Douluo: Martial Soul Iron-Eating Beast, Never a Slave

With the help of his mother, Zhao Ru, Zhao Mu finally packed everything up and set off from the mountains with two Soul Tool rings full of food.

"Take good care of yourself!"

"I know!"

"Roar~"

"Sleep well!"

"I know!"

"Roar roar~"

"Eat properly!"

"I know!"

"Roar roar roar!!!"

Some unknown forest.

A man and a beast wandered through it without direction.

This man and beast were naturally Zhao Mu and the Iron-Eating Beast, Heibai, who had left the Zhao Family in the mountains.

Neither of them had any idea where they were now.

Zhao Mu swore that, in order to avoid getting lost after leaving the mountains and being unable to find his way, he had specifically asked his parents for a simple map of the continent.

And indeed, his parents had given Zhao Mu a simple map—but this map was far too simple!

Never mind proper roads, terrain, or scale; every mountain, hill, and forest was represented by just a few rough strokes. It was even more perfunctory than the maps in television dramas.

The only information this map provided Zhao Mu was a direction.

Since Spirit Hall's influence within the Star Luo Empire was relatively weak—as Dai Mubai had mentioned in both the original novel and the animation—the mountains where the Zhao Family had hidden were located within Star Luo territory.

According to the map, he should head north all the way to reach the Heaven Dou Empire.

With a map that had no scale, there was no way to know how far away it was. He could only keep heading north.

Deep in the wilderness, he could not even find someone to ask for directions.

Still, with the sun overhead, Zhao Mu should not have gotten the direction wrong.

Should not have.

Thus, Zhao Mu and Heibai headed north the whole way. More than a month had already passed, and the food in their Soul Tools was nearly gone.

"Heibai, start eating less from now on. We don't know how much longer it'll take to get out of this forest. If we run out of food, we'll have to survive in the wild."

Roar roar roar~

Heibai let out several dejected roars, licked his front paw, then turned and continued leading the way.

The most painful thing in a bear's life was when the bear was still alive, but had not eaten its fill.

The man and beast traveled for another half day. Then Heibai, who was walking ahead, suddenly shook his big head, twitched his nose, and his eyes immediately lit up.

Roar~

With a roar, he suddenly dashed happily toward the front right.

Seeing Heibai suddenly take off running, Zhao Mu naturally hurried after him.

"Hey, Heibai! What are you doing?"

Roar~

"You're saying there's lots of delicious food up ahead?"

At the mention of food, Zhao Mu was delighted as well. Although they still had food brought from home, and his mother Zhao Ru was an excellent cook, more than a month had passed. Without any way to heat it up, even the best food had become tasteless and dull.

But Zhao Mu quickly realized that in this desolate wilderness, where could there possibly be anything delicious? Could it be something delicious only to Heibai?

"Heibai, what exactly do you mean by delicious?"

After Zhao Mu repeatedly sought confirmation, Heibai gave him the same response.

Roar roar roar~

Something even better than Thunder-Striking Bamboo?

Hearing Heibai's reply, Zhao Mu guessed that the delicious food Heibai was referring to was not something humans would find delicious, but something like Thunder-Striking Bamboo that was delicious to him.

Or rather, heavenly treasures similar to Thunder-Striking Bamboo!

And there were a lot of them!

If there really were so many heavenly treasures, the key question was, how had this little fellow found them?

Could this little guy have a talent for treasure hunting?

The more Zhao Mu thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Back when his martial soul had first undergone Awakening, Heibai had disappeared for half a day. When he came running back on his own, he had brought a top-grade Thunder-Striking Bamboo even better than ordinary ones.

"Heibai, do you have a talent for treasure hunting? Can you find heavenly treasures on your own?" Once he had formed this guess, Zhao Mu asked Heibai, who was running ahead.

The little fellow nodded his big head, decisively admitting it.

"Heibai, if you can find food yourself, why didn't you go look for it before?" Zhao Mu asked irritably.

Roar roar roar~

Food and lodging were already provided. Why should he waste time and effort looking for food himself? Did Zhao Mu really think bears were stupid?

Heibai turned back and snapped at Zhao Mu before continuing to run forward.

Zhao Mu was left speechless. This guy really was lazy beyond belief.

If their food had not been nearly depleted this time, Heibai would never have "revealed" his treasure-hunting ability. He would have continued freeloading and waiting to die.

After the man and beast ran for more than ten minutes, a faint miasma somehow began to spread through the forest as they ventured deeper. The farther in they went, the thicker it became.

"Heibai, this miasma isn't poisonous, is it?"

Heibai turned back and rolled his eyes at Zhao Mu, a trace of contempt in them, as though he were mocking Zhao Mu for being even more timid than a bear.

"Heibai, you brat, if you look at me like that again, watch out or I'll beat you up!"

Heibai gave no further response. He merely turned his head back with a disgruntled air and continued deeper into the forest, toward where the miasma was thickest.

However, purple arcs of electricity began to spread over Heibai's chubby body.

It was not his First Soul Skill. He had merely eaten too much Thunder-Striking Bamboo, causing his body to naturally contain a portion of lightning power.

Zhao Mu could do the same, because whenever Heibai consumed Thunder-Striking Bamboo, part of its energy was always transferred into Zhao Mu's body.

Purple arcs of electricity likewise spread across the surface of Zhao Mu's body as he closely followed.

One in front and one behind, the two passed through the forest and eventually arrived at a raised area shaped like a volcano. The miasma had mysteriously vanished here.

Zhao Mu could feel that as he inhaled the miasma, something strange seemed to enter his body. Yet under the stimulation of the lightning within him, those strange things seemed to become inactive.

Looking at the crater-like rise before him, Zhao Mu guessed that this was the place Heibai had been seeking.

The two slowly climbed up again.

When they reached the edge of the volcano-like crater, Zhao Mu looked down and saw a strange sight within.

Steam billowed from a pool whose red and white waters were sharply divided. One side was scorching hot, while the other was freezing cold.

Around the pool grew plants with vibrant colors and bizarre shapes.

Everything was suffused with an unusual glow, like a hidden world unto itself.

"Th-this is the Ice and Fire Mandarin Duck Pot?!"

PS: The earlier setup is basically complete. The real plot is about to begin, and I hope all you esteemed readers will enjoy it. Thank you for your support! Finally, thanks to reader Ke Ai Dao Ai for the tip. Thank you for the support! From this humble author!

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was simply too distinctive.

Looking at the red-and-white pool below, where scorching heat and freezing cold intertwined, Zhao Mu was ninety-nine percent certain that this was the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well of Douluo Continent, the greatest opportunity where anyone would want to grab a share.

After wandering around aimlessly, he had somehow stumbled upon this place?

Zhao Mu's destination had been the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in Sunset Forest, yet he had arrived here so miraculously.

Could he be a child of destiny too? Otherwise, how could such a coincidence happen?

Looking at the glowing plants below, each one clearly no ordinary specimen, Heibai's eyes went wide as well.

Roar roar roar~

So much delicious food. It looked delicious just from looking at it.

Heibai let out an excited and joyful roar, then immediately ran toward the hollow. The slopes around it were rather steep, and his front paws slipped. His entire body instantly curled into a ball of flesh and rolled down.

Zhao Mu followed him down as well.

Within the hollow.