Every Part of Bamboo Is Useful

The pressure a Titled Douluo brought upon Ye Zhiqiu was a little overwhelming. Sword Douluo merely watched him calmly, yet a faint cold sweat appeared on Ye Zhiqiu's forehead, even though Sword Douluo did not seem to harbor any ill intent.

Ye Zhiqiu hurriedly clenched his right fist and pressed it to his left chest, performing the standard etiquette of Douluo Continent. "Senior, I only did that because I didn't have a token to enter. I absolutely had no other intentions. Thank you, Senior, for bringing me inside. I'll be leaving now."

With that, Ye Zhiqiu turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Someone like Sword Douluo was far too dangerous. With that cold face of his, he looked as though everyone owed him five million. Who knew whether following him might suddenly earn Ye Zhiqiu a sword through the body? Now that he had entered the Soul Hunting Forest, it was better to stay as far away as possible.

Sword Douluo had no intention of stopping Ye Zhiqiu from leaving and merely watched him indifferently.

He was somewhat curious about Ye Zhiqiu, curious that such a young child dared to enter the Soul Hunting Forest alone. But that curiosity was not enough to make him keep Ye Zhiqiu around.

After the three parted ways not far from the entrance to the Soul Hunting Forest, Ye Zhiqiu let out a breath of relief and set off alone.

Although following Sword Douluo and the others would have been easy, his own secrets might have been exposed. Unless he intended to casually settle for some hundred-year soul ring, but Ye Zhiqiu would obviously never do something that would ruin his own future.

Besides, Sword Douluo Chen Xin's temper toward outsiders was not particularly good in the original story. With him beside Ye Zhiqiu, he always felt like a ticking time bomb.

Now that they had gone their separate ways and there was no threat from high-level fighters, wouldn't this tiny Soul Hunting Forest be his playground?

Although this Soul Hunting Forest was jointly maintained by the Heaven Dou Empire and Spirit Hall as an artificially created environment for soul beasts to grow, it had been converted from an ancient forest far from human habitation. It still retained the air of a primordial forest.

Towering trees stood everywhere, unknown wildflowers carpeted the ground, and vines twisted around like coiling dragons. The fresh scent of nature washed over him, leaving Ye Zhiqiu slightly intoxicated and faintly excited.

Walking alone through the dense forest, Ye Zhiqiu found several small paths trampled out by previous visitors. He followed one of them deeper into the Soul Hunting Forest.

The Soul Hunting Forest was divided into three regions. The outermost region basically had no soul beasts, only ordinary wild animals, such as little rabbits that had yet to develop intelligence. This was also where the entrance to the Soul Hunting Forest was located.

A little farther in, one could encounter ten-year soul beasts, and occasionally hundred-year ones.

Most of the soul beasts in the middle region were hundred-year soul beasts. This was also where most Soul Scholars chose to obtain their Spirit Master soul rings.

To find thousand-year soul beasts, one had to venture deep into the Soul Hunting Forest. As for Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts, whether this Soul Hunting Forest even had any was unknown. It was said that Spirit Hall sent high-level Spirit Masters to clear them out every year.

If Ye Zhiqiu wanted to find a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast in this Soul Hunting Forest, the odds were probably comparable to winning the lottery.

Unfortunately for Ye Zhiqiu, he had entered with great excitement, especially wanting to find a soul beast to test his skills on and kill it to see what soul rings actually looked like.

Yet after walking for nearly half an hour, he had not seen a single soul beast. He had only encountered some ordinary wild animals, which did not interest him in the slightest.

Just as Ye Zhiqiu passed by a bamboo stalk with a gloomy expression, his steps halted.

"Hmm? A faint fluctuation of Soul Power?"

After sensing carefully, Ye Zhiqiu's eyes lit up. He discovered that it was coming from the inconspicuous bamboo stalk he had just passed. Keeping his upper body still, he stepped backward a few paces.

Once he stopped beside the bamboo stalk, Ye Zhiqiu revealed a friendly smile. "Brother, you really know how to keep a low profile."

Lonely Bamboo: ...

"Um, I've never seen what a soul ring looks like after a soul beast dies. Why don't you let me have a look?" Ye Zhiqiu scratched his head awkwardly, smiling at the roughly ten-year-old Lonely Bamboo as though talking to himself.

Lonely Bamboo: Don't come any closer!~~~

"If you don't say anything, I'll take that as agreement. Your self-sacrificing spirit has deeply moved me. I've decided to give you a dignified death." Ye Zhiqiu continued talking to himself, tilting his head as if pondering something.

Then, he left.

After being stunned for a moment, the Lonely Bamboo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This person was terrifying. Thankfully, he had finally left.

I'm a Lonely Bamboo that has cultivated for ten years. I almost got killed today. Waaah, that was terrifying. Once I cultivate for a thousand years and grow legs so I can run, I'll definitely get reve-reveng—revenge my ass! Why did that terrifying human come back? And why is he carrying a huge bundle of dry firewood and a little rabbit? Why do I have a bad feeling about this? The Lonely Bamboo began to question its bamboo life.

Half an hour later.

Ye Zhiqiu held a bamboo skewer in his left hand, with a glistening roasted rabbit threaded onto it. In his right hand, he held a section of bamboo tube filled with clean water carrying a bamboo fragrance. Leaning against the main stalk of this Lonely Bamboo, which had already been laid to rest, he enjoyed his meal.

A white soul ring floated beside Ye Zhiqiu, sparkling with starlight and looking exceptionally beautiful.

Radiance continued to spill downward from the soul ring, making it look incomparably dazzling.

After a soul beast died, its soul ring could only exist for one hour. The time had now come, and it was in the process of dissipating.

"Ah, this Soul Hunting Forest really is a wonderful place. Not only is rabbit meat fragrant, it's especially chewy too. With this secret spice blend, the flavor is incredible." Ye Zhiqiu contentedly gnawed off the last rabbit head, casually tossed away the bones, wiped the corner of his mouth, and rose to continue deeper into the Soul Hunting Forest.

His target was the area slightly off the center of the Soul Hunting Forest, where there were more thousand-year soul beasts. His first soul ring would be settled there. If he got lucky, he might even encounter a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast hiding away that Spirit Hall had failed to discover. Then his second soul ring would be taken care of as well.

Ye Zhiqiu had never worried about being unable to defeat one. If he truly encountered a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast, he would immediately upgrade his Sharingan to the Mangekyō Sharingan. If he did not encounter one, he planned to first use these 15,000 Negative Emotion Value to purchase the improved origins of Two-Tails Matatabi and Three-Tails Isobu. By then, he would have three powerful cheats, and the improvement to every aspect of his physical abilities would be even faster.

The Mangekyō Sharingan was different from an ordinary Sharingan. It was a qualitative transformation. Its price directly rose from the Three Tomoe's 3,000 Negative Emotion Value to 10,000 Negative Emotion Value. The improved origin of Two-Tails Matatabi cost 6,000 Negative Emotion Value, while the improved origin of Three-Tails Isobu cost 7,000 Negative Emotion Value.

There simply was not enough Negative Emotion Value to go around. That was why the choices were so difficult, forcing Ye Zhiqiu to calculate every expenditure carefully.

While Ye Zhiqiu traveled on foot deeper into the Soul Hunting Forest, Sword Douluo had already brought Ning Rongrong to the middle region. Most of the soul beasts here were hundred-year soul beasts, making it more suitable for Ning Rongrong. The two of them were looking for a pure strength-type soul beast.

And where they were happened to be directly along Ye Zhiqiu's only path forward.