"Roar?"
Standing atop the serpent's head, Bai Mu locked eyes with the Vajra Tiger. Its golden pupils flickered with vigilance.
Its muscles tensed, yet it didn't attack immediately.
Because… something felt wrong.
The human before it didn't give off an especially powerful aura, but the aggression in his gaze was unmistakable. More importantly, the presence of the two massive serpents beneath him made the tiger deeply uneasy. The dragon pressure emanating from them caused its beast soul to tremble.
After a brief struggle, it made a decision that went against its ancestral instincts.
White light suddenly erupted from its body. Its muscles bulged, and a terrifying aura surged forth, sharply boosting both its attack and defense.
"Diamond Transformation?"
"Perfect. I'll use you to test my strength."
Bai Mu smiled, completely fearless.
"Z2, prepare for battle!"
"Kig~"
The massive white serpent slithered forward, staring down the Vajra Tiger with open provocation, clearly telling it to attack with everything it had.
"ROAR—!"
The Vajra Tiger flew into a rage, unleashing a thunderous roar as it charged straight toward Bai Mu.
"Perfect timing! Use—huh?"
Before Bai Mu could finish speaking, the Vajra Tiger suddenly moved.
Golden light flared around its body. In a flash of white light, it abruptly turned around and fled at full speed.
Heh~
Don't think I'm scared just because you're strong!
Tiger Lord may be invincible, but I'm not in peak condition. I'll spare your life today!
The Vajra Tiger sneered internally, not slowing down for a moment as it burned through its soul power to escape.
Whoosh! Swish!
A fierce gust of wind surged through the forest as a streak of white light flashed past.
In the next instant, a white figure appeared directly in front of the Vajra Tiger.
"ROAR?!"
How is this possible?!
When it saw its opponent clearly, the Vajra Tiger was utterly terrified.
Just as it tried to turn and flee again, Zygarde's tail swung out and smashed straight into its face.
Bang!
The Vajra Tiger's vision spun as its body was sent flying uncontrollably.
"You think you can run? Did you even ask me?"
Riding atop Xiao Ruan, Bai Mu couldn't be bothered with further words and issued the order directly:
"Z2, use Blazing Soul Dance Sonic Boom!"
"Ah—!"
Zygarde moved instantly.
Blinding light erupted from its body as it let out a roar toward the sky and began to dance in place.
The cell-formed scales across its body vibrated violently like a tuning fork, and visible ripples of sound waves spread through the air.
But this was no ordinary sonic attack.
The sound waves condensed into tangible energy surges, carrying terrifying destructive power.
The sonic blast detonated everything in its path as it surged straight toward the Vajra Tiger!
"ROAR—!"
The tiger tried to dodge, but the sound waves had already locked down the surrounding space, making it feel as if it were trapped in thick mud—nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
It could only let out one final roar as golden light burst from its body, condensing into layers of thick, diamond-like shields.
But in front of a Z-Move, all defense is meaningless.
Even Protect can't fully block a Z-Move—let alone a mere reinforced shield!
In the blink of an eye, the purple sonic blast shattered the Vajra Shield and slammed directly into the Vajra Tiger.
"ROAR—!!!"
A piercing scream echoed through the dense forest.
When the light faded, the Vajra Tiger lay collapsed on the ground.
Its body was scorched black, blood poured from its mouth and nose, and the light in its eyes rapidly dimmed.
Instantly defeated.
This was the terrifying power of a Z-Move. Even a soul beast famed for both offense and defense couldn't withstand a single strike while defending at full strength.
"Little tiger, you still have a long way to go."
Bai Mu shook his head and walked forward slowly, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the fallen Vajra Tiger.
Hunting Time!
The moment the ability activated, the Vajra Tiger's remaining lifespan was stripped away.
It transformed into wisps of gray mist and was absorbed into the Eye of Time.
"Not bad. It's grown by a fraction of a second."
Bai Mu could clearly feel the time-flow effect of the Eye of Time increase slightly.
"Let's keep going."
He withdrew his gaze and turned away without hesitation.
As for the Vajra Tiger's corpse? Its spirit rings?
Irrelevant.
After all… he had already taken its share. What more could he possibly want?
Empathy?
Good stuff—go share it with the Eye of Time and the Eight Spider Lances.
What he needed most now was to rapidly increase the amplification of the Eye of Time by hunting high-year soul beasts, while also letting Zygarde adapt to its new power.
The slaughter had only just begun.
The Vajra Tiger was merely the start.
For the next two weeks, Bai Mu launched a frenzied hunt within the Star Dou Great Forest.
A ten-thousand-year Armored Rhinoceros.
A thirty-thousand-year Blazing Lion.
A forty-thousand-year Ice Crystal Python…
Soul beasts that once dominated the forest were as fragile as paper in front of Zygarde's Z-Move, hunted down at will.
Bai Mu's strategy was brutally efficient:
Clone scouts search for targets → Target confirmed → Ride the serpent to the location → Zygarde executes a Z-Move → Hunting buff acquired.
Later on, Bai Mu and Z2 split up to hunt independently.
The soul beasts killed by Z2 were delivered via clones, while Bai Mu personally carried out the final harvest.
This method was absurdly efficient—but it also consumed an enormous amount of soul power.
Fortunately, with Jungle Healing, Bai Mu never lacked endurance.
Still, he was a principled person.
For the sake of sustainable development, he deliberately spared soul beasts with growth rates below ten thousand years per year.
After more than half a month of back-and-forth slaughter, he had "only" killed just over a hundred ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
It could be said he was extremely considerate toward the hardships of the soul beast race.
After plundering another twenty-thousand-year Shadow Leopard King, Bai Mu's Diamond Eye erupted with dazzling brilliance.
When the light faded, the soul bone had completed its first evolution.
"The time-flow influence is… 20%."
Sensing the changes within his domain, Bai Mu smiled.
Twenty percent might not sound high—perhaps even low.
After all, the combined lifespan of the soul beasts he had hunted exceeded five million years.
But—
This 20% was fundamentally different from before.
Previously, within the domain, he could either accelerate or decelerate time—but not both at once.
Now… he could.
What does 20% mean?
Within the time domain, his speed increased by 20%, while his opponent's speed decreased by 20%.
One addition, one subtraction—40% total disparity.
Combined with Zygarde's Glare and Heavy Stomp, even the fastest opponent would become a complete fool in front of him.
In a battle between experts, this was practically a decisive advantage.
Even more terrifying—
This was only the beginning.
The Eye of Time would continue to grow.
"It's just a shame… there doesn't seem to be a discontinuous weakening technique that can resonate with it."
Bai Mu sighed.
Compared to powerful buff moves like Blazing Soul Dance Sonic Boom, most debuff techniques felt rather mediocre.
At least for now, he couldn't think of any strong weakening moves suitable for resonance.
Otherwise, he might have considered adding one later.
"Whatever. It's fine either way."
After sensing the time domain for a while longer, Bai Mu withdrew it.
"That should be enough. Next—"
Just as he was about to move on, a sudden response echoed in his mind.
Eighty miles west, one of his clones had been attacked by a sinister "ghost" during reconnaissance and collapsed instantly.
That eerie figure looked unmistakably like a Human-Faced Demon Spider.