Star Dou Forest

Nothing happened overnight. Early the next morning, Lan Xiao Die instructed the inn servant to bring breakfast, and everyone began eating. Once they were full and satisfied, they prepared to set out for the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

At that moment, a powerful Soul Power aura came from afar. Ye Liangchen ran to the window and saw a long sword in the sky, carrying three people as it swiftly flew toward the Star Dou Forest.

At the front of the sword stood a white-haired old man dressed in a light blue robe. He looked exceptionally handsome and was most likely Sword Douluo. Behind him stood a refined middle-aged man holding a porcelain-doll-like little girl in his arms. They should have been Ning Fengzhi and Ning Rongrong.

Watching Sword Douluo vanish into the distance, Ye Liangchen thought Sword Flight looked incredibly cool. Once he cultivated his Sword Spirit in the future, he would definitely develop a Sword Flight skill as well.

Sword Douluo could be considered one of the super-handsome men of the Douluo Continent, on the same level as Qiandao Liu in terms of looks. Come to think of it, most Soul Masters who used swords were handsome.

"As expected of Sword Douluo! He could use Sword Flight while carrying two people." Su Lin kept praising Sword Douluo's flying skill.

"Little Chen has a Sword Spirit too. He'll be able to achieve Sword Flight in the future." The Lan Xiao Die sisters stroked Ye Liangchen's little head, filled with anticipation for the boy's future achievements.

"Eat up! We need to set off afterward too." Lan Xiao Die urged everyone to finish their meal quickly.

Soul Hunting Town was still over a hundred li from the Star Dou Forest, and the final stretch of road was extremely rugged, impassable even by carriage.

In order to reach their destination as quickly as possible, Lan Xiao Die directly carried Ye Liangchen in her arms and sprinted toward the Star Dou Forest, while Su Lin and Lan Xiao Ling followed on either side.

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

High-level Soul Masters were extremely fast. An hour later, the group had already arrived at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.

The Star Dou Forest was the largest Soul Beast Forest on the Douluo Continent, half again as large as the entire Balak Kingdom. The forest stretched across the center of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires. Forty percent of its area lay within the Heaven Dou Empire, while the remaining sixty percent was within the Star Luo Empire.

Spirit Hall was located at the border between the Two Great Empires, only about six hundred kilometers from the Star Dou Forest. With the resources of the entire Star Dou Great Forest at its back, it truly possessed exceptional natural advantages.

The Star Dou Great Forest was also the forest with the greatest variety of Soul Beasts. Most Soul Beasts needed by ordinary Soul Masters could be found here. However, it was also the most dangerous Soul Beast Forest on the entire Douluo Continent. Rumor had it that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts existed in the heart of the forest.

That was merely what the people of the Douluo Continent knew. As a transmigrator, Ye Liangchen knew that the Silver Dragon King and a group of Fierce Beasts over two hundred thousand years old were hidden deep within the Lake of Life in the Star Dou Forest. That was the most dangerous place on the entire Douluo Continent.

Ye Liangchen was deeply awed as he looked at the magical Star Dou Forest. Towering ancient trees and exotic flowers and plants were everywhere. Naturally, Blue Silver Grass was still the most abundant vegetation.

"Chirp, chirp..."

"Rustle, rustle..."

"Awooo..."

Having just entered the outer region of the forest, they saw birds and beasts less than a hundred years old darting through the woods, occasionally making all kinds of sounds.

"Little Chen, the Star Dou Forest is the forest with the most Soul Beasts on the entire continent..."

Along the way, Lan Xiao Die introduced Ye Liangchen to the Star Dou Great Forest and taught him survival knowledge for entering a Soul Beast Forest. She, Su Lin, and Lan Xiao Ling formed a triangular formation around the boy as they headed deeper into the Star Dou Forest.

At that moment, Ye Liangchen kept watch in every direction, listening carefully for any movement as he guarded against attacks from Soul Beasts. Although three experts were protecting him, one had to learn how to protect oneself when entering such a forest.

"Little Chen! Auntie has a sword here. Take it for self-defense."

Lan Xiao Die took out an exquisite three-foot-long sword from her Soul Tool and handed it to Ye Liangchen for protection.

"Alright, Aunt Lan."

As soon as he accepted the sword Lan Xiao Die handed him, Ye Liangchen felt inspired and wanted to practice some swordplay. He began waving the sword around.

"Aunt Lan! This sword is so beautiful. Can you give it to me?" Ye Liangchen asked with a grin.

"Silly child! I took out this sword to give it to you."

Lan Xiao Die smiled sweetly. Liu Ru Yan had given her this sword back then, when she and her younger sister had yet to marry Yun Han Xing. At the time, they had traveled the continent with Ye Feng, living freely and carefree. Looking back on it now, the memories were abundant.

"Thank you, Aunt Lan!"

Ye Liangchen had long since memorized the exquisite sword moves of the Myriad Plum Blossom Swordplay. Following the moves in his mind, he began to dance with the sword.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Thrust, chop, sweep, whirlwind thrust, diagonal thrust...

The long sword moved through Ye Liangchen's hands like a swimming dragon, nimble and fluid. Blossoms of sword light radiated sharp, fierce auras, dazzling beyond compare.

Soul Power clung to the blade, making it immensely destructive. Several trees as thick as bowls three meters away were severed by the blade one after another, giving Ye Liangchen the feeling that with a sword in hand, the world was his.

It truly was the peerless swordplay of Sword God Ximen Chuixue! To Soul Masters of the Douluo World, it was practically a divine skill.

Ye Liangchen remembered that Sword Saint Ye Gucheng's Celestial Flight swordplay was even more formidable than Ximen Chuixue's swordplay. Once he learned Celestial Flight in the future, it would surely be incredibly impressive.

"The little guy really is a swordsmanship genius. This swordplay feels even stronger and more exquisite than his father's."

Seeing Ye Liangchen perform swordplay with such flair, the three women all retreated to the edge and quietly watched him practice, their hearts filled with gratification.

"Aunt Lan! I think you can learn the Myriad Plum Blossom Swordplay too. If you master these sword techniques, they'll be just like Self-Created Soul Skills."

After finishing more than a hundred sword moves, Ye Liangchen felt thoroughly refreshed. In order to improve the strength of those around him, he explained the mysteries of the Myriad Plum Blossom Swordplay to Lan Xiao Die and the others, hoping they would learn swordplay in the future as well.

They were all his family, and Ye Liangchen hoped they could grow stronger. He would not be like Tang San next door, who possessed the Tang Sect's supreme arts yet was unwilling to teach even his own wife, Xiao Wu.

"Mm! It's time for us to change our way of thinking. This peerless swordplay, when used by Little Chen, is just like a Self-Created Soul Skill."

"But such precious swordplay must not be passed around carelessly. Otherwise, the consequences will be serious."

At Ye Liangchen's words, the three women exchanged glances. Without needing to speak, they all made the same decision in their hearts: Skywater Academy's Extreme Style teaching method needed to change as well.

"We'll make arrangements after we return to the academy. For now, let's search for Soul Beasts first. Su Lin, have you decided on your seventh Soul Ring?"

"Soul Beasts like the Ice Toad, Blue Scale Flood Dragon, and Blue Flag Arrow Fish would all work."

"Then we'll help Little Chen find the Sky Azure Vine first, then head deeper into the forest."

The Lan Xiao Die sisters and Su Lin discussed the seventh spirit ring while Ye Liangchen listened quietly nearby. He felt that all the soul beasts Su Lin wanted were water-attributed, which seemed a little extreme. This was probably Skywater Academy's Extreme Style teaching method.

Ye Liangchen remembered that the soul beasts hunted by the Strength Clan were all strength-type. Their Martial Soul seemed to be called the Great Strength Gorilla, which also caused everyone in that clan to look like King Kong. All their spirit abilities were strength-based—truly extreme even among extremes.

The group headed deeper into the Star Dou Forest, and the soul beasts they encountered grew increasingly powerful. Snakes as thick as water buckets and twenty meters long slithered ahead, flicking their tongues.

"Hiss hiss..."

The giant snake's hissing was deeply unsettling. Ye Liangchen felt that it could swallow a burly man weighing two or three hundred jin whole.

"Crack..."

A centipede more than ten meters long crawled by, its countless legs each as thick as the mouth of a small bowl. The pair of pincers before its head were like enormous sickles. With one strike, it killed a goat and swallowed it whole.

The sight reminded Ye Liangchen of the Centipede Demon from A Chinese Ghost Story.

"Awooo..."

"Chirp chirp..."

Gray wolves as large as calves swiftly hunted weaker soul beasts. There were also many Plant Soul Beasts that, when frightened, wrapped themselves in their own branches. Some trees dozens of meters tall could even run at high speed. Raptors over ten meters wide screeched as they whistled over the group's heads.

Watching these powerful soul beasts, Ye Liangchen's scalp tingled. It felt as though he had entered a Monster World. It was his first time seeing such savage beasts, and he still was not quite used to it.

"Little Chen! With us here, there's no need to be afraid." Seeing how nervous Ye Liangchen looked, Lan Xiao Die gently patted his back.

"It's normal to be afraid the first time you see soul beasts. We were the same when we were children." Lan Xiao Ling and Su Lin smiled beside him.

"I'm not afraid. I'm judging the ages of these soul beasts." Ye Liangchen refused to admit that he was scared, even if it killed him.

After carefully observing the markings on the soul beasts, he estimated that they were all around three hundred years old. The Soul Beast Encyclopedia recorded the markings of many soul beasts at different stages of life, making them easy to identify.

As for the Soul Beast Encyclopedia, Ye Liangchen had only skimmed the surface. It seemed he needed to master this knowledge as soon as possible. This was the accumulated experience of countless generations of Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent!

The group continued deeper into the forest. Suddenly, violent winds rose ahead of them, followed by a series of howls.

"Awooo..."

"Clouds follow dragons, winds follow tigers. It's a tiger-type soul beast, and a very powerful one at that. Stay alert." Lan Xiao Die had everyone stop and prepare for battle.

"Whoosh whoosh..."

After a gust of wind swept past, an enormous Ghost Tiger pounced toward them. It was roughly eight thousand years old.

"Hiss hiss..."

"Rustle rustle..."

Immediately afterward, a three-meter-long giant scorpion and a twenty-meter Spotted Giant Python attacked from both sides. They were each around five thousand years old.

In the distance, a Man Faced Demon Spider about five thousand years old crouched on a large tree, quietly watching everything.

"Hmph! These savage soul beasts that haven't even reached ten thousand years actually want to treat us as food! Xiao Ling, let's go. End this quickly."

"Su Lin! Protect Little Chen."

Lan Xiao Die released her Martial Soul and called her younger sister into battle.

"Chirp chirp..."

"Buzz buzz..."

A phoenix cry rang out as an Ice Phoenix appeared behind Lan Xiao Die. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black—eight spirit rings slowly rose from her body.

Lan Xiao Ling also released her Jade Dolphin. Two yellow, two purple, three black—seven spirit rings appeared.

"Big Sis! Should we kill them all?"

"No need to kill them all. Just drive them away. If we kill these soul beasts, the scent of blood will attract even stronger soul beasts. Besides, these soul beasts are all excellent resources. It would be a pity to kill them. We might have use for them later."

"Swish swish..."

"First Spirit Ability: Ice Seal!"

Lan Xiao Die unleashed her spirit ability. In an instant, countless blocks of ice erupted from the ground, immediately freezing the several Thousand-Year Soul Beasts charging toward them.

"Fifth Spirit Ability: Water Cannon Attack!"

Lan Xiao Ling also unleashed her Fifth Spirit Ability, Water Cannon Attack.

"Bang bang bang..."

Several water cannons shot rapidly from her hands, accurately striking the frozen soul beasts and instantly blasting them away. Even the Man Faced Demon Spider on the distant tree was struck precisely.

"Awooo..."

"Hiss hiss..."

Soul beasts that had lived for several thousand years possessed a trace of intelligence. After being blasted away, they knew they had encountered formidable opponents and immediately fled.

Ye Liangchen witnessed Lan Xiao Ling's Water Cannon Attack. It was practically like a cannonball—even from twenty meters away, it still possessed such tremendous destructive power. It was truly remarkable.

"Little Chen! What do you think?"

Seeing the astonished look in the little guy's eyes as she held him in her arms, Su Lin smiled.

"Aunt Lan's spirit abilities are amazing." Ye Liangchen waved his hands excitedly.

"Let's go!" Lan Xiao Die called, urging everyone onward.

The group searched the forest for an entire day without encountering the soul beasts they wanted. Along the way, they were attacked by two groups of ferocious soul beasts, and Ye Liangchen even killed a hundred-year Netherworld Wolf. He found it incredibly thrilling.

At that moment, they found a cave ahead, roughly twenty square meters in size. It was very dry inside, and a small river flowed about two hundred meters from the entrance. It was an ideal campsite, so Lan Xiao Die suggested they rest there for the night.

"We'll spend the night here and continue searching tomorrow."

When they entered the cave, they found no animals inside, and the ground was quite clean. Su Lin and Lan Xiao Ling skillfully set up the tents, while Ye Liangchen helped out. He had watched Bei Ye's Wilderness Survival in his previous life, and found this kind of outdoor survival experience very exciting.

Lan Xiao Die went into the forest to gather dry firewood, then carried more than a dozen buckets of water back from the river. Afterward, she set a pot of hot water to boil outside the cave entrance, preparing to make dinner.

Back when they had passed through Suotuo City, Lan Xiao Die had purchased large quantities of rice, flour, grain, oil, cookware, and various air-dried vegetables and meats. They were all stored in her Soul Tool, enough to feed the four of them for one or two months.

The reason Lan Xiao Die had brought so many ingredients was that Ye Liangchen was still young and growing. His meals had to keep up; she could not let him chew on dry rations every day.

Starting a fire in the forest might attract some soul beasts that were unafraid of flames, but as a Soul Douluo, Lan Xiao Die was not worried about such creatures. Besides, they were still on the outskirts of Star Dou Forest, where there would be no soul beasts over ten thousand years old.

"Sis! What are we having tonight?" Lan Xiao Ling asked with a grin.

"Dried Winter Bamboo Shoots with Cured Beef, Stir-Fried Wild Lily, Braised Dried Carp, and Egg Drop Soup. The conditions are limited, so that's all I can make."

"Wow! It's been so long since I had food cooked by the Dean."

"Su Lin! Have you not eaten enough of my cooking before? Hurry over and help. You're also my mother's student, so when we're outside, you should call me Senior Sister."

"Yes, beautiful Senior Sister."

After Su Lin and Lan Xiao Ling finished setting up the tents, they also came over to help. The three women chatted and laughed, creating a very warm scene.

Ye Liangchen sat some distance away, watching them. It felt just like the Beauty Private Cuisine show from the television dramas of his previous life. It was quite pleasing to the eye.

An hour later, a lavish dinner was ready. The enticing aroma drifted through the air, making everyone's mouths water.

"Little Chen! Go wash your hands and come eat." Lan Xiao Die called out to Ye Liangchen, who was meditating and cultivating.

"Okay, Aunt Lan." With delicious food waiting for him, Ye Liangchen was in a wonderful mood.

After enjoying a satisfying meal, Lan Xiao Die took out a large pot and a big wooden tub and began heating water, while Su Lin and Lan Xiao Ling went to bathe in the river some distance away.

"Little Chen! Hurry up and bathe. Auntie will stand guard outside." Lan Xiao Die poured the hot water into the wooden tub and told Ye Liangchen to wash up.

Good grief! Were they here to hunt soul beasts, or were they on vacation? Ye Liangchen found the whole scene far too amusing.

"Thank you, Aunt Lan!"

Ye Liangchen soaked in the wooden tub, his entire body feeling wonderfully relaxed. This life was far too comfortable.

After a while, Su Lin returned, and Lan Xiao Die also ran off to the river to take a bath. Women loved cleanliness, especially beautiful women like them.

After all that fuss, the sky had turned pitch-black, so dark that one could not see one's own hand. Fortunately, the campfire was still burning, illuminating the entire cave.

"Little Chen! Go to sleep." Seeing that it was late, Lan Xiao Die interrupted Ye Liangchen's cultivation and told him to rest.

"Okay, Aunt Lan!"

Ye Liangchen crawled into the tent and went to sleep. Before long, he had fallen into a deep slumber.

"Su Lin, Xiao Ling, you two go sleep. I'll keep watch."

"Sis! We'll sleep during the first half of the night. Su Lin and I will keep watch during the second half, and then you can sleep."

"Alright! It's settled, then."

After cultivating for an hour, the three women arranged their cultivation and rest schedules. Spending the night in Soul Beast Forest meant they had to remain on guard against soul beast attacks at all times.

After entering the tent, Su Lin lay down beside Ye Liangchen and once again pulled the little fellow into her arms like a body pillow.

"Su Lin! I think you're doing this on purpose. Do you really have to hold the little guy to fall asleep?" Lan Xiao Ling was speechless at the woman's actions.

"Big Sister Xiao Ling! As Little Chen's teacher, and with us in Star Dou Forest, I have to take responsibility for his safety. This is called close protection." Su Lin ignored Lan Xiao Ling's teasing and continued holding Ye Liangchen in her arms, giving him the warmest care.

"I know you were unwilling to accept losing to Liu Ru Yan back then. Don't tell me you're planning to make a move on her son? You absolutely mustn't do anything foolish!"

"Big Sister Xiao Ling, you're overthinking it."

Su Lin smiled charmingly at Lan Xiao Ling, thinking, Even if I had such thoughts, it would be impossible. By the time the little guy grows up, I'll already be old.

Ye Liangchen was sleeping soundly, but he felt as though something was enclosing him again. It even carried a pleasant fragrance, and it felt very comfortable.

In his haze, he found that he could not turn over, so he stretched out a hand, wanting to move around a little. The next moment, he touched something soft and squishy. Ye Liangchen instantly woke up and discovered that he was once again in the embrace of his beautiful teacher, Su Lin.

What the hell! Why is this happening again? How am I supposed to sleep like this? What a sin!

Back in Soul Hunting Town, this woman had promised the Lan Xiao Die sisters that she would protect him personally. She really had become addicted to sticking close to him. It was utterly speechless.

Dean Grandma had once told him that Su Lin had pursued his father back then. Unfortunately, his mother, Liu Ru Yan, had stood in the way, so this woman had failed.

Could she be planning to make a move on me now? Though... that kind of thing would be pretty exciting.

At that thought, Ye Liangchen began silently reciting the Ice Heart Incantation.

My heart is clear as ice, unshaken even should the heavens collapse, Amid countless changes, remain still; spirit at ease, breath serene...

To make himself fall asleep, Ye Liangchen silently recited the Ice Heart Incantation five times before finally calming down and slowly drifting back into sleep.