cloud-like blue patterns faintly sparking with electricity. It really does look like a Lightning Leopard."
"But Lightning Leopards don't have so many lightning markings. They store electricity by running, accelerating. Their fur isn't naturally conductive. Besides, a real Lightning Leopard's fur is usually brownish-yellow."
"Brother Lin, are you saying this leopard has too many lightning markings? Couldn't it be a mutation?"
Tang San immediately thought of the mutated Demonic-Eyed Tree in Saint Spirit Village, with ever-changing tree holes and eyes.
"Hmm… not a mutation. A hybrid."
Seeing that the two seemed skeptical, Xiao Lin quickly clarified.
"What I mean is, it probably has Lightning Leopard blood—but also that of another leopard species."
Xiao Lin cursed himself inwardly for essentially calling Tang San and Xiao Wu hybrids too.
One was born from a human and a soul beast, the other from a Soft Bone Rabbit and Lightning Rabbit (at least, according to the comic version).
"Looking at its fur, aside from the blue lightning patterns, it's all black. I suspect it also has Shadow Leopard blood. Let's just call it a Thunder Shadow Leopard for now."
After Xiao Lin explained, Tang San and Xiao Wu understood his hesitation.
Although Shadow Leopards were also speed-type, they excelled in ambushes and stealth.
In general, their speed couldn't match that of a Lightning Leopard.
While Lightning Leopards might prey on small creatures like Soft Bone Rabbits, they didn't need to hide—they were fast enough to just catch them outright.
Xiao Lin was worried he might end up with a spirit ring inheriting the Shadow Leopard's bloodline instead.
Still, knowing opportunities like this were rare, he wasn't about to let this 2,000-year-old Thunder Shadow Leopard go.
He summoned his Curling Dragon Staff and struck the leopard on the head.
"Relax. Feeling like you can't breathe is normal."
Xiao Lin chose to end the beast's suffering swiftly.
More importantly, since he knew the Curling Dragon Staff could store soul beast consciousness, he specifically chose to use it to land the killing blow.
If it worked again, Xiao Lin believed that even without a new external soul bone, the soul ring would still retain the Thunder Shadow Leopard's awareness.
Blood splattered everywhere, and Tang San and Xiao Wu quickly jumped aside.
Only Xiao Lin remained calm, silently waiting for the soul ring to rise.
Two relatively powerful soul beast bloodlines—surely the hybrid wouldn't be useless, right? Xiao Lin wondered.
The next moment, a deep purple soul ring rose into the air.
Xiao Lin wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he thought he saw flickers of lightning dancing on the very solid, deep-purple ring.
Planting his Curling Dragon Staff before him, he sat cross-legged and began drawing the soul ring in.
Coiling Dragon Staff, I'm counting on you.
Xiao Lin concentrated his will and absorbed the soul ring into the staff.
The next second, a violent soul force charged with lightning coursed through his body, causing his muscles to convulse uncontrollably and pain to sweep across every part of him.
Faced with such an impact, Xiao Lin forced himself to endure and focused on visualizing the towering Curling Dragon Staff.
Soon, the pressure eased.
In his sea of consciousness, the towering divine pillar—the Curling Dragon Staff—suppressed the Thunder Shadow Leopard's awareness until it was reduced to the size of a soybean.
Excellent!
Delighted, Xiao Lin focused on channeling soul power to open up his meridians.
Waves of violent and ferocious soul force surged through his meridians, but Xiao Lin remained unmoved.
His soul force, as tough as diamond, was unfazed by the assault.
However, in the next moment, a small part of Xiao Lin's soul-force-formed meridians was overwhelmed by the intense soul power.
Charged with lightning, the energy tore through Xiao Lin's soul meridians and spread outward like electricity.
Gradually, a new, rudimentary meridian formed in Xiao Lin's body—one made of lightning-infused, diamond-hard soul power.
A rudimentary dantian.
(End of Chapter)