Ghost turned to Wu Ling with confusion on his face. He had only brought the boy over to look around and mentally prepare him for the next day. Why was Wu Ling suddenly saying they should enter now?
"Wu Ling, it is night. I will follow you, but the Pope's order came first. Unless your life is in danger, I cannot help you. Are you still certain?"
Wu Ling nodded and insisted, "Of course. I have already decided on the target Soul Beast for this ring. With its habits, night is when it is most active, so I want to enter now."
Since Wu Ling was so certain, Ghost had no choice but to relent and allow him to enter the Star Soul Forest at night.
"Fine. Be careful."
After saying this, Ghost's figure vanished. Wu Ling looked around and could not find any trace of him, but he knew Ghost was still nearby.
With confidence behind him, Wu Ling shouldered his long sword and entered the Star Soul Forest alone under the night sky.
From a distance, it looked as if Wu Ling's small body had been swallowed by the pitch-black forest. The scene was practically a nightmare for anyone afraid of the dark.
It was Wu Ling's first time entering the Star Soul Forest, yet his heart did not waver at all. He was even curious about everything inside. But the towering trees blocked the moonlight and reduced visibility even further, so Wu Ling had to slow his pace.
He walked through the black forest. Rustling sounds constantly poured into his ears. A few wolf howls in the distance mingled with the roars of unknown animals, forming a chaotic melody. Combined with the gloomy environment, it made the mind grow restless.
At first, it was nothing. But over time, even Wu Ling, who possessed Vitrification, felt a trace of irritation in his heart.
Night predators had their own forms of silence. Wu Ling kept his nerves tight the entire time, and under that atmosphere, his spirit also began to tire.
"Only one night has brought my spirit and heart to this state. If I lived here for a long time, Mind's Eye and Vitrification would probably improve extremely quickly.
"No wonder warriors in stories always run into forests. So there was this kind of reason too."
After an hour of travel, Wu Ling finally saw a glimmer of light ahead.
Although he deliberately controlled his pace, even he did not notice that he was moving slightly faster than when he had first entered the forest.
He stepped out, and moonlight shone across his handsome face.
Before Wu Ling lay a small river, flowing quietly. Moonlight rippled across the water.
There were no trees around the river, only a flourishing field of Blue Silver Grass. Above the grass, fireflies glowed faintly, adding a gentle warmth to the silent scene.
"Beautiful."
Whoosh.
Just as Wu Ling was immersed in the scenery and his mind relaxed slightly, a sharp blue-green scale suddenly shot out, flying at terrifying speed toward his neck.
If he were an ordinary one-ring Spirit Master, he would already be dead. But Wu Ling was not ordinary.
The instant his ears caught the sound, his body began to evade on its own. The movement was slight, but it still allowed Wu Ling to dodge with the momentum.
He dodged, but not completely. A shallow bloodline appeared on his neck. The cut was so fine it might heal in the next second.
Wu Ling glanced at the tree behind him. The scale had already buried itself deep into the wood.
Wu Ling brought his sword in front of him. His body was ready to move at any moment.
A faint crawling sound reached his ears. While staying alert, Wu Ling began thinking through the true identity of this unseen enemy.
"A crawling sound means a reptile. That attack was like a blade, but Soul Beasts do not carry blades. That means it must be a scale.
"A scaled reptile hiding in Blue Silver Grass by the river. Could it be that one...?"
As Wu Ling thought, three more scales identical to the first shot toward him from another direction.
This time, Wu Ling was prepared. He dodged two of the scales and blocked the third by moving his sword into position ahead of time.
After defending, Wu Ling charged toward the spot where the attack had come from. But he did not even glimpse the attacker. All that remained was a crawling trail.
"Judging from this wide but shallow trail, this Soul Beast must have a flat body, and it has scales.
"As expected. A Sharp-Scale Serpent."
Wu Ling had read about Sharp-Scale Serpents in books. They were snake-type Soul Beasts roughly one meter long with flat bodies. Their defining trait was that their bodies were covered in scales. Unlike normal scales that grew along the body, theirs grew against the grain, allowing them to fire the scales out to attack prey. Combined with their extreme speed and a body color similar to Blue Silver Grass, they were unquestionable killers in the grass.
Once he understood his opponent, the battle became much simpler. Wu Ling blocked the Sharp-Scale Serpent's scale attacks while searching for its position.
"Sharp-Scale Serpent scales are sharp and hard, but as a snake, it has no poison. I can safely touch the scales with my body.
"As for its weaknesses, it has two. The first is the common vital point of snakes. There, it has its only normal scale, and the flesh is very soft.
"The second is the number of scales. Unless a Sharp-Scale Serpent reaches ten thousand years, it needs at least a day to regrow a full body of scales. This one is at most a little over nine hundred years old, not even one thousand.
"In other words, as long as I can endure until it runs out of ammunition, I win.
"The problem is that ordinary Sharp-Scale Serpents retreat if they fire about two-thirds of their scales and still fail to kill their prey. That does not suit my goal.
"Since you chose to attack me and failed to kill me, you need to pay the price for failure."
After settling on a plan, Wu Ling grinned. He had been counting the scales, and the number was about right.
In the breeze, three more scales shot toward Wu Ling. But now that he was used to them, he did not even dodge. He charged straight forward.
Wu Ling used exquisite sword technique to block the attack. When he was three meters from the attack point, he stopped.
With a wave of his right hand, a bottle of strong liquor appeared in his grasp.
It was the apprenticeship gift Bibi Dong had given him, an essential item for every transmigrator: a storage ring with a full thirty cubic meters of space.
In the next instant, Wu Ling knocked open the bottle and splashed high-proof liquor over the area ahead.
"Before a Soul Beast reaches ten thousand years, the scales of a Sharp-Scale Serpent are both its advantage and its weakness. Besides the limited number of scales, every place where a scale has been fired loses its defense, leaving tender flesh exposed.
"And snakes are cold by nature. If strong liquor is poured on exposed flesh..."
Hiss!
Just as Wu Ling expected, the Sharp-Scale Serpent cried out in pain under the liquor's sting. When Wu Ling walked over, it was still writhing in agony and had no ability to fight back.
Without looking at it for long, Wu Ling ended its life with one sword stroke.
"Looks like I have a late-night snack tonight."