Leaving Star Dou Forest

Gu Yue seemed very busy. After bringing Xia Yi to the core of Star Dou Forest, she did not appear again for an entire month.

She only had Di Tian and Zi Ji train Xia Yi. With Bi Ji nearby, even broken bones and torn tendons could be healed instantly.

This left Xia Yi in a living hell for an entire month.

Over that month, Xia Yi's growth was undoubtedly tremendous. Both Di Tian and Zi Ji were shocked by how strong his learning ability was. No matter what they taught him, he could almost always grasp it immediately.

What shocked Xia Yi was that he had actually noticed signs of his Soul Power breaking through to level eleven.

Xia Yi did not rush to break through. According to Di Tian, transformed Soul Beasts had to enter the human world to cultivate, yet he seemingly did not need to.

From beginning to end, Xia Yi had never completely trusted Gu Yue or these Beasts. He did not want Gu Yue to learn too many of his secrets.

His ten years of struggling for survival in Star Dou Forest had taught Xia Yi that one must always remain wary of others.

A month later, Gu Yue appeared again. She first went to find Di Tian and Zi Ji.

"How do you think Xia Yi is?" Gu Yue looked at Zi Ji and Di Tian. The reason she had them train Xia Yi was actually to have them probe his limits.

She wanted to see whether Xia Yi had any other secrets he was deliberately hiding from them.

"His learning ability is very strong. No matter what it is, he can almost always learn it at once, and he can often draw inferences from it. He is also wary of us, so we gained almost nothing," Zi Ji said helplessly. Xia Yi was far too shrewd and gave them no chance to investigate his secrets.

"I understand. If he had trusted us completely right after meeting us, I would have been disappointed instead," Gu Yue said with a smile before asking, "How is his talent?"

"His combat talent is very strong, and he has extremely sharp combat awareness. It is just that his martial soul is too weak." Di Tian also spoke. Generally speaking, unless they mutated, ordinary fox-type martial souls became stronger the more tails they had.

Yet even a Nine-Tailed Fox was merely a decent martial soul. Compared to top-tier martial souls, the difference was immense.

As for Xia Yi, he had only one ordinary tail. It was a tail that had evolved only after he drank Gu Yue's blood, and it possessed none of the traits of a mutated martial soul.

Such a martial soul could not merely be called weak. It was pathetically weak.

"Both his martial soul and his original body are indeed of the lowest grade. If other ten-year Soul Beasts ate the flesh and blood of hundred-year Soul Beasts, their cultivation would certainly soar. Yet Xia Yi has eaten who knows how many hundred-year Soft Bone Rabbits, and his cultivation has not increased in the slightest," Zi Ji said gravely. In her memory, only the lowest-grade Soul Beasts were like this.

Even if they consumed heavenly treasures, they could not increase their cultivation. They could only slowly accumulate it over time.

"I see." Gu Yue nodded. After thinking for a moment, she asked in a low voice, "Do you think he is worth cultivating?"

"He missed the most precious years for cultivation, and his martial soul is too weak. Even if there are enough heavenly treasures to improve his physique, he can at most cultivate to the Soul Emperor realm. Breaking through to Soul Saint will be difficult," Di Tian said gravely.

"So he is not worth it?" Gu Yue raised an eyebrow. If he could only become a Soul Emperor, he would be of no help in what they intended to do.

"No, I think he can be cultivated, but there is no need to waste too many resources on him." Di Tian shook his head.

"Oh? Explain." Gu Yue was interested.

"He is clever. If we make use of him properly, he may be able to help us." Di Tian spoke in a low voice. Although his cultivation was already close to nine hundred thousand years, after dealing with humans for many years, he had no choice but to admit that he was no match for humans when it came to schemes and tricks.

Yet in Xia Yi, he saw hope.

The more he learned about Xia Yi, the more terrifyingly shrewd he found him.

"Clever." Gu Yue nodded again. Ever since Xia Yi had outmaneuvered her before, she had refused to accept it. Even if beaten to death, she would not admit that Xia Yi was smarter than her.

In her eyes, Xia Yi had only managed to scheme against her because she had not been on guard against him, allowing him to succeed by sheer luck.

But she had not expected Di Tian to give Xia Yi such an evaluation.

"In that case, have Zi Ji send him out of Star Dou Forest and directly to Eastsea City. I need to make a trip to the Spirit Pagoda. Once I arrive in Eastsea City, I will go find Teacher Wu and see whether I can persuade him to let Xia Yi join Zero Class." Gu Yue raised her head toward the sky. The current Star Dou Forest was a massive prison. Even she had to join the Spirit Pagoda to gain the right to freely enter and leave Star Dou Forest.

As for Xia Yi, if he wanted to leave Star Dou Forest, the only way was for a Beast to act and use the power of space to teleport him out.

"Yes!" Zi Ji nodded and left after receiving her orders.

"Hopefully nothing goes wrong." Gu Yue took a deep breath. To be honest, she did not hold much hope that Xia Yi could join Zero Class.

Xia Yi's cultivation was too low, and his martial soul was poor as well.

Based on her understanding of Wu Zhangkong, he would absolutely refuse.

Xia Yi did not know what Gu Yue was thinking, nor did he know why Zi Ji was the one sending him away. He could only follow Zi Ji to the metal embankment at the edge of Star Dou Forest.

Seemingly noticing Xia Yi's confusion, Zi Ji smiled and took the initiative to explain. "Di Tian and elder sister Bi Ji need to protect Lord, to prevent another reckless fool like you from hurting Lord again. King of Ten Thousand Demons and Scarlet King also have someone to protect. As for Xiong Jun, he is too impulsive and unsuitable for the human world, so he will remain behind to guard Star Dou Forest. That leaves only me to send you out of Star Dou Forest."

"Di Tian is powerful, so bringing Bi Ji along is also to prepare for any unexpected situation, right?" Xia Yi asked curiously.

"That is right." Zi Ji nodded. This time, the Beasts had truly been frightened by Xia Yi. They no longer dared to give Gu Yue any chance to be alone. If Gu Yue really perished in the human world, they would have nowhere to weep.

"Who are King of Ten Thousand Demons and Scarlet King protecting?" Xia Yi asked curiously. As far as he knew, both King of Ten Thousand Demons and Scarlet King had higher cultivation than Zi Ji.

In other words, Gu Yue had assigned the weakest Beast to protect him.

Xia Yi did not care much about it, but asking that question made it impossible for Zi Ji not to overthink it.

"You look down on me." Zi Ji glared fiercely at Xia Yi.

"No!" Xia Yi hurriedly explained. Of course, whether she believed him was entirely up to her.

"If you are impressive enough to enter the Inner Court of Shrek Academy, perhaps you will be able to meet her." Zi Ji shook her head. She was neither angry nor willing to reveal Na'er's identity to Xia Yi. She merely asked, "Are you ready?"

"I am ready." Xia Yi nodded forcefully. Zi Ji had not said it, but he could still guess a thing or two. Anyone requiring the protection of two Beasts could not possibly hold a low status.

Moreover, when Zi Ji spoke of that person, the respect in her eyes was no less than when she mentioned Gu Yue. There was only an additional trace of helplessness mixed into that respect.

"Could her status be equal to Gu Yue's?" Xia Yi was startled by his own thought. Gu Yue was the Master of Soul Beasts. Whose status in the hearts of Star Dou Forest's Beasts could compare with hers?

"Do not overthink it. I am starting now." Zi Ji shook her head and placed a Jade Hand on Xia Yi's shoulder. Dark-purple energy erupted and enveloped both of them. Immediately afterward, a dark-purple vortex appeared over her chest.

"So this is the legendary Soul Core." Xia Yi stared at the purple vortex. He could feel just how terrifying the power contained within it was.

Xia Yi had no doubt that if even a trace of the power within that vortex leaked out, it could tear him into pieces.

"That is right. This is a Soul Core. Among us, my cultivation is the weakest, so I need to rely on the Soul Core to ensure your safety." Zi Ji nodded, then continued, "Although the Plane Master forced you to undergo Transformation, now that you have transformed, you possess the cultivation speed of humans. Before long, you will also be able to condense a Soul Core of your own."

Zi Ji did not tell Xia Yi that his martial soul was poor. After all, Xia Yi had only just undergone Transformation. If he were dealt such a blow, he might never recover from it.

Just as Xia Yi nodded, he felt immense spatial pressure closing in from every direction. Fortunately, under the protection of Zi Ji's Soul Core, he suffered no injury other than a slight tightness in his chest.

Zi Ji was extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, the spatial pressure vanished without a trace, and Xia Yi realized that he had already appeared outside Star Dou Forest.

Zi Ji did not directly take Xia Yi to Eastsea City. Instead, she landed not far from Star Dou Forest.

Together with Xia Yi, she looked from outside at the enormous cage imprisoning the entire Star Dou Forest.

It was noon, and the scorching sunlight shone straight down, dazzlingly bright.

The brilliant sunlight gave Xia Yi an unprecedented sense of comfort. He could not help closing his eyes and greedily savoring it.

It was a comfort he had never felt before in Star Dou Forest, and he could not help becoming intoxicated by it.

Zi Ji did not disturb Xia Yi. Seeing him like this made her eyes moisten. If they Beasts had not been so powerless, why would so many little Soul Beasts like Xia Yi have gone from birth until now without ever experiencing true sunlight?

Xia Yi was already considered fortunate. At least he could now truly feel the presence of sunlight. Yet within Star Dou Forest, there were still countless Soul Beasts who, from birth until death, could only gaze at the sun in the sky through the thin membrane overhead.