CHAPTER 56: SOUL EATER

Harry stood up. Without hesitation, he fired three Soul Pulses while closing the distance.

The wolf dodged each one, jumping sideways.

Harry retrieved his sword, channeled it with Qi, and created barriers in mid-air. He jumped onto one, then another, running through the air as the wolf lunged.

But instead of reaching him, it collided with two barriers. The impact slowed it down just enough.

Harry dashed past its back.

With a swift strike, he severed both hind legs.

The wolf, now relying on its front legs, tried to distance itself.

Harry watched.

Its silver back glowed brighter than ever.

Curious, he waited.

Before his eyes, the wolf’s legs regrew. The fat around its belly burned away to fuel its regeneration.

"That’s bad," Harry muttered.

He launched himself at the beast.

Though its legs were still forming, the wolf attempted to flee.

Harry wasn’t about to let free EXP escape.

Its agility had dropped. He caught up in no time, slashing its back.

Blood splattered.

The wolf howled and charged at him, ignoring the pain. Its legs were almost back to normal, but the deep wound on its back still bled profusely.

Harry smirked.

"Your blood will be the cause of your death."

He manipulated its blood, forming a ring around its neck.

Then he tightened it.

Sharp spikes grew inside the ring, piercing the wolf’s throat from within.

The beast struggled.

Its wounds kept healing—more blood spilled.

But the cycle continued.

Until there was nothing left to burn.

[Congratulations! You killed Silverback Wolf. 20,000 EXP received.]

(EXP: 55,400 / 102,400)

But there were still other wolves left.

Harry just shrugged the notification off.

The fight had only lasted for two minutes, but the adrenaline rush—it was addicting. Somewhere inside, he craved more.

Changing his focus to his companions, two of the three beasts were already dead. Gracie was still keeping hers alive.

That shocked Harry because, according to him, she should have been the first to eliminate her opponent.

Now all four were working together to take it down, and just as he was about to join in for the free EXP, the beast was eliminated.

"Damn, can’t you wait a little longer?" Harry cursed.

Gracie saw his frustration and just shook her head. She had been holding back—she knew Harry could gain perks from killing a beast and was trying to help him grow. But by the time he had finished his opponent, the others had already killed it.

"Next time, I’ll save one for you," Gracie said, wiping black blood off her sword.

The others cleaned their weapons and outfits, still vigilant for any sudden attack.

Harry checked the last notification.

[Congratulations! You killed Silverback Wolf. 20,000 EXP received.]

[EXP: 55,400 / 102,400]

He was still far from leveling up, but one thing was clear: the system didn’t account for how much effort he put into killing a beast.

"What do you think? These wolves were pretty strong... could it be that we already killed the powerful ones?" Gracie questioned.

"Definitely not," Eldrich laughed and continued.

"You think a pack has this old alpha?" he pointed toward the third-level beast.

"If I’m right, it’s more about the survival of the pack than individuals. When young blood rises, it challenges the old for leadership. The older one meets its demise, and the younger starts a new cycle."

"If I’m right, these wolves should be the oldest—fighting dangers in the outer periphery of the jungle. They can be considered scouts that will warn the alpha of any danger."

"So we consider ourselves discovered," Nephis stated.

"Not only discovered but ready for any trap, since the mere ability to control a group shows the intelligence of an alpha," Eldrich said.

Meanwhile, two idiots were doing stupid things.

First, Harry was going to each beast, hovering his hand above every corpse. The other, Tyler, was in a daze—not a single word was going through his head.

Harry was just testing one of his skills—Soul Eater. Until now, it had never crossed his mind that this skill could be used on non-soul cultivators. But then again, he had never really gotten a chance to try.

After killing the bears, the ice-element user had appeared, distracting him from using it.

His face was grim. He was still thinking about the last beast—if only he had landed the final hit.

He just wasn’t ready to let go. He wanted something more from this fight, and that’s when the idea struck him.

His logic was simple—if soul attacks worked on Qi cultivators, then they must have souls. That meant he could use Soul Eater on them.

As he approached the first wolf he had killed, he hovered his hand above its body.

He remembered that when a person died, their soul went to the next cycle of life, reborn into a new world as a new lifeform.

But then he felt a rush of soul energy. It seemed the soul was no different—it was just something bound by the body.

"Wait... then what makes a man alive or dead?"

As he was lost in thought, the energy stopped, slightly improving his cultivation.

There were no side effects, as mentioned—no pain from the beast’s death, no memories.

"It seems I’ll need to do my own research before coming to any conclusion."

Harry checked his status screen.

[Soul Cultivation: Foundation Building Level 6]

No difference.

That made him even more curious. If this couldn’t increase his cultivation level, then what was it changing in him?

This time, he stopped overthinking and used Soul Eater again.

He paid attention to the energy flow.

He felt his soul energy improving... No, it was his soul cultivation that was increasing—but the difference was too small to level up.

He moved to the third wolf. Then the fourth.

As he used his skill on the last one, a notification appeared.

[Level up]

[Soul Cultivation: Foundation Building Level 7]

[+1 Stat Point]

[Total: 5 Stat Points]

"It worked."

A smile bloomed on Harry’s face.

No, it was more than a simple smile.

A creepy grin.