After returning to Steel Armor Shelter, Chen Yu could not calm his thoughts.
The grey-black orb inside his Sea of Consciousness continued floating silently like a dormant existence.
The absorbed beast soul had completely disappeared.
No matter how many times he checked, the result remained the same.
The Hōgyoku had absorbed it.
The next morning, Chen Yu left the shelter once again.
This time, his purpose was simple.
Testing.
Several hours later, he discovered another ordinary creature hiding near dry bushes.
A Ragged White Rabbit.
Although harmless-looking, sanctuary creatures were far more dangerous than Earth animals.
The rabbit suddenly fled after noticing him.
Chen Yu immediately chased after it and threw his knife forward.
The blade pierced the creature's body.
Moments later, the familiar notification appeared.
[Ordinary Creature: Ragged White Rabbit killed.]
[Beast Soul discovered.]
A faint beast soul floated out from the corpse.
But before Chen Yu could react—
the soul suddenly transformed into grey light and disappeared into his body once again.
His consciousness entered the dark sea instantly.
Inside the Sea of Consciousness, the cracked grey-black orb absorbed the beast soul silently.
The process could not be stopped.
Chen Yu observed carefully this time.
The orb became slightly brighter after absorption.
Very slightly.
But the change existed.
After leaving the Sea of Consciousness, Chen Yu remained silent for a long time.
Then he slowly reached a conclusion.
Only the creature's killer could obtain the beast soul.
And whenever he became the owner of a beast soul…
the Hōgyoku would absorb it automatically.
He later spent several hours secretly observing other hunters.
When others killed creatures, nothing happened.
No absorption.
No reaction.
The Hōgyoku only responded to beast souls that belonged to him.
Unfortunately…
he also discovered something worse.
He could not control the absorption process at all.