Back to the Star Dou Forest

In the brightly lit underground base, the silver-haired boy seemed to think of something and shook his head.

What did yanderes have to do with a six-year-old kid like me?

Kicking all the messy thoughts out of his mind, Su Chen wiped his hands and impatiently pushed open the door to the experimental area.

Beakers, alcohol lamps, culture dishes.

Looking at the green liquid that occasionally bubbled, the boy felt a strange sense of familiarity.

"Phew, it really has been a long time."

The boy gently stroked the equipment before finally stopping in front of the lab bench.

Pulling over the lamp, Su Chen took two items from his Soul Tool.

Slices of the Linwu Silkworm's body, and a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone containing Natural Energy!

The former was said to be highly nourishing. Su Chen wanted to see if he could turn it into a potion to improve its utilization and absorption efficiency.

As for the latter, there was no need to say more. Natural Energy was a priority and something that had to be researched.

Su Chen rubbed his hands together. Chakra surged, and his eyes instantly turned a jade-like white.

Byakugan, see through!

"Let me see what secrets you're hiding."

Inside an unknown valley.

The roars of ferocious beasts and low-level Soul Beasts rang out continuously, accompanied by the faint cries and screams of boys and girls.

"What a boring job. These little brats, honestly."

At the center of the valley, atop the tallest tree, Ghost Douluo sat cross-legged on a branch in boredom. His Spiritual Power spread outward, taking in every corner of the valley.

At this moment, aside from Su Chen, all the children from this batch whose awakenings had reached Level 5 or above were here.

Some were bitten by wild beasts, struggling desperately and screaming. Some formed teams and fought fiercely to survive. Others trembled in corners, too afraid to make a single move.

Such scenes played out throughout every part of the valley.

Faced with such misery, Ghost Douluo remained unmoved.

Only when someone was on the brink of death would he release a trace of Soul Power to save them, then toss them directly outside the valley, where people who had been prepared in advance would take them away.

These were all "failures."

They would receive centralized training and instruction, then, once they were a little older, be sent to positions that were not dangerous but offered no future whatsoever.

Only those who could personally kill Soul Beasts in this valley, even the especially vicious people deliberately thrown in here, were considered key targets for Spirit Hall's cultivation.

"Mm, they may not be monsters like that brat Su Chen, but they're still rare talents."

Ghost Douluo watched one direction with interest.

There, Xie Yue, Yan, Hu Liena, and a little girl named Zhang Ping were struggling to hold back the endless Beast Tide.

Their bodies were almost soaked in blood, and their faces were pale. They were clearly on the verge of collapse.

No matter how strong-willed a genius was, they were still only six-year-old children.

The stench of slaughter and blood battered their already wavering minds.

Even Xie Yue, the strongest among them, was on the verge of passing out.

What surprised Ghost Douluo was that Hu Liena was actually coping best among them. She could still keep a relatively clear head and was continuously giving orders.

"This little girl isn't bad."

He nodded in satisfaction, then sighed again.

It was all Su Chen's fault. That monster had forcibly raised their standards with one unbelievable performance after another, leaving him almost unfazed even when he saw geniuses of this caliber.

Otherwise, in previous years, he and that old chrysanthemum would have come together.

Yet this year, he was alone.

"Keep it up, little brats. There's still plenty of time."

"Only by walking out of here will you be worthy of being called future elites."

Pain, suffocation, and the pungent stench of blood nearly drowned Hu Liena's senses.

Her beautiful pink hair had long been dyed red with blood, while her delicate little face was smeared with chunks of flesh and blood. She could not even tell whether it was hers or from the beasts constantly lunging at her.

Mechanically swinging the weapon in her hand and releasing Soul Power, listening to the roars and screams around her, Hu Liena found a pair of dark, bright eyes emerging in her mind.

A day earlier, when Ghost Douluo had brought them to this valley, she had asked where that boy had gone.

Yet the answer had left everyone, herself included, silent.

"Su Chen? Why would that brat come here, to massacre everything? I'm telling you, he could kill his way from one end of this valley to the other by himself without even blinking. He skipped this step ages ago."

At the time, they had naively believed the beasts here were weak.

Until the first student nearly died before their eyes.

Until they were surrounded by beasts and driven into desperation.

Until they gave everything they had only to kill a Ten-Year Soul Beast.

Only then did they understand what Ghost Douluo's words meant.

The girl held no special feelings for Su Chen. She was merely curious about why he was so powerful, why he was so calm, and why he made her feel so warm.

She had many questions and wanted to catch up to him and ask him.

But now, a vast chasm had suddenly appeared between them.

No—!

An intense fluctuation of Soul Power erupted from the girl's body. Pink light spread outward, and the phantom of a Demonic Fox flickered around Hu Liena. The surrounding beasts seemed to see the goddess of their hearts, stopping one after another as their eyes turned peach-pink.

"Pant... pant..."

The girl gasped heavily. Her face was as pale as gold paper, yet she revealed a happy smile.

Now, the gap between us shouldn't be so great anymore, right?

With that thought, she closed her beautiful eyes and lost consciousness.

Zhang Ping hurried over from behind and caught her.

"This is Nana's Soul Power. Let's go!"

Xie Yue swept his gaze over their surroundings. Pale-faced, he felt every muscle in his body trembling with exhaustion, but if they did not leave now, then once the beasts recovered, only death awaited them.

Yan gasped for breath, still shaken, and nodded repeatedly before following behind Xie Yue.

"She actually broke through. This little girl has such a strong talent for charm."

Ghost Douluo narrowed his eyes in surprise.

Their performance was already more than enough to let them leave this valley, but Ghost Douluo wanted to see just how far these little brats could go.

"Mm, perhaps His Holiness the Pope might even take her as a disciple. Of course, that's assuming Su Chen doesn't interfere."

"Still, I wonder how things are going over in Spirit City. Did that brat cause another huge commotion?"

"Damn it, I really want to go back and take a look."

Quiet muttering drifted down from the large tree at the center of the valley.

Naturally, Su Chen had no idea that Hu Liena had erupted because of him, much less that Ghost Douluo was thinking about him as well.

At this moment, he stood before the Pope.

"Level 20? So soon?"

Bibi Dong's red lips parted slightly as she stared at the boy in shock, her beautiful eyes wide.

It had only been a few days!

And he had already broken through to Level 20?

By that calculation, this little fellow was about the same as that Innate Full Soul Power bastard she had borne back then!

Both had possessed Level 20 Soul Power at the age of six, but unlike that bastard, this little fellow had gained five levels in less than half a month!

Such speed was simply terrifying!

"Mm, I'm surprised too."

Su Chen nodded somewhat helplessly.

His projected breakthrough had not been this soon. It should have come a month later, but the dominance of Natural Energy had exceeded his expectations.

He had only intended to try absorbing it, but the moment Natural Energy came into contact with Chakra, it was like meeting a newlywed wife after a long separation. It charged into the boy's body with a tyrannical, brutal force and began circulating through his meridians alongside Chakra without asking permission.

It had scared Su Chen badly. The ratio between Chakra and Natural Energy in the body had extremely strict requirements; one careless mistake, and he would become assimilated with nature.

Fortunately, the most terrifying outcome he had anticipated did not occur.

Whether because there was too little Natural Energy or for some other reason, Su Chen did not turn into a stone statue. Instead, his Soul Power surged by five levels.

As for that Soul Bone, it was as though it had lost its core. It went from lustrous to dull, and even showed a few cracks.

Su Chen could sense it slowly recovering, but the process was incredibly long—so long that it could practically be ignored.

In short, this was an experiment that could not exactly be called a success, nor could it be called a failure.

"Little fellow, you truly bring me new surprises every day."

Only after a long while did His Holiness the Pope let out a breath. Her wine-red eyes were filled with the reflection of the silver-haired boy.

She gently patted Su Chen's shoulder. "Then let Elder Ju accompany you on another trip to the Star Dou Forest."