Fate brings people together across a thousand miles

With Dai Mubai leading the way, the group began exploring the Star Dou Great Forest.

During their journey, they encountered some ten-year-level Soul Beast. Dai Mubai led the group around them, avoiding unnecessary bloodshed.

Because Chen Feng had discussed the topics of Soul Beast and Soul Master in their correspondence, Dai Mubai also accepted the principle of not killing unless absolutely necessary.

Moreover, the noise and smell of fighting Soul Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest, as well as the bloodstains from the wounds of both sides, could attract powerful Soul Beast.

Therefore, in Life Forbidden Zone like the Star Dou Great Forest, combat should be avoided as much as possible.

Even if a battle is necessary, it should be fought swiftly and decisively; one cannot afford to be bogged down, or something bad might happen.

Chen Feng and his group explored the forest for about an hour, encountering mostly ten- or hundred-year-old Soul Beast, without even seeing a single hair of a Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

So, around noon, Zhao Wuji ordered everyone to rest for a while.

Dai Mubai cleared a large open space, where everyone sat down to rest for a while.

Tang San intended to sit with Chen Feng as usual, but Ning Rongrong sat down next to Chen Feng first, while Zhu Zhuqing went to Chen Feng's other side.

The two girls formed a cheese sandwich around Chen Feng. Tang San, with a somewhat strange expression, found another place to sit down, and Xiao Wu also came and sat down next to him.

Since it was inconvenient to start a fire, everyone took out their own dry rations and water to eat and drink, except for Chen Feng, who ate the Tofu and Sweet Garlic that Oscar had given him.

While munching on Sweet Garlic, Chen Feng waited quietly to see if the unfortunate Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent from the Original Work would come over.

After all, we've already encountered them at the Canghui Academy, Meng Yiran shouldn't be far behind, right?

While waiting, Chen Feng noticed Ma Hongjun eating some dry rations and asked curiously:

"Old Ma, your Foundation Ring requires you to eat cooked food. So what would you do in this environment where you can't start a fire?"

"It's alright. I only need to absorb fire energy to remove impurities after I cultivate. There's no need to be so particular about it at other times. Besides, my Martial Soul's condition has improved a lot over the years. Even if I cultivate continuously for ten days or half a month, it won't have much of an impact."

"Eating is more of a hobby for me now, it won't affect my life, Bro Feng, don't worry." Ma Hongjun chuckled.

"That's quite good." Chen Feng nodded. "Speaking of which, I seem to remember some items that can provide Fire Attribute energy. You could try to collect them; they should be beneficial to your cultivation."

The quality of these items varies greatly; some can fetch exorbitant prices, while others are affordable for the average person. However, Chen Feng has never seen Ma Hongjun use any of them. Could it be that Flender is simply too stingy?

Dai Mubai and Bai Chenxiang both have similar items; they make these items into ornaments to carry with them, just like Xiao Wu's pendant.

This trend gradually became popular on the continent after the Foundation Building Method was released, and many Biological Spirit Master who had the means would prepare one for themselves.

But Tang San doesn't have such a thing, because he can directly absorb sunlight, and the energy radiated by the sun is incomparable to that of such items.

"Yes, Bro Feng, I have this kind of thing," Ma Hongjun said after swallowing his dry rations.

"A long time ago, the dean got me a fire-breathing stone, but it was so big and flammable that it wasn't convenient to carry around. I don't usually go out much, so I put it in our Academy's kitchen to start a fire. I usually eat food cooked with the fire from this stone."

"A stone that can spew fire? What does it look like?" Ning Rongrong asked from the side.

"The stone is usually black with some pretty patterns on it, but it turns red when it catches fire, which is quite beautiful," Ma Hongjun said.

"Fire Cloud Rock!? That's not cheap. Where did the Dean get it?" Ning Rongrong asked in surprise.

Chen Feng raised his eyebrows, looking somewhat surprised.

He had just thought Flender was too stingy, not even providing his disciples with elemental items for Foundation Establishment, but now it seemed that Flender was incredibly generous.

Fire Cloud Rock is much more valuable than Lightning Yuan Stone because Lightning Yuan Stone is mainly used to store Lightning Attribute energy and has a limited lifespan.

However, Fire Cloud Rock can generate Fire Attribute energy, so its price naturally rises accordingly.

Not to mention that, according to Ma Hongjun's description, this Fire Cloud Rock is quite large, which would double its price. If the people from the Blazing Fire Academy knew about it, they would all be scrambling to buy it for 100,000 Gold Soul Coin.

Goodness, this chubby kid is a hidden big spender.

When asked about Ning Rongrong, Ma Hongjun shook his head, indicating that he did not know.

But Zhao Wuji spoke up at that moment.

"This stuff was obtained by me and Boss Fu in the Death Desert. We were chasing a ten- Ten-Thousand-Year- old Crimson Flame Flying Dragon and wanted to get some of its blood, supposedly because Boss Fu's friend needed it."

"That guy was pretty strong, but he still couldn't beat us, so he just ran away. Boss Fu and I chased him all the way to his lair, got some of his blood, and then we found this stone interesting, so we brought it back."

Upon hearing Zhao Wuji's words, Chen Feng suddenly understood.

It turns out that the root of the Fire Cloud Rock actually lies with him.

Because Chen Feng had suggested that the Grandmaster improve Golden Horn's condition by feeding it Golden Horn Dragon blood, the Grandmaster sought help from Flender.

However, obtaining dragon blood once is not enough for Golden Horn to eat continuously; he will have to make another trip from time to time.

Although the Grandmaster's relationship with his family improved later, Grandmaster lied to his family because Chen Feng needed Yu Yuanzhen's blood. He claimed that his father Yu Yuanzhen's blood could improve Golden Horn's condition, and used this as an excuse to help Chen Feng repair the Zhen Hexagram.

Now that the lie had been told, the Grandmaster could no longer obtain dragon blood from his family and could only continue to seek Flender's help.

This Fire Cloud Rock was probably something Flender obtained by chance in the Death Desert during one of his dragon blood collection trips.

"Speaking of which, how valuable is this thing?" Zhao Wuji asked curiously.

"How big is it?" Ning Rongrong asked.

Ma Hongjun opened his arms and gestured, "It can probably seat two people."

"That shouldn't exceed two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coin," Ning Rongrong said.

"Two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coin!?" Ma Hongjun's chubby face twitched instantly.

Zhao Wuji stroked his chin. "It seems we'll have to talk to Boss Fu about this when we get back. If we sell this stone, the Academy will be in a much better place."

"Don't sell it! Teacher Zhao, you absolutely can't sell it! What will I do if you sell this stone?" Ma Hongjun jumped up immediately.

Zhao Wuji paused for a moment, then pondered:

"That's true. Boss Fu made your situation sound quite serious back then, but your Martial Soul has never had any problems since. I thought he misjudged it, but now it seems that the Fire Cloud Rock must have played a big role."

"Yes, yes!" Ma Hongjun nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. "We can't sell Fire Cloud Rock!"

"Hiss~ But that's over ten thousand gold coins..." Zhao Wuji hesitated, but seeing Ma Hongjun's eager look, he finally nodded and said:

"Alright, then I won't tell Boss Fu about this. But I suggest you find a way to put that thing away. It's not good to keep something so valuable in the kitchen."

"But that thing catches fire, where else can we put it if not in the kitchen?" Ma Hongjun said with a mournful face.

"Why don't we put it in Storage Soul Tool?" Bai Chenxiang suggested from the side.

"That's typical rich girl talk," Ma Hongjun scoffed. "If I had Storage Soul Tool, would I be worrying about this?"

"I'll give you one." Ning Rongrong took out a pink ring and tossed it to Ma Hongjun.

Ma Hongjun hurriedly caught it, looked at the ring in his hand, and asked blankly:

"This Storage Soul Tool... you just gave it to me like that?"

"Yes, I brought this from home, but neither Xiangxiang nor I like this color. You can use it if you don't mind the color," Ning Rongrong said casually.

"No problem, no problem at all, as long as it's useful." Ma Hongjun happily put the ring on his finger. "Now I have Storage Soul Tool too!"

Oscar looked at him with envy. Seeing this, Xiao Wu took out the extra ring from before and said:

"Oscar, do you want this Earth Kunlun?"

"Earth Kunlun? Is it Storage Soul Tool? It actually has a name?" Oscar, somewhat puzzled.

"Yes, the Storage Soul Tool of me, Xiao San, and Xiao Feng all have names, and Xiao Feng named them all: White Cloud Smoke, Jade Snow Ice, and Blood Sky Vault. This ring is extra; it's called Earth Kunlun." Xiao Wu said, showing off the white and yellow rings on her hand.

"So, Oscar, do you want this Earth Kunlun?"

"Yes, thank you, Xiao Wu. I won't say anything more. From now on, I'll provide plenty of Tofu Sweet Garlic," Oscar said.

"Uh, the Sweet Garlic is alright, but let's talk about the Tofu later." Xiao Wu handed the Earth Kunlun to Oscar.

"Xiao Feng, can you give my ring a name too?" Ning Rongrong gently placed her hand on Chen Feng's hand and said with a smile.

"Let's call it... Purple Star River," Chen Feng said, glancing at her purple ring.

"And what about mine?" Zhu Zhuqing placed her hand on Chen Feng's hand as well.

"Uh... how about Dark Chaos?"

"It's great, I like it very much," Zhu Zhuqing said with a smile, but she didn't take her hand back.

"Xiao Feng, what should I call this golden ring?" Dai Mubai joined in the fun.

"Golden Dawn," Chen Feng said.

"Bro Feng, Bro Feng, what about mine?" Bai Chenxiang shook the cyan ring on her hand.

"Indigo Sea, perhaps."

"And what about this pink one?"

"Rose Haze Tide."

And so, each member of Nine-Headed Serpent acquired a Storage Soul Tool, and these ring-shaped Storage Soul Tool were even given a nice-sounding name.

Unfortunately, there were only nine of them, so the name Ten Rings Gang will never appear in this world.

Ma Hongjun was very excited about obtaining the Storage Soul Tool. He happily fiddled with it, sometimes putting in a stone, sometimes putting in a few twigs, having a great time.

Oscar was much more composed than him. After tasting the ring with some Tofu and Sweet Garlic, he stopped fiddling with it.

Just then, Xiao Wu's ears twitched slightly. She turned her head to look in a certain direction, but hesitated and did not speak.

A second later, Tang San also looked in that direction and shouted loudly:

"Watch out, something is approaching quickly."

Everyone quickly stood up and returned to their previous formation in a very short time, and each of them released their Martial Soul.

Just as Zhao Wuji was about to send Zhu Zhuqing to investigate, Tang San spoke up at that moment:

"It's an insect-type Soul Beast, quite large, with many legs, and it moves quite fast."

"How did you know?" Zhao Wuji asked in surprise.

"The plants told me that," Tang San said, pointing to the surrounding trees.

After arriving in the Star Dou Great Forest, his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul became more active than ever before, and he soon discovered that he seemed to be able to communicate with the surrounding plants in a simple way.

The information conveyed by this communication is somewhat vague, but it is sufficient as a warning.

Chen Feng, however, was somewhat bewildered.

Why is it a multi-legged insect-type Soul Beast? Shouldn't it be Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent?

Is something wrong?

After learning the information Tang San provided, Zhao Wuji wanted to know more about the Soul Beast, so he asked Zhu Zhuqing to investigate.

Zhu Zhuqing nimbly climbed to a large tree nearby, glanced in the direction Zhao Wuji pointed, and said:

"It was a large black spider, with what appeared to be some white markings on its lower abdomen, but I couldn't see them very clearly."

"Could it be Man Faced Demon Spider?" Chen Feng blurted out.

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing looking at him with a puzzled expression, Chen Feng explained:

"The main characteristic of this Soul Beast is that the white stripes on its belly form the shape of a human face."

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhu Zhuqing transformed into a shadowy figure and vanished.

"I'll go take a look."

"Don't get too close," Chen Feng cautioned.

He had by then accepted the fact that the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent had disappeared; after all, it was just a coincidence, and it was understandable that it hadn't happened.

However, if it's Man Faced Demon Spider, that's rather interesting. Could it be that Xiao San is destined to meet it?

A few seconds later, Zhu Zhuqing appeared before everyone. She nodded to Chen Feng and said:

"You're right, Xiao Feng, it really is a Man Faced Demon Spider, and it's heading in our direction."

Chen Feng's expression was somewhat strange, and Zhao Wuji looked at him and asked:

"Chen Feng, do you need Soul Ring from this kind of Soul Beast?"

Chen Feng shook his head, Zhao Wuji then said:

"In that case, let's get rid of it."

"Teacher Zhao, could you please help me catch it?" Tang San asked at this moment.

"What do you want to do?" Zhao Wuji asked suspiciously.

"I want to collect some of its venom," Tang San said.