Chapter 2

Liehun Senlin was like a vast marketplace.

Outside the forest, large clusters of buildings—more accurately, shops—had been constructed.

Shouts and calls rose and fell in succession, and most shops sold weapons, armor, and various food supplies.

"Is this Liehun Senlin?"

Zhou Yu stood at the forest's entrance, his heart both excited and tense.

"Yes, that's right!"

Standing beside him was none other than the female official who had overseen his Martial Soul awakening—Si Si.

She had witnessed firsthand his innate full soul power awakening and felt deep sympathy for his plight, so she agreed to his request and came to help him obtain his first Spirit Ring.

As they entered the forest's interior, Si Si asked: "What kind of Spirit Ring do you want to obtain?"

Before this, Zhou Yu had already decided: his martial soul was the Chameleon, lacking offensive capabilities.

Without hesitation, he said: "Sis Si, I want to obtain a Spirit Ring with poison…"

"Poison?"

Si Si, upon hearing this, looked slightly surprised, then praised him: "Your thinking is clear. The Chameleon lacks offensive power; using poison to enhance its attack is a good choice."

Common poison-attribute Spirit Beasts include snakes, spiders, wasps, and so on.

Not long after entering the forest, Si Si spotted a nearly hundred-year-old wasp.

"Zhou Yu, that one!"

Saying this, she immediately released her martial soul—a white flying dove.

Zhou Yu had already seen it during his soul awakening.

Si Si let out a low command: "Flying Dove, Avatar!"

As the words left her lips, a faint white light emanated from her central forehead, traveling upward along her brow and into her hairpin.

Her once glossy black hair instantly turned silver-white, and her eyes became golden-yellow, making her even more alluring.

Simultaneously, a white and a yellow ring of light ignited beneath her feet, circling continuously from her feet to her head.

"First Spirit Skill: Flight."

After Martial Soul Avatar, Si Si activated her First Spirit Skill, and her graceful figure soared upward, darting toward the wasp.

Zhou Yu stared in shock, still not having reacted.

"Is this really how you do it?"

A hundred-year Spirit Beast was already a rare find for an ordinary Soul Scholar.

But Zhou Yu felt a pang of dissatisfaction.

After all, Tang San's first Spirit Ring was a nearly four-hundred-year-old Mandrake Snake.

Compared to that, this hundred-year wasp was clearly inferior.

As a twenty-five-level Great Spirit Master with a hundred-plus-year second Spirit Ring, Si Si had no trouble handling a hundred-year Spirit Beast.

After more than a dozen exchanges, she had severely wounded the wasp; now it was Zhou Yu's turn to deliver the final blow.

As soon as she landed, she drew a dagger gleaming with cold light from her waist and threw it to Zhou Yu: "You finish it!"

Zhou Yu did not dare delay; he caught the dagger firmly, then rushed forward, preparing to kill his first Spirit Beast in life.

At that moment, the dying wasp suddenly flapped its wings violently and emitted a buzzing sound.

"Damn!"

Zhou Yu turned pale—it was the wasp sending a distress signal to nearby companions.

Even if Zhou Yu killed this Spirit Beast now, he would have no time to absorb its Spirit Ring.

While he was stunned, Si Si's warning came from behind: "Zhou Yu, hide quickly!"

Hearing her, Zhou Yu immediately released his martial soul; his body transformed into a lifelike lizard-shaped Spirit Beast.

He swiftly activated his innate ability 【Camouflage】, adjusting his body's color to blend into the surrounding environment.

Though not fully transparent, his true form was nearly impossible to discern with the naked eye.

Meanwhile, several wasps, having received the signal, flew in—among them, one with a massive body.

"That's… the Queen?" Zhou Yu gasped in shock; even the Great Spirit Master Si Si was taken aback.

The Queen, also called the "Mother Bee," was the only female bee in the hive capable of laying eggs; this giant wasp was at least a three-hundred-year Spirit Beast.

Si Si, unable to hide, immediately became the target of the swarm's attack.

Yet, as a Spirit Hall patrol official, her battlefield experience was extensive.

"Zhou Yu, when I attack, use your Chameleon's tongue to strike them."

Hearing Si Si's battle order, Zhou Yu froze.

Although the Chameleon was a natural predator of insects, these were all hundred-year wasps, each as large as an adult's palm.

With no other choice, Zhou Yu gritted his teeth, gripped the dagger tightly, and prepared himself.

After all, she had entered this danger solely to help him obtain a Spirit Ring.

He must fight alongside her, standing shoulder to shoulder.

Just as several wasps surged forward, Si Si shouted: "Now!"

Hearing the command, the Chameleon formed from Zhou Yu's body instantly shot out a tongue several meters long, striking the swarm ahead.

The Queen, positioned at the rear, reacted first, leaping aside to evade the attack.

Yet, the Chameleon's tongue carried sticky mucus of extreme adhesion.

One of the Queen's wings accidentally stuck to the mucus, causing her to lose balance and crash into a nearby tree trunk.

The other wasps, struck by the sudden long tongue, staggered wildly, unable to maintain stability.

Before they could recover, a white figure surged forward.

Si Si's long ten fingers transformed into sharp claws; after several flashes of cold light, a few sparrow wasps fell one by one, crashing to the ground, dead.

Zhou Yu finally understood: although his attack lacked great killing power, it succeeded by being unexpected.

And Si Si had been waiting for this moment; she unleashed her Second Spirit Skill "Claw Strike," killing several sparrow wasps in one blow.

Seeing their companion killed, the wasp queen flew into a rage, frantically flapping her wings and charging at Si Si at full speed.

"Be careful!"

Seeing this, Zhou Yu rushed forward without a thought for his own safety.

But by the time Si Si heard the warning and turned around, it was too late.

She saw the wasp queen assume a stinging posture, preparing to fire a wasp needle from her tail.

At this critical moment, Zhou Yu did not hesitate; he threw the dagger in his hand, which struck the wasp queen's abdomen perfectly, neither missing nor deviating.

Severely wounded, the wasp queen's body instantly staggered; the fatal wasp needle originally aimed at Si Si suddenly changed direction and shot rapidly toward the rushing Zhou Yu.

"Zhou Yu!"

Terrified, Si Si's face lost all color; in her panic, she unleashed her First Spirit Skill again, launching herself forward at high speed to block in front of Zhou Yu.

She quickly turned back, trying to block the wasp needle.

Unfortunately, the wasp needle was too fast; it had already pierced her chest.

Si Si felt a numbness spread through her body, and her frame collapsed onto the ground.

She quickly pulled out the wasp needle, but still could not stop the poison from entering her body.

"Sister Si Si, how are you?"

Seeing the other party injured, Zhou Yu was filled with anxiety and hurried forward to check her wounds.

"The wasp queen's poison is indeed... powerful!"

"It has already... begun spreading through the blood!"

Si Si's face turned deathly pale; looking at the blood seeping from her wound, she knew the situation was dire.

Although the sparrow wasp's poison was not the strongest among poison-attribute Spirit Beasts, it possessed a paralyzing effect and caused severe damage to the body's nerves.

Regarding this, Zhou Yu felt deeply guilty; had he not begged the other party to help hunt the Spirit Beast, she would not have suffered such a grave injury.

Just as he was at a loss, he seemed to think of a certain method.

(End of this chapter)