Searching for Soul Beasts

Dugu Yan sleepily crawled out of her grandfather's arms, rubbing her eyes, her little face still heavy with lingering drowsiness.

Mo Jiao beside her had long since awakened. She gently nudged Dugu Yan with her head, seemingly urging her young mistress to get up.

"Mm... Is it morning already?"

Dugu Yan yawned and looked around.

Not far away, Gu Ci was already standing by the Ice and Fire Dual Pools, brimming with energy, faint Thunder Light circulating around him.

Zi Dian lay at his feet. Man and tiger had begun cultivating at some unknown time, both breathing in and out the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the early morning.

"Yanyan, you're awake?"

Gu Ci turned back and smiled as he handed her a piece of dried rations. "Eat something. We need to discuss serious matters later."

Dugu Yan took the food and nibbled at it in small bites.

Dugu Bo also rose from the bluestone and walked over to them.

The campfire was rekindled, and the three sat around it.

Gu Ci spoke first. "Grandpa Dugu, we'll need to be prepared for a long search this time."

"Although Sunset Forest isn't small, the number and quality of Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts there can't compare to Star Dou Great Forest."

"Especially the one I want to find..."

He paused before continuing, "A Ten-Thousand-Year Thunder Attribute Soul Beast, and a top-tier predator at that."

"There probably aren't many existences of that level in Sunset Forest."

Dugu Bo nodded, his expression solemn. "Indeed, there aren't many. This old man knows most of the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in Sunset Forest."

"There are already few Thunder Attribute ones, and top-tier predators on top of that... Let me think."

After pondering for a moment, he slowly said, "There's a twenty-thousand-year Purple Lightning Thunder Eagle nesting on a cliff deep in the Sky Ripple Mountains."

"But it's a flying Soul Beast. Since your Martial Soul is Tiger Type, it might not be compatible."

Gu Ci shook his head. "My Martial Soul is a tiger. My Soul Ring should preferably come from a tiger-type beast or another land beast."

"The Soul Skills of flying Soul Beasts don't suit my Martial Soul's characteristics. Even if I absorbed one, its effectiveness would be greatly reduced."

Dugu Bo continued, "There's also a fifteen-thousand-year Thunder Pattern Tiger King in Thunder Roar Valley, east of Sunset Forest."

"This old man has seen it before. It truly deserves to be called a top-tier predator. It's just that..."

"Just that what?" Gu Ci pressed.

"That fellow's movements are unpredictable, making it very difficult to find. It's also extremely cunning. At the slightest disturbance, it runs away."

"This old man saw it once when passing through that place years ago. When I went looking for it again later, I couldn't find it."

Gu Ci's eyes lit up. "A fifteen-thousand-year Thunder Pattern Tiger King? How is its bloodline?"

Dugu Bo thought for a moment. "It should be quite good, much stronger than an ordinary Thunder Pattern Tiger. But compared with your Purple-Winged Thunder-Scaled Tiger, it certainly falls short."

Gu Ci nodded. This was within his expectations.

The Purple-Winged Thunder-Scaled Tiger was already a bloodline variant and possessed the bloodline of an Ancient Thunder Beast. Naturally, ordinary tiger-type beasts could not compare.

But for a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, its bloodline could be cultivated slowly. Its age was what truly mattered.

"Anything else?"

Dugu Bo shook his head. "In Sunset Forest, those are the only two that this old man knows of that meet your requirements."

"The others either aren't old enough, aren't Thunder Attribute, or are simply mediocre. They aren't worthy of you."

Gu Ci fell silent for a moment, then looked at Dugu Yan. "Yanyan, yours will be even harder to find. A six-thousand-year flood dragon type, and one with both Ice and Fire Attributes..."

Dugu Yan blinked, only then realizing how serious the problem was.

Dugu Bo also frowned. "Flood dragon types are already rare, and it must possess both Ice and Fire Attributes... This is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"In Sunset Forest, this old man only knows of three types of flood dragon Soul Beasts."

"One is the Black Water Flood Dragon, a Water Attribute beast. One is the Crimson Flame Flood Dragon, a Fire Attribute beast. The other is the Ice Flood Dragon, an Ice Attribute beast. None possess both Ice and Fire Attributes."

He paused, then added, "Moreover, these three flood dragon clans are all quite old. The Black Water Flood Dragon is twelve thousand years old, the Crimson Flame Flood Dragon is eight thousand years old, and the Ice Flood Dragon is nine thousand years old. There's none around six thousand years old."

Dugu Yan's little face fell. "Then what do we do?"

Gu Ci pondered for a moment. "If Sunset Forest doesn't have one, then we can only go to Star Dou Great Forest."

"Star Dou Great Forest?" Dugu Yan's eyes lit up.

But Dugu Bo frowned. "Star Dou Great Forest is no joke. It's the largest gathering place for Soul Beasts on the continent. Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts even appear in its core region."

"Although this old man is a Titled Douluo, I still wouldn't dare say I could run wild there without restraint."

He looked at Gu Ci. "Are you sure you want to go?"

Gu Ci nodded. "If we truly can't find anything suitable in Sunset Forest, then Star Dou Great Forest is our only option."

"Yanyan's Martial Soul is now an Ice Fire Flood Dragon. If we can't find a flood dragon-type Soul Beast with both Ice and Fire Attributes and just make do with an ordinary flood dragon, that would instead waste her talent."

Dugu Yan nodded forcefully. "That's right! I refuse to settle!"

Seeing the determination in his granddaughter's eyes, Dugu Bo finally nodded. "Fine. Then we'll search Sunset Forest for three more days."

"If we can't find anything suitable within three days, we'll go to Star Dou Great Forest."

He rose to his feet and gazed into the distance.

"For now, eat something. Once we're done, this old man will take you to a few places and try our luck."

They quickly finished the dried rations, packed up, and prepared to depart.

Zi Dian and Mo Jiao turned into streams of light and entered their masters' bodies. Dugu Bo took the two children into the air and flew toward the depths of Sunset Forest.

Their first stop was Thunder Roar Valley.

It was a long, narrow valley with steep mountains on either side, perpetually shrouded in thunderclouds.

Dugu Bo led the two down onto a mountain peak and looked over the land below.

"This is Thunder Roar Valley." He pointed downward.

"That Thunder Pattern Tiger King lives at the bottom of the valley. But the terrain here is complicated, so it's difficult to find any trace of it."

Gu Ci opened his Heavenly Eye, golden light sweeping across the entire valley.

Everything in the valley was laid bare before his eyes: rocks, trees, streams, and Soul Beasts concealed in every corner.

A thousand-year Thunder Ape, a pack of Thunder Pattern Tigers, several Thunder Snakes...

But there was no Thunder Pattern Tiger King.

"It isn't here." Gu Ci shook his head. "There's no aura of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in the valley."

Dugu Bo sighed. "Then let's go to the next place, the Sky Ripple Mountains."

The three changed direction and flew toward the Sky Ripple Mountains.

Over the next two days, they scoured every place in Sunset Forest that might contain a high-level Thunder Attribute Soul Beast.

On a cliff in the Sky Ripple Mountains, they found the twenty-thousand-year Purple Lightning Thunder Eagle.

The giant eagle's wingspan stretched nearly a hundred feet. Its entire body was covered in purple feathers, and lightning exploded with every beat of its wings.

But it was extremely wary of the three. The moment it sensed Dugu Bo's aura from afar, it flew away without giving them any chance to approach.

"Forget it. Flying Soul Beasts weren't suitable for me to begin with." Gu Ci shook his head.

They also went to Thunderstorm Plain, Thunder Sound Valley, Lightning Cliff...

But either the beasts were not old enough, their bloodlines were too poor, or there was simply no trace of them to be found.

After two days, they had gained nothing.

On the evening of the third day, the three landed on a mountain peak to rest.

Dugu Yan sat on a rock, her little face full of exhaustion.

Though she had followed them around for two days, Dugu Bo had carried her through the air most of the time, so she was not truly tired. Still, after being disappointed again and again, her mood had sunk.

"Brother Gu Ci, are we really not going to find a Soul Beast for me?"

She asked softly.