Entering Star Dou Forest, Variegated Leopard

After eating breakfast at the hotel where he was staying, Wang Xian hurried out and continued toward the Star Dou Forest.

After walking for about an hour, a forest appeared before his eyes.

"Finally here." Wang Xian couldn't help but reveal a smile.

After more than ten days of long-distance travel, he had finally arrived at the Star Dou Forest from Notting Academy.

"I hope this soul ring hunt goes smoothly."

Wang Xian took a deep breath and stepped directly into the perilous forest.

There were too many soul beasts in this forest, so he had to be cautious and careful.

The outer perimeter of the Star Dou Forest had relatively sparse trees, but they grew denser the further one went inside.

Upon entering the forest, he immediately felt the air become fresher, and the Heaven and Earth Vitality became very active.

The trees inside were tall and dense, their overlapping canopies blocking out the sunlight, leaving only sporadic spots of light on the ground.

It looked like a peaceful and serene scene, but the various soul beasts hidden within were each lethal.

An hour later, he entered the center of the outer perimeter.

The soul beasts in this area were basically of century-level cultivation; as long as he didn't go too deep, he wouldn't encounter thousand-year soul beasts.

Wang Xian kept an eye on his surroundings as he walked, and after about another hour, he stopped and began searching laterally.

His Life Blue Silver Grass followed the path of life, so the soul ring he intended to find this time had to be of the plant type and possess powerful vitality.

There were quite a few soul beasts in this direction, but in a forest as vast as the Star Dou Forest, it would still take some time to find what he needed.

Wang Xian explored the forest carefully, treading lightly with every step to avoid unnecessary conflicts with other soul beasts.

Tree roots were knotted on the ground, and in some places, thick moss grew, making the path slippery.

He bypassed a patch of low shrubs and had just found a relatively safe spot to catch his breath when the branches above his head suddenly trembled violently.

A yellow shadow lunged down from the canopy once again.

This leopard was nearly two meters long, its yellow fur covered in black circular spots, with thick limbs and claws as sharp as hooks.

It opened its mouth to reveal two rows of fangs, eyes locked onto Wang Xian, moving with astonishing speed that brought it right in front of him in the blink of an eye.

"A Variegated Leopard. Judging by its body length, it should be around three hundred years old." Wang Xian's eyes narrowed, but he did not panic.

However, the Variegated Leopard was an agility-type soul beast; if he let it get too close, it would be easy to capsize in the gutter.

He immediately took half a step back and opened his right hand, ink-green light surging from his palm.

With a thought from Wang Xian, the Life Blue Silver Grass surged wildly from his palm, and vine after vine of azure green rushed toward the Variegated Leopard like a tidal wave.

The Variegated Leopard flashed, trying to use its speed to dodge.

But after the Life Blue Silver Grass evolved to D-rank, the quantity he could grow in one go was truly immense.

Vines surged from all directions simultaneously—front, back, left, and right—leaving it nowhere to hide.

Several vines entangled its hind legs, causing the Variegated Leopard's body to tilt and stumble forward.

Immediately after, more vines surged up, wrapping around its legs and continuously spreading upward.

"Roar!" The Variegated Leopard let out a painful howl, as the sharp Life Blue Silver Grass had already scratched its legs and various parts of its body.

In the blink of an eye, the vines wrapped the entire leopard tightly.

The Variegated Leopard struggled desperately, kicking its limbs, its sharp claws leaving white marks on the vines, but it couldn't break free.

It let out a painful howl, the sound echoing through the forest.

Wang Xian immediately controlled the Life Blue Silver Grass to block its mouth, lest its screams attract other soul beasts.

The vines continued to tighten, pulling so hard that its bones began to creak.

The Variegated Leopard's struggles grew weaker, its roars turning into low whimpers, until finally, its limbs went limp and it collapsed on the ground, motionless.

Wang Xian stood where he was, waiting for a while to confirm that the Variegated Leopard was completely still before he let out a sigh of relief and retracted the Life Blue Silver Grass.

He looked at the dead Variegated Leopard on the ground and frowned.

The age seemed appropriate, but the attributes were completely wrong.

"I have to keep looking." Wang Xian wiped the sweat from his forehead, rested for a moment, and continued to explore for a suitable soul beast.

Over the next hour or so, he encountered several more soul beasts.

There was an Iron-Back Wolf of over three hundred years, a Wind-Wing Butterfly of two hundred years, and a Giant Centipede of unknown age.

To avoid accidents caused by combat, he chose to bypass these soul beasts.

During this time, he also discovered a few plant-type soul beasts, among which an Azure Vine seemed quite suitable.

But its age was far too low; judging by its thickness, it was only about a hundred years old, and it would be of little use even if fused.

Wang Xian shook his head and continued walking forward.

After another half an hour, as he was passing through a patch of low shrubs, he suddenly smelled a strange medicinal fragrance.

The scent was very faint, ethereal, and mixed into the humid air of the forest; if he hadn't been downwind, he wouldn't have smelled it at all.

Wang Xian stopped in his tracks, twitching his nose to confirm it wasn't just his imagination, then slowly crept toward the source of the scent.

"This fragrance is no simple matter." Wang Xian's eyes lit up.

Many plant-type soul beasts emitted special scents, and it was highly likely that this fragrance was one of them.

Pushing aside a few large leaves, he revealed a relatively open clearing in the forest ahead.

In the center of the clearing, a dark red vine plant sat quietly coiled.

It was a blood-red vine, as thick as a baby's arm, deep red all over with its surface covered in fine, blood-like vein patterns.

Dozens of vines were tightly intertwined, twisted into a thick main vine that resembled a dark red giant python coiled on the ground.

At the end of the main vine grew a deep red flower bud the size of a fist, emitting a faint bloody smell mixed with that strange medicinal fragrance.

Wang Xian's eyes shone with excitement: "Force-Gathering Blood Vine."

He had seen the illustration of this plant in the textbooks at Notting Academy.

The Force-Gathering Blood Vine was extremely rare and grew incredibly slowly, spending its entire life doing only one thing: concentrating all its power into a single point.

Its root system would desperately absorb nutrients from the ground, but instead of spreading out, it funneled everything into the main vine.

The vines never separated, because separation meant the dispersion of power.

It spent hundreds of years compressing, condensing, and purifying all its vitality, just to bloom that single flower bud one day.

Judging by the thickness of the main vine and the size of the bud, it was at least three hundred and ninety years old.

Wang Xian's heart rate quickened; the attribute of the Force-Gathering Blood Vine was pure vitality, making it a perfect match for his Blue Silver Grass.