"We found it, Lin-ge, San, this is the Puff Cotton you were looking for!"
Two and a half days later, Xiao Wu—acting as the guide—led Tang San and Xiao Lin to a location in the outskirts of the forest.
Suddenly, Xiao Wu spotted the vibrant and lively Puff Cotton and excitedly shouted.
"Heaven rewards diligence! Good thing I, Xiao Wu, have a good memory and remembered where this Puff Cotton was!"
At this moment, a Puff Cotton about the height of a human crouched lazily on the thin branches of a big tree.
Puff Cotton looked very much like a watermelon. Its outer green flower bud wrapped its entire body, with spinning tendrils around it. Its eyes were located on one side of the flower bud—small, black, beady eyes that didn't seem very useful.
Its actual body inside resembled cotton—fluffy, soft, and very lightweight.
When threatened, Puff Cotton would open its flower bud and ride the wind to escape.
Even if a powerful enemy managed to damage part of its body, it wouldn't stop due to pain. Instead, it would rapidly regenerate its cottony body and keep fleeing.
If a soul beast was only hunting for food, it might be satisfied with the chunk it tore off and wouldn't continue the chase.
Now, looking at the Puff Cotton resting on a large tree, Tang San's eyes lit up.
A rare smile appeared on his usually serious, hardworking face.
Standing about half as tall as a person, and judging by what Lin-ge said, this Puff Cotton must be at least a thousand years old.
Lin-ge also said that the number of spirals on its watermelon-like vines indicates its age—every five spirals reset the direction, and each spiral represents 200 years of cultivation.
Looking now, Tang San saw about two and a half spirals, suggesting that the Puff Cotton was around 1500 years old.
It couldn't be as much as 2500 years—Tang San didn't have that poor of eyesight.
"Perfect. This is the one."
Tang San whispered, then activated his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step to quietly move behind the Puff Cotton.
Before the Puff Cotton even noticed, Tang San had already summoned his martial spirit.
"Blue Silver Bind!"
In an instant, Tang San cast his Blue Silver Grass martial spirit and executed a control technique.
Even though Blue Silver Bind wasn't his first soul skill, his control ability now far exceeded the Tang San from the original timeline.
The resting Puff Cotton suddenly sensed something beneath it.
By the time it opened its eyes, it was already wrapped up tightly by Blue Silver Grass with blue-veined patterns, binding both it and the branch it was resting on.
It couldn't move at all.
Although Puff Cotton was a 1500-year-old soul beast, its combat abilities were poor. Its only hope was to escape by opening its flower bud.
But now? It couldn't even twitch.
Tang San's Blue Silver Grass—though not toxic—had vastly improved vitality. It could keep growing and tightening indefinitely.
Puff Cotton was like a crocodile with its mouth taped shut—its strength almost entirely sealed away, with no chance to escape Tang San's grasp.
Gradually, as the struggles within the Blue Silver cocoon weakened, Tang San began lowering it from the tree.
Connected via Blue Silver Grass, the cocoon descended like a spider spinning its silk.
"San, you better kill it in one strike. Otherwise, its insane regenerative ability might affect the quality of the soul ring."
Xiao Lin reminded him.
Although there was no official saying that torturing a soul beast affects ring quality, he saw no harm in ending the beast's suffering quickly.
Tang San nodded and pulled out a 100-kilogram iron hammer from his soul tool.
The hammer was heavy for him, but with Xuan Tian Gong and Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique, he could still manage a few swings.
And for a weak beast like Puff Cotton, that was more than enough.
BANG!
Tang San smashed the hammer down with full force, right onto the Blue Silver cocoon containing the Puff Cotton.
The force was so great that even Tang San's own body was pulled slightly off balance by the hammer's weight.
As he adjusted his stance and readied for another strike, a faint purple soul ring floated before him.
"Success!"
Tang San beamed. He hadn't expected a single hit to kill the Puff Cotton.
Without even pausing to share the good news, Tang San sat down cross-legged and began absorbing the soul ring.
He kept his mind clear, summoned Blue Silver Grass, and floated it in front of himself.
Then he began using his spiritual power to draw in the soul ring and fuse it into the Blue Silver Grass.
Throughout the lengthy process, Xiao Lin and Xiao Wu stood guard nearby.
Although Xiao Lin didn't believe they were in much danger now, he remained cautious.
At that moment, while Xiao Lin wasn't paying attention, Xiao Wu quietly began accumulating soul power, trying to break past the level 20 bottleneck.
CRACK!
Suddenly, before Tang San finished absorbing the soul ring, a loud cracking sound came from Xiao Wu's direction—it was the sound of a breakthrough.
The surge of soul power slightly changed her physique, a sound Xiao Lin was all too familiar with.
He turned to Xiao Wu and saw her scratching her head awkwardly, forcing a casual smile.
"Lin-ge, I think I just broke through too."
Xiao Wu's breakthrough caught Xiao Lin off guard. Was she about to condense her own soul ring?
Before Xiao Lin could think further—
A terrifying soul power pressure, as heavy as a mountain, suddenly swept over the area.
In moments, the sky above darkened.
Xiao Lin looked up—Xiao Wu had already been grabbed by the Titan Giant Ape.
"Lin-ge, save me!"
Xiao Wu, ever the drama queen, still had the nerve to act pitiful. But Xiao Lin had no idea how to play along anymore.
Watching the Titan Giant Ape capture Xiao Wu, Xiao Lin hesitated.
On one side, there was his brother-like Tang San.
On the other, a possible future sister.
Conflicted emotions crossed Xiao Lin's face.
Save Xiao Wu?
No way—she's safer with the Titan Giant Ape than anywhere else.
Don't save her?
She's the one who led him to the perfect soul beast for Tang San. He owed her that.
This roleplay is killing me!
Xiao Lin roared inwardly, then summoned his Qiu Long Staff.
Activating his second soul ring, a blinding blue light burst from Xiao Lin's body.
SWISH!
When the light faded, only a dark shadow of Xiao Lin remained near Tang San.
His real body had already chased after the Titan Giant Ape.
"Let go of Xiao Wu!"
Xiao Lin shouted hysterically, amazed by his own acting skills.
As for Tang San, Xiao Lin had no intention of truly leaving him undefended.
He was just giving chase for show. Once he realized he couldn't catch up, he'd make a dramatic return to guard Tang San.
(End of Chapter)