Chapter 550: Diamond Boar Herd

Chapter 550 - Diamond Boar Herd

Tang Wulin and Gu Yue’s spiritual powers were both in the Spirit Sea realm, so their senses were able to reach as far as a hundred meters away and perceive even the slightest stir in the grass. 

Gu Yue summoned two spheres of wind element in the palm of her hand. With a slight push she infused it into their bodies, boosting their speed. 

Sensing that her mood was back to normal, Tang Wulin finally relaxed a bit. “If we stay until tomorrow morning, then we should have about fifteen hours to spend here. After that, we should pick up the pace and head deeper within the forest.” 

With their current strength, ordinary soul beasts posed no threat to them. Tang Wulin hadn’t even thought of advancing his spirit souls and was here purely to release some stress. Brutally beating some soul beasts would do that for someone.

Tang Wulin’s spiritual power spread like the tendrils of some mighty vine, instantly increasing his range of perception several times. Indeed, he could access the network of shared consciousness of bluesilver grass. While he hadn’t made much progress in his soul power cultivation in the past six months, the same could not be said about his connection with plants. 

Far off in the distance, a light flashed in the air. Tang Wulin immediately leaped after it. But before his fingers could even graze the unknown object, it pulled away in a blur of motion. And off it flew.

“I think it was a bird,” Tang Wulin said when he landed. He had no interest in fighting weak soul beasts. He quickened his pace and they trod further into the forest.

Mere seconds later, something akin to the sound of muffled thunder shook through the trees. It startled Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, but the source of the sound was clearly far away. 

To gather more information of where the sound originated, Tang Wulin dropped down to his belly and pressed his ear to the ground. He silently listened for the voices of the bluesilver grass, his important network. What he heard instead were cries of fear. 

“I think it’s a pack of soul beasts. Let’s climb up a tree and get to a good vantage point first.” Tang Wulin swiftly approached Gu Yue, grabbing her by the waist as he used Ghost Perplexing Step to scale the trunk of a nearby tree. In an instant, they reached the canopy, perched on a particularly thick branch. Tang Wulin steadied himself by grabbing on to a small branch above him while Gu Yue leaned against the rough bark of the trunk. 

“It sounds like they’re coming toward us, and there’s a lot of them!” Tang Wulin furrowed his brow at the rumbling thunder coming their way. From the sounds of the footsteps, the beasts seemed large and heavy. The tree they had climbed began to sway as the pack neared. Just what kind of beasts are coming? How big could they be? 

Tang Wulin gritted his teeth as he used his Purple Demon Eyes to peer toward the incoming pack. As soon as it entered his view and his complexion paled. “Shit. This is going to be troublesome. It’s a herd of Diamond Boars.” 

Diamond Boars were a type of soul beast that moved in large herds. Weighing over two tons, while also five meters long and two meters tall, Diamond Boars were the epitome of gigantic. They had no concept of fear and acted erratically, to the point that even lions and tigers feared them. They had heads as hard as steel and three pairs of spear-like tusks. Once Diamond Boars charged, there was no stopping them. In fact, even some of the physically strongest soul beasts would rather run than face a stampeding herd of Diamond Boars. Each and every boar came charging with the force of over twenty thousand kilograms.

The tusks of Diamond Boars were exceptionally hard and dense, perfect for carvings. As a result, in the distant past, they were hunted to extinction for those prized tusks. Yet they had been perfectly recreated in the spirit ascension platform. 

Soon, the splintering of whole tree trunks was added to the cacophony. It was impossible for ordinary trees to stand before full grown Diamond Boars.

Tang Wulin peered down. His shiver was fueled by an ill premonition. This tree’s probably only a hundred years old. If it’s slammed into—

Right at that moment, adjacent trees groaned and toppled down. He could see the boars easily through the cleared space after the dust had fallen. In the lead was a boar twice as large as the rest of the herd, covered in thick, black hair that stood erect like steel needles. No tree, thin or thick, could stand in its way.

Shit! Just how bad is our luck? We just got here and we’re already facing such a troublesome opponent. 

“Gu Yue, be careful,” Tang Wulin said. All they could do was pray that the boars would somehow miss their tree. However, the chances of that seemed slim as the leader of the herd was heading toward them. 

A boom filled the air as their tree split apart and toppled. In a flash of silver, the two teleported high into the air. But since Gu Yue’s teleportation range decreased when taking someone along with her, they were still many meters away from the nearest tree.

With Gu Yue holding onto his back tightly, Tang Wulin shot out a strand of bluesilver grass toward the nearest tree branch. Just before they could land, the herd of Diamond Boars plowed through this tree as well. 

Free fall. Tang Wulin’s instincts screamed for him to take action, his mind operating with renewed clarity. He released a strand of bluesilver grass once more toward another tree.

But the boars continued their rampage. Splintered bark littered the forest floor in the herd’s wake. Tang Wulin had no choice but to frantically and continuously swing from tree to tree with Gu Yue on his back, using his Bind soul skill to keep them off the ground. 

Gu Yue wrapped her arms around Tang Wulin’s neck and her legs around his waist, pressing her body so tight to his that she could hear his thumping heartbeat. The way Tang Wulin didn’t panic in this crisis and calmly responded as needed warmed her heart with a sense of security. She rested her cheek on his neck and closed her eyes. As they flew through the air, the warmth and security he gave her melted her icy mood. A gentle smile spread on her lips. We don’t have much time left together, so I might as well enjoy what we have left. 

“Hey, can you loosen your hold?” grumbled Tang Wulin. “ You’re strangling me!” 

Gu Yue hadn’t realized she tightened her hold around his neck. Embarrassed, she quickly relaxed her grip. She clicked her tongue. “How could a weak girl like me possibly strangle you?” 

Tang Wulin shot out another strand of grass and swung from it, sending them soaring into the air. As the wind struck his face and gravity began to pull him back into free-fall, he felt as if he were a monkey freely swinging through the trees. He couldn't’ help but smile at the thought. “And I’m just a weak pretty boy. You should be the one protecting me.” 

Gu Yue snorted at his remark and lightly slapped him on the shoulder. 

The herd had finally passed by, leaving only a trail of destruction behind them. Tang Wulin landed them on a branch near the top of a tree, then jumped toward the ground. 

“Teleport,” Tang Wulin said to Gu Yue. As long as Gu Yue teleported them down, they wouldn’t pick up any more momentum and crash-land. Yet she just clung onto him tightly without doing anything, lost in her daydreams.