A mercenary group naturally had the appearance of a mercenary group.
Wu Qianming, the assault type Soul Master and the team's tank, who was short, stocky, and honest with his Adamantine Savage Bear spirit, walked at the front.
Since the last time he opened his mouth and was sprayed with venom, nearly dying, he now kept his mouth tightly shut every time he stepped into the forest, fearing a repeat incident.
Beside him was Tian Wenlong, the leader of the mercenary group. Also an assault type Soul Master, his Long-Tusked Elephant spirit made him thick-skinned and tough, making him an excellent pathfinder.
The only woman in the team, the agile assault type Great Soul Master Zhu Qiaoqiao, was positioned on the left flank.
She was gentle with others and particularly caring towards Zhao Liuyun.
On the right was Bai Feng, an agile assault type Soul Master with the Water-Treading Deer spirit. He appeared weak and easy to bully, but his pair of antlers gleamed coldly, and his charges possessed astonishing power.
The tall, thin Fang Rui, whose spirit was the Azure Gale Tiger and who had once almost been disciplined for falling asleep while on night watch, served as the free agent.
He occupied a position between assault and agile assault, ready to provide support to all sides at any moment.
Bringing up the rear was Wu Xu, an assault type Great Soul Master whose spirit was the Red-Haired Great Ape and who resembled a savage.
He was the rearguard.
Ye Ye, the young man whose spirit was the Bald Eagle, couldn't fly yet, but his first spirit skill, Eagle Eye, gave him exceptional eyesight. He usually climbed trees to scout, observing movements from above the forest.
Zhao Liuyun, as the strategist and control type Soul Master, was naturally placed in the center of the team, protected by everyone. He only needed to calmly issue commands and then choose the right moment to release his spirit skills.
This was an extremely efficient team composition.
The group slowly ventured deeper into the Spirit Hunting Forest, beginning their search for a suitable spirit beast.
The Moonlit Gloom is a plant-type tool spirit. Logically, the most suitable spirit beast should be a plant-type spirit attribute spirit beast.
Plant-type spirit beasts are not uncommon in the forest, but most act based on instinct.
It would be fine if one only sought attributes inherently possessed by plants, such as toughness, venom, pollen, or vitality.
But spiritual power...
Below ten thousand years of cultivation, it is difficult for plant-type spirit beasts to cultivate a soul as powerful as their animal-type counterparts.
This is an inherent flaw!
Even now, when spirit beast resources are relatively abundant, spirit beasts with strong spiritual power are still rare.
Not to mention plant-type spirit beasts with strong spiritual power...
Zhao Liuyun remembered that the Demonic Eyed Devil Tree once nurtured the ferocious beast, the King of Ten Thousand Beasts.
However, that was entirely thanks to the Immortal Herb, which qualitatively enhanced its physique, attributes, and potential.
Essentially, the Demonic Eyed Devil Tree was still just a relatively rare high-level plant-type spirit beast, not a top-tier one.
It also possessed the inherent flaw of plant-type spirit beasts: the difficulty in nurturing a soul and a congenital deficiency.
While spiritual power was its basic attribute, its early methods were primarily centered on venom. It would take at least ten thousand years of cultivation for its spiritual power to become formidable.
Zhao Liuyun wasn't demanding to encounter the most perfect spirit beast; he only hoped to find a relatively suitable one.
As long as the mechanism was ingenious, he could compensate for the numerical values himself.
This was different from how the Blue Silver Grass would inherit the toughness of animal-type spirit beasts at a discount.
Spiritual power is a fundamental attribute derived from the soul; it is common to all sentient beings!
The Moonlit Gloom was extremely beautiful. Although it had never appeared in the Soul Master world, its detached and ethereal appearance indicated that it was a top-tier or high-level spirit itself.
Zhao Liuyun didn't expect the spirit to evolve; perhaps not even an Immortal Herb could make it evolve.
He only sought to boost its innate talent, speed up the rate at which the [Soul Master] Class gained experience, and then use the power of the spirit rings to compensate for the weakness of his physical body!
...
The group searched in the Spirit Hunting Forest for three days.
They encountered quite a few spirit beasts, but only one spirit attribute beast: a Phantom Spirit Bird.
Its cultivation year was around seven hundred years, which was exactly what Zhao Liuyun needed.
But the bird was flying high in the sky, a height Zhao Liuyun could not reach.
And without knowing its nest location, and to guard against potential hidden dangers in the forest, the group could only slowly explore forward, following the general direction.
...
"Damn it, this feathered bastard flies too fast! Which corner did it run off to?"
The one cursing was Ye Ye, the scout who frequently had to climb trees to find observation points.
His tone carried undisguised exhaustion.
When there was no combat, he was the one who worked the hardest.
He had to frequently ascend and descend and also constantly guard against dangers that might be lurking in the branches.
"How about we take a break first?" Zhu Qiaoqiao, the Leopard spirit master, suggested softly, her voice gentle.
Tian Wenlong wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded in agreement:
"Spirit beasts with strong spiritual power are hard to find. Everyone, let's eat something and catch our breath."
"Alright!"
"A break, a break~"
Everyone checked their surroundings and found a relatively clean clearing to rest.
The terrain in the spirit beast forest was undulating and difficult to traverse. Ye Ye, the scout, wasn't the only one tired; everyone was weary from walking.
Taking a rest would help them recover.
This was to prevent being ambushed by a spirit beast that might suddenly dart out from nowhere.
Among the experiences Tian Wenlong had shared with Zhao Liuyun, many mercenary groups were defeated by ambushes encountered after they were physically exhausted and their combat power was greatly diminished.
Zhao Liuyun also felt tired, but with a slight vibration of his soul power, his fatigue dissipated faster than the others.
He sat on a massive tree root.
He drank some water and ate some dry rations.
"I apologize for the trouble," Zhao Liuyun said, releasing his spirit. A faint floral fragrance permeated the air, soothing the slightly irritable mood of the group.
Zhu Qiaoqiao covered her mouth and smiled: "No trouble at all, this is nothing."
Wu Xu, the Red-Haired Great Ape spirit master with abundant body hair, took a big bite of jerky and agreed heartily: "What's this fatigue? The one that took six or seven days to find last time was the real torture."
"Right, Liuyun, why be so polite with us?" Bai Feng, the Water-Treading Deer spirit master, was timid by nature and usually just echoed the others, never actively speaking.
"Liuyun, I'm the most tired. My eyes are about to go blurry," Ye Ye plopped down beside him, rubbing his sore eyes as he complained half-jokingly.
He continued his jest: "When we go back this time, you have to treat me to a big meal."
"Eat, everyone eat. After we finish the one Uncle Tian is paying for, I'll treat—"
Zhao Liuyun laughed heartily at the words, agreeing readily.
But before he could finish, his body suddenly tightened, and a chilling coldness crawled up his spine.
"Something's wrong!"
He abruptly stood up, his spirit appearing in his hand, entering a state of readiness.
The Acuity perception granted by [Perception] fully awakened at this moment.
[Battle Instinct] had been triggered!
A dangerous aura spread like a spiderweb, but he couldn't pinpoint its source.
"Danger?" Wu Qianming, the tank, jumped up immediately. With his Adamantine Savage Bear possession, his beast eyes glared fiercely.
"What happened?"
The tall, thin Fang Rui hadn't been resting but was already on alert.
The moment Zhao Liuyun spoke, he immediately activated his spirit possession.
"I sense danger, but I can't locate it." This made everyone frown.
"I'll scout from the trees." Ye Ye didn't say another word, his figure lightly leaping up the tree like a monkey.
"It is not advisable to stay here long," Zhao Liuyun said in a deep voice.
Tian Wenlong made an immediate decision:
"Alright, once Eagle Boy returns, we will—!"
"Hnngh, hnn...gh..."
A bizarre gasping sound came from above, hoarse and intermittent.
This sound was all too familiar to the spirit hunting mercenaries—
It was the desperate sound of gasping as blood poured into the windpipe when the throat was pierced by a sharp weapon.
The group looked up in horror.
They saw a sharp, black-and-red-gradient spider leg pierce Ye Ye's neck like a spear, pinning him against the tree trunk.
Fresh blood trickled down the bark, and life dissipated in an instant.
"Brother Ye!"
Ye Ye was honest and not adept at socializing, often telling cold jokes that no one responded to.
In the mercenary group, only Zhao Liuyun occasionally indulged him with a bored laugh.
"Eagle Boy!"
"Little Ye!"