Chapter 10 - Evil Spirit Masters

Author Note: I'm very sorry because of the late release. My notebook charger broke and I had to place an internet order for another one. I just kept my cell phone these days and I find it very uncomfortable to write a chapter on it.

I will try to compensate somehow in this weekend so wait a bit and be comprehensible please.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the outskirts of Star Dou Forest, Mo Xie and Bai Chen rested under a tree.

"Brother Chen, have you decided which spiritual beast you want for your first ring?" Mo Xie asked while drinking some water.

The trip this time to Star Dou Forest took a whole week because of Bai Chen's speed. It had only been 2 hours since they arrived and took a break.

"Brother Xie, do you have any suggestions?" Bai Chen asked back.

"Hmm, along the way you told me that you want to follow the attack system, so an attack-oriented spiritual beast would be best suited. We can look for a War Tiger or similar. Of course, if we discover a spirit beast with attack power and dark attribute it would be the best for your martial soul." Mo Xie replied calmly.

"I will accept your judgment, Brother Xie. After all, I will depend on you for my ring." Bai Chen simply nodded.

"Okay, we've had enough rest. Let's go into the forest while it's still early, as the night is more difficult and dangerous to look for a spiritual beast." Mo Xie got up and started walking towards the entrance of Star Dou Forest while Bai Chen followed him.

They ran and went deeper into the external area of the forest.

After 3 hours of searching and avoiding various spirit beasts, the fruits of his search finally appeared.

*ROARRR*

"Bai Chen, you got lucky! This is a 420-year-old Profound Black Tiger and is extremely suitable as your first spiritual ring." Mo Xie exclaimed and ran towards the lone tiger.

Profound Black Tiger also found Mo Xie and growled at him. He then ran towards Mo Xie while trying to hit him with his claw.

Mo Xie had only one thought when he saw the tiger attack.

'Slow!'

He dodged to the left and the tiger went right past Mo Xie. But before he could attack again, Mo Xie kicked him in the face before grabbing him by the hind leg and crushing him to the ground, just as a certain green character did to a certain god.

The Profound Black Tiger felt as if his bones were being crushed and his conscience blurred.

"Bai Chen, quick!" Mo Xie yelled.

Bai Chen ran with a dagger he took from his pocket and ended the tiger's life quickly with a cut to the throat.

The tiger lay dead on the ground as a yellow ring rose from its body.

"Absorb this ring fast, it's almost nightfall and we'd better get out of the forest as soon as possible." Mo Xie warned. If he were alone, he wouldn't mind too much, but with Bai Chen together his actions were limited because of the difference in strength.

Bai Chen wasted no time and sat cross-legged and began to absorb the ring while Mo Xie stood guard over the surroundings.

Half an hour later Bai Chen finally finished absorbing the Profound Black Tiger's spiritual ring and felt his spiritual power reach the peak of Rank 11.

'Perhaps because the ring was extremely compatible, he gained some extra benefits.' Mo Xie thought.

Bai Chen happily stood up and summoned his martial soul.

"Possession of the Black Tiger!" Bai Chen's body expanded a little as black hair grew on his body and his hands took on a claw shape. A yellow ring rose from his feet and spun around his body.

"Not bad, Bai Chen!" Mo Xie praised.

"Hehe, I couldn't have done it without Brother Xie. Okay, would you like to see my spiritual ability?" Bai Chen asked, smiling from ear to ear. He had finally become a Soul Master.

"If you want to say I don't care, but you better not tell strangers." Mo Xie warned.

"Don't worry Brother Xie, now take a look at my first spiritual ability." Bai Chen nodded and his spirit ring lit up shortly thereafter.

"First Ring Skill: Claws of the Black Tiger!"

Bai Chen's claws got even sharper and released a powerful aura.

"My first skill increases my attack power by 30% and makes my claws even sharper. What do you think? Isn't my skill very good?" Bai Chen smiled.

"It really is a very good skill, but now you must undo it so we can get out of the forest." Mo Xie waved and started to run out of the forest.

"What about you, Brother Xie? Won't you hunt a spirit beast for your second ring?" Bai Chen asked as he followed him.

"The attribute of my martial soul is very rare and it is difficult to find a spiritual beast compatible with me. I'll escort you out of the forest before I go back and look for my second ring." Mo Xie replied.

"Brother Xie, I can help you find a spiritual beast to you." Bai Chen grunted.

"No! Bai Chen, you just got your first ring and your spiritual power has not yet been consolidated. Your physical strength is also not as good as mine and I will face spiritual beasts more powerful than that tiger. Forgive me for saying this, but you're only going to slow me down for now." Mo Xie directly refused.

'I'm being a little hard on him, but I'm going to face a 9,000 year old spiritual beast. If something goes wrong, I won't be able to protect you.' Mo Xie thought.

Bai Chen just lowered his head helplessly. He knew Mo Xie was telling the truth, so he couldn't contradict him.

"If you feel powerless, then go back and train. If you want to help me, become stronger!" Mo Xie comforted him, causing Bai Chen to nod his head. His eyes burned with determination.

When they left the Star Dou Forest it was already dark, so they walked towards the small river that Mo Xie found last time and rested the rest of the night there.

The next day Bai Chen returned alone to Star Luo City while Mo Xie went back to Star Dou Forest. This time he went straight to the inner circle to find a suitable spiritual beast for him.

It took him half a day to reach the inner circle before starting his search. On the way he met some 1,000-year-old spirit beasts, but managed to avoid them without them noticing him.

When he was about to stop his search and get some rest, Mo Xie found two people with a black aura around them running in one direction. One was tall and thin and the other was short and fat. Both wore black clothes and hoods.

"Evil Spiritual Masters…" Mo Xie muttered and used his energy flow ability for a moment to sense their cultivations. Two Soul Elders, ranked 36 and 38 respectively.

Mo Xie decided to follow them and discover their destination out of pure curiosity. He had never seen evil spiritual masters before, so his curiosity got the better of him.

As he followed them, he could hear their conversation.

"Are you sure that spirit beast just gave birth?" the tall, thin man asked.

"Yes I'm sure. I've been watching her for a long time and now that she's given birth, her strength has decreased at least by half." replied the short, fat man.

"Zhang Kui, you better be sure of that! After all, she's still a 10,000 year old spiritual beast."

"Xie Cao, just trust me. After we refine the soul of that spirit beast we will be able to climb at least 2 ranks and I will reach Rank 40 and get my fourth spirit ring. When that happens, we'll go looking for a few more kids to absorb their souls and create a new weapon that will make us at least on par with a Soul King."

It looked like the tall, thin man was named Xie Cao and the short, fat man was named Zhang Kui. Mo Xie was furious when he heard them talk about capturing and absorbing the souls of children to create a weapon, but he suppressed it in his heart and decided to continue following them silently until he got to where the beast they were talking about was. After verifying if that spirit beast was compatible with him, he would get rid of these two.

In less than 10 minutes he followed them to the entrance to a cave.

"Zhang Kui, how are we going to bring her out of this cave?" Xie Cao asked.

"Don't worry! I left some explosives buried inside the cave when she left to get food." Zhang Kui responded and removed something like a control from his storage ring.

While they discussed how to face the spirit beast in the cave, Mo Xie made his move.

Using his Shadow Steps, he stomped his back foot and lunged toward the fat man holding the remote control.

Mo Xie decided to unleash all his strength from the start, so he grabbed his sword and cut it towards Zhang Kui's heart.

His sword released a powerful sword intent and the elements of ice and fire intertwined in it, opposing and complementing each other. Although he failed to make a perfect fusion of his absolute fire and ice elements, he managed to use them in conjunction with his sword intent without too many obstructions.

He also forged a better sword for himself that could withstand the fusion of his sword intent with its elements of ice and fire. Liu Kai received some commissions to refine some ores of Tempered Flaming Steel and Tempered Freezing Iron. Mo Xie asked if he could take two pieces of each and some Spirit Iron to forge a sword for himself and Liu Kai readily agreed.

It took him 5 full days to forge the sword, but the result was extremely good.

An extremely sharp and powerful aura approached and pierced Zhang Kui's chest before he could react.

Xie Cao was extremely scared and jumped back a few meters while Zhang Kui coughed up blood.

Zhang Kui tried to turn his face to see the attacker, but his vision quickly darkened and he fell to the ground lifeless.

"One dead!" Mo Xie spoke casually and turned to Xie Cao.

"Brat, who are you?!" Xie Cao yelled anxiously, stepping back step by step.

"I'm your death!" Mo Xie replied coolly and ran towards him.

Xie Cao tried to turn and flee.

"Trying to get away? Dream on!" Mo Xie smiled coldly and used his spiritual shock.

A thread of spiritual and mental energy silently flew closer to Xie Cao's head.

Before Xie Cao could figure out what Mo Xie had done, a pain came from his head and he felt like a hammer had pounded him.

He stopped backing away and held his head in pain.

Mo Xie took this chance and once again slashed his sword towards Xie Cao's throat.

The last thing Xie Cao felt was a biting cold and a scorching fire hitting him with a powerful sword intent before all his movements ceased.

Mo Xie just stared coldly at his corpse before grabbing his storage ring and Zhang Kui's afterward.

He got lucky that Xie Cao became too scared and didn't use his spirit ring skills because of the fear. Even if he used it, Mo Xie was still confident in winning, but because of these factor, it allowed Mo Xie to win without wasting much of his spiritual power.

"Now let's see what kind of spirit beast is in the cave and why it hasn't come out yet after all this mess…" Mo Xie muttered and walked into the cave.