Millennium Soul Beast, Ice Dual-Winged Serpent!

Star Dou Great Forest, outskirts.

After hearing Ye Buqun's explanation, Doudou finally understood a little. She lightly punched him with her delicate fist. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I already knew you were impressive, but I never expected you to be this impressive."

Ye Buqun did not take it seriously. "It's just a small matter."

With such a powerful presence by her side, Doudou was no longer as nervous as before. At that moment, she seemed to have found someone to rely on.

The forest was even denser than Ye Buqun had imagined. The towering trees were all over thirty meters tall. Even when he used the Eye of Mirror, all he could see was an endless sea of green unless Ye Buqun used his thoughts to magnify a specific area.

After they went a little deeper, the air became even fresher, making them feel more comfortable.

Though the air was pleasant, this was not a place ordinary people could enter. The terrain around the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest was extremely complex, and there were no paths to begin with. Even if Soul Masters had once carved out roads, they would soon be covered by all kinds of strange, fast-growing vegetation.

Although Ye Buqun had been here once before, that was because Ning Rongrong had become separated from her family and gotten lost in the forest. That area had been relatively close to the core. The closer one got to the core, the flatter the terrain became, but the danger also grew greater.

Ever since copying Sword Douluo Chen Xin, Ye Buqun had maintained Chen Xin's possession state most of the time. In the outskirts, countless thorny vines and tangled plants had almost completely blocked the way. At times like this, Ye Buqun formed a sword with two fingers and effortlessly sliced through the obstacles.

Although she knew the man beside her was powerful, naturally cautious Doudou still carefully watched her surroundings. She had once been a student at a Soul Master Academy and knew some basic facts about soul beasts. Wild soul beasts were highly aggressive and hostile toward humans who hunted them for Soul Rings, so once encountered, they were difficult to deal with.

She stayed close behind Ye Buqun, afraid of falling even half a step behind.

At that moment, they saw twenty or thirty soul beasts over two feet long pass by in the distance. They were covered in black fur with white bellies, but they made no move against Ye Buqun and Doudou and continued on their way.

These soul beasts were called Serrated Weasels. They were small, and though they had little offensive power themselves, their teeth were exceptionally hard, capable of biting through even steel.

These were ten-year soul beasts, communal creatures of the well-behaved type that believed, "If no one offends me, I will not offend them." As long as outsiders did not provoke them, they would never provoke others.

Seeing this, Ye Buqun naturally left them alone.

The density of this enormous forest was almost beyond the two of them's imagination. Sunlight was nearly impossible to see.

Since they needed to find a suitable Soul Ring for Doudou, they did not travel very quickly. After walking for over an hour, they had encountered quite a few soul beasts of various numbers and kinds, but most were ten-year or hundred-year ones. Some had even come looking for trouble and were easily dealt with by Ye Buqun. There were one or two thousand-year ones, but they were plant-type soul beasts and unsuitable for her.

"Why don't we rest for a while?" Ye Buqun's words relaxed Doudou's slightly tense nerves. Then, he used Sword Qi to clear away the surrounding thorns and weeds, opening up a clearing several dozen square meters wide. The two sat down against a large tree and rested for the moment.

In truth, Ye Buqun, whose Soul Power and stamina were abundant, did not need rest at all. He was mainly worried that Doudou would not be able to keep up.

There were not many high-year soul beasts in the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest. Their goal this time was to hunt a suitable thousand-year Soul Ring for Doudou, so they had to go deeper into the forest. However, the deeper they went, the more dangerous it became.

But before they had rested for even half an hour, they heard a rustling sound, as though something were darting through the grass.

Eye of Mirror!

Ye Buqun activated his original body's Third Soul Skill once more. He clearly saw a snake with a pair of wings on its back, though one of its wings appeared to be injured. Its body was covered in a faint blue crystalline sheen, its head was a full circle thicker than its body, and mist seemed to rise from its head.

By visual estimate, the snake was roughly five to seven meters long.

This soul beast was called the Ice Dual-Winged Serpent. Every meter represented two hundred years of cultivation, so it was undoubtedly a thousand-year soul beast.

As the saying went, one could search everywhere in worn-out shoes and find nothing, only to obtain it effortlessly in the end.

This soul beast possessed the ability to fly, had surpassed a thousand years in age, and, more importantly, had ice-element attacks. If Doudou obtained it, she would undoubtedly become a proper Battle Soul Master.

But timid Doudou had always been afraid of snakes. At that moment, she clung to Ye Buqun's arm and hid half her body behind him.

Ye Buqun smiled. "Doudou, your Third Soul Ring has been found."

Doudou looked at him with her beautiful eyes. "You don't mean that snake, do you?"

"That's right. It suits you very well. If you can use it as your Soul Ring, you'll have absolute offensive power. Our Ye-Doudou Duo will definitely sweep through Soto Great Soul Arena."

Ye Buqun's string of hype made Doudou's eyes sparkle. "All right, I want it."

Hearing that, Ye Buqun smiled and pointed his thumb at himself. "Leave it to me!"

As he spoke, the phantom of a six-foot-long Seven Kill Sword appeared beneath his feet. Using Sword Flight, he carried Doudou forward through the air.

Soul beasts naturally had stronger reflexes, perception, and vigilance than humans. Moreover, Ye Buqun was flying toward it with killing intent written all over him. It was obvious that he had come to kill it. The Ice Dual-Winged Serpent was immediately startled. Its injured wing flapped, and it rose five or six meters off the ground, desperately trying to escape.

"Sorry, little snake, but you can't get away."

Ye Buqun teased it as the Seven Kill Sword beneath his feet flew far faster than it could.

He quickly overtook it and moved ahead of it.

As the saying went, a cornered dog would leap over a wall, and even a rabbit would bite when desperate. Much less a fierce serpent. Seeing the two hateful humans closing in, it flapped its injured wings, immediately turned around, and spat a pale blue beam at them.

The surrounding temperature suddenly dropped. Wherever the beam passed, water vapor instantly froze into ice as it shot straight for their faces.

Ye Buqun raised two fingers and slashed through the air. Silver-white Sword Qi tore through the atmosphere and scattered the beam into nothingness.

This was the Ice Dual-Winged Serpent's innate skill—Ice Ray. A Soul Master struck by it would instantly become a crystalline ice sculpture, then turn into the Ice Dual-Winged Serpent's meal.

Seeing how formidable this Soul Master riding a flying sword was, the serpent increased its flying speed even further—