"When battle armor emerged thousands of years ago, humanity's strength surged. Soul beasts were suppressed and hunted en masse. Today, most of the forest is under human control, but the territories of the Great Beasts remain untouched."

Alfred's tone darkened slightly.

"I have never entered those territories myself, but it is said that powerful Battle Armor Masters who ventured inside never returned. They are among the few true forbidden zones left on the continent."

Ray's heart tightened as he listened.

"Soul beasts above one hundred thousand years can assume human form," Alfred continued. "If we pushed them too far, they would abandon their territories and wage guerrilla warfare across the continent. Thus, an unspoken agreement exists. We do not invade their lands, and they do not attack humanity."

Ray frowned. "Then what about the other soul beasts?"

Alfred sighed softly. "They are nearly extinct. That is why the Spirit Tower holds such immense authority. Artificial spirit souls are now the primary method for obtaining soul rings. Natural spirit souls are exceedingly rare."

"Without soul beasts, direct acquisition of soul rings has almost disappeared."

"Then… are soul beasts really going extinct?" Ray asked quietly.

"Yes," Alfred replied. "And that may not be a good thing."

"While battle armor greatly increases a Soul Master's power, we are lacking compared to the Soul Masters of the past. Artificial spirit souls differ fundamentally from natural ones. Worse still, the extinction of soul beasts will inevitably cause ecological collapse."

He paused.

"Research already shows that fewer people awaken with soul power compared to several centuries ago. If soul beasts vanish completely, Soul Masters may follow. That is the price of breaking the natural balance."

Ray felt a chill run through him.

Alfred continued, "The elementary spirit ascension platform corresponds to the forest's outer region, where soul beasts rarely exceed a thousand years."

"This," he said, gesturing around them, "is the middle region. Thousand-year soul beasts are common here, and even ten-thousand-year ones exist. Such beasts establish territories, lowering population density. That's why we haven't encountered one yet."

"But if we do—"

Alfred stopped abruptly.

A biting cold burst outward as he raised the Skyfrost Sword and pointed ahead.

A thunderous roar shook the forest.

From the shadows emerged a colossal tiger, over one and a half meters tall and more than six meters long.

Its bronze fur was streaked with vivid purple stripes. One eye glowed icy blue, the other burned crimson red. Blue and red wings unfurled from its back, radiating freezing frost and scorching flames.

"Ice Fire Demonic Tiger," Alfred said coldly. "At least four thousand years old."

"No wonder this territory is empty."

He shifted slightly, placing himself between Ray and the beast without taking his eyes off it.

"Protect yourself. Do not interfere. Understood?"

"Yes!" Ray replied instantly.

Ice Fire Demonic Tiger.

Ray remembered the records. It wasn't as brutal as a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, but it rivaled the Man-Faced Demon Spider in threat.

It excelled in both close and long-range combat, wielding ice and fire simultaneously. Its wings allowed short bursts of flight. Legends even claimed that killing one would yield two soul rings, one ice and one fire.

Of course, that didn't apply here, but encountering such a beast still made Ray's blood stir.

The tiger circled them slowly, wings beating as frost and flame flared brighter with each pass.

Alfred stood motionless, rotating calmly to face it at all times.

Ray had already released several strands of Silverfalls Vine, anchoring them to nearby trees. At the slightest danger, he could retreat instantly.

A pungent, oppressive aura washed over him as the distance closed.

Yet instead of fear, excitement surged through Ray's veins.

He was no longer the ignorant boy who first stepped onto the spirit ascension platform.

This was a thousand-year soul beast.

Terrifying. Powerful.

And utterly fascinating.

He knew he stood no chance against it, but that no longer mattered.

With Alfred here, his safety was guaranteed.

All he needed to do now… was watch and learn

Meanwhile, the Ice Fire Demonic Tiger released a thunderous roar, its maw opening wide as a blazing fireball tore through the air toward Alfred. It completely ignored Ray, clearly judging the white-robed swordsman as the true threat.

The fireball expanded rapidly, swelling to nearly a meter in diameter as scorching heat distorted the air around it.

Alfred's soul rings flickered faintly. He stepped forward with his left foot and thrust out the Skyfrost Sword.

The blade erupted in a dazzling sapphire glow.

A streak of sword light shot forth, colliding head-on with the fireball.

There was no violent explosion. The moment the sword light touched the flames, the fireball disintegrated as if erased from existence. Heat and fire were utterly suppressed, unable to resist the freezing sword intent within that single slash.

Ray's heart surged.

This is true strength!

There wasn't the slightest overflow of soul power around Alfred. Everything was perfectly contained, perfectly refined.

Teacher Alfred really does cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Method!

Ray knew better than anyone how terrifying refined soul power could be. Ever since cultivating the method himself, his soul power had grown denser day by day.

But before he could fully revel in that realization, the extinguished fireball suddenly changed.

A blue sheen coated its remnants, compressing them into a half-meter-long icicle.

The icicle exploded.

Millions of razor-sharp ice shards burst outward, raining down in an unavoidable storm.

"Ack" Ray's breath caught.

At such close range, dodging was impossible.

Before he could cry out, Alfred moved.

The Skyfrost Sword blurred into motion as his first soul ring flared.

A crescent arc of icy blue swept outward, annihilating every shard midair. The ice fragments vanished silently, leaving not even a trace behind.

Ray stared in shock.

So this is Teacher Alfred's soul skill…

This was the first time he had ever seen Alfred use one. He had assumed Alfred's soul skills merely enhanced his ice affinity or sharpened his sword.

But this—

This was pure offense.

And terrifyingly precise.

The Ice Fire Demonic Tiger wasted no time. As soon as the attack failed, it lunged forward, its massive body moving with shocking agility, completely betraying its size.

Alfred slashed.

An iceball detonated beneath the tiger just as it reached him. Its wings flared wide, spanning over ten meters as it hovered midair.

Blue frost and crimson flames erupted simultaneously.

A storm descended.

Its wings no longer seemed like flesh and bone but pure light, magnified many times over as waves of ice and fire crashed downward in a devastating barrage.

Ray snapped out of his trance.

This wasn't a battlefield he belonged on.

Silverfalls Vine lashed out, anchoring to nearby trees as golden scales spread across his arm. With a powerful pull, he launched himself away, retreating to safety.

Even as he fled, he saw the raging tempest swallow Alfred whole.

"Teacher!" Ray shouted instinctively, his heart clenching.

Though he knew death here wasn't real, panic still seized him.

Then—

Royal blue light emerged from the chaos.

If the tiger's attack was a violent tide of ice and fire, then this was an unyielding reef.

An arctic-blue cocoon stood firm at the center of the storm.

Alfred.

Ray activated the Purple Demon Eyes.

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