The Double Pupil Was Already an Invincible Path—Why Rely on Sky Dream Ice Silkworm?

Star Dou Great Forest, Outer Zone.

After traveling day and night for half a month, Liu Yuan finally stood at the edge of the continent's most famous Soul Beast habitat.

Before him stretched a boundless green sea. Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky, while the air carried the fragrance of earth mixed with a faint scent of blood.

Low beastly roars occasionally echoed from afar, reminding every intruder that this was the territory of beasts, the truest portrayal of the law of the jungle.

Liu Yuan took a deep breath and steadied himself.

He did not recklessly charge in. Instead, he first drew a gleaming short blade from his waist.

It was a first-grade close-combat Soul Tool. Though its rank was low and he had merely bought it while passing through a small city, it was sharp and durable. Once infused with Soul Power, it could release a faint edge of razor-sharp energy, more than enough to deal with low-level Soul Beasts.

"Phew... Let's begin."

Liu Yuan lowered his body. He did not wear his sunglasses, instead exposing those eerie Double Pupils directly to the air. In this danger-filled forest, vision was life. He would not allow anything to obstruct it.

He carefully took his first step and entered the Star Dou Great Forest.

Although he had awakened the Double Pupil, Liu Yuan had not become arrogant because of it.

He always remembered his current weaknesses—his lack of real combat experience and his relatively frail physique.

Therefore, he moved slowly, keeping every step as quiet as possible. His Double Pupils constantly swept over his surroundings, alert for any danger that might appear.

"Rustle..."

Just as he had ventured several hundred meters into the forest, a dense patch of grass to his left suddenly stirred without wind, producing a faint sound.

Liu Yuan froze instantly, his Double Pupils sharply locking onto that direction.

The next second.

"Roar!"

Accompanied by a piercing howl, a gray figure shot from the grass like a cannonball, carrying a foul gust as it lunged straight at Liu Yuan's face!

It was a baboon about a meter tall, covered in long gray fur. Its red eyes burned with bloodthirsty ferocity, and its sharp claws gleamed coldly beneath the sunlight.

A ten-year Soul Beast—the Wind Baboon!

Faced with this sudden attack, Liu Yuan before awakening his Double Pupil would likely have been able to do nothing but dodge in panic.

But now, in his vision, the world seemed to have been slowed down.

The Wind Baboon's lightning-fast pounce appeared riddled with openings beneath Liu Yuan's Double Pupils, even seeming... sluggish.

The path of its muscle contractions, the angle of its claw swipe, even the fleeting cruelty in its gaze... every detail was captured with perfect clarity by those divine eyes.

During the half month of travel, aside from "Distortion," this was the second ability Liu Yuan had discovered from the Double Pupil—Insight.

Or rather, See Through Falsehood.

Before these eyes, an enemy's movements would be slowed infinitely, while even the slightest warning signs would be magnified without limit.

This gave Liu Yuan reaction speed and predictive ability far beyond ordinary people.

"Too slow."

Liu Yuan snorted coldly inwardly.

The instant before the Wind Baboon's claws reached the tip of his nose, he shifted his body slightly to the right, narrowly avoiding the fatal strike.

The Wind Baboon had clearly not expected this seemingly weak human to evade its ambush. Unable to change direction in midair due to inertia, it exposed its vulnerable nape directly before Liu Yuan.

This was the chance!

A fierce glint flashed through Liu Yuan's eyes. His right hand gripping the short blade exerted force instantly, and the abundant Level 20 Soul Power within his body surged into the blade like a burst dam.

Buzz!

A faint layer of white light immediately lit up across the blade's surface, and its sharp energy intensified.

"Die!"

Liu Yuan shouted low as he viciously drove the short blade into the Wind Baboon's nape!

"Pfft!"

The sound of steel piercing flesh was crystal clear. Empowered by Soul Power, the first-grade Soul Tool blade cut through the Wind Baboon's tough fur and muscles as easily as tofu, piercing straight through its cervical spine!

"Screech—!"

The Wind Baboon let out a miserable cry, its body convulsing violently.

But Liu Yuan gave it no chance to catch its breath.

He twisted his wrist sharply, then yanked outward with force!

Crack!

With a crisp snap of breaking bones, a savage baboon head flew into the air. Warm blood sprayed out like a fountain, staining the surrounding grass red.

Thud.

The Wind Baboon's headless body crashed heavily to the ground. It twitched a few times before falling still. A faint white ring slowly rose from the corpse—the mark of a ten-year Soul Ring.

"Phew..."

Liu Yuan retreated a few steps to avoid the splashing blood, breathing out lightly.

Though the process had looked easy, this was still his first truly meaningful kill.

Looking at the corpse and blood on the ground, his stomach felt mildly unsettled, but what he felt more strongly was the thrill of holding life and death in his hands.

"So this is real combat... With the Double Pupil's Insight, low-level Soul Beasts pose no threat to me at all."

Liu Yuan calmly flicked the blood from his short blade and ignored the ten-year Soul Ring.

He did not linger where he was.

The scent of blood would soon attract stronger Soul Beasts. He had to move immediately.

"I need to find Sky Dream Ice Silkworm as soon as possible."

Liu Yuan put away his short blade, flashed forward, and quickly disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Yet reality was often harsher than ideals.

Liu Yuan had thought that with his knowledge of the plot, combined with the Double Pupil's searching ability, finding Sky Dream Ice Silkworm would be effortless.

But he had been wrong.

The Star Dou Great Forest was simply too vast.

Even the Outer Zone was boundless.

Trying to accurately find a million-year Soul Beast that had deliberately concealed its aura to avoid its enemies within such a huge area was no different from looking for a needle in the ocean.

The days passed one after another.

Five days... ten days... fifteen days.

A full half month passed.

Liu Yuan had nearly turned the Outer Zone upside down.

He encountered countless Soul Beast attacks.

From the initial Wind Baboons to ten-year Nether Wolves, hundred-year Variegated Cats, and even several unidentified Soul Beasts that had only just entered the thousand-year rank.

Every battle honed his combat skills and made him increasingly proficient in using the Double Pupil's abilities.

By now, he could smoothly switch between Insight and Distortion during battle.

But the one target he wanted most—Sky Dream Ice Silkworm—remained nowhere to be found.

"Damn it... Where is he?"

Inside a concealed tree hollow, Liu Yuan leaned against the damp inner wall, chewing dry, hard rations with a deep frown.

The half month of intense searching and fighting had left both his body and mind exhausted. His once-neat clothes had long since become tattered, and several shallow wounds now marked his body.

"Is my luck really this bad?"

Liu Yuan stared at the half-eaten flatbread in his hand, growing frustrated. "Or is this what they call fate? Is Sky Dream Ice Silkworm destined to belong only to Huo Yuhao, while an outsider like me has no right to touch him?"

He refused to believe it.

"I'll search for another half month!"

Liu Yuan viciously bit into the flatbread, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. "I refuse to believe a living man can be pissed to death. Since I came here, there's no way I'm leaving empty-handed!"

After resting briefly, Liu Yuan set off once more on his search.

This time, he expanded his search range, even risking entry into areas close to the Mixed Zone.

Yet fate truly seemed to be playing a joke on him.

Another half month passed.

The leaves in the forest had faded from lush green to a somewhat withered yellow. Liu Yuan had also grown a substantial beard, making him look like a wild man.

Yet the result remained the same—nothing.

Forget Sky Dream Ice Silkworm; he had not even seen a single Ice Silkworm hair. He had, however, nearly run into a ten-thousand-year Demon Ape. If not for the Double Pupil's excellent vision allowing him to flee quickly, he would probably have become ape shit by now.

One month later.

Beside a small stream in the Outer Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Liu Yuan crouched by the water, scooped up a handful of cool stream water to wash his face, then looked at his somewhat bedraggled reflection and let out a deep sigh.

"It seems... this path won't work."

The facts were right before him. He had no choice but to admit it.

Some opportunities truly could not be obtained merely because one knew the plot.

"There's no point wasting more time. Not only is it a waste of time, but I could lose my life at any moment."

Liu Yuan stood up, his gaze becoming clear and resolute again.

Though failing to intercept Sky Dream Ice Silkworm disappointed him greatly and even left him unwilling to accept it.

That did not mean his path had been cut off.

With the Double Pupil in hand, why would he worry about having no path forward?

He had long considered a backup plan.

If he truly was unlucky enough to fail to find Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, then he would seek Soul Rings suited to bringing out the Double Pupil's strengths, maximizing all of its advantages and abilities.

The Double Pupil was already an invincible path...

So what if he did not have Sky Dream Ice Silkworm?

He could still defy fate and change his destiny!