"What a bore," muttered Zhen Len, as he watched his brothers happily eating a freshly cooked piece of meat.
It had already been a year since he last saw Zhou Linlan and since he went through his first heat cycle. That problem only occurred every few months for a few days, so he had gotten used to simply going out to hunt soul beasts over a thousand years old to fight for several days, which also served as training.
But the truth was that this last year had been, by far, the most productive since his rebirth. Only his first major breakthroughs, when he reached the thresholds of 10 and 100 years of cultivation, could compare. Since he first refined the metal from the iron-devouring rhinoceros, his skills in creating soul tools had improved tremendously, and each time he forged, he gradually tempered his body as well.
He had created multiple soul tools, such as metal shoes he shared with his brothers. These not only significantly increased movement speed but also consumed very little soul power, making them efficient and practical. He also developed a drill that allowed him to expand the burrow without using his claws, which saved him a lot of physical effort, and a small cannon that could be inserted into the ground and attack up to five kilometers away, which was quite useful thanks to his eyes.
Among his more peculiar inventions, he even built a grill and a microwave, both designed to roast or heat meat without needing firewood or constantly consuming soul power. His brothers, after watching and copying him, learned to use them on their own, especially enjoying the improved flavor achieved by cooking meat with these devices. Zhen Len even found some light seasonings in the forest that he used to give the food better taste.
Another of his advancements was the creation of a communication device that worked by both text and voice. This soul tool allowed him to communicate with another one at a distance of 18 kilometers on flat terrain, although it currently only reached 10 kilometers in the dense forest. It even included a calculator and a day counter. Since his rebirth, he had counted every day he lived, except for the time he was unconscious for several days, but in total, he had lived approximately 24 years and several months since being reborn.
One of his short-term plans was to build a purple-grade mecha. Although mechas were easier to make than battle armor, they required a large amount of raw metals. Even with common iron, he could carry out the thousand refinements and spiritual refinement at most. The problem was the quantity. He would need enormous amounts of iron, and the compression process during the thousand refinements was extremely slow. Afterward came the part of shaping each piece and engraving the circuits.
Zhen Len believed it could take him three to four years to complete it if he was lucky enough to find enough iron or similar metals, this without including the design, which could take a month to adapt to his soul beast body. He began to miss having all the resources at his disposal, and if he didn't have them, he only needed to work and take commissions to get the money needed to obtain them.
Another plan he considered was the idea of building a modern underground house, so it wouldn't be easy to find. He planned to make it out of concrete and thousand-refinement metal for the rods, and soul tools that would aid in concealment. Once he reached 1000 years of cultivation, he would move to a deeper part of the forest. That would give him a safe base while he gathered different materials around the forest for more ambitious projects, going on expeditions for days while his brothers stayed at home with stored food and toys he would make for them, because since his rebirth, and despite all the years they had lived together, he still saw them as pets that would accompany him for life.
After thinking about doing that, he considered looting all the common ore stones from the habitat where the iron-devouring rhinoceros lived. He had held back from doing so before because, without storage soul tools, he couldn't carry too many materials, but now he had made numerous storage soul tools ranging from 10 to 50 cubic meters. He had them in various forms, like necklaces and bracelets.
Although he usually kept them in the burrow—because if you store one storage soul tool inside another, the two spaces cancel each other out. The can store a 5-cubic-meter one inside a 10-cubic-meter one, but not vice versa. However, as a result, 5 meters are subtracted, turning the 10 into a 5. The soul tool he always wore around his neck had a capacity of 100 cubic meters, made with soul-refined metal, and had the function of storing and replenishing soul power, as well as locating the other sub-necklaces nearby, like the ones his brothers had and the one he gave to Zhou Linlan.
Whom he was waiting for, because the year was almost up and he had seen no sign of her. Zhen Len even thought she might no longer plan to come, but suddenly, his necklace reacted, indicating that Zhou Linlan was already very close.
Excited, he climbed a tree, and his eyes, along with the Eye of Truth, began to glow purple. But when he saw who was approaching, his excitement diminished a little, and a slight hostility appeared.
Zhou Linlan had come accompanied, although, fortunately for Zhen Len, it was only Linlan's mother. He began checking everywhere to see if they were truly alone, and he wasn't worried about hidden companions because, in Soul Land, there were no advanced concealment soul tools. Moreover, no being with cultivation could escape his Eye of Truth, because even if they hid their aura and presence, he could still see the cultivation level of almost everyone. So he believed that the only thing that could deceive him would be a Title Douluo with concealment abilities.
He didn't know if he should kill them for the fact that Zhou Linlan broke her promise to come alone, because if he let it slide once, there could be a next time. But he also couldn't blame her if her mother didn't let her leave alone, since this was the most dangerous place, second only to the Extreme North. So he observed them for a while. From a distance, he could see how uncomfortable, insecure, and fearful the mother looked, while Zhou Linlan seemed quite anxious, looking for something.
He could no longer turn a blind eye, so he approached them in a matter of minutes.
When Zhen Len appeared in front of them, the mother became frightened upon recognizing the soul beast, no matter how much time had passed. Even though she had only seen Zhen Len for a few seconds, she didn't think she would forget the soul beast that almost drove her into despair as she watched her daughter being taken without being able to do anything. When she saw him again, she nearly ran to stand in front of her daughter to protect her.
But before she could do anything, she saw her daughter happily exclaim.
"Zhen Len, I missed you!"
She approached the fox to try to hug him, but, contrary to Zhou Linlan's expectations, he simply moved away evasively, which made her sad due to the clear rejection of her approach.
"[Why did you bring someone else? I thought I told you to come alone]," asked Zhen Len after using his spiritual power to write the phrase in the spiritual communicator, which began to recite what he wrote in a voice similar to Loquendo, though much more childish.
Zhou Linlan, who began to show guilt and nervousness, didn't know how to explain it properly.
"[I want your companion to answer, or both of you could die]."
Zhou Linlan's mother froze upon hearing how he spoke. She immediately realized he had to be one of the legendary 100,000-year-old soul beasts, and that he was serious about killing them if she said nothing.
"Senior, please forgive my daughter. I was the one who insisted on accompanying her. I started noticing that for months she hadn't stopped looking at a beautiful necklace I didn't secretly buy her, and I saw her trying to sneak out and escape from home without even telling me why. I was worried that she'd go somewhere alone and I'd lose her forever, especially with the rise of evil cultivators. Only in the past few days did she tell me she couldn't delay returning any longer. She was honest with me and confessed that a benefactor had saved her and helped her obtain a soul ring, and that she had promised to return to see him within a year. She asked me not to stop her from meeting you, but I forced her to bring me because I was very concerned for her safety… and feared that the benefactor she spoke of might have bad intentions."
Zhen Len was surprised by how quickly she explained everything. She really did seem terrified and on the verge of tears, but she acted strong for her daughter.
Upon better understanding the situation, he relaxed a bit, but fixed his gaze on Zhou Linlan before saying through the spiritual communicator.
"[This must not happen again]."
"I promise… I only beg for your forgiveness. I'll do anything," said Zhou Linlan sincerely.