The next day, Chen Yu protected Chen Xiaojun with Soul Power and flew on his sword, soaring a thousand meters into the sky. He was far faster than an ordinary Titled Douluo traveling through the air.
Unlike the night before last, when they had only gone a few li, Chen Xiaojun immediately felt everything around him and his field of vision blur. There was also the faint howl of a strong wind by his ears. Clearly, they were flying at an extremely high speed.
Yet he felt no wind resistance from a high-speed charge at all. Of course, that was because Chen Yu, a Titled Douluo, had protected him with Soul Power. It felt like sitting in the passenger seat of a car in his previous life: the wind roared outside, while inside was its own separate space.
"Grandfather, in the books I read, several of them said the Star Dou Great Forest, Sunset Forest, and Far North Land are the continent's three great gathering places for soul beasts. Is that true?" Chen Xiaojun had begun to feel that many books were sometimes specious, and he had some doubts. Now that he had come out to hunt soul beasts, this point occurred to him.
The corners of Chen Yu's mouth lifted slightly, and he laughed. "Haha, so you saw that claim too."
"Is there something to say about it?"
"How should I put it? There are many soul beast gathering places on the continent. For example, our Xie Luo Mountain Range, the Southern Ten Thousand Mountains, the Eastern Great Rift Valley, the Dark Forest, the Southwest Blue Silver Forest, the Southern Volcano Island, Flame Hell Valley, the Laghahama Desert, Divine Wind Valley, Thunder Canyon, Death Grand Canyon, Dark Abyss, Heaven Dou Mountain Range, Heaven Mountain Snowfield, Heaven Spirit Mountain Range, Wild Desert, and so on.
"To be fair, the Star Dou Great Forest really is number one on the continent. The other two may not be.
"But why are the 'so-called three great' those three? Have you noticed what those three places have in common?"
"Please enlighten me, grandfather."
"The so-called Far North Land here actually refers more to the Icebound Forest on the outskirts of the Far North Land, also known as the Frost Ice Forest. Soul Masters are more active there and do not dare to go deep into the heart of the Far North."
"So all three are forests?"
"Right. There are a few reasons why they're called the three great gathering places.
"First, compared to other places, forests carry the least risk. Take the Xie Luo Mountain Range where we are, for instance. It stretches for thousands of li and also has countless soul beasts. But compared to a forest, its terrain is more complex, with sheer cliffs, rugged paths, and difficult entry and exit. A Soul Master who goes in has to cross several mountains, then climb them again to get out. It's time-consuming, exhausting, and relatively dangerous.
"If you kill a young soul beast and provoke an old one, even running is difficult, because there are far more flying soul beasts in the mountains than in forests. Even flying-type Soul Masters aren't much better off.
"So in terms of area, the continent's three great mountain ranges aren't much different from the Star Dou Great Forest, and in terms of soul beasts, they are far stronger than Sunset Forest and Icebound Forest. It's just that some major forces and sects, large academies, and inherited clans like ours like to be near these mountain ranges.
"For example, the Clear Sky Sect is in the remaining snowy mountains of the Heaven Mountain Snowfield, the Duke of the South's territory in the Star Luo Empire faces the Ten Thousand Mountains directly, Spirit Hall is stationed in Death Grand Canyon, our Chen Clan faces the Xie Luo Mountain Range, and the Fuyue Gui Family is at the foot of Heaven Spirit Mountain, and so on.
"There are also large gathering places with single attributes. For example, Nine Dragon Mountain, where the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is located, has Thunder Canyon; the continent-famous Godwind Academy is not far from Divine Wind Valley; Blazing Fire Academy and several fire-type academies are all in Mars City outside Flame Hell Valley. There are too many to list.
"Second, where there is forest, there must be a river. The Star Dou Great Forest has the continent's number-one water system—the Star Dou Great Ling River. The Sunset River, which originates at the South Foothills of the Heaven Mountain Snowfield, flows through Sunset Forest. The Ice River, which likewise begins at the northern foot of the Heaven Mountain Snowfield, passes through Icebound Forest, and that is why forests can form there.
"They have rivers, woods, wetlands, swamps, lakes, meadows, and so on, even some peaks, basins, and hills. You could say they have most types of terrain, with abundant soul beast species, and can suit the needs of the vast majority of Soul Masters. Even escaping pursuit by soul beasts is much easier.
"In fact, the continent's major rivers—the Star Dou Great Ling River and its tributaries, the Left Ling River, Right Ling River, Star Dou River, and Ripple River, as well as the Heaven Spirit River, Heaven Dou Yangtze River, Sunset River, Ice River, Gold Sand River, and other river systems, plus several large freshwater lakes—also have many water-type soul beasts, and not in small numbers. As for how to defend against and hunt them while protecting passing ships, that is another matter.
"Third, this claim was definitely made by Heaven Dou people. Sunset Forest and Icebound Forest are both within Heaven Dou's borders, and Star Luo people definitely wouldn't be too convinced by it. Their Blue Silver Forest outside the Ten Thousand Mountains and Afterglow Forest on the outer side of the Eastern Great Rift Valley are no weaker than Sunset Forest and Icebound Forest."
"So it's self-praise based on taking part for the whole."
"Yes. That claim isn't completely right, nor is it too wrong. It would be more appropriate to say they are the large soul beast gathering places within the Heaven Dou Empire where Soul Masters face the least risk when hunting soul beasts. In any case, as an introduction to soul beast gathering places and hunting, this 'three great' claim isn't wrong for Soul Masters within the Heaven Dou Empire."
"Mm." Chen Xiaojun thought to himself, No matter which world it is, humans really are like this.
"Xiao'er, how much do you understand about the wind-type innate skills of soul beasts?"
Chen Xiaojun organized his words, then said, "Wind-type skills, in grandson's humble view, can be divided according to our Soul Masters' habits into support type, Strength System, attack type, Defense Type, recovery type, and combination type.
"Support type, such as speed-enhancement skills like Wind Walk Technique and Flight Technique, or the Hurricane Wolf's Gale Shuttle from yesterday; and assistance skills like Wind Binding Technique, Wind Erosion Technique, Wind Control Technique, Flying Sand Technique, and Gale Technique.
"Strength System refers to types that strengthen the wind attribute, such as Black Fiend Startling Wind with fiendish energy, Raging Gale that strengthens attacks, Unceasing Nether Wind with a corrosive effect, and things like poisoned miasma.
"Attack type includes cutting skills like Wind Blade Technique, Wind Shear Technique, and Skimming Wind Technique; thrusting skills like Wind Arrow, Wind Pillar, and Wind Cone; wind-pressure skills like Wind Swirl and Thermal Wind Pressure; and even higher-level tornado-type skills like Sword Blade Storm and Extreme Speed Storm.
"Defense Type includes Wind Wall, Wind Barrier, and Wind Rebound.
"Healing Type includes Wind Source and Like a Spring Breeze.
"Finally, there are the relatively special ones, which combine with other attributes: fire-type skills like Blazing Fire Storm and Hot Sand Storm, water-type skills like water tornado, wood-type skills like Falling Flowers in Profusion, thunder-type skills like Thunderclap Windstorm, light-type skills like Fleeting Light Shadow, and so on, as well as skills that, once speed reaches a certain level, involve the space attribute, such as Space-Rending Breakthrough.
"There are all sorts of wind-type innate skills, too many to list. Their marvelous use depends on the user's mind.
"As for the Pegasus's innate skills specifically, the known ones include Horse Tramples Wind Swirl, Wing Wind Cut, Wind Swirl Heavenly Shield, Fierce Wind Rebound, Fleeting Light Shadow, Extreme Speed Sky-Piercing, Light Splitting Shadow Severing, Divine Gale Thorns, and so on. It just depends on how many abilities each of them can awaken."
"It seems you truly have done quite a bit of homework. The Pegasus is the high-tier form of the White Feather Horse and White Light Horse. As one of the very top upper-level soul beasts among horse-type soul beasts, a Ninth Grade Soul Beast, it has extremely strong combat power and is known for its physique. It is one of the rare spirits of heaven and earth. The 'Pegasus' we speak of now is actually a degraded species of the true 'Pegasus,' or what could be called a 'Divine Pegasus.' It is the descendant of a divine beast!
"Your martial soul is the Divine Sword. Only such a powerful soul beast is worthy of your Sword God Pearl. He who wishes to wear the crown must bear its weight himself. Precisely because of that, I acknowledged your choice."
The fight begins in the next chapter.
As for your Recommendation Tickets and favorites, I rub my hands together in anticipation, hehehe.
Before you continue