Star Dou Great Forest

In the blink of an eye, four months had passed.

Nuoding Academy had entered its holiday period as well. Tang San left with Xiao Wu, preparing to return home. Next, he would acknowledge her as his biological younger sister.

Yao Yan was also quietly packing his things, preparing to head to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a Soul Beast and obtain his first Soul Ring.

In truth, he had reached level ten long ago. To avoid alerting Tang Hao, who was hiding in the shadows, he had never gone to obtain a Soul Ring.

In any case, before breaking through the bottleneck, any excess Soul Power would be stored in his meridians rather than dissipating for nothing.

After packing his bundle, he left the academy gates and headed toward Jieyou Pharmacy.

Li Caiyi had already found some acquaintances who could take him to the Star Dou Great Forest and teach him survival skills in the forest along the way.

As he neared Jieyou Pharmacy, he could see three shops in the distance bearing the same signboard.

Ever since Yao Yan had provided the Healing Potion formula, Li Caiyi's pharmacy business had flourished, and its scale had gradually expanded.

However, she had always been shrewd and understood that rarity created value. Every month, she strictly controlled the quantity of medicine sold.

Yao Yan made his way into the main store with practiced familiarity.

The shop had been renovated. Its style appeared simple, yet every detail exuded refinement, and the variety of medicinal herbs on display had become even richer.

Thanks to the reputation of the Healing Potion, customers streamed continuously into the shop, and business grew increasingly prosperous.

He went straight upstairs, knocked on the door to Li Caiyi's office, and called, "Sister Caiyi!"

"I'm coming!" A sweet, charming voice answered from within. Li Caiyi opened the door and expertly pulled Yao Yan inside.

Besides Li Caiyi, there was a man and a woman sitting on the sofa in the office.

The woman wore black leather clothes and leather pants, her figure incredibly voluptuous. She was Li Caiyi's close friend, Zhou Qinglan.

Yao Yan had met her before. Smiling, he greeted her, "Sister Qinglan."

Zhou Qinglan stood up with a smile, and the burly man beside her rose as well.

She introduced him enthusiastically, "This is my eldest brother, Zhou Lie. He'll be leading the team to the Star Dou Great Forest this time."

"Brother Zhou!" Yao Yan hurriedly greeted him.

"No need to be so polite, Little Yan." Zhou Lie walked over and patted Yao Yan on the shoulder. "I heard you raised your Soul Power from level six to its peak in five months. You're truly promising at such a young age!"

"You're too kind, Brother Zhou."

"Young people should have some spirit. No need to be so modest!" As Zhou Lie spoke, he gave Yao Yan's shoulder two more heavy pats.

Yao Yan endured the pain and shook his head helplessly inside.

But Li Caiyi, who had been holding his hand all along, could no longer stand it. She hurriedly said, "Zhou Lie, be gentler."

"Oh, Sister Caiyi." Zhou Qinglan quickly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Li Caiyi's arm. "My brother knows his limits. Don't worry about your little husband."

At the term "little husband," Yao Yan's heart began to race, and his cheeks reddened despite himself.

He secretly glanced at Li Caiyi and found that the tips of her ears had also been tinged red, yet she did not refute it.

Zhou Qinglan hurriedly gave her elder brother a meaningful look.

Zhou Lie understood and explained with a smile, "Don't worry, Sister Caiyi. I was merely feeling Little Yan's bones to check his foundation."

"This Little Fellow has strong bones and muscles, solid Soul Power, and an extremely sturdy foundation."

"I don't care. Nothing can happen to this Little Fellow," Li Caiyi muttered.

"Don't worry. I know how precious he is to you." Zhou Lie glanced at the sky outside the window. "It's getting late. Let's set off now."

Li Caiyi still held Yao Yan's hand as she escorted them all the way to the entrance of the shop.

A carriage had already been prepared outside. Before they departed, Li Caiyi held onto Yao Yan reluctantly, carefully reminding him of one thing after another.

This earned her a series of eye rolls from Zhou Qinglan.

In the end, beneath Li Caiyi's concerned gaze, Yao Yan boarded the carriage and set off down the road leading to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Nuoding City lay on the border of the Heaven Dou Empire and belonged to the Hagen Dazs Kingdom. This kingdom was located in the northwestern region of the Heaven Dou Empire, with part of its territory bordering the Star Luo Empire.

By following the official road through Hagen Dazs, then passing through the Balak Kingdom, they could reach the Star Dou Great Forest.

At dawn two days later, the carriage was still speeding along the official road.

Zhou Lie took out a map from his luggage and handed it to Yao Yan. "We'll reach the Star Dou Great Forest after another day's journey. There's a large market there called Qingshan Town."

"We can settle down there when the time comes."

Yao Yan nodded, accepted the map, and unfolded it. It recorded the layout of the Star Dou Great Forest.

The Star Dou Great Forest was divided into three sections: the outer region, the mixed region, and the core region.

The outer region mainly contained Soul Beasts with lower cultivation levels. Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts inhabited the mixed region, while Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts existed in the core region.

Yao Yan knew that the core region contained more than just Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. There were also ferocious beasts within it.

There were roughly five of them, and each possessed cultivation far surpassing a hundred thousand years.

"Little Yan, have you decided what kind of Soul Beast you want to hunt?" Zhou Lie took out a flask from his luggage, took a drink, and asked.

Yao Yan nodded. "There are two: one is called the Phoenix Immortal Flower, and the other is Silver Branch Spruce Wood."

"Phoenix Immortal Flower, Silver Branch Spruce Wood..." Zhou Qinglan repeated the two names, pondering their traits. "Other than their tenacious vitality, these two Spirit Beasts are almost completely incapable of attacking. Little Yan, are you sure?"

"Mm." Yao Yan nodded.

He had already made up his mind before coming. Both of these Spirit Beasts possessed extremely strong reproductive abilities. Whenever they encountered danger, they could spray out tens of thousands of seeds.

It was also a way of ensuring the continuation of their lives.

If he hunted one as his first Soul Ring, he could spawn vast fields of Blue Silver Grass in battle, forcing his enemies to face countless blades and swords head-on.

Just imagining that scene was enough to set one's blood racing.

"Brother, you're a Soul Grandmaster. Do you think these two Spirit Beasts are suitable?" Zhou Qinglan turned to her older brother for confirmation.

After all, she had promised her best friend that she would definitely help Yao Yan obtain the most suitable Soul Ring.

Zhou Lie lowered his head and pondered for a moment before looking up at Yao Yan. "Little Yan, your brother is a rough man. Don't take offense if my words sound unpleasant."

Only after seeing Yao Yan nod did he continue. "Blue Silver Grass is universally recognized as a useless Martial Soul. Not only is it frail and weak, but its cultivation limit isn't high either."

"I think hunting any kind of Spirit Beast would make little difference. We should listen to Little Yan himself."

"All right..." Zhou Qinglan had no choice but to let it go.

She also understood the limitations of Blue Silver Grass. To this day, no Soul Master had ever cultivated it to level twenty.

Yao Yan did not mind. It was obvious that those before him had simply taken the wrong path.

If one stalk of Blue Silver Grass was not enough, then what about a whole field? Or even an entire forest?!

The thought alone was profoundly shocking.

After that, the three changed the subject and began discussing wilderness survival skills, especially how to spend the night in a forest.

Zhou Lie cautioned them not to light fires in the forest whenever possible. Spirit Beasts were highly sensitive to firelight, and it could easily draw the attack of large numbers of Spirit Beasts.

Their tent should be pitched on high ground, preferably somewhere with a steep slope nearby, so they could escape more easily if attacked.

The three traveled for another day. By dusk, the outlines of rows upon rows of buildings gradually emerged in the distance, while the clamor of voices drifted over on the wind.

Yao Yan lifted the carriage curtain and gazed ahead. On the stone archway, three grand characters were engraved in a bold, sweeping hand: "Qingshan Town!"

They had arrived at Qingshan Town!!!