Mimic Softshell Turtle, a rare and curious soul beast that lives in mud and swamps.
This soul beast possesses no offensive capabilities of its own, but its body is exceptionally soft yet resilient. Most uniquely, it has the ability to transform its body into the likeness of any soul beast it has consumed, possessing eighty percent of that beast's strength.
With this transformative ability, the Mimic Softshell Turtle is considered one of the most bizarre and elusive soul beasts.
"Two transformation abilities, that means this Mimic Softshell Turtle must be at least a thousand-year-old specimen," Wang Zhong suppressed his astonishment, observing the Mimic Softshell Turtle that had transformed into a fierce tiger, and deduced.
The Mimic Softshell Turtle's mimicry ability is not unlimited. It relies on a core, heart-like organ that forms every five hundred years, combined with consuming that specific soul beast, to achieve its transformations.
"However, this mimicry environment is truly a paradise for soul beasts."
"A thousand-year-old Mimic Softshell Turtle would waste its precious transformation ability on a common tiger soul beast. It truly disregards its innate talent."
Shaking his head, Wang Zhong sighed as he spoke.
Yet, as soon as the words left his mouth, the tiger, transformed from the Mimic Softshell Turtle, let out a roar and charged forward with ferocious intent.
"Hey, are you kidding me!"
"Even though you're a thousand-year-old soul beast, your true form has no offensive capabilities; you can only attack by transforming into other soul beasts."
"You possess the soul power of a thousand-year-old soul beast, yet you are so restricted. Moreover, this tiger is far inferior to the Crimson Flame Serpent I encountered earlier!"
"Wait, did you eat that Crimson Flame Serpent I encountered before!"
Wang Zhong's eyes widened, muttering to himself, completely ignoring the tiger soul beast lunging at him.
An ordinary tiger, possessing only seventy percent of its original strength, could be killed by a single punch from Wang Zhong.
He casually threw a punch, but fate, or rather misfortune, had it land directly on the tiger's eye, causing it to burst.
With a sound like a deflating balloon, to Wang Zhong's dumbfounded gaze, the tiger dissolved into a puddle of mud, falling to the ground and spreading out.
Simultaneously, a purple thousand-year soul ring rose from the pile of mud.
Witnessing this, Wang Zhong was rendered speechless with shock.
"No, what happened to the two hearts you were supposed to have! What about the two lives!"
"I poked out one eye and it died! Are you joking, this counts as a thousand-year soul beast?"
This was utterly absurd. Even a poorly developed Crimson Flame Serpent could have put up a fight with Wang Zhong for a while. Yet, this Mimic Softshell Turtle died with a single punch! It was a disgrace to thousand-year soul beasts.
However, Wang Zhong was unaware that his assumptions were, in fact, correct. The Crimson Flame Serpent that the Mimic Softshell Turtle had consumed was precisely the one he had brutally beaten earlier.
It was just that the serpent, perhaps having lost its last vestiges of intelligence from Wang Zhong's onslaught, had foolishly wandered away from its advantageous lava habitat into this forest.
Furthermore, its strength had greatly diminished due to its consumption of minerals and lava, which allowed the Mimic Softshell Turtle to ambush and kill it. But in its desperate struggle, the Crimson Flame Serpent had managed to shatter both of the Mimic Softshell Turtle's hearts!
This was how Wang Zhong had stumbled upon such a convenient opportunity.
Indeed, it possessed two hearts. The Mimic Softshell Turtle before him was a soul beast with fifteen hundred years of cultivation!
"Weak, truly too weak!"
"I've never heard of such a weak thousand-year soul beast before."
With a look of contempt on his young face, Wang Zhong turned to leave. But after a few steps, he abruptly turned back.
His gaze fixated on the rising purple soul ring, his eyes trembling, and his body involuntarily shuddering for some unknown reason.
Wasn't this a ready-made second soul ring!
This thought surged through Wang Zhong's mind like a storm, spreading like wildfire, uncontrollable.
"The Mimic Softshell Turtle's ability is transformation, and its body is also sufficiently tough. According to the 'Martial Soul Skill Adaptation Selection Theory' taught by my teacher, if I absorb its soul ring, the soul skill I obtain will very likely be that!"
"Shape-Shift! Using the wood martial soul to mimic the appearance of other soul beasts! It might even be able to imitate others' soul skills!"
"This soul skill is outrageously powerful."
Wang Zhong licked his dry lips, his words laced with a burning intensity.
"However, there are also two problems at hand."
"Firstly, the 'Shape-Shift' soul skill is merely my conjecture. It's possible I might not get this specific skill, but rather one of the skills possessed by the Crimson Flame Serpent or the Tiger soul beast that the Mimic Softshell Turtle had already mimicked."
"Secondly, this is a thousand-year soul ring. The maximum year limit for a second soul ring is seven hundred and sixty-four years. This one has at least three hundred years of excess soul power."
"I am uncertain if my body can truly withstand it."
Clenching his fists tightly, Wang Zhong was locked in an internal struggle. A misjudgment on either of these issues would lead to a significant reduction in his future strength for the former, and instant death from bodily explosion for the latter!
But if he judged both aspects correctly, his power would increase to an unprecedented degree.
Gritting his teeth, Wang Zhong's gaze suddenly turned decisive and sharp.
"No matter what the second soul skill is, a soul skill based on a thousand years of soul power, even the worst of them, will be stronger than others! Besides, with the Eight Gates and Bajiquan, even if I lack one soul skill, I won't lose much!"
"With nearly half a year of training, I refuse to believe my current body cannot withstand this mere three hundred years of excess soul power!"
He quickly sat down cross-legged, taking deep breaths repeatedly, suppressing the agitation and tension in his heart. He could not allow these emotions to influence this gamble, which was akin to risking his life.
Extending his palm towards the purple soul ring hovering in mid-air, Wang Zhong exhaled another breath, tightly closed his eyes, and began to circulate his soul power.
As his soul power circulated, the thousand-year soul ring of the Mimic Softshell Turtle trembled slightly. Then, immense and boundless soul power, like a breaking dam, surged madly into Wang Zhong's body.
Under the sudden impact of this vast soul power, Wang Zhong involuntarily let out a muffled groan, his body trembling. But he quickly regained control.
As time passed, more and more soul power flowed into Wang Zhong's body. He could clearly feel the stream-like soul power being injected into him.
He was like a vessel, storing all this soul power in every corner of his body.
In Wang Zhong's original estimation, his body should be able to withstand the impact of at least nine hundred years of soul power, and the remaining hundred-plus years, with extreme effort, might also be bearable.
However, the reality left Wang Zhong in disbelief and astonishment.
His body had effortlessly absorbed all the soul power of the Mimic Softshell Turtle without any pain or difficulty, and without the slightest abnormality!
This astonishing fact compelled Wang Zhong to re-evaluate the true strength of Bajiquan.
Three hundred years of soul power, absorbed as easily as breathing, was completely integrated.
Of course, no matter how much Wang Zhong re-evaluated, his assumptions were still too conservative, because the Mimic Softshell Turtle before him had an actual age of fifteen hundred years!
Half an hour later, Wang Zhong opened his half-closed eyes, his smile uncontainable. Finally, he burst into loud laughter.
Neither of the two unfavorable conjectures had materialized. He had not only completely absorbed this thousand-year soul ring but also obtained a soul skill that was, to Wang Zhong, outrageously powerful.