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Another day later, after absorbing the residual Soul that remained from a slain eleventh-rank demon beast, Yang Kai's body suddenly swayed slightly.
He couldn't help but furrow his brow.
In that instant, he had actually felt a faint sense of discomfort. It was a vague, indescribable kind of unease, yet utterly clear, leaving his entire body feeling somewhat off.
"Is this the limit, then…" Yang Kai wasn't panicked, though. After a moment of thought, he understood the reason.
Gao Xueting had mentioned before that absorbing the Soul Origin left behind by the creatures in this place could rapidly strengthen one's own Soul, but it wasn't without its constraints.
Once a certain level of absorption was reached, a state of saturation would set in.
If that happened, no further Soul Origin could be absorbed. Continuing to do so might lead to adverse consequences.
Yang Kai's current condition was unmistakably a sign that he had reached saturation.
Come to think of it, it made sense. In just three days' time, he had already directed the Soul Devouring Insects to kill over a hundred demon beasts and absorbed the Soul Origin of every single one of them, including several eleventh-rank existences. The sheer quantity and speed were nothing short of staggering.
Yang Kai estimated that Xia Sheng and the others couldn't have managed even a fifth of what he had accomplished. After all, he hadn't needed to rest or recover at all along the way — whenever he spotted prey, he simply drove the Soul Devouring Insects to swarm over it.
Xia Sheng and his group, on the other hand, needed recovery time after every battle, which naturally cut into their efficiency.
"What a pity…" he murmured to himself, a look of regret crossing his face.
His original plan had been to ride this momentum and push his Soul power all the way to the Emperor Realm. Once his Soul reached that level, his future Cultivation would undoubtedly proceed smoothly.
But now that he had hit the ceiling, there was nothing to be done about it. All he could do was wait — wait for his Soul Spirit to fully digest the Soul Origin he had absorbed over the past few days.
He didn't slow his pace, instead continuing onward at the same speed.
Even though he could no longer absorb more Soul Origin himself, the Soul Devouring Insects still could. So there was no waste involved.
The deeper he ventured, the higher the average rank of the demon beasts Yang Kai encountered.
When he had first split off from Xia Sheng and the others, he could still come across eighth-rank, seventh-rank, or even weaker demon beasts. He had naturally shown no interest in those and ignored them entirely.
But as time passed, those weaker creatures disappeared from sight, replaced by higher-ranked ones.
Now, at his current position, Yang Kai could no longer see any ninth-rank or below. Every demon beast in the area was at least tenth-rank!
By his estimate, if he pushed even deeper, even tenth-rank beasts would cease to appear before him.
At one point, just as he was scanning the surroundings for prey, a foul wind suddenly swept through the jungle. Trees swayed violently, and an unusual pressure rushed toward him from the distance at alarming speed. Strange sounds reached his ears as well.
His expression grew solemn, and he fixed his gaze in that direction.
Crack… crack…
Something was smashing through the trees with tremendous force, sending them toppling left and right as leaves rained down.
Moments later, a streak of purple light shot toward him from the front at astonishing speed.
"Oh?" Yang Kai's face lit up with surprise. The source of the purple light turned out to be a small demon beast about a foot long, resembling a civet cat.
A demon beast's strength couldn't necessarily be judged by its size, but when Yang Kai swept his spiritual sense over it, he immediately discerned its rank — ninth!
He had traveled this far without encountering a ninth-rank demon beast for some time now, since that rank was too low to survive in this area.
So when the purple civet appeared before him, Yang Kai felt a flicker of surprise, wondering how such a weak creature had managed to survive safely within this range.
Its speed was certainly impressive, though. Yang Kai had spotted it and assessed its rank in the span of a single instant, and before he could even make a move, the little thing had already zipped past him with a sharp whoosh.
As man and beast brushed past one another, Yang Kai clearly caught a look of astonishment flashing through the civet's eyes. It turned its head to stare at him the entire time, as if it had stumbled upon something entirely novel.
That was clearly a sign of awakened intelligence. None of the demon beasts Yang Kai had encountered before had possessed such a capacity. Those beasts had simply followed their killing instinct — upon seeing Yang Kai, they would attack on sight even if he made no hostile move.
This purple civet, however, was plainly different.
Still, Yang Kai had no time to dwell on it. His gaze remained locked ahead, his expression grave.
Because the thing chasing the civet was an absolute monster…
Crash… crash…
Another thunderous crash of trees falling, and then a flattened head roughly the size of a rice vat thrust out from the forest ahead. It was covered in scales, marked with vivid crimson stripes that gave it a thoroughly vicious appearance. Two eyes as large as human heads bore emerald-green pupils slit vertically, sending a chill down one's spine. From its gaping maw, a forked red tongue flickered in and out with a sharp hissing sound.
It was none other than a giant serpent demon beast!
For reasons unknown, it had chased the purple civet all the way to where Yang Kai stood.
The moment it appeared, the giant serpent locked its vertical pupils onto Yang Kai. Then, a body as thick as a man's embrace slowly materialized. It raised its head high and coiled in midair, its forked tongue still tasting the air as it regarded Yang Kai with unmistakable malice.