In truth, Longtian knew that his Sea of Consciousness hadn’t actually changed.
It remained an endless, misty expanse.
What had changed was his heart—or rather, he had successfully grasped the basics of the Secret Skill.
“This is the prototype of the Soul Chain.
As expected, using the Sea of Consciousness as a canvas leads to success.
Now, I need to carve runes onto it.
These runes are the most crucial part,” Longtian thought.
Soul Runes were the foundation of the Soul Chain.
Only with runes would the Soul Chain possess a will.
This will could belong to the chain itself, or it could be imposed by Longtian.
Its primary purpose was to subdue beasts.
The Soul Runes were incredibly difficult to understand.
The tadpole-like, pictorial symbols made Longtian’s head spin.
Fortunately, he didn’t need to comprehend their meaning; he just needed to trace their shapes.
Every time Longtian drew a rune, the power of his Sea of Consciousness was consumed.
Since it was his first time carving them, this phenomenon was perfectly normal.
Once he mastered this Secret Skill, the Soul Chain would form at a single thought.
The first step was always the hardest.
Longtian spent a full day carving before finally completing the Soul Chain.
By now, his Sea of Consciousness contained a massive chain covered in eerie runes.
“I’ve finally grasped the basics.”
Longtian’s face was as pale as if he had overindulged in physical vices.
Yet, to his surprise, he discovered that his Sea of Consciousness seemed to have expanded significantly once again.
“It seems Spirit Secret Skills are incredibly beneficial for expanding the Sea of Consciousness.
I’ll take a short rest, then head out to see if this Secret Skill is actually useful or not.”
The Secret Skill stated there was a certain probability of capturing a beast up to Tier Three above one’s own Cultivation, but Longtian didn’t know exactly what that probability was.
He could only test it out himself.
After resting for two hours, Longtian finally recovered.
“Soul Control Skill, can you let me capture an Eighth-tier Beast?
I can hardly wait.”
The mere thought of having an Eighth-tier Beast as a pet made Longtian’s blood boil.
With a Tier Eight pet, he could walk unopposed among the younger generation of Flying Horse Village.
Unfortunately, this Soul Control Skill could only be used once per Grand Realm.
However, this also indirectly proved how extraordinary the skill was.
How many Secret Skills existed on the continent?
And how many of them could be used by Cultivators of any Realm?
The nighttime Wilderness Forest was exceptionally eerie.
An occasional beast’s roar echoing through the woods was enough to make a timid person wet their pants in fear.
In the forest, Longtian did his best to conceal his aura, making his way step by step into the depths of the Wilderness Forest.
The deeper he went, the easier it was to encounter High-tier beasts.
To prevent the High-tier beasts from catching his scent, Longtian threw all caution to the wind and smeared beast dung all over his body.
“A Green-eyed Monkey.
A Sixth Rank Beast.
Its Level is too low; I have no interest in capturing it.
“A Flying Mantis.
A Seventh Rank Beast.
I can’t let it spot me.
The moment it discovers me, I’m dead.”
Along the way, Longtian ran into dozens of High-tier beasts, but he didn’t spot a single Eighth-tier Beast.
Fortunately for him, none of the beasts noticed him either.
“Hmm?
An Eighth-tier Beast…
a Wind Chasing Leopard.”
Longtian stopped in his tracks, his gaze burning as he stared out of the woods at a lithe and powerful leopard resting atop the weeds.
The leopard was entirely white and about a meter long.
Wind-like patterns ran across its entire body, giving it an intense air of mystery.
“So badass.
If I had such a majestic beast as a mount, think of how many lovestruck girls in Flying Horse Village I’d attract!
It’s decided—I’m choosing you!
“However, I can’t be hasty.
I need to figure out an escape route first.
That way, if the capture fails, I won’t end up losing my life here,” Longtian reasoned.
“God is truly helping me.
This Hu Po is enough for me to escape with my life.
If I fail to capture it, I’ll dive into the Hu Po immediately.”
With his retreat planned, Longtian quietly crept toward the Wind Chasing Leopard.
As the distance closed, the leopard seemed to sense something.
It turned its head toward Longtian’s location and sniffed the air.
Longtian lay flat on the ground, not daring to breathe.
Only when the Wind Chasing Leopard rested its head back on the weeds did he slowly resume his advance.
“Five meters.
This is the absolute limit of how close I can get.
From here, I can throw the Soul Chain.
This spot is perfect; there’s a large boulder right in front blocking me.
Even if the Wind Chasing Leopard knows it’s being attacked, it won’t be able to pinpoint my location right away.”
Just to be safe, Longtian gripped a pebble in his hand.
He forcefully hurled it in another direction.
Only then did he cast the Soul Chain—which had already taken shape in his Sea of Consciousness—at the Wind Chasing Leopard.
A Spiritual Attack was formless, meaning the Wind Chasing Leopard wouldn’t notice anything amiss at all—until it was hit!
“Succeed, it has to succeed!”
Longtian felt a mix of nervous tension and burning anticipation.
An Eighth-tier Beast!
How incredibly badass would that be?!
A second later, a sudden beast’s roar rang out.
The Soul Control Skill’s attack had landed.
This was the furious roar of the Wind Chasing Leopard realizing it was under attack.
The Wind Chasing Leopard was now enraged.
Its soul had just been struck, and it felt as though something was trying to forcibly bind it.
It had clearly been attacked.
Fueled by fury, its originally one-meter-long body expanded to two meters in length as it entered a combat state.
At the same time, it whipped its head around, desperately trying to find its attacker.
At this moment, the pebble Longtian had thrown earlier landed a hundred meters away.
The clatter of it hitting the ground caused the Wind Chasing Leopard to instantly sprint toward the noise.
“Now’s my chance—run!”
Longtian knew his first Soul Control Skill had failed.
Two seconds after the pebble landed and the Wind Chasing Leopard chased after it, he quickly scrambled to his feet and bolted.
Simultaneously, the second Soul Chain he had been carving in his mind was already half-finished.
“ROAR!”
Upon reaching the spot, the Wind Chasing Leopard realized it was just a pebble.
Hearing a commotion behind it, it let out a furious roar and charged after Longtian.
Its speed was terrifyingly fast.
In merely the time it took to take a single breath, it appeared a mere three meters behind him.
“Holy crap, it’s so fast!
Good thing I prepared in advance, otherwise you’d swallow me in one bite!
But now, you won’t get to eat me.
Have another taste of my Soul Control Skill!” Longtian yelled, unleashing his second attack.
The Wind Chasing Leopard felt its spirit come under attack once again.
Its body stalled, and its eyes visibly glazed over.
In that split second, Longtian leaped into the Hu Po, hiding himself within its depths.
By the time the Wind Chasing Leopard regained its senses, all it could do was roar furiously at the Hu Po.
“Damn it, thankfully I threw that pebble to create a diversion.
Otherwise, I would have been the Wind Chasing Leopard’s dinner by now!
“Just what exactly is this ‘certain probability’ the Soul Control Skill mentioned?
Seventy percent?
Fifty percent?
Or is it less than ten percent?
Two Soul Control Skills actually failed.
It seems an Eighth-tier Beast isn’t so easily tamed,” Longtian cursed inwardly.
He began swimming toward the opposite bank of the Hu Po.
It was a good thing he was a Cultivator; otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the stamina to make it across.
Pulling himself ashore, Longtian looked down at his dripping wet body and was suddenly struck by a startling realization.
“Crap!
A lot of the beast scent on me was washed off.
Run!
I have to run right now!”
Longtian’s ability to conceal his aura was only effective against beasts up to Tier Six; he simply couldn’t hide from Seventh Rank and Eighth-tier Beasts.
He was absolutely certain that many of these higher-tier beasts had already caught his scent.
His decision was incredibly wise.
At this very moment, several beasts had indeed caught his scent, including the Wind Chasing Leopard that was still searching for him along the edge of the Hu Po.
Five minutes later, the previously quiet Wilderness Forest suddenly became lively.
Beastly roars echoed one after another as quite a few High-tier beasts caught the scent of a human.
They were furious.
Someone actually dared to trespass on their territory?
They were simply courting death!
Meanwhile, in a patch of woods, Longtian sprinted for his life while cursing, “Motherfucker!
I’m just passing through minding my own business, is there really a need to chase me like this?”
Behind Longtian, three beasts were in hot pursuit.
The closest was a Seventh Rank Beast, followed by two Eighth-tier Beasts.
The Eighth-tier Beast bringing up the rear was terrifyingly fast, moving like a gust of wind as it rapidly closed the distance.
It was none other than the Wind Chasing Leopard, which had tracked his scent the entire way.
Longtian wanted to cry but had no tears to shed.
In a moment of impulse, he had tried to tame an Eighth-tier Beast.
Now, not only had he failed to capture it, but whether he could even keep his life was a massive question mark.
“This is lethal.
This damn Soul Control Secret Skill is going to get me killed!”
Despite his complaints, Longtian hadn’t given up.
The third Soul Chain had already taken shape in his mind.
He was prepared to attack whoever got closest.
If he managed to capture one, it could buy him enough time to save his little life.
ROAR!
ROAR!
The beastly roars drew closer and closer.
The Seventh Rank Beast was only ten meters away from Longtian, and that gap was closing rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, the Seventh Rank Beast was less than three meters away.
Just as Longtian was about to throw out his Soul Control Skill, he heard a furious roar from the Wind Chasing Leopard that had caught up behind them.
Immediately following the roar, the Seventh Rank Beast ceased its pursuit.
The Wind Chasing Leopard used the oppressive might of a higher-tier beast to suppress the Seventh Rank Beast.
It was glaringly obvious that it wanted to personally kill the human who had attacked it.
“Son of a bitch, I’m dead meat now!
This Wind Chasing Leopard is way too fast!”
Even among Eighth-tier Beasts, the Wind Chasing Leopard’s attack power and speed were considered top-tier.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been able to overtake the other Eighth-tier Beast.
The Wind Chasing Leopard’s ferocious visage rapidly expanded in Longtian’s line of sight.
With a powerful leap, it lunged at Longtian with its jaws wide open, looking entirely prepared to tear him to shreds.
“Damn it, you dare roar at me?!
Come on, then!
Either you submit to me, or you eat me!
I’m going all out—Soul Control Skill!”
As he threw out the third Soul Control Skill, Longtian’s face instantly turned ghastly pale.
Three uses of the Soul Control Skill were his absolute limit.
The Wind Chasing Leopard leaped high into the air, its massive body blotting out the moonlight.
Its long fangs glinted coldly as it plummeted straight down toward Longtian.
“Fuck.
I’m done for!
I can’t believe I’m going to die in the jaws of a beast.”
Seeing that his attack had no effect, Longtian fell into despair.
He had absolutely no doubt that the Wind Chasing Leopard’s razor-sharp teeth would snap his neck in a single bite.
However, the tragic scene he envisioned didn’t occur.
The Wind Chasing Leopard merely pinned him to the ground, its sharp fangs stopping just inches from his throat.
“Huh?
What’s going on?”
Just as Longtian was struck with confusion, the Wind Chasing Leopard stepped off his body.
It turned its head to face the other Eighth-tier Beast that had caught up, arching its back as it assumed a combat stance.
At the exact same time, a sudden surge of willpower transmitted into Longtian’s mind—it was a will to protect.
The will originated from the Wind Chasing Leopard.
It was determined to protect its master.
At the critical juncture of life and death, the third Soul Control Skill had succeeded.