Star Dou Great Forest

The Sect Master and Great Elder had long prepared for how to secretly take Chen Ming to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Soul Beasts. A special Soul Tool carriage waited in a patch of woodland outside the sect gates. Driving it was a Soul King who looked ordinary—and truly was ordinary.

The carriage itself was a special Soul Tool. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary carriage used by a common merchant or minor noble, with neither overly lavish decorations nor the insignia of any faction.

In truth, it was a special Soul Tool. Its interior was far larger than it appeared from outside, forming a room of roughly three hundred cubic meters. Otherwise, it would not have been able to accommodate the members of the Dragon Elephant Sect, who were giants by nature.

Thanks to its special craftsmanship and materials, even if the carriage itself was destroyed, the space inside would not collapse. Instead, it would directly eject everything within, avoiding the possibility of everyone being wiped out along with the carriage as much as possible. The carriage also had a preset surveillance system that could monitor the outside, and it possessed considerable defensive power of its own.

This was standard equipment for the Dragon Elephant Sect, as well as certain families and individuals who were not particularly suited to appearing on the Douluo Continent but had no choice but to do so.

The Soul Master driving the carriage was a loyal retainer of the Dragon Elephant Sect—or rather, he did not quite count as one.

His ancestors had been commoners living near the Dragon Elephant Sect. They had awakened Soul Power during the free annual awakenings held by the Dragon Elephant Sect in imitation of Spirit Hall, then were nurtured by the sect. Their bloodline had been passed down generation after generation, eventually forming a small family.

Though he could not truly be called a loyal retainer, his loyalty was beyond question. Otherwise, Chen Li would not have allowed him to serve as the driver.

As the carriage traveled, Chen Ming was rarely able to relax so peacefully without the intense training environment. He sat cross-legged inside the expanded carriage compartment, quietly listening as Sect Master Chen Li and Great Elder Chen Ping spoke of their past experiences hunting Soul Beasts.

More than half a month later, Chen Ming finally arrived at the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. The Soul Master responsible for driving the carriage set up camp somewhere outside, while Chen Li and Chen Ping led Chen Ming toward the territory where the Diamond Mammoths recorded in their information lived.

Although the Star Dou Great Forest was not Shrek's private property, and despite having shrunk by nearly twenty percent over the past ten thousand years, it was still no smaller than any duchy. In theory, they would not easily run into people from Shrek Academy on this side, far from the academy.

However, Chen Ming was far too important. Neither of the two Titled Douluo, Chen Li and Chen Ping, had any intention of taking the opportunity to let Chen Ming gain experience in the Star Dou Great Forest.

The two Power Attack Type Soul Masters moved like ghosts, leaving no trace behind. Whenever they encountered Soul Beasts blocking their path, they drove them away if possible, and killed them outright if not. Whenever Chen Ming said he wanted to spar with a Soul Beast, the two immediately promised that once he returned to the Sun Moon Empire, they would take him to a Soul Beast gathering ground within the empire to practice.

In less than a day, the two Titled Douluo had brought Chen Ming straight into the depths of the Mixed Area.

This group of Diamond Mammoths numbered over a dozen. The strongest among them had a cultivation of thirty thousand years. With its cultivation and quality, it could have held a small territory even in the Core Area, where resources and energy were more abundant than in the Mixed Area.

However, perhaps because there were several "youngsters" in the herd with cultivations of only a thousand years or less, this Diamond Mammoth had not led its family into the Core Area. Instead, it occupied a place within the Mixed Area relatively close to the Core Area.

The three were fortunate. When they arrived, the Diamond Mammoths were eating together. Ordinary elephants mostly ate branches, leaves, fruits, and the like, but as top-tier Soul Beasts, Diamond Mammoths had more discerning tastes.

Although what they ate was not all that different, their prey was a small ecosystem made up of thousand-year and hundred-year plant-type Soul Beasts.

The thirty-thousand-year Diamond Mammoth released its aura, suppressing these brainless plant-type Soul Beasts. The other Diamond Mammoths selectively used their long trunks to remove the parts they needed from the plant-type Soul Beasts.

Even for plant-type Soul Beasts, injuries to their bodies had an effect, so most would not casually allow others to chew on them. Yet under the pressure of the thirty-thousand-year lead elephant's aura, this group of plant-type Soul Beasts could only let the Diamond Mammoths choose the most essential parts from their bodies.

The large herd of Diamond Mammoths ate with great relish. Most of the older Diamond Mammoths, those with cultivations ranging from several thousand years to just over ten thousand years, went for parts of the plant-type Soul Beasts that could regenerate easily and would not cause much harm to the main body.

Meanwhile, the Diamond Mammoths just over a thousand years old were allotted parts with comparatively greater energy that were harder for plant-type Soul Beasts to regenerate, allowing them to quickly pass through the weak stage of low cultivation through eating.

Judging from their restrained manner of feeding, this herd of Diamond Mammoths had clearly been eating here for a long time. They had never considered draining this small gathering area of plant-type Soul Beasts dry in one go, but instead maintained things with restraint so that they could eat these plant-type Soul Beasts at every meal.

A Soul Beast's cultivation increased as it aged, but that was not the only way... at least, most Soul Beasts were like that.

An environment with highly concentrated energy and a high-energy diet could both increase a Soul Beast's cultivation. The former increased the cultivation a Soul Beast accumulated each year. The latter had two most obvious manifestations: one was when a Soul Beast happened to consume some treasure and increased its cultivation, while the other was when a Soul Beast obtained part of another Soul Beast's energy after preying upon it.

Even without an attribute or ability related to devouring, ordinary predation could still grant a portion of energy to strengthen oneself. It was merely a matter of differing proportions.

These Diamond Mammoths around a thousand years old were likely only around two hundred years old, perhaps not even three hundred. Aside from their normal cultivation, part of their remaining seven or eight hundred years of cultivation should have come from the highly concentrated Origin Energy of heaven and earth and the Auspicious Beast's passive aura. The larger portion had come from constantly feeding on these plant-type Soul Beasts.

As for the plant-type Soul Beasts being treated as a buffet... it could only be said that maintaining their cultivation without it declining was already their greatest success.

Chen Ming's target was the smallest Diamond Mammoth in the herd, the one with a cultivation of around eight hundred years.

Perhaps because they had run rampant through this region for too long, the entire herd was quite relaxed while eating. The leading Diamond Mammoth released its aura as it carefully nibbled on the fruits and branches of the plant-type Soul Beasts as though eating snacks, while the remaining Soul Beasts casually picked out their favorite parts.

As the smallest child in the herd, the roughly eight-hundred-year Diamond Mammoth took huge bites out of the precious parts that the other Diamond Mammoths could not bear to eat. Every now and then, it even lashed a plant-type Soul Beast that did not taste as good as expected with its trunk, carrying quite the air of a spoiled brat.

At that moment, the Great Elder and the Sect Master exchanged a glance and silently nodded.

Great Elder Chen Ping stood protectively before Chen Ming, while Sect Master Chen Li suddenly stepped forward. The two summoned their Martial Souls at the same time, and eighteen Soul Rings lit up in an instant.

Yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black.

Soul Rings of identical configuration appeared around the two men as they underwent Martial Soul Possession. After Chen Li possessed the Dragon Elephant Martial Soul, his body grew to nearly four meters tall, his entire body undergoing extensive beastification. The aura of Level 94 spread outward, dangerous as a volcano on the verge of erupting.

The Great Elder's Martial Soul, meanwhile, was the White Armored Earth Dragon. Although he followed a path that was half Power Attack Type and half defense, using Soul Tools to make up for his weaknesses, and although his Level 91 Soul Power cultivation was far inferior to Sect Master Chen Li's, the aura he released was still utterly beyond anything these Soul Beasts could compare to.