Void Mayfly

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest.

Hu Liena happened to be reading her diary as well.

The team had relocated to a new base camp, and Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo were nearby, searching for suitable Soul Beast auras for her.

"So it was him I sensed earlier," she thought with certainty. "That cloak is truly powerful, to have evaded the perception of two elders..."

After days of observation and analysis, Hu Liena had a general grasp of the diary's reward patterns: only the person mentioned most frequently would receive a reward.

Today, her name had appeared multiple times in the diary, even mentioning her breakthrough and intuition—this was undoubtedly the time she was "mentioned the most."

"But what about tomorrow? And the day after?" Her long, slender eyelashes drooped, concealing the flicker of thought in her eyes.

The allure of rewards was tangible. Whether it was an increase in Soul Power or the "special rewards" vaguely mentioned in the diary, they held a fatal attraction for any Soul Master.

To say she wasn't itching for rewards after so many days without any would be self-deception.

She began to calmly strategize how to "guide" the mysterious Yu Tiancheng to mention her more in future diary entries.

"He's still searching for his Second Soul Ring, which means he won't be leaving the Star Dou Great Forest anytime soon."

Hu Liena's mind raced, like the most precise instrument. "If we frequently appear in the areas where he might be active, even creating opportunities for 'chance encounters'... will he record it in his diary again? If there's some interaction, perhaps the length of the mention will be longer."

A bold yet cautious plan quietly took shape in her heart.

She put away the diary copy, composed herself, and walked towards Chrysanthemum and Ghost, the two elders who were scanning their surroundings with their spiritual power.

"Elder Chrysanthemum, Elder Ghost," Hu Liena bowed respectfully.

"What is it, Nana? Do you have new thoughts about Soul Beast attributes?" Yue Guan turned, his narrow eyes looking at her.

Hu Liena had her words ready.

She slightly furrowed her delicate brows, her gaze drifting towards the northwest, as if trying hard to recall and sense.

"When hunting the Black Armored Lion today, my spiritual power was exceptionally active during my breakthrough... In a daze, I seemed to sense a very faint aura emanating from deeper within the northwest direction, an aura that resonated with my Martial Soul. It felt like a Soul Beast skilled in mental influence or possessing charm attributes, possibly quite compatible with my Demon Fox Martial Soul."

She paused briefly, her tone carrying just the right amount of uncertainty. "It's just that the distance is quite far, and the sensation was fleeting, very vague. Perhaps... it was just a hallucination caused by my heightened senses right after breaking through."

The northwest direction she indicated was roughly the area where they had encountered Yu Tiancheng before, a transitional zone between the mixed area and the core area.

It was reasonable for a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast to appear there. This reason wouldn't arouse suspicion and could lead the team in the desired direction.

Ghostly's hoarse voice sounded, "A ten-thousand-year Soul Beast with mental or charm attributes... If it truly exists, it would indeed be an excellent choice for you. Since you've sensed it, it's worth investigating. Yue Guan, what do you think?"

Yue Guan pondered for a moment, the golden chrysanthemum on his fingertip spinning lightly. "Nana has just broken through; her intuition is sometimes sharper than ours old folks. There's no harm in investigating the northwest direction, but remember."

He looked at Hu Liena, his tone serious. "The depths are full of danger. Prioritize safety above all else; do not act rashly."

"Yes, Nana understands. Thank you, elders."

Hu Liena replied respectfully. As she lowered her head, the corner of her lips curved into an almost imperceptible, faint arc.

She certainly didn't expect to find a suitable Soul Beast immediately.

The real purpose was to have the team operate in the area where Yu Tiancheng might be, increasing the chances of being "observed" or having a "chance encounter."

As long as Yu Tiancheng noticed them again, especially her, Hu Liena, and her actions, her chances of "appearing" in the next day's diary would greatly increase.

Whether she would receive a reward still depended on luck, but at least she had actively created an opportunity.

"Yu Tiancheng..." she murmured his name in her heart, her interest in this boy who wrote diaries, knew many secrets, and could even hide under the noses of Titled Douluo, quietly growing like vines, entwining with a desire to explore.

Almost at the same time, at the Shrek Academy camp.

Oscar was at a critical stage of absorbing his Soul Ring, with Zhao Wuji guarding him.

Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing sat a short distance away, seemingly resting, but the atmosphere was subtly tense.

The diary's contents still echoed in their minds.

Yu Tiancheng had not only been present but had witnessed the entire process... This realization unsettled each of them.

Ning Rongrong idly played with a blade of grass in her hand and suddenly spoke softly, "That Yu Tiancheng... he was watching us today too, wasn't he?"

It wasn't a question, but a statement.

Xiao Wu's hand, which had been fiddling with the dirt, stopped. Zhu Zhuqing raised her eyes.

Their gazes met amidst the flickering firelight.

"You saw it too?" Xiao Wu's voice was very soft, with a hint of confirmation.

"The diary," Zhu Zhuqing said only two words.

That was enough.

All their tentative questions and guesses vanished with those two words. It wasn't a delusion, not a coincidence; they shared the same astonishing secret.

"It seems we're not the only ones with a copy," Ning Rongrong's voice regained its calm, carrying the acuity characteristic of the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. "None of us received the rewards for the past two days."

Xiao Wu pouted, a little regretful. "It's a shame we didn't find him today, otherwise... maybe we could have gotten him to write more about us."

Zhu Zhuqing remained silent, merely nodding slightly. Sunlight cast a wavering shadow on her cool profile.

No further words were needed. A glance, a nod, and a silent pact was formed—this secret was to remain solely between the three of them.

Yu Tiancheng was completely unaware of this. He was fully focused on the prey before him.

He decided to head back and search for a suitable Soul Beast in the outer regions.

The recent encounter had made him keenly aware that the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest were far more dangerous than he had imagined.

However, just as he turned to leave, a strange fluctuation suddenly came from ahead.

The fluctuation was very weak, yet it caused his Time Dragon Emperor Martial Soul to resonate intensely, as if a long drought had ended with sweet rain, every cell leaping with joy.

"What is this..." His heart trembled violently, and he immediately and quietly moved towards the direction of the fluctuation.

He saw that not far away, in a slightly open clearing in the woods, the air was unnaturally distorted and folded.

Vaguely, a palm-sized, almost transparent blurry figure, as if carved from crystal, flickered and bobbed in mid-air.

With every rhythmic pulse, like a breath, subtle ripples spread through the surrounding space.

"A Soul Beast with spatial attributes!" Yu Tiancheng's heart pounded, and his eyes shone with surprise.

This was exactly the source of the Soul Ring he had dreamed of!

He suppressed his excitement and observed even more cautiously.

The little guy seemed to be in poor condition, its aura weak and unstable, and the intensity of the spatial ripples around it fluctuated, making it seem difficult to control.

Quickly taking out the Beast Compendium from his Storage Soul Tool, Yu Tiancheng flipped through it rapidly.

Soon, his fingertip stopped on a page:

[Void Mayfly]

A rare Soul Beast with spatial attributes. It is a thousand-year-old in its larval stage and can reach ten thousand years when adult.

Naturally attuned to space, it excels at short-distance spatial traversal and can create small, unstable spatial rifts.

Because it often inhabits areas where space is weak or chaotic, it is extremely difficult to find and capture.

"A thousand-year Soul Beast... still in its larval stage, and severely injured."

Yu Tiancheng quickly assessed, risks and opportunities clashing fiercely in his mind.

A healthy thousand-year Soul Beast with spatial attributes was by no means something he could easily handle, but this Void Mayfly before him was clearly at its last gasp, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

More importantly, its spatial attribute was a perfect match for his Time Dragon Emperor Martial Soul. If he could successfully obtain its Soul Ring, his second Soul Skill would very likely gain powerful spatial abilities.

"Opportunity knocks!" The thought of taking a risk instantly overshadowed his caution.

He took a deep breath and began to move with the gentlest of actions, using the terrain and bushes to silently set up simple Soul Power traps and obstacles, his gaze locked onto the weak Void Mayfly.

The little Soul Beast seemed immersed in its own pain and weakness, completely unaware of the impending danger. It merely floated instinctively, the spatial fluctuations around its body becoming more chaotic and faint.

Yu Tiancheng knew he only had one chance.

If he missed, the startled Void Mayfly, even if severely injured, might desperately tear through space to escape, and finding it again would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

He adjusted himself to his optimal state, Soul Power slowly surging through his meridians.

Although the Time Dragon Emperor Martial Soul was not manifested, a hint of the subtle pressure belonging to a top-tier dragon-type Martial Soul involuntarily emanated.

It was this hint of pressure that caused the previously dazed Void Mayfly to tremble violently. Its transparent body suddenly emitted a faint glow, and it "looked" warily in Yu Tiancheng's direction. Its body began to flicker rapidly, attempting to open a spatial channel.

Now!

Yu Tiancheng burst from his hiding place like a cheetah that had been coiled for a long time.

Faint dragon scale patterns appeared under the skin of his right arm. His five fingers formed a claw, tearing through the air with a sharp whistle, heading straight for the Void Mayfly.

At the same time, he slammed his left hand down—intertwined threads of Soul Power, already laid out, sprang from the ground and surrounding trees, forming a tightly woven net in the air, instantly sealing off all possible escape routes for the Void Mayfly.

"Hiss—!"

The Void Mayfly let out a sharp, piercing screech that penetrated the very soul. Its body blazed with light, desperately distorting the surrounding space. A small, black crack struggled to open beside it.

However, its injuries were too severe. The crack, barely widening to the width of a finger, trembled violently before collapsing and dissipating.

The dragon claw phantom was already upon it!