A Woman's Sixth Sense (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"Hmm?" Yue Guan let out a nearly inaudible sound of surprise.

"What is it?" Ghostly's voice came as if from the deepest abyss, low and direct.

Yue Guan did not answer immediately. His gaze was fixed like a nail on that patch of bushes, and the petals of the golden chrysanthemum at his fingertips moved without wind, emitting an even more subtle probing fluctuation.

After several breaths, he slowly shook his head. "Strange... just now, I seemed to sense an extremely faint, discordant spatial ripple, right in that direction."

"But now it's gone. It might be residual fluctuations from the 'Black Armored Lion's' soul power dispersing before death, or some natural phenomenon of special plants in this forest."

Even as he said this, his gaze lingered on that area far longer than anywhere else.

Inside the bushes, Yu Tiancheng felt as if even his blood was about to freeze.

In that instant, because he had maintained an extreme state of concealment for so long, his spirit was highly tense, and a minuscule, almost imperceptible stagnation had occurred in his soul power circulation—one even he himself barely noticed.

And that stagnation seemed to have triggered an instinctive reaction from the Time Dragon Emperor Martial Soul, producing a wisp of spatial ripple so faint and fleeting it was nearly nonexistent.

"Damn it, it was the martial soul's instinctive reaction," he cursed inwardly, redoubling his efforts to suppress everything, even emptying his mind as much as possible.

About another half hour passed, and Xie Yue's soul power suddenly surged, then slowly settled.

He opened his eyes, sharp light flashing, and slowly stood up.

A deep black spirit ring pulsed slowly beneath his feet—the fifth spirit ring, successfully absorbed!

"Congratulations, big brother!" Hu Liena smiled radiantly, her beauty dazzling.

Yet, the moment her words fell, her own body trembled slightly.

A surge of soul power, fuller and more active than before, welled up from deep within her without warning, instantly flowing through her limbs and bones.

The invisible barrier that had troubled her for so long, separating level forty-nine from level fifty, had silently melted away at this moment—when her brother had successfully absorbed the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring and her heart was most relaxed and joyful.

Thanks to the past two days of training in the forest and the subtle benefits brought by the diary, she had finally reached the threshold of level fifty.

"Hmm?" This sudden, clear breakthrough sensation made Hu Liena pause for a moment, then a smile even more brilliant than before bloomed on her exquisite face.

She could feel with unmistakable clarity that her soul power level had firmly settled at the fiftieth rank. All she needed was one spirit ring to become a true Spirit King!

Xie Yue immediately sensed the distinctly different aura emanating from his sister, and a look of surprise and genuine joy appeared on his cold face. "Nana, you..."

Hu Liena nodded with a smile.

Yan, standing nearby, widened his eyes, then excitedly exclaimed in a low voice, "Nana, you broke through too? That's great!"

Even Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Ghostly, who had been guarding the perimeter, turned their gazes over.

Yue Guan's narrow eyes flickered with approval. "Not bad. The heart sensed it, and it came naturally. It seems this trip to the forest has been quite fruitful."

Ghostly's figure, shrouded in his Black Robe, gave a slight nod, acknowledging the fact.

Xie Yue, feeling the power surging several times stronger within him and seeing his sister's breakthrough, nodded with satisfaction on his cold face. Today could be called a double blessing.

"The mission is complete, and Nana has broken through smoothly. There's no need to linger here. We'll find a suitable spirit ring for Nana elsewhere," Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan said, withdrawing his gaze and speaking flatly.

The five of them began to clean up the battlefield briefly, preparing to withdraw.

Yu Tiancheng breathed a sigh of relief in the shadows, ready to leave once they were far enough away.

But just then, the newly broken-through Hu Liena suddenly stopped in her tracks, her brows slightly furrowed as if she were carefully sensing something.

After her breakthrough, her Spiritual Power seemed sharper, and her perception of the surrounding environment had risen to a new level.

Then, she lifted her head, her gaze sweeping casually but deliberately over the direction where Yu Tiancheng was hiding, carrying a clearer insight unique to a newly promoted Spirit King.

"Nana, what's wrong? Is your soul power unstable after the breakthrough?" Yan asked with concern.

"No, the soul power is very stable."

Hu Liena said softly, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "It's just that in the moment of breakthrough, my Spiritual Power was especially active. I felt like, besides us, there was another 'gaze' in this forest... very faint, in that direction."

She pointed again toward Yu Tiancheng's hiding spot.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Ghostly exchanged a glance. Both of them extended their perception simultaneously, more carefully and forcefully than before, like invisible nets layering over the surrounding hundreds of meters, focusing on the area Hu Liena had indicated.

Yu Tiancheng held his breath, curling his body into the bushes, his heartbeat nearly stopping.

A newly broken-through Spirit Master's perception was often unusually sharp. He hadn't expected Hu Liena to break through at this moment, nor that the Spiritual Power boost from the breakthrough would allow her to once again catch that almost nonexistent "sense of wrongness."

He could feel two streams of perception, sharper and more meticulous than before, sweeping over him—once, twice, three times...

Time seemed to freeze.

Just as Yu Tiancheng's heart was in his throat, believing he was doomed this time, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan suddenly withdrew his perception.

"No obvious life signs or soul power fluctuations detected."

Yue Guan said slowly, though his gaze remained sharp as it swept over the area. "But Nana has just broken through, and her perception is unusually acute. Her feeling may not be groundless."

"It could be some weak Spirit Beast skilled in concealment, or... some strange phenomenon of the forest itself. But in any case, the other party has no hostile intent, or has already left."

He offered a relatively reasonable explanation, respecting Hu Liena's intuition while basing his judgment on his own detection results.

After all, in his perception, that area was indeed "clean" to an excessive degree, but he hadn't caught any solid evidence.

Hu Liena took another deep look at the direction where Yu Tiancheng was hiding, her eyes still carrying doubt. But she knew that even the two Elders hadn't found anything, so saying more would be pointless.

She finally nodded. "Maybe so. I'm just being too sensitive."

The five of them didn't linger any longer, turning and leaving, quickly disappearing into the depths of the dense forest.

Yu Tiancheng waited another quarter of an hour, confirming they were truly far away, before silently letting out a long, soundless breath of stale air, his entire body nearly collapsing from exhaustion.

Cold sweat had long since soaked through his inner shirt, clinging to his skin, bringing waves of chill.

"Too close—Hu Liena actually broke through on the spot? What luck..."

His heart churned with lingering fear, while also feeling a jolt of alarm at Hu Liena's sharpness.

"The perception boost from a fresh breakthrough, plus her already considerable Spiritual Power—I almost got caught. A Titled Douluo's scan combined with her intuition—that combo is lethal."

After resting a moment and confirming the surroundings were safe, Yu Tiancheng sank his mind into the depths of his consciousness, touching the black Diary floating silently there.

What happened today was too important; he needed to record it.

[Today was a thrilling day—almost lost my life in the Star Dou Great Forest]

The moment the words appeared, everyone who possessed a Diary Copy, no matter where they were, saw these words synchronously manifest in their minds.

[First, I watched from afar the classic scene of Shrek Academy and Meng Yiran fighting over the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent]

[That girl Meng Yiran really didn't want to admit defeat, but unfortunately, she ran into the cheat character Tang San]

[In the end, she glanced at me—almost got discovered]

Elsewhere in the forest, at the Shrek Academy camp.

Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing, who were guarding Oscar as he absorbed his Spirit Ring, all trembled slightly at the same time.

What? Yu Tiancheng was watching from nearby just now?

Waves of shock surged in the hearts of all three, but they tacitly said nothing, only casting glances around, burying the shock and doubt deep inside.

At the temporary camp of the Peerless Dragon Snake.

Meng Yiran, who had just reunited with Dragon Duke Meng Shu and was gloomily recounting the earlier competition, suddenly saw the Diary content appear in her mind. Her violet-colored eyes flew wide open.

"So it was him!" She nearly blurted it out but forcibly held back, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the Serpent Cane.

No wonder I felt like someone was watching—so this guy was nearby the whole time.

I knew my woman's intuition wouldn't be wrong.

A complex emotion surged in her heart—part displeasure at being secretly observed, part a sense of "I knew it" validation, and even more, a growing curiosity about that mysterious youth.

The Diary continued to appear:

[That's all secondary]

[I actually ran into Hu Liena and their Golden Generation hunting a spirit beast in the Star Dou Great Forest]

[If it were just the Golden Generation, that'd be one thing, but Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo were there too]

[Hunting a single Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast, needing two Titled Douluo to guard them—that's way too extravagant]

[Bibi Dong really spoils them too much]

Deep within the Pope's Palace in Martial Soul City.

Bibi Dong, seated on her ornate throne, was resting with her eyes closed.

Her long, slender lashes fluttered slightly, and a faint, barely perceptible curve lifted the corner of her beautiful lips.

"Spoils?" She silently repeated the word in her mind, a flicker of complex, hard-to-read emotion passing through the depths of her eyes.

The Diary continued:

[Originally, after seeing their impressive teamwork hunting a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast, I didn't dare to get involved]

[With two Titled Douluo by their side, I didn't want to stay a second longer either]

[But still, Titled Douluo are the top combat power on the continent]

[The Spiritual Power scan they released while guarding was already enough to torment me]

[I was finally about to leave, and then Hu Liena had to cause trouble]

[She insisted something felt off about my direction, and another wave of Spiritual Power scan came]

[Thank goodness this cloak of mine is strong, and I got lucky—wasn't discovered. Otherwise, today would have been my death day]

[Diary entry complete]

[Rewards will be settled uniformly at dawn the next day]

After finishing the Diary, Yu Tiancheng pulled his consciousness away from the Diary, letting out a long sigh.

Turning the harrowing experience into words seemed to ease some of the tension in his heart.

He began planning his next move. After the close call just now, he decided not to risk going deeper for now, but instead to look for suitable spirit beasts on the outskirts of the Mixed Zone.

After all, safety comes first.