Huo Yuhao shifted his feet for a moment, his right hand making a seal by the side, and he disappeared from the spot like a ghost.
"?!" The soul beast that had been hiding as a mound of thick snow was startled as Huo Yuhao suddenly vanished. It had underestimated the young soul master's speed and agility.
Huo Yuhao reappeared behind the soul beast, his eyes locked onto its form. A blood red soul ring with golden markings appeared around him, the scorpion tattoo on his back emitted a green glow. A soft red light then enveloped his arms, turning into ice pincers.
In a swift and fluid motion, he swiped his deadly left ice pincer at the hiding soul beast.
"Raaaargh!"
But just as he was an inch away from attacking it, a invisible barrier emitting intense lights of silver color and undulations of spiritual power stopped his ice pincer.
'This is... spiritual power given solidification?' Huo Yuhao's eyes widened.
Spiritual power was an invisible energy that affects the user or another's mind. It was a form of energy that was difficult to control and manipulate, as it required a strong control over one's thoughts and emotions. Even Huo Yuhao's own spiritual power hasn't reach that level of power. However, the soul beast before him seemed to be able to solidify its spiritual power, turning it into a tangible defense.
'Interesting.' Huo Yuhao grinned, jumping back as the silver barrier morphed into vicious spears in the next instant.
The soul beast emerged from its hiding spot, revealing its true form. It was a large, ape-like creature with thick fur and fiery red eyes. Its body was covered in white fur and with 20 glowing crimson symbols around its body, pulsating with raw spiritual energy.
'Skydream?' Huo Yuhao calmly asked the ice soul beast encyclopedia, he'd already seen the complete appearance of the strange ape soul beast long ago with his Sharingan.
"It's a Crimson Spirit Ape! Judging by its height and the number of crimson symbols around its body, it's 20,000 years old. Like most soul beasts in the Extreme North, it has an affinity with ice but instead of having offensive or defensive ice capabilities, it uses it as a camouflage from other soul beasts as they're physically weak."
"However, having survive in this land for this long, would it not have the ability to defend itself or hunt for food? With a weak body, it compensates with a strong mind. Its spiritual power could even cause some average hundred thousand year soul beast to be weary." He explained with a solemn tone of voice before adding,
"Though with the Ice God Legacy, it wouldn't be much of a problem soon."
'....This Ice God Legacy is really busted,' With a wry smile, Huo Yuhao calmly stared at the Crimson Spirit Ape, a strange blue glint flashed across his eyes.
"No..."
Unexpectedly, a unfamiliar deep voice sounded in Huo Yuhao's ears.
"Wha... This voice is!" Huo Yuhao's eyes went wide, dumbfounded. No one in his spiritual sea had that sort of voice, with three out of four being asleep. He took a moment to realize that voice came from the Crimson Spirit Ape!
"You can talk?!" Huo Yuhao exclaimed in surprise.
He knew that a soul beast with a hundred thousand year cultivation is capable of human speech, evidence with Skydream and Ice Empress, but this was the first time he'd encounter a soul beast with ten thousand year old cultivation doing it!
The Crimson Spirit Ape looked at him with its fiery red eyes, a mix of curiosity and caution evident in its gaze.
"Ape. Talk." It nodded and replied in a low, deep voice. "Ape, wish, no battle... with human."
Huo Yuhao's eyebrows furrowed as he observed the Crimson Spirit Ape's reaction. It seemed wary and cautious, but its words confused him. Why did it not want to battle? Didn't it want to ambush him when given a good opportunity?
'Is it because of Ice Empress's aura and the Ice God's? Is it because it knows it would be in a huge disadvantage that it's willing to retreat?'
"Why do you not wish to battle?" Huo Yuhao asked, his eyes still locked onto the soul beast's red eyes, slightly lowering his arms.
The Crimson Spirit Ape's eyes twinkled with a savage light, beating its chest with its left arm, it responded with a fierce roar. "Because Ape, kill human!"
In the Crimson Spirit Ape mind, a battle is for two equal beasts to engage in a fight with honor and strength. But towards this human, he only held contempt and greed.
In its eyes, it saw and felt the overwhelming might of some supreme being of the Extreme North in the human. It had thought that the human was some king's reincarnation but upon seeing the one red soul ring and the impossibility of it, no matter how strong whichever king it was, the Crimson Spirit Ape figured it was some kind of mental attack or powerful illusion. The possibility of it being just a human was higher.
But the Crimson Spirit Ape was cautious. So it waited, spied on it until the opportunity comes for it to strike!
If it figured out that it was really just some human, then it would eat it!
With such an overbearing aura of some king of the Extreme North, it would no doubt propel his cultivation further.
This wasn't just for that, but also for revenge!
The Snow Deer King was his friend. They've known each other ever since they were just ten years old. And back in those days, it was the one who sheltered it from other predators. But in the later years, the Snow Deer King repaid that kindness and protected him back as well.
In this small territory of theirs they were the kings, silently cultivating so they too would reach a hundred thousand years.
And yet, the Snow Deer King had met its end by the hands of some human!
By a human child, who had used some kind of dirty trick!
The Crimson Spirit Ape is a highly intelligent soul beast than its peers but with the death of its friend at the hands of a human child, who used some underhanded trick, it became angry and unhesitatingly went to attack Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao was caught off guard, before he could react, dozens of silver stakes appeared out of thin air and stabbed into his body omnidirectional.
"Hehe...Yes, my friend. Ape, avenged you!" As blood dripped out of the wounds of Huo Yuhao's body, the Crimson Spirit Ape celebrated with a ferocious roar. Its fiery red eyes glowed with satisfaction as it watched its prey suffer.
....
"Why do you wish to battle?" Huo Yuhao asked, staring at the Crimson Spirit Ape.
The Crimson Spirit Ape's eyes widened.
"What?!"
It looked at the human before it, completely fine and with injuries on him. In fact, it was as if the attack he did on him hadn't occured!
'What going on?' It inwardly asked itself.
But even though it was confused, the anger and hatred it had for the human remained unchanged. It beat its chest once again, roaring with fury. "Ape kill human! No matter what, Ape will avenge Snow Deer King!"
Just like before, Huo Yuhao was too slow to dodge the Crimson Spirit Ape's attack, but different from becore, it had created a huge two meter wide blade and dropped it on Huo Yuhao's body, turning him into meat paste.
....
"Why do you wish to battle?" Huo Yuhao asked.
"W-What?"
The Crimson Spirit Ape's eyes went wide once more.
'How human alive?!'
It was certain that it had dropped a huge sword, that would make dodging it almost impossible, on the human child!
But instead, here he is once again, asking him that same question as if he had never been attacked at all.
The Crimson Spirit Ape's confusion quickly turned to anger. It roared with fury, unable to understand why the human before him was seemingly impervious to its attacks. With a single thought, it created a powerful blast of spiritual power, aiming to obliterate Huo Yuhao once and for all.
The attack hit straight at Huo Yuhao obliterating him out of thin air, leaving only blood and flesh on the white snow.
The Crimson Spirit Ape let out a victorious roar once more.
.....
"Why do you wish to battle?"
"Grrrrrr. Human, die!" The Crimson Spirit Ape's eyes flashed with rage as it watched Huo Yuhao reappear unharmed yet again. Its confusion turned to frustration, and it couldn't understand how this human was able to withstand its attacks.
Huo Yuhao remained calm, his eyes steady on the Crimson Spirit Ape.
The Crimson Spirit Ape sent out another burst of spiritual power in the form of a fiery tornado and sent it flying straight towards Huo Yuhao's body, killing him.
But the cycled continued.
Over and over again, after Huo Yuhao seemingly defeated the Crimson Spirit Ape, it would always reappear unharmed and ask the same question. And every time, the Crimson Spirit Ape would attack him, only for Huo Yuhao to survive and ask the question again.
"Why do you wish to battle?"
"Aargh! Enough, DIE!"
"Why do you–"
"Wooo! Woooo! Aaaah!!"
"Why–"
"RAAAAAA!!"
The cycle repeated multiple times, and the Crimson Spirit Ape became more and more enraged with each failed attempt to kill Huo Yuhao. Its attacks became more desperate and violent, but no matter what it did, Huo Yuhao always reappeared unharmed, asking the same question.
"Why do you wish to battle?"
Finally, after countless cycles, the Crimson Spirit Ape couldn't take it anymore. Its body trembled with exhaustion and frustration, its eyes filled with defeat. It collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Huo Yuhao smirked, his eyes glazed over for a moment and the world around them seemed to blur. When it cleared, he was no longer standing in front of the Crimson Spirit Ape, but beside it.
And instead of a red soul ring, he had one white soul ring and one black soul ring around him. The black soul ring glowed, a black glow surrounded his eyes, his Sharingan emitted immense waves of spiritual power.
"Not bad. You managed to hold on for 134 sequences before the mental drain and spiritual exhaustion finally caught up to you." Huo Yuhao's voice echoed in the Crimson Spirit Ape's mind. "I'm... disappointed, not going to lie. I thought that a soul beast such as yourself would've mange to figure out that I've trapped you in a dream, an illusion. Unfortunately however, you were not able to break free."
Huo Yuhao took a few steps forward before turning to face it, his Sharingan glowing softly, showing a emotionless face.
"All because you were consumed by your anger, your hatred." Huo Yuhao softly laughed.
The Crimson Spirit Ape growled. "What, funny?"
"Oh, I just find it ironic. That me, teaching someone, a soul beast, that they lost because they were too caught up in their vengeance that they couldn't think clearly. Haha..." Huo Yuhao sighed, his voice tinged with a hint of dry amusement and determination.
"Thank you, you helped me realize something. That when I finally start my revenge, I need to be in control, to be in absolute control. So that this kind of situation won't happen to me as well."
"Human... You, go to hell!" The Crimson Spirit Ape roared, gathering up the last bit of its strength, it started to create a fire storm in the air–
"Huh? My, body..."
Its eyes went wide, staring blankly as it saw its body spewing out blood, dyeing the fur and snow in blood red.
The spiritual power flames that was starting to become a storm above it, was quickly trapped in some kind of invisible cube and was swiftly dissipated into thin air.
That was the last thing the Crimson Spirit Ape saw as its lifeless head softly hit the snow.
Huo Yuhao looked down at the lifeless head of the Crimson Spirit Ape, feeling empty.
.....
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