After reviewing everything God had given him upon arriving in this world, Ender thought:
"My body might be biologically immortal and can cultivate. The martial soul is exactly what I wanted to become. It seems God has granted me many things, so what should I do with this world? Decision made: once I finish creating a super robot, I'll challenge the entire world. If they defeat me, I'll give myself an explosive death. If I win, I'll devour this entire planet and try to consume as much as I can in the universe."
To put it simply, he was bound to die. When he turned himself into a black hole, he wouldn't be alive anymore anyway.
After clearing his thoughts, Ender slept soundly until morning.
.....
A night passed, at this moment, his room door was flung open, and Ye Qingyun walked in nonchalantly.
Privacy? He was her possession, so there was no such thing.
The noise woke him up, and he said:
"Why did you barge into my room uninvited?"
"Think carefully before speaking. This is my house, everything in here belongs to me, including you."
Hearing this, Ender's mouth twitched as he thought:
"This girl is as overbearing as a little emperor. Just what kind of clan raised her to be like this? Wait, could she really be a member of the royal family? After all, she did come from the capital. With her little emperor demeanor, that's entirely possible. Even if she's not royalty, she must be close enough."
"Fine, fine, you're the master here. Whatever you say is right. Just hurry up and take me to hunt for a soul ring."
He couldn't be bothered to argue with her. He just wanted to grow stronger as soon as possible.
At that moment, she suddenly smiled like a little demon and said:
"Carry me on your back. When we see a soul beast, I'll help you kill it."
Ender rolled his eyes at her and said:
"Me? If I carry you, how long will it even take to get there?"
"That's your problem. I enjoy tormenting you like this. Got a problem with that?"
He lay flat on the ground, wearing an expression of utter resignation, and said:
"Just kill me already. A man can die, but he cannot be humiliated."
Ye Qingyun, hearing this, simply shook her head with a laugh and said:
"If someone else said that, I might believe it, but if it's you, there's no way. Besides, your impatient demeanor tells me something—you have something important to do, so you definitely won't let yourself die at the hands of a little girl like me."
Feeling as though she could see through him entirely, Ender had no choice but to compromise:
"How about this: after we hunt the soul ring, I'll be much stronger. By then, I can carry you back much faster. Right now, I'm really too weak. Carrying you while searching will just waste your cultivation time."
Ye Qingyun didn't react strongly, but she knew he was right. Turning her back to him, she said:
"Hurry up. When we return, you can carry me back as payment."
Ender jumped up from the ground, thinking:
"Damn it, this is the first time someone has messed with me like this. But under someone else's roof, I can't help but bow my head. I don't fear death, but there's no way I'll die under this annoying girl's hands."
Without hesitation, he immediately followed behind her. If she changed her mind, it would cause him a lot of trouble, and wasting time making explosives wasn't something he wanted to do right now.
.....
The two of them left the city. Along the way, nothing unexpected happened. After all, the forest was vast, making it unlikely to encounter anyone.
The primitive forest was dense, with towering trees reaching dozens of meters high. One could only imagine how grand the habitat of a soul beast king must be.
"How long does it usually take to find a soul beast?"
Ender wasn't entirely sure. From what he had observed, the forest was enormous, but soul beasts seemed incredibly sparse.
He had traveled dozens of kilometers and only seen a handful, so that was his assumption.
"Maybe a few days. If we're really unlucky, it could take weeks. There are actually plenty of soul beasts, but you're at the outer edges of the forest, so it's harder to encounter them. You'd need to go about 100 kilometers deeper to find more."
Ender nodded, thinking:
"So that's how it is. It seems the outskirts of this disputed area are truly rarely visited."
The two of them ran for a few more hours until they finally reached their destination. The scenery in this area changed significantly.
The plants here were larger, and the animals were also significantly bigger.
Even small insects were nowhere to be seen, as they had all evolved into soul beasts, each larger than an average human.
"Be cautious." Ye Qingyun warned.
"The typical behaviors of animals don't apply here because these creatures have become soul beasts. Soul beasts and animals are entirely different levels of existence. You could say they're two completely distinct species."
She didn't want him to die stupidly by relying on basic biological knowledge.
Ender nodded. He didn't presume to understand much about this world.
As a scientist, he would never assume that his guesses would consistently prove accurate.
The two of them wandered for another six hours. Many soul beasts appeared, but none met the required criteria.
Out of boredom, Ender asked:
"What's the maximum age for absorbing a soul beast?"
"It's 400 years." Ye Qingyun replied.
"Why is that?"
"The age of a soul beast is like the cultivation rank of humans. Four hundred years aligns with your current level. Of course, 400 years doesn't mean the soul beast has literally lived for 400 years. The higher a soul beast's bloodline, the faster its cultivation progresses. A soul beast's bloodline is akin to the innate soul power in humans."
Hearing this information, which he hadn't found in books, Ender thought:
"It seems the major powers don't allow all kinds of knowledge to be disseminated to the public. This must be to maintain their monopoly."
Pondering further on the topic of soul beasts, he asked:
"So, how does a 400-year-old soul beast with an average bloodline compare to one with a top-tier bloodline?"
Ye Qingyun chuckled at his question, clapping her hands before pulling out a piece of candy from who-knows-where and handing it to him. With a smile, she said:
"Good question, little one. Here, have a candy."
Ender's mouth twitched as he took the candy, but he decided to play along, hoping to get a proper answer.
Seeing him cooperate obediently, Ye Qingyun felt a sense of superiority.
What made it even more amusing was that this man, supposedly her equal, was humbling himself before her, making her feel even more entertained.
"Of course, they're the same." she finally answered.
"A soul beast's bloodline only slightly affects combat strength and the chance of dropping a soul bone. It doesn't change the energy capacity. Four hundred years is four hundred years—no exceptions."