He Was the First

After a short rest, the three of them officially stepped into the most famous Soul Beast habitat on the Douluo Continent—the Star Dou Great Forest.

The moment they entered the forest, the light immediately dimmed.

To Xuan Hao, it felt like he had crossed into a land of giants.

Back in the small woods beside Lan Yun Village, he had been the king of the hill. Even the tallest trees were only a dozen meters high, and he could climb them to raid bird nests.

But here?

Everywhere he looked stood towering ancient trees.

Some of those massive trunks would take more than a dozen adults linking arms to encircle. They easily reached over a hundred meters tall, their dense canopies layered atop one another and blotting out the sky. Only scattered sunlight filtered through the gaps, spilling down in shafts of light.

The ground was covered in thick humus that felt soft beneath his feet. Rare Flowers and Exotic Herbs he had never seen before grew all around, while the air itself carried a peculiar scent mixed with earthy fragrance and a faint smell of blood.

Now that they were here, Hu Liena finally regained her confidence as a "senior."

"Stop looking around. Stay close."

Walking beside Xuan Hao, Hu Liena pointed at a brightly colored vine nearby. "That's a Ghost Face Vine. Don't let its pretty appearance fool you. Touch it once, and its barbs will instantly numb your nerves, wrap you up like a dumpling, and turn you into fertilizer."

Xuan Hao shrank his neck and silently moved farther away from the vine.

Seeing how inexperienced he looked, Hu Liena was delighted and began explaining as they walked.

"The Star Dou Great Forest isn't like those tiny woods near your village. The terrain here is complicated, and because Soul Power is abundant, plants grow incredibly quickly. A path you trample out today might be sealed off by newly grown bushes in just a couple of days."

"There are no fixed paths here, nor are there any ready-made markers. If you don't know how to identify directions and vegetation, once a low-level Soul Master gets lost, it's basically a dead end. There's no way out."

Xuan Hao listened obediently, nodding from time to time.

Bibi Dong walked at the front without saying a word.

She held a scepter and appeared to be strolling leisurely, yet every thorny bramble and obstructing bush within a meter of her automatically parted to either side, as though welcoming the Queen's arrival.

Before they knew it, it was noon.

As they went deeper, the surrounding trees became even taller, and low beast roars occasionally echoed from the distance.

"Stop here."

Bibi Dong halted beside a relatively flat giant rock. "The Mixed Zone lies ahead. Hundred-year Soul Beasts are common there, and thousand-year Soul Beasts may occasionally appear as well. We'll rest here first, eat something, and recover our strength."

Although this journey had not been as exhausting as the previous hundred-kilometer run, there were no paths here. They had needed to hack their way through thorns and brush, which had taken no small toll on their stamina.

Hu Liena obediently sat beside Bibi Dong and took out two exquisite oil-paper packets from her Storage Soul Tool.

When she opened them, they revealed neatly sliced dark-red jerky. The meat was translucent and glistening, and even gave off faint Soul Power fluctuations. An enticing meaty aroma immediately spread through the air.

"This is tendon meat from a hundred-year Black Horned Bull." Bibi Dong picked up a piece and put it into her mouth. "It quickly replenishes stamina and Soul Power, and it tastes quite good too."

Beside them, Xuan Hao silently pulled a black, hard object from his shabby cloth bundle.

It was the "special Soul Beast jerky" he had bought from a general store in town.

Looking at the premium goods in Bibi Dong and Hu Liena's hands, complete in color, aroma, and flavor, then at the thing in his own hand that resembled dried tree bark, Xuan Hao keenly felt the gap between worlds.

Crack.

He bit down hard, and his teeth struck the jerky with a sharp sound like metal against stone.

As he laboriously chewed the meat in his mouth—meat that he could not tell whether it came from a ten-year wild boar or a ten-year stray dog—Xuan Hao sighed inwardly.

When he had bought this stuff, that boss with the face of a profiteer had even earnestly warned him:

"Little brother, entering the Star Dou Great Forest isn't child's play. If you want to obtain a Soul Ring, you need to prepare at least three days' worth of food! And that's if you're lucky. If you're picky about Soul Beasts, it's perfectly normal to wander around in there for ten days or half a month."

"And it'd be best to spend money hiring a Spirit Hunting Group from our town. It may be expensive, but it's safe! Otherwise, even if you're lucky enough to find a Soul Beast, if nobody protects you while you absorb the Soul Ring, any random ten-year Wind Wolf could carry you off!"

Thinking of that, Xuan Hao took another fierce bite of the hard jerky.

Though his food was a little lacking, he did not need to worry about someone protecting him.

After all, the continent's finest "Spirit Hunting Group" was sitting right across from him.

"Here."

Watching Xuan Hao struggle with that piece of "dried tree bark," every bite like he was gnawing on bones, Hu Liena could not bear to watch any longer.

She handed him the other unopened packet of Black Horned Bull jerky, her eyes carrying a touch of helpless concern.

"Eat this. Stop chewing that thing. My teeth hurt just watching you."

Xuan Hao paused. He glanced at the packet of fragrant jerky, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

But he quickly turned his head away, stubbornly tore another vicious bite from the hard jerky in his hand, and said indistinctly, "No need. Mine's pretty good. It takes a while to chew, so it trains my teeth."

If he accepted her food at a time like this, wouldn't that make him look pathetic?

"You..." Hu Liena's hand froze in midair. She was both annoyed and amused.

This little brat would rather suffer than lose face.

She turned to Bibi Dong, her eyes seeking help, as though asking: Teacher, what are we supposed to do with this stubborn mule?

Bibi Dong did not care about the small interruption. To her, what he ate was unimportant. What mattered was the child's value.

She wiped her fingertips, her gaze settling on Xuan Hao as she got straight to the point. "Since we're helping you hunt for a Soul Ring along the way, I first need to understand your Martial Soul's traits. Although I sensed yesterday that it was a Dragon Spirit, I need a more specific confirmation so I can choose the most suitable Soul Beast for you."

"Release your Martial Soul and let me see it."

Hearing that they were getting to serious matters, Xuan Hao stopped being awkward.

He put down the jerky that had nearly broken his teeth, stood up, patted the dirt from his buttocks, and took a deep breath.

This time, he did not undergo Martial Soul Possession. He merely mobilized the Soul Power within him, drawing upon the stirring sensation hidden deep in his bloodline.

Bzzz—

A low, dignified Dragon Roar Sound suddenly rang through the forest. Though it was not loud, it seemed to possess a piercing force that struck directly at the soul, instantly silencing the previously noisy insect cries around them.

Then, a cluster of brilliant golden light rose behind Xuan Hao.

The light gathered, forming a massive phantom that hovered above his head.

It was a Giant Dragon covered entirely in dazzling gold. Every scale seemed forged from the purest gold, carrying an indestructible texture.

Its body was thick and powerful, its limbs absurdly robust. Its pair of dragon claws in particular were sharp and heavy, as though a casual grip could crush space itself.

What washed over them was not the aura of any element, but an overwhelming, pure, suffocating sense of power.

"This..." Bibi Dong's pupils suddenly contracted, and undisguised shock appeared on her face.

"The Golden Dragon?!"

"The Golden Dragon?" Hu Liena looked puzzled. "Teacher, what kind of dragon is that? Is it stronger than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon?"

Bibi Dong stared fixedly at the phantom behind Xuan Hao. Only after a long while did she slowly let out a breath, her expression incomparably complicated.

"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? Before the Golden Dragon, even the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon can only bow its head in submission."

"The Golden Dragon is the legendary Ancestor of Strength. It commands ultimate power and is even connected to the Dragon God, who once ruled this world."

"I had thought it was merely a legend, or that it had already gone completely extinct in ancient times."

"But Teacher," Hu Liena asked in confusion, "even if it's a top-tier Martial Soul, you shouldn't be this shocked, right? Your Death Spider Emperor is also a top-tier emperor-class Martial Soul."

"Nana, you don't understand." Bibi Dong shook her head.

"In the theories of the Spirit Master World, some exceptionally powerful Soul Beasts cannot directly appear as Martial Souls in humans."

"For example, the nearly extinct Ancient True Dragons, or supreme ferocious beasts like the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear."

Hu Liena froze. "Why?"

"Because human bodies are too fragile," Bibi Dong explained. "A Martial Soul and its host are one. The more powerful a Beast Spirit is, the greater the demands it places on the host's physical condition. Beings at the top of the food chain, such as the Golden Dragon and Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, possess bloodline power that is far too tyrannical and violent."

"If a human awakened such a Martial Soul, even during that brief instant of Soul Power awakening, their fragile body would instantly collapse from being unable to bear that terrifying strength. They might even explode and die."

"Therefore, in theory, it is impossible for a human to possess the Golden Dragon as a Martial Soul."

"At least in the recorded history of Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent, there has never been such a precedent."

"He was the first."

Hu Liena stared at Xuan Hao as though she were examining an ancient ferocious beast wearing human skin.

"No wonder you ran for so long before without even getting out of breath..."

"So you're not human at all... Ah, no, that's not what I meant. I mean your Martial Soul isn't human... No, that's not right either. Anyway, it's just unbelievably freakish!"