Star Dou Great Forest

Icefront City lay at the southernmost edge of the Silves Kingdom, at the junction of three kingdoms.

War King Academy was not far from the Star Dou Great Forest, only a little over two hundred kilometers away.

Naturally, this made it the best place to obtain Soul Rings.

A hundred kilometers away lay the extensive zone occupied by Soul Hunting Town.

Since it was not far away, they did not use carriages and traveled on foot.

On the afternoon of the first day, the group reached Soul Hunting Town and took a brief rest.

Afterward, they hurried on at full speed and reached their destination the next day.

What greeted their eyes was a magnificent Primeval Forest.

The trees on the outskirts towered into the sky, each one at least twenty meters tall.

The towering trees stood densely packed together, forming a lush green barrier that cut the forest off from the outside world.

Layer upon layer of shadows filled the forest, with branches and vines crisscrossing everywhere. There was no path at all, and they could not see what lay inside.

As they approached the forest, a refreshing coolness washed over them. The invigorating aura of life surged into their lungs with every breath, as if it could nourish their bodies and cleanse their souls.

"Stop here for now. Rest for an hour, then we'll enter."

The Principal waved for everyone to stop.

The teachers were fine. This distance was nothing to them.

But the students were indeed breathing somewhat heavily.

They were merely First Soul Ring soul masters who had yet to obtain their Second Soul Ring. Traveling a hundred kilometers a day for two consecutive days was already quite a challenge.

If they entered just like this, exhaustion might cause them to overlook subtle dangers, resulting in the students' deaths or injuries.

The students rested while the teachers kept watch around them.

The Principal and Lin Tianyang walked together to Fang Ling, who was drinking water nearby. "What kind of spirit ability do you want?"

After pondering briefly, he said, "Preferably one related to space. I hope to obtain a Teleportation Spirit Ability that can work with my Body Technique and make up for my lack of long-range attacks."

Space?

The two hesitated somewhat. Soul beasts possessing this type of spirit ability were rare.

And teleportation abilities were especially difficult to find.

Seeing their difficulty, Fang Ling did not insist. "If we can't find one, then anything that strengthens Attack Power, sharpness, or durability will do."

Regardless of which one it was, obtaining it would produce an immediate improvement, and his martial soul would grow accordingly.

Any of them would be quite good for Fang Ling.

He had a Stats Panel, and the age of his Soul Ring could be increased!

"I see."

The two began to think. Lin Tianyang raised his brows and smiled at Fang Ling. "All right. When the time comes, your teacher will definitely help you choose a powerful soul beast."

"Don't worry. With Shigong here, dealing with a powerful Hundred-Year Soul Beast will be easy. Unless it's some absurdly powerful super soul beast, it won't be a problem."

The Principal followed his son's lead.

"Thank you, Teacher. Thank you, Shigong." Fang Ling was delighted.

Then, as if he had remembered something, he hurriedly took several pieces of homemade dried meat from the Frost Snow Ring.

"Here, have some. I made it myself. It tastes pretty good."

This was emergency food he had prepared. The Frost Snow Ring had a huge storage space, so he had made several hundred kilograms.

He had also brought plenty of water.

The two accepted the meat in confusion. They sniffed it first, catching a salty, savory fragrance, then bit into it.

It was dry without being tough, soft yet firm, and very delicious.

Lin Tianyang asked in surprise, "You can cook? It's been a year. How did I not know?"

Fang Ling replied, "I'm actually pretty good at it. I was just obsessed with cultivation at the academy, and I have money now, so I don't have to live as frugally as before. I got used to eating at the cafeteria."

"I see."

The Principal stroked the tuft of white hair at the front of his head and asked for another bag to use as a snack.

The teacher also took a bag.

After resting, the two teams split up and headed in different directions.

There was precedent for this: having too many people might provoke a siege by the soul beasts.

In a Spirit Beast Forest like Soul Hunting Forest, where the soul beasts were weakly aggressive, the strongest were no more than Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, and even Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts were extremely rare, it naturally would not matter.

You can surround me all you want. I'll hunt my own prey.

The Star Dou Great Forest was different.

As one of the three largest wild soul beast habitats on the continent, it covered a vast area and had complex terrain, including wetlands, swamps, rivers, and lakes.

It contained countless species of soul beasts, some of which would occasionally leave the forest. They were highly aggressive.

There were even occasional sightings of Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts and Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts on the outskirts.

Legend had it that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts existed in the depths as well.

Fang Ling knew this was no legend. The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape were both there.

There might be even more hidden in the depths.

However, none of that had anything to do with this trip, so there was no need to consider it.

The outskirts alone were already dangerous enough. If an uproar was caused by their large numbers, they might all be buried here.

Even the powerful Soul Emperor Principal was no longer as carefree as usual. He became much more cautious.

The group's formation was simple.

The teachers stayed on the outermost perimeter, those with stronger Soul Arena records stood in the middle, and those with weaker records stayed inside.

Fang Ling was the strongest, so naturally he stood toward the outer side of the middle.

After arranging their formation and discussing how to escape if they encountered an accident, everyone began moving forward.

The terrain within the Star Dou Great Forest was extremely complex. There were no paths through the forest at all, and branches and vines were everywhere.

The Principal had the highest cultivation and was the strongest, but he had to remain vigilant at all times to prevent any accidents.

The task of clearing a path naturally fell to Lin Tianyang.

He gripped the Flowing Wind Blade, and a sharp Wind Blade tore through the air. Within a distance of several dozen meters, it rapidly opened up a path.

Fang Ling followed closely behind. His eyes watched in all directions and his ears listened everywhere, using his fastest reactions to stay alert to everything around him.

There were countless poisonous creatures in a Primeval Forest. Even with his shallow knowledge, he knew of quite a few species.

The Mandala Snake that Tang San had absorbed as his First Soul Ring was merely an insignificant species here.

There were also the Human-Faced Demon Spider, Green Scale Red Ring Snake, Unicorn Viper, Plague Lizard, Blood-Drinking Leech... too many to count.

If one of them were hiding somewhere and suddenly attacked, even a Soul Ancestor would have a hard time enduring it.

They did not encounter any accidents. After walking forward for a short distance, they came across two soul beasts facing off.

One was a completely black mountain goblin with blue and dark purple fur. Its hind legs were relatively thin, and it moved on all fours.

Its fangs were sharp and its expression vicious. A faint red glow flashed in its eyes, giving off a bloodthirsty impression.

Opposite it was a creature resembling an ostrich.

It had vine-like feathers covering its body, and its beak was long and sharp. From the blood that had yet to dry on its beak and the sharp serrations along its edges, it was clearly a vicious species as well.

"A three-hundred-year Raging Mountain Goblin and a seven-hundred-year Vine Feather Sharp Beak Bird." After briefly identifying them, the Principal waved for everyone to stop.

They had encountered soul beasts fighting not long after entering. What a lucky start.

"The Raging Mountain Goblin has sufficient combat strength, but unfortunately its age is a little low. Moreover, the side effects of its Frenzy spirit ability are quite severe. Maintaining rationality is the most important thing in battle, so I don't recommend hunting this type of soul beast."

The Principal introduced it to everyone in a lowered voice, then instructed his son to hunt it.

"Tianyang, you go. Just scare away that mountain goblin. Cut off the bird's wings, sharp beak, and legs, then bring it back to me."

Lin Tianyang observed for a moment and blew away the fallen leaves on the ground.

After confirming that there were no venomous snakes or naturally formed concealed traps, he immediately sprinted out from among the leaves.

The Principal continued explaining to everyone:

"A seven-hundred-year Vine Feather Sharp Beak Bird isn't an aggressive soul beast. Although it's a carnivore, it usually hides in the forest and uses its hard beak to ambush its prey with a sudden charge. This one seems to have injured its leg and was caught by that mountain goblin."

"Is it a soul beast prepared for me?" Fang Ling walked over to him.

Judging from this description, it seemed quite compatible with his personality.

"No. This type of soul beast isn't very strong. It's not worthy of a battle genius like you, though it's more than enough for them."

The Principal did not avoid saying this in front of everyone. Geniuses naturally received preferential treatment.

"Shigong said he would find you a good one. I have some ideas now. I remember several places where soul beasts suitable for you might be found, so don't rush."

"All right, thank you, Shigong." Fang Ling suppressed his excitement.

His gaze fixed on the extremely swift battle ahead.

I wonder what kind of spirit ability and specialty I'll obtain from my new Soul Ring.

He was truly looking forward to it.

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