Soul Land: Full Body Martial Soul

After entering the Sunset Forest, Yang Xiong became extremely cautious and alert.

The Sunset Forest was renowned as one of the three major spirit beast forests, containing exceptionally rich spirit beast resources. Although it might not harbor 100,000-year spirit beasts, it still contained numerous high-level spirit beasts of considerable power.

In particular, the Sunset Forest covered a vast territory. While it wasn't as massive as the Star Dou Great Forest, it still stretched hundreds of kilometers in diameter, and its depths remained shrouded in mystery. Several spirit beasts with seventy to eighty thousand years of cultivation dwelled within its boundaries.

One must understand that a spirit beast with 80,000 years of cultivation possessed strength nearly equivalent to a top-tier Spirit Douluo, making it an ideal ninth spirit ring for any Spirit Master. Such creatures could be described as extraordinarily powerful.

Recently, Yang Xiong had carefully studied detailed maps of the Sunset Forest and gained a general understanding of the entire region's layout and dangers.

However, when he truly entered the Sunset Forest, he finally comprehended the genuine terror that spirit beast forests represented.

The ground appeared to be covered with various wild grasses and vegetation, with only some faint, barely visible paths winding through the undergrowth.

Different types of trees emerged endlessly throughout the landscape—tall and short, thick and thin—all appearing full of vibrant life force. Although they weren't necessarily spirit beasts themselves, their age was clearly considerable, suggesting they had absorbed spiritual energy over many years.

Nevertheless, the Sunset Forest proved exceptionally dangerous in ways Yang Xiong hadn't fully anticipated. Spirit beasts would frequently dart out from among the numerous weeds and dense vegetation without warning. If Yang Xiong's own perception abilities hadn't been fairly well-developed, he would probably have fallen victim to easy ambushes multiple times already.

Given the Sunset Forest's terrifying environment, a normal person's walking speed became extremely slow. Even for a Spirit Master like Yang Xiong, who possessed enhanced physical capabilities, he probably couldn't cover more than ten kilometers in an entire day.

Yang Xiong would quickly hide whenever he detected a spirit beast in the vicinity, as sustaining injuries while fighting spirit beasts deep in the forest represented a major taboo that could prove fatal.

In just half a day of careful travel, Yang Xiong encountered seven or eight thousand-year spirit beasts, along with even more numerous hundred-year spirit beasts. Moreover, these spirit beast varieties were much more diverse than those found near the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's protected territories, but that diversity also meant significantly greater danger.

In particular, Yang Xiong encountered a thousand-year Iron Bone Snake that proved especially treacherous. This Iron Bone Snake had hidden itself perfectly within the tall grass, completely concealing its entire body's aura. It showed no spirit power fluctuations or temperature variations, making it virtually undetectable—a perfect predator lying in wait.

When Yang Xiong passed by the seemingly innocent patch of vegetation, the snake suddenly launched a vicious attack from a distance of only five meters, startling Yang Xiong considerably despite his heightened alertness.

With such a close-range surprise attack from a thousand-year spirit beast, an ordinary Spirit Master would have no chance to dodge successfully, and even a Spirit Grand Master could be easily killed by such tactics.

Yang Xiong felt a violent impact strike his body with tremendous force, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood. It felt as though his bones were about to fall apart completely, and he suspected that several ribs might actually be fractured from the initial collision.

At the critical moment, Yang Xiong activated his movement technique and instantly teleported away dozens of meters from the attack site.

Unfortunately, this particular Iron Bone Snake reacted with extreme speed and began chasing after Yang Xiong at an astonishing pace. When moving at full velocity, its speed even exceeded that of someone who had recently entered the Spirit Grand Master realm, clearly indicating that this was an Iron Bone Snake that had surpassed two thousand years of cultivation.

Yang Xiong gritted his teeth against the pain and allowed spirit power fluctuations to appear across his back and ribs. Suddenly, a massive turtle shell with a diameter of two meters emerged and expanded around him. Yang Xiong's entire body became completely enclosed within the protective shell. This was precisely Yang Xiong's external spirit bone—the Mysterious Dark Armor.

The Mysterious Dark Armor possessed two distinct methods of utilization. It could transform into an enormous turtle shell to protect his entire body, with multiple layers of shell wrapping around him completely, making him appear like a massive turtle withdrawn into its protective casing.

Originally, the Mysterious Dark Armor had been only five hundred years old when Yang Xiong first obtained it, but after several years of careful cultivation and enhancement, the Mysterious Dark Armor had successfully reached the thousand-year level of power.

This Iron Bone Snake measured less than ten meters in total length, with a diameter of only forty centimeters. When faced with the huge turtle shell spanning two meters in diameter, it suddenly found itself without any effective method of attack.

Considering the Mysterious Dark Armor's incredibly powerful defensive capabilities, not merely a thousand-year Iron Bone Snake, but even a thousand-year Titan Giant Ape would struggle to break through its protection.

Furthermore, given the enormous size of the Mysterious Dark Armor in its defensive configuration, it would be physically impossible for the Iron Bone Snake to swallow it whole, let alone attempt to digest such a massive object.

According to Yang Xiong's careful estimations, spirit beasts below ten thousand years of cultivation should be completely unable to damage the Mysterious Dark Armor significantly, unless they happened to be exceptionally powerful top-tier specimens with special abilities.

One must understand that in terms of the Mysterious Dark Turtle's legendary defensive capabilities, even opponents from a major realm higher might not be able to kill it easily. Yang Xiong's Mysterious Dark Armor essentially replicated the Mysterious Dark Turtle's formidable defensive properties perfectly. Turtles represented the ultimate pinnacle of defensive evolution among spirit beasts. The turtle shell could cover the entire body without leaving any vulnerable spots exposed, and could withstand dozens or even hundreds of times its own weight in crushing force. The Mysterious Dark Turtle stood at the absolute peak among turtle-type spirit beasts.

The Mysterious Dark Armor possessed two distinct states when activated, along with additional defensive spirit skills that could be triggered. If it weren't for the fact that fighting while carrying a turtle shell appeared somewhat undignified, it would definitely represent the most ideal defensive spirit bone available. When it eventually reached the ten thousand-year level in the future, Yang Xiong suspected he would be able to traverse the entire Sunset Forest without fear.

The Iron Bone Snake examined the huge turtle shell before it and clearly didn't want to abandon the potential meal that had appeared so temptingly close. Its pair of razor-sharp fangs bit down hard on the Mysterious Dark Armor's surface, but the entire protective shell remained completely motionless and unaffected.

The Iron Bone Snake even wrapped its entire muscular body around the Mysterious Dark Armor, apparently attempting to crush the protective shell using the combined strength of its full body coiling. Unfortunately for the predator, the Mysterious Dark Armor still remained completely unmoved by these efforts.

The Iron Bone Snake struggled persistently for nearly half an hour, testing various approaches and attack angles, but found itself completely helpless when faced with this impenetrable turtle shell defense. Finally, frustrated and exhausted, it had no choice but to slither away in search of easier prey.

Yang Xiong, who had been hiding safely inside the Mysterious Dark Armor throughout the entire encounter, had initially felt extremely worried about the outcome. However, he breathed a deep sigh of relief when he realized that the Iron Bone Snake truly had no effective way to harm him through his defensive measures.

After carefully confirming that the Iron Bone Snake had completely departed from the area and was no longer lurking nearby, Yang Xiong retracted the Mysterious Dark Armor and quickly left the dangerous location behind.

This represented the first time Yang Xiong had faced potentially fatal danger since entering the Sunset Forest. Fortunately, he possessed reliable life-saving methods and equipment. Otherwise, an ordinary Spirit Grand Master would have perished long ago under similar circumstances.

If the dangers during daylight hours remained visible to the naked eye and somewhat predictable, then during nighttime, the entire Sunset Forest transformed into something resembling a terrifying beast that seemed intent on devouring all humans who dared to venture into its domain.

Vision became severely limited after dark. Many spirit beasts with dark attribute abilities could completely hide their spirit power fluctuations, making detection nearly impossible. It could be said that spirit beast forests at night transformed into genuine hunting grounds where predators held every advantage.

Yang Xiong directly excavated a small cave for shelter and filled the surrounding area with feces from high-level spirit beasts, which could effectively deter some weaker spirit beasts from approaching his temporary refuge.

Throughout the entire night, Yang Xiong remained in a state of nervous tension. Far from being able to sleep peacefully, he couldn't even concentrate properly on meditation practice. After all, the spirit beasts inhabiting the forest possessed strange and bizarre abilities. If he truly encountered a spirit beast attack during his rest, he would need to respond immediately and effectively. This was especially important because certain spirit beasts in the forest could launch devastating mental attacks. Even the slightest moment of carelessness could result in fatal consequences.

The first day proved to be the most tense and frightening experience Yang Xiong had endured. This marked the first time since childhood that Yang Xiong had lived in such a genuinely dangerous environment. Fortunately, Yang Xiong's mental maturity extended far beyond that of a typical eleven-year-old boy. Otherwise, he would never have been able to withstand this level of constant mental strain and pressure.

Moreover, one of Yang Xiong's primary purposes in venturing into the spirit beast forest was specifically to train and develop his abilities within this dangerous environment. Every experienced person understood that Spirit Masters could only achieve true growth when facing genuine danger and adversity.

Over the following several days, Yang Xiong gradually adapted to the challenging living conditions within the Sunset Forest. At this point, Yang Xiong felt extremely grateful that he had practiced distraction control techniques in advance, enabling him to maintain awareness of his external environment while simultaneously continuing his cultivation practice.

The turtle shell defensive technique wouldn't need to be used excessively in the future, and as his skills developed further, he would eventually evolve beyond relying on such measures. Only then would his combat abilities become truly perfect and complete.

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