Absolute Charm

Just as he was repeatedly refining his escape plan, deep in his consciousness, the long-silent mysterious diary suddenly trembled faintly, emitting a warm and familiar glow.

[Diary recording complete]

[Reward settlement in progress...]

[Basic reward: Soul power increased by one level]

[Special reward: Teleportation Talisman (one-time consumable, can be directionally teleported to a safe area five hundred kilometers away)]

[Usage restriction: Must be activated when not locked onto by any form of spiritual power, soul power, or spatial-type soul skill]

A talisman, ancient and covered in obscure inscriptions, its edges rippling with silver spatial ripples, quietly materialized in his consciousness space.

"A Teleportation Talisman! Five hundred kilometers!"

Yu Tiancheng's heart leaped violently, a surge of almost scorching ecstasy instantly washing away the day's oppression and tension.

This was nothing less than a key dropped from heaven in a desperate situation!

He forcibly suppressed the excitement threatening to spill from his eyes, crushing the surging emotions deep in his heart.

With this talisman, he was no longer a prisoner forced to walk on a blade's edge, but a stalker holding the initiative.

His escape plan had shifted from "a desperate gamble" to "a prepared retreat."

Yet, after the ecstasy came a deeper calm.

The clear restriction line beneath the talisman, like a bucket of ice water, quickly sobered him up.

"Not locked on..." he murmured inwardly, his gaze sweeping imperceptibly over the slender figure sitting quietly by the campfire not far away, and the two auras beyond—Titled Douluo presences that, even restrained, still made one's heart pound.

Yue Guan and Ghostly were still two insurmountable mountains.

An opportunity... he had to wait, had to create one. An absolutely safe, unnoticed "instant."

"The core of the plan is now this."

Yu Tiancheng sank his consciousness into the talisman, carefully feeling the stable and powerful space power within it, as if grasping a thread of certain vitality.

The Star Dou Great Forest was fraught with danger, and the path ahead led to a forbidden land that even Titled Douluo feared. Chaos and crisis often came with turning points.

"There will always be that moment," he mused to himself, his reconstructed escape plan becoming clear and resolute with this key chess piece in place.

Almost at the same moment, on the other side of the campfire, Hu Liena, feigning sleep, felt her long lashes tremble almost imperceptibly.

[Because you were the person whose name appeared most frequently in yesterday's diary]

[Received additional reward: First Soul Skill · Fox Charm effect enhanced]

[Enhanced effect: Charm success rate increased to absolute effectiveness; control duration inversely proportional to target's spiritual power intensity. For those with spiritual power far lower than your own, near-permanent manipulation can be achieved.]

A cool yet profound power poured into her spiritual sea from the void. Her understanding and application of the "Charm" soul skill seemed instantly deepened and restructured, countless more subtle and unpredictable methods of use flowing through her mind like a stream.

She could feel that her First Soul Skill had been reborn, transforming from a powerful control skill into a terrifying ability bordering on "rule"-like nature.

Hu Liena slowly opened her eyes, a faint pink light swirling in their depths silently fading.

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze seemingly casually sweeping over the shadow where Yu Tiancheng was, the corner of her lips curling into a faint, complex arc.

This reward came at just the right time.

A one-hundred-percent successful charm meant that in front of her, most of her peers—and even some seniors—would lose the ability to "refuse." This was undoubtedly an extremely powerful trump card.

"Lin Fan"... or rather, this person suspected to be Yu Tiancheng, had become even more valuable.

Hu Liena's thoughts raced. The diary's reward mechanism was now clear: being noticed and written about by Yu Tiancheng granted tangible power boosts! This enhanced "Fox Charm" was the perfect proof.

First, she needed to confirm whether he was really Yu Tiancheng, and further understand the diary.

The enhanced "Fox Charm" gave her unprecedented confidence and means.

Perhaps... she could find an unnoticed, absolutely safe moment to try using it on him?

She didn't need complete control—just a slight influence, enough to guide him into revealing some key information, or to observe his reaction on the edge of being charmed, could yield a breakthrough.

Of course, this had to be extremely cautious, not to alert the enemy, and certainly not to be detected by the two elders.

Second, if he really was Yu Tiancheng, she had to ensure he continued to "notice" her, ideally getting him to write more about her.

A more tempting thought surfaced: what if she could completely control him? Make him her "stable channel" for diary rewards?

This idea made her heartbeat quicken slightly. But for now, the most important thing was to maintain the status quo, deepen the "connection," and find the perfect opportunity to use "Fox Charm" for a probe.

The night flowed slowly in silent confrontation and private calculations.

When the first faint rays of dawn struggled through the dense canopy of the Mixed Zone's core, casting mottled light on the damp ground, the team set off again.

The search for spirit beasts was not going smoothly.

Those spirit beasts clearly knew how to use the environment to hide and ambush.

The environment grew more treacherous.

The roots of towering ancient trees twisted and exposed, forming natural traps; flowers emitting strange, sweet scents could instantly spray deadly spores; seemingly calm puddles hid tentacles that could drag a spirit beast into the mud in an instant.

The pressure in the air grew clearer—a heavy, violent aura mixed with sulfur and blood, as if they were stepping step by step into the edge of some primordial beast's lair.

"Stop." Ghostly, walking at the front, suddenly raised his hand, his figure almost completely merging into a twisted patch of shadow ahead.

Everyone immediately halted, scanning their surroundings with wary vigilance.

This was a relatively open clearing in the forest, but the scene before them was enough to chill the heart.

In the center of the clearing lay several massive trees, each requiring multiple people to encircle, their broken ends jagged and uneven, as if they had been violently ripped apart and snapped by some terrifying force.

The ground was covered in enormous claw marks and scorched black patches. A small pool of blood—its owner unknown, the aura of the Spirit Beast already faint—had gathered here, accompanied by scattered, semi-transparent fragments gleaming with a dark luster, as if condensed from pure Spiritual Power, along with several broken tentacles bearing eerie patterns.

Yue Guan stepped forward, carefully wrapping a semi-transparent fragment in his spirit power to examine it closely, his brow furrowing deeply:

"This is... a residual spiritual crystal fragment from a mental-type Spirit Beast like the Shadow Phantom Demon or the Nightmare Beast? The aura is quite pure, but the Spiritual Power within it is violent and chaotic, filled with fear and agony... This Spirit Beast suffered immense torment and terror before its death."