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 was parked within a patch of forest outside the sect's mountain gate. The Soul King driving it looked ordinary—and indeed, he was ordinary.

The carriage itself was a special Soul Tool. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary carriage used by merchants or minor nobles, without any overly lavish decorations or the insignia of any faction.

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

Thanks to its special craftsmanship and materials, even if the carriage itself was destroyed, the space within would not collapse. Instead, it would directly eject everything inside, minimizing the possibility of everyone being wiped out along with the carriage. At the same time, the carriage's interior could monitor the outside through its installed surveillance system, and it possessed considerable defensive power as well.

This was standard equipment for the Dragon Elephant Sect, as well as certain families and individuals unsuited to appearing openly on the Douluo Continent when they had no choice but to do so.

The Soul Master driving the carriage was a dead warrior of the Dragon Elephant Sect—or rather, he could not quite be called one.

His ancestors had been commoners living near the Dragon Elephant Sect. During the sect's imitation of Spirit Hall's annual free awakening ceremonies, they had awakened Soul Power. They were later cultivated by the Dragon Elephant Sect, and their bloodline had been passed down generation after generation, eventually forming a small family.

Though he could not truly be considered a dead warrior, his loyalty was beyond doubt. Otherwise, Chen Li would not have entrusted him with serving as the carriage driver.

As the carriage traveled, Chen Ming was able to relax for once without that high-intensity 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 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 although it had 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 Shrek Academy.

However, Chen Ming was simply too important. Neither Chen Li nor Chen Ping, both Titled Douluo, had any intention of using this opportunity to let him gain experience in the Star Dou Great Forest.

At that moment, the two Power Attack Type Soul Masters moved like ghosts, coming and going without a trace and leaving no tracks behind. When 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 test himself against 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 there to practice.

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

This group of Diamond Mammoths numbered more than ten. The strongest among them possessed thirty thousand years of cultivation. Given its cultivation and quality, it could have claimed 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 "little ones" in the herd with only a thousand years or less of cultivation, this Diamond Mammoth had not directly led its family into the Core Area. Instead, it occupied a spot in the Mixed Area relatively close to the Core Area.

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

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

The thirty-thousand-year Diamond Mammoth released its aura, suppressing those mindless 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, damage to their bodies had an impact, so most would not casually allow others to chew on them. Yet beneath the oppressive aura of the thirty-thousand-year lead mammoth, these plant-type Soul Beasts could only let the Diamond Mammoths choose the most refined parts from their bodies.

The herd of Diamond Mammoths ate with great delight. Most of the older ones, with cultivations ranging from several thousand years to just over ten thousand years, went for the parts of the plant-type Soul Beasts that were easier to regenerate and would not cause too much harm to their main bodies.

The Diamond Mammoths just over a thousand years old, meanwhile, were given portions containing comparatively more energy that were harder for plant-type Soul Beasts to regenerate, allowing them to quickly overcome the weakness of their low-cultivation period through eating.

Judging from their restrained manner of feeding, this group of Diamond Mammoths had clearly been eating here for a long time. They had never considered draining this small gathering ground of plant-type Soul Beasts dry in a single reckless feast. Instead, they maintained enough restraint to ensure they could eat these plant-type Soul Beasts at every meal.

A Soul Beast's cultivation increased with age, but that was not the only way... at least, not for most Soul Beasts.

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, while the latter had two more direct manifestations: one was when a Soul Beast happened to consume some treasure and increased its cultivation, while the other was when a Soul Beast hunted other Soul Beasts and obtained part of their energy.

Even without an ability or attribute related to devouring, ordinary hunting could still grant some energy to strengthen oneself. It was merely a matter of proportion.

These Diamond Mammoths around a thousand years old were probably only two hundred, perhaps less than three hundred, years old in reality. Apart from their normal cultivation, part of their remaining seven or eight hundred years of cultivation should have come from highly concentrated natural Origin Energy and the passive aura of an Auspicious Beast. The greater portion came from continuously feeding on these plant-type Soul Beasts in their daily lives.

As for the plant-type Soul Beasts being treated as a buffet... it could only be said that avoiding a decline in cultivation was already their greatest success.

Chen Ming's target was the smallest Diamond Mammoth in the herd, the one that appeared to have roughly eight hundred years of cultivation.

Perhaps because they had dominated this region for too long, the entire herd was rather relaxed as it ate. The lead Diamond Mammoth released its aura while carefully eating the fruits and branches of the plant-type Soul Beasts as though enjoying snacks, while the remaining Soul Beasts casually picked out the parts they liked.

As the youngest child of the herd, the roughly eight-hundred-year Diamond Mammoth greedily devoured the precious parts that the other Diamond Mammoths were reluctant to eat. Every now and then, it even whipped a plant-type Soul Beast that did not taste as good as expected with its trunk, carrying the air of a spoiled brat.

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

Great Elder Chen Ping shielded Chen Ming in front of him, while Sect Master Chen Li suddenly stepped forward. Both summoned their Martial Souls, and eighteen Soul Rings lit up in an instant.

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

Identical Soul Ring configurations appeared around the two men in Martial Soul Possession. After Chen Li's Dragon Elephant Martial Soul Possession, his body grew to nearly four meters tall, and he underwent extensive bestial transformation. The aura of a Rank 94 surged forth, dangerous as a volcano on the verge of eruption.

The Great Elder's Martial Soul, meanwhile, was the White Armored Earth Dragon. Although he also followed a path that was half Power Attack Type and half defense, using Soul Tools to compensate for his shortcomings, his Rank 91 Soul Power was far inferior to Sect Master Chen Li's. Even so, the aura he released remained beyond anything these Soul Beasts could compare to.