Night passed, and dawn came the next day.
At the inn, Zhao Wuji roused everyone with his booming voice.
Only Ma Hongjun had been working hard lately and gotten into the habit of rising early. Oscar and Dai Mubai, two kindred spirits in misery, found it agonizing to get up.
So much so that Oscar was still a little dazed at breakfast.
After leaving the town, they hurried on. They were already close to the Star Dou Great Forest, so everyone pushed themselves to make good time.
Oscar was looking forward to getting his second Spirit Ring. He knew the academy had brought everyone along this time to find a suitable ring for him.
Once he had a Spirit Ring that replenished his vitality, he'd be able to use Feng Hou Qi Gate and Turtle Fly Body without limit!
The Star Dou Great Forest lay to the south of the Heaven Dou Empire and stretched across the territories of two empires. With so many Soul Beasts living there, it was also the place where the border between the two countries was least clearly defined.
According to the map, most of the Star Dou Great Forest lay within the Star Luo Empire. Of course, the Heaven Dou Empire had never acknowledged this.
As one of the three great wild Soul Beast habitats on the continent, no one knew how many years the Star Dou Great Forest had existed on the Douluo Continent. But once people entered the forest, its towering, dense growth, which blotted out the sky, was enough to show just how ancient it was.
At last, they reached the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The towering trees stood at least twenty meters tall, and this was only the outermost part. The dense forest had no paths at all. Layer upon layer of trees obscured the view, concealing what lay within.
As they approached the forest, the air grew more pleasant, as if the temperature had dropped by several degrees.
Oscar could vaguely feel waves of fresh air blowing toward him. He took a deep breath, and it was as though every pore in his body had opened.
"Everyone, stop," Flender said.
The group immediately took a break. After Oscar made three Recovery Sausages, he ate one himself, then handed one each to Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai.
The sausages turned into a surging warmth in their stomachs, restoring their strength.
Ma Hongjun's hunger eased considerably, and Dai Mubai's complexion improved as well.
Flender looked sternly at his three students and spoke slowly, emphasizing every word.
"Listen carefully. The Star Dou Great Forest is nothing like the places where the state raises magical beasts. The Soul Beasts here are extremely dangerous!
"At any moment, you could be attacked by a thousand-year or even a ten-thousand-year beast!
"Once we enter the forest, you must stay in the middle of the group! No one is to attack a Soul Beast without my order. Understood?"
"Understood."
Oscar made two more sausages and handed them to Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun.
"My sausages stay fresh in the air for twelve hours. Eat them within that time and they'll restore Soul Power, heal injuries, and stave off hunger."
The two accepted them and carefully tucked them away.
They understood that Oscar was worried he might not have time to hand them sausages if they ran into danger, so he was giving them some in advance.
The constant use of Soul Power left Oscar's face pale. He made two more sausages and quickly swallowed them, then made another two and stuffed those down as well.
For some reason, ever since he had returned to the Douluo Continent, his Martial Soul had become absurdly powerful.
His sausages were twice as effective on himself as they were on other people!
In other words, after eating those four sausages, his Soul Power was completely replenished, and the excess energy seeped out through his pores.
That was the most frustrating part. If his Recovery Sausages could keep all his Soul Power from going to waste, who knew what level he'd have reached by now!
Only after seeing that the students had taken his warning to heart did Flender nod to the other three teachers.
"Move out!"
Shao Xin stayed in the middle of the group, ready at all times to make Sugar Beans and hand them to the three children.
These Sugar Beans were much more effective than Oscar's sausages, of course... but they couldn't stave off hunger.
On the way, Oscar was like a perpetual-motion machine, helping Shao Xin recover his Soul Power. They kept going until both teacher and student had completely filled their hunger meters, and only then did they stop.
The terrain inside the Star Dou Great Forest was extremely complicated. There were no paths through the forest, so the task of clearing a way forward naturally fell to Zhao Wuji.
Zhao Wuji was powerfully built. He borrowed a Refined Iron Longsword from Oscar and slashed wildly at the thorns in their way, clearing them without slowing the group down at all.
The deeper they went, the more Oscar's brow furrowed. He sensed something was wrong. It seemed as though something was enticing him to venture farther into the Star Dou Great Forest!
"Wait!"
Oscar hurriedly called out. The group stopped at once, and everyone looked at him in confusion.
"I feel like something is contacting me, tempting me to go farther in... but we can't sense any malice from it. It seems like an innocent child, just playing around."
"Let's take a break here."
Flender dropped down from the treetops. This was the first time he had encountered anything like this, and his guard immediately went up. He took Oscar's hand and infused it with his powerful Soul Power.
The group stayed beneath the tree for more than half an hour. The four teachers took turns examining Oscar, but none of them found anything wrong.
Flender frowned and looked at Oscar with his hawk-like eyes. "Is this because you're too nervous about entering the Star Dou Great Forest for the first time?"
Oscar shook his head. This was difficult to explain. It seemed that he was the only one who could feel it, and it had even stirred his Inner Scene.
Something was definitely going on. They would have to be careful. After all... they couldn't just give up hunting for a Spirit Ring.
Before long, they encountered a group of Soul Beasts.
Flender, perched on a treetop, waved to the others, and they stopped moving.
The beasts were a group of Rodent Weasels. They weren't very large, and their attacks weren't especially powerful, but their teeth were formidable enough to bite through metal.
Rodent Weasels had a keen sense of smell. At this distance, they had clearly noticed the group, but they showed no reaction, apparently taking no interest in them.
None of them were novices. They knew better than to take resources away from the beasts' offspring, so they turned to leave.
But as Oscar walked past, he felt the soil beneath his feet bulge. He reached down and touched it. It was a Rodent Weasel, with a scrap of paper in its mouth.
The crooked writing on the paper read: "Kid, you've got strong mental power. Come save me, and I'll make sure you become a Titled Douluo!"
Oscar frowned and slipped the note into his clothes.
From the situation, whoever it was had managed to evade all four teachers' detection and deliver the note into his hands. That person was clearly stronger than they were.
More importantly, they had their eye on him. Turning back now might alert them and cause trouble.
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