The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

"Congratulations, Master," Yuying immediately said after exiting his soul sea. Fruity had learned how to create a space for her, so the Fox Lady had been resting there whenever she wasn't assisting him.

Since she couldn't interfere in Fruity's task of killing every last hellhound in their domain, she entered his soul sea as soon as they stepped foot inside the domain.

Now, looking at the triangular mark that appeared like a tattoo on the back of his left arm, Fruity could only smile. "I was lucky this time," he said.

"Luck is also a kind of your strength," Yuying replied, gazing at the monstrous body of the Peak Tier 8 Hellhound, which had reverted to its true form after death.

"Still, I got lucky," Fruity insisted. The crystal on the monster's chest was a result of its evolution to a Tier 9 monster. When a monster reaches Tier 8, it begins evolving into a Beast.

Beasts are different from monsters. Monsters don't resonate with the heavens, so they are much weaker than Beasts, who are recognized by the heavens and bestowed with unique skills and abilities. Beasts evolve into creatures more in tune with the heavens than monsters.

Some creatures are even born as Beasts, with awakened bloodlines and constitutions, but monsters must rise to Tier 9 before they can be recognized as True Beasts.

However, the evolution phase from Tier 8 to Tier 9 is a critical stage for them. It is during this phase that their bloodlines begin to awaken, determining the kind of energy they will harness—or more precisely, the kind of energy they will resonate with.

In the case of the Hellhound, it was awakening Abyssal Energy, which Fruity had some affinity for, thanks to his abyssal ice energy. So, he tapped into the crystal core, which, after evolving, would become a Beast core. He injected his ice abyssal Qi into it, and once it was filled up and under his control, he detonated it.

So, while it was indeed luck on his side this time like he said, Yuying was also right said, that luck is also part of one's strength. This time, thanks to his abyssal energy, he killed a peak Tier 8 Tyrant in less than three minutes.

Something he wouldn't have been able to do if it was the other way around.

"Devour," he said, consuming the dead bodies of the monsters lying on the ground. Once he allocated the absorbed energy to the Immortal Ice, he turned toward the direction he needed to go.

Yuying, who had been waiting as his guide and transport, quickly wrapped her energy around him. Before long, they were gone from the now unclaimed domain of the Hellhound, which would likely be claimed within the next 12 hours, as it hadn't truly belonged to the Hellhounds in the first place.

"In front is the Wailing Forest. From its name, you can get a fair idea of what goes on within those woods," Yuying said, making Fruity nod.

"But I think you shouldn't worry. Your mental capacity is stronger than most Sages, so you'll be fine. The mental attacks won't have much of an effect on you," Yuying added.

The Wailing Forest is nothing like a normal forest. It's home to a strange type of tree monster known as the Wailing Demon Plants. They don't attack like other tree monsters that use their branches and leaves. Instead, these monsters only attack mentally through the constant wailing one hears the moment they step inside the forest.

The deeper you go, the more intense their mental attacks become.

"I guess this will show me how much I've improved, and whether or not the months of mental torture were worth it," Fruity said with a smile.

"If you can't endure anymore, just let me know so I can teleport us away," Yuying said before entering her Master's soul sea. Being beside him might provoke some powerful demon plants to attack, which would be bad for Fruity.

He stepped into the forest, and the moment his foot touched the ground in the Wailing Forest, a torturous sound erupted in his mind.

Fruity paused for a few seconds before nodding to himself. He could hear the wailing, but it wasn't affecting him.

With his mind bolstered by his intense training in the Sage Mind and Unshakable Mind techniques, he moved as if he were taking a stroll through a small garden.

As he ventured deeper, the intensity of the wailing increased.

"Master, you can use this time to further train your mind. Slowly lower the defenses around your mind and let the sounds affect you," Yuying said from within his soul sea.

"Okay," Fruity replied. He did as she instructed, and immediately, he felt his mind being assaulted by different kinds of mental attacks.

However, it wasn't strong enough to overwhelm him. Still, he knew not to get ahead of himself by completely lowering all his defenses. While his mind was stronger, enduring hundreds of mental attacks was not something he could handle easily—if at all.

For twelve hours, Fruity moved steadily through the forest, enduring the wailing that was strong enough to shatter the mind of any Sage. But thanks to his intense training, he was able to endure it, even increasing his mental strength to another level.

"Alright, suckers, why don't you pay back for all the torture you put me through," Fruity said with an evil grin as he emerged on the other side of the forest.

Knowing that 99% of living things in this world were evil, Fruity didn't care much about their survival. So, upon seeing such a thick forest brimming with soul energy, he knew what had to be done.

Naturally, mind cultivators have stronger souls, and since he didn't possess any ice techniques that could steal mental strength or energy, he went for the best option: the Soul Eater.

'I guess he never changes,' Yuying thought inwardly, standing beside Fruity as he set his evil plan in motion, a small smile playing on her lips.

Fruity's Soul Eater eyes spread across the forest, and like a massacre, the tree monsters began wailing again. But this time, it wasn't due to mental attacks—it was a cry of agony from deep within their souls. Fruity was devouring their souls to strengthen his own, which had already begun growing more powerful.

"Human, what are you doing?" A thunderous voice suddenly boomed across the forest, hitting Fruity hard in the mind. But he just smiled, feeling his Sage Mind and Unshakable Mind techniques block a significant portion of the mental attack aimed at him.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Fruity responded, smiling at the clearly infuriated Plant Demon that growled at him.

Without a verbal reply from the monster, Fruity sensed another mental attack strike his mind. But just like before, his mental defenses blocked it, making him smile. Using a skill he had learned thanks to Yuying's meticulous preparations, he launched his own mental attack.

"Mind Shatter." Somewhere deep within the forest, a towering dark plant shuddered, and almost half of its leaves instantly began falling from its branches.

At the same time, a powerful presence erupted from within the forest. Fruity, standing just outside, devouring the plants, instantly realized he was out of his league the moment that presence descended.

"Yuying, we can leave now," Fruity said calmly. The Fox Lady smiled, and without a second thought, they were gone.

The presence that had appeared was one even Yuying recognized—a Deimos Monster, a Tier 9 being, specializing in mental cultivation. While Yuying herself was a Tier 10 existence, she knew that when it came to mental attacks, this creature excelled beyond her abilities. As the saying goes, a master of one skill is better than a jack of all trades.

Facing off against it would have been unwise. So, the best plan was to run, and that was exactly what Master and Servant did.

Soon, they appeared in front of the Dark River, which could only be crossed using the Bone Bridge. However, Fruity had no intention of crossing it peacefully.