Star Dou Great Forest, Tusked Time Hunter!

Star Dou Great Forest, one of the largest and most dangerous Spirit Beast gathering places on the Douluo Continent.

Towering ancient trees blocked out the sky, vines coiled like giant pythons, and the air carried an unpolluted freshness.

"This is the legendary Star Dou Great Forest—it's truly magnificent."

Bai Mu stretched lazily, feeling as if his mind had cleared up a bit since arriving here.

"Woof!" Zygarde, in its Complete Form, leaped from Bai Mu's shoulder, transforming back into its Dragon Dog form. Its eyes shone as it scanned its surroundings.

Upon arriving here, it felt every cell in its body become active.

"Xiao Ruan, clear the way."

"Woof!" Zygarde used Extreme Speed, effortlessly smashing through the weeds and branches blocking its path, creating a shaded trail.

"Let's see how deep the waters of the Star Dou Great Forest really are."

Bai Mu smiled confidently and strode into the forest.

Not long after entering, he could feel several covetous gazes falling upon him.

But he paid them no mind, striding forward with large steps.

Suddenly, dozens of green lights appeared in the depths of the jungle.

The next moment, a pack of wolves, about 1.6 meters long and entirely iron-gray, slowly emerged.

Those eerie green lights were their eyes.

"A pack of Nether Wolves, several hundred years old?"

Bai Mu's lips curved into a smile, his steps not faltering in the slightest, as if he hadn't noticed.

"Awooo!"

With a wolf's howl, the pack surged out, charging like a flowing shadow!

"Xiao Ruan, Stomp!"

"Awooo!"

Zygarde, who had been clearing the path, immediately returned to Bai Mu's side.

With a forceful stomp of its foot, it unleashed a terrifying shockwave that swept in all directions.

Boom!

The charging wolf pack's limbs suddenly felt excruciating pain, their bodies going numb.

Their speed sharply decreased, and they felt a terrifying pressure envelop them.

"Awooo?!"

In their eyes, the Zygarde ahead was no longer just an ordinary Dragon Dog, but had transformed into a fearsome giant dragon!

"Aowawawa!"

In an instant, the Nether Wolf pack was scared and scattered like birds and beasts.

"Well done--"

"Hoo!"

Bai Mu's praise was cut short when a Thousand-Year Shadow Leopard suddenly pounced from the shadows without warning.

Its speed was extreme, and its claws, cloaked in shadow, aimed straight for Bai Mu's throat.

Bai Mu glanced at it, his expression unchanged, and continued forward.

He softly uttered two words: "Extreme Speed."

"Swish!"

A green and white light flashed past at Extreme Speed. Before the Nether Leopard's attack could land, it was directly sent flying. Bang!

It wasn't until it crashed through a large tree that the Shadow Leopard fell to the ground, twitching and coughing up blood.

"Tsk tsk! I haven't even gone deep yet, and a Thousand-Year Spirit Beast is already here to greet me. I'm really quite popular."

Bai Mu glanced indifferently at the Shadow Leopard and paid it no further attention.

"It's a pity its age is too low, otherwise I could consider absorbing its Spirit Ring to resonate a ghost-attribute Special Move."

For his Third Spirit Ring, Bai Mu planned to absorb a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Ring!

After all, his Second Spirit Ring was already five thousand years old. Unless he encountered a Spirit Beast that could resonate a Special Move, or absorb a Spirit Beast that could grant an External Spirit Bone, he had no intention of demeaning himself by absorbing a Spirit Ring of lower age.

But as for which Spirit Beast to hunt and which Special Move to resonate.

He hadn't decided yet and decided to let fate decide.

The only thing that worried him was--

"I wonder if I can withstand the soul shock of a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast with my current strength."

Bai Mu was a little unsure about this.

When it came to physical quality, he felt confident, but as for spiritual power—that was harder to say.

"Oh well, I'll practice controlling my Substitute more to train my spiritual power. It'll get stronger as I practice."

Bai Mu decisively created a Substitute, practicing while advancing deeper into the forest.

He didn't deliberately search for specific Spirit Beasts; he fought whatever he encountered, treating every battle as training.

If the level was high, Zygarde would handle it.

If the level was low, the Substitute of the man and the dog would swarm.

During the day, he hunted Spirit Beasts and honed his combat skills; at night, he meditated and cultivated, consolidating his Soul Power.

Unknowingly, the strength of the One Person and One Dog grew rapidly in actual combat, and their use of Spirit Skills and moves became more proficient.

Time flowed quietly.

Bai Mu's level remained stable at level 30, his Soul Power thick and solid. Zygarde, on the other hand, consumed the medicinal power of an Immortal Herb and condensed another Z-Cell.

One afternoon, Bai Mu was resting by a stream, preparing to continue his search for targets.

Suddenly, Zygarde sent a warning: "I sense an abnormal fluctuation appearing two kilometers ahead."

"Abnormal? Let's go take a look."

Bai Mu decisively concealed his aura and approached stealthily with Zygarde.

Passing through an area densely covered with vines, their pupils contracted at the sight before them. There lay the corpse of a giant bear-like Spirit Beast.

Its thick fur had a hint of silver, and its chest bore a gaping wound the size of a washbasin. Judging by its corpse, this bear was at least 8 meters tall in life.

"A ten-thousand-year Iron-Back Grizzly Bear?"

Bai Mu stepped forward to observe it closely, barely recognizing this powerful Spirit Beast that was both offensive and defensive.

Even though the bear was dead, his expression remained solemn.

This was because the corpse was shriveled like a dead tree, its fur dull and dry, as if it had been air-dried for decades.

But the problem was—the ground around was stained with blood, the ground was covered in messy tracks, and many trees were broken. It was clear that a fierce battle had broken out here not long ago!

What's more—

"The forest is quite humid. It's one thing that the corpse hasn't rotted and is still so shriveled, but why hasn't it been eaten by other Spirit Beasts?"

Bai Mu squatted down and examined it carefully.

The corpse's bones had become very fragile, shattering with a slight touch. Its teeth were old and had fallen out, and it exuded an aura of decay—

This is not a state that a normal death should have!

"It's as if the corpse has been desiccated and aged for decades."

Bai Mu muttered to himself.

He suddenly remembered that when he was in Skywater City, Shui Yunxin had mentioned a legend—a legend about a Special Spirit Beast with enormous tusks that fed on the time of other spirit beasts.

It could use the power of time to attack, strengthening itself by plundering the time of heavily injured spirit beasts. Spirit beasts hunted by it would have their corpses rapidly desiccate, appearing as if they had been dried for a long time.

This spirit beast was called a Tusked Time Hunter.

"Hunting time, the power of time—I didn't expect such a spirit beast to actually exist."

Bai Mu's eyes lit up, his mind instantly becoming active.

"There aren't many spirit beasts with the attribute of time. Is it possible to obtain a precious Spirit Skill or resonate with a Special Move?"

Thinking of this, Bai Mu grabbed Zygarde's dog head and rubbed it vigorously, saying, "Xiao Ruan, try to track the aura of that spirit beast."

"In my perception, this aura is faint, erratic, and difficult to trace."

Zygarde was also a little uncertain, but it had its own confidence.

"As long as it uses a similar ability again, I should be able to successfully perceive it from a greater distance this time."

"That's enough. Let's use it as a center and release Substitutes to search in different directions!"

With a target, Bai Mu was full of energy.

"I can release cells for area surveillance!"

Zygarde said.

"Good! Let's do it!"

Bai Mu smiled.

A day later, he discovered the second desiccated corpse five kilometers away—a six-thousand-year-old Gale Demon Wolf.

Three days later, the third desiccated corpse—a nine-thousand-year-old Steel-Armored Rhino.

These corpses were distributed in different areas, and their bodies had penetrating wounds.

It wasn't until the evening of the seventh day, as the afterglow of the setting sun pierced through the gaps in the forest, that Bai Mu finally found his target.