Half a month later.
The outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Gu Qing dismissed the coachman and carriage, then ventured alone into the most infamous and perilous place on the entire continent.
Towering ancient trees blotted out the sky, breaking the sunlight into scattered flecks.
The air all around was thick with the primal stench of decaying leaves and soil.
Gu Qing had a very clear purpose in coming here.
With his current terrifying Soul Ring configuration and his almost inhuman physical prowess,
the bare minimum for his ninth Soul Ring was a peak, hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
Ordinary high-level Soul Beasts weren't worth his attention.
As soon as he entered the depths of the forest, Gu Qing slowly opened his right hand.
A flash of emerald light, and Life-Type Blue Silver Grass burst from his body.
Without hesitation, he activated the unique affinity of his Blue Silver Grass.
His vast, ocean-like spiritual power surged outward from him like invisible ripples, spreading wildly.
With feedback from the countless plants around him,
his perception crossed the many barriers of space and instantly spread dozens of miles in every direction.
Within that radius, even the flutter of a bird's wings was clearly reflected in his mind.
Gu Qing closed his eyes and carefully sifted through the powerful life-force auras in his mind.
Time passed, bit by bit.
Gu Qing spent a full half day moving through the dark forest.
He found quite a few ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts.
There were even several ferocious Soul Beasts that seemed to be nearing the fifty-thousand-year mark.
But he hadn't caught so much as a glimpse of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
"Looks like hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts really are rare. They're not easy to come across."
Gu Qing withdrew his extended spiritual power and rubbed his slightly aching brow.
Maintaining such a vast web of perception for so long took a considerable toll on his spiritual power.
Just as he was about to find a safe place to rest for a while,
he heard the faint sound of running water nearby.
The damp air also carried a hint of sulfur.
Following the sound and scent, Gu Qing pushed the thick undergrowth aside with his bare hands.
The view opened up before him.
A secluded natural hot spring came into sight.
The spring water was a clear, pale green.
Large swaths of white mist hung over the surface, making it look like a scene from paradise.
After days of travel and half a day of draining his spiritual power, Gu Qing felt sticky and uncomfortable.
"Perfect. I'll take a bath and relax before I keep looking."
Gu Qing strolled toward the edge of the spring, feeling quite at ease.
However.
The moment he neared the water's edge, he stopped dead.
His gaze fixed on the middle of the spring.
Through the layers of white mist, he saw a figure in the rippling hot spring.
A young woman was bathing with her back to him.
Her long, deep-green hair spilled like a waterfall over her snowy-white back.
Her skin was as fair as fine white jade, gleaming alluringly through the rising steam.
Even from behind, her slender waist and long, shapely legs, faintly visible beneath the water, would have set any man's blood racing.
Gu Qing immediately recognized that distinctive green hair.
It was Dugu Yan, the treasured granddaughter of Poison Douluo Dugu Bo.
He never expected to run into her in this remote corner of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Just as Gu Qing was about to leave without a sound, the sole of his boot accidentally snapped a dry twig.
The sharp crack rang out, painfully loud beside the quiet spring.
The figure in the water spun around like a startled bird.
Their eyes met.
Dugu Yan's pupils contracted sharply.
A completely unfamiliar young man stood on the bank, having seen her clearly!
Her naked body was in the clear spring with nowhere to hide, exposed for all to see.
"Ah—!"
A scream of utter humiliation and fury shattered the forest's silence.
Dugu Yan crossed her arms over her chest and frantically sank lower into the water.
Her pretty face flushed scarlet, and her beautiful eyes blazed with fury.
"You filthy pervert!"
Dugu Yan flew into a rage. In her panic, she snatched up the clothes from the rocks beside the bank and hastily wrapped them around her alluring figure.
A thick green glow erupted from her body.
The phantom of a massive Jade Phosphorous Serpent swiftly took shape behind her.
As she moved, a dense, foul-smelling cloud of green poison billowed toward the bank.
Every flower and blade of grass in its path instantly melted into a puddle of black water.
Gu Qing stood where he was, about to offer an explanation.
"Miss, this is a complete misunderstanding."
But Dugu Yan was so furious that she couldn't hear a single word.
In the blink of an eye, the spreading poison cloud swallowed Gu Qing whole.
Seeing him struck by the poison, Dugu Yan's eyes flashed with satisfaction.
But the next second, her expression froze.
The earth split open with a rumble.
Thick Dark Blue Silver Grass burst from the ground like writhing black dragons, instantly weaving together into an impenetrable wall of black vines in front of Gu Qing.
An eerie light flowed over the vines' black surfaces.
Innate Divine Ability: Devour!
The deadly Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison had barely touched the vines when an immensely powerful suction force seized it.
In the blink of an eye, the Dark Blue Silver Grass had devoured the entire cloud of poison.
Not a trace remained in the air.
Dugu Yan stood in the water, dumbfounded.
The serpent poison she prided herself on was an unsolvable weapon in the eyes of Soul Masters of the same rank.
Even a single drop was enough to ensure a poisonous death.
And this man, who hadn't even fully released his Martial Soul, had swallowed her poison whole?
Gu Qing waved away the vines and spoke calmly.
"See?"
"I really didn't see anything."
Hearing this only made Dugu Yan feel more humiliated and furious.
What did he mean, he hadn't seen anything?
That was the greatest insult of all!
Even knowing she might be weaker than him, Dugu Yan had lost all reason.
She lightly touched the water with her toes and lunged at Gu Qing, trailing steam.
Gu Qing frowned at the woman's unreasonable behavior.
If she wouldn't listen to reason, he'd have to communicate another way.
He slowly raised his left hand.
An emerald light flashed brilliantly.
Dozens of vibrant strands of Life Blue Silver Grass sprang up from beneath Dugu Yan's feet.
The vines wrapped around her ankles with remarkable agility, then wound their way up her long, shapely legs.
Before Dugu Yan could reach him, she was bound hand and foot.
Her arms were tied behind her back, leaving her unable to move.
The vines abruptly tightened and pulled upward.
Dugu Yan was lifted high into the air and hung from a thick branch on a nearby tree.
The taut vines squeezed her already voluptuous figure into even more alluring curves.
"Let me go!"
"You shameless scoundrel!"
Dugu Yan struggled desperately in midair, tears spilling uncontrollably from her eyes.
"Grandpa, save me!"
"There's a pervert harassing me!"
Before you continue