At the thought of it, Xiao Wu grew so anxious she nearly burst into tears.
If the timing hadn't been so wrong, she would've wanted to return to her home deep in the Star Dou Great Forest right away and check on it.
"Ah..." Meng Yiran cried out again, then hurriedly asked, "Grandpa, have all the Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest disappeared? What about other places? Could all the Soul Beasts have vanished? Does that mean I won't have any Soul Rings to absorb?"
Meng Yiran's question touched on the fear lurking in everyone's hearts. When Tang San and the others heard her, their faces turned pale.
"That can't be. Something like that is impossible..."
"If all the Soul Beasts are gone, how are we Soul Masters supposed to cultivate?"
"Exactly. Something like that could never happen..."
"..."
Dai Mubai and the others all instinctively denied it.
Because they absolutely, absolutely didn't want to see something like that happen.
"Don't cry, good granddaughter. Your grandpa has only looked around the nearby area for now. Maybe this is only happening here; it doesn't necessarily mean things are the same elsewhere!"
"No one could make something like that happen."
Dragon Duke Meng Shu hurriedly spoke up, soothing his granddaughter, who was on the verge of tears.
"That's right, your grandpa is right. Let's keep looking!"
Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang added, trying to comfort her as well.
Then Dragon Duke and Snake Granny left with Meng Yiran. They no longer had the inclination to argue with the Shrek group over who would get the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.
"Teacher Zhao, what should we do now?"
"Could all the Soul Beasts really have disappeared?"
After Dragon Duke and Snake Granny left, Oscar quickly asked Zhao Wuji what they should do.
He was the most anxious of them all. He was already Level 30 and ready to add a Soul Ring!
They'd come to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt one for him!
"Keep looking. I refuse to believe the Soul Beasts have really disappeared!"
With Dragon Duke and Snake Granny gone, Zhao Wuji relaxed a little.
"Teacher Zhao, why don't we split up to search? That way, we can cover more ground!"
"Since there aren't any Soul Beasts around, there's no danger. If we do find one, we can hurry back."
Xiao Wu stepped forward and suggested it.
Of course, she was suggesting it so she could slip away and check whether Daming and Erming were still there.
The others quickly agreed with Xiao Wu's suggestion.
But they didn't go off alone. Instead, they paired up.
In the end, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing went together, Oscar and Ma Hongjun paired up, Tang San and Xiao Wu formed a team, and Zhao Wuji went with Ning Rongrong.
Soon, the Shrek group split into four teams and headed off in four directions to search for traces of Soul Beasts.
Rustle—
After they left, a tall, rugged figure slowly emerged from behind a large tree. It was Tang Hao.
He had been secretly protecting Tang San all along.
How could he possibly feel at ease letting Tang San enter a Soul Beast forest?
Only by keeping an eye on him himself could he rest easy.
Still, he was only following from the shadows. He would step in only if Tang San's life was truly in danger.
Six years ago, when Tang San hunted for his First Soul Ring, Tang Hao had nearly been unable to hold himself back. Tang San had dealt with the Datura Serpent on his own, so Tang Hao hadn't shown himself.
"Have all the Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest really disappeared?"
Tang Hao's expression was just as grave.
He'd seen the Soul Beasts around them vanish with his own eyes.
He was just as worried as Tang San and the others.
"Something like that shouldn't be possible."
"That's right. The Soul Beasts nearby must have disappeared for some other reason. It doesn't mean they've all vanished. Xiao Wu is still here, at least..."
Tang Hao shook his head and quickly calmed down.
Especially since he knew Xiao Wu was a Soul Beast herself. Since she was still here, it couldn't mean all the Soul Beasts had disappeared. His Ah Yin must still be out there.
"Ah Yin!"
"Wait for me. Once Xiao San and the others return to the academy, I'll come see you right away!"
After making that silent vow, Tang Hao concealed himself again and continued following Tang San and Xiao Wu.
"System, Xiao Wu is a Soul Beast too, right?"
"Why wasn't she taken in?"
At that moment, Lin Yue was waiting for Ah Yin to revive when he remembered Xiao Wu as well.
[ Ding~ Xiao Wu has taken human form. ]
The system quickly gave him its answer.
"...Even if Xiao Wu has taken human form, isn't she still a Soul Beast by nature?"
"She can sacrifice herself and drop a Soul Ring and a Soul Bone!"
Lin Yue sounded a little regretful.
He liked Ah Yin a lot, but he liked Xiao Wu too!
That waist, those long legs—he could enjoy them for two and a half years.
But since the system hadn't taken her in, he'd have to collect her himself.
Doing it personally would be fun in its own way.
"System, what about those Immortal Herbs? Do they count as Soul Beasts?"
Lin Yue continued asking.
He knew that ten thousand years later, all those Immortal Herbs would become Soul Beasts.
In other words, those Immortal Herbs were plant-type Soul Beasts to begin with. For some reason, though, they hadn't developed a Soul Beast consciousness in this particular timeline.
[ Ding~ All Immortal Herb-type Soul Beasts have been taken in. Coordinates...]
This time, the system didn't disappoint Lin Yue. It informed him that all the Immortal Herbs had been taken in.
Lin Yue quickly closed his eyes and used the coordinates the system had given him to sense their locations precisely. Sure enough, he saw the Immortal Herbs in a hidden mountain valley much like the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
The system had also placed some of the Immortal Herbs in other locations.
Those Immortal Herbs had been taken in from places outside the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
Through his senses, Lin Yue discovered that those Immortal Herbs all had Soul Beast consciousness, unlike the Immortal Herbs at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, which had no self-awareness.
He guessed that the system hadn't put them all together because it was afraid those self-aware Immortal Herb Soul Beasts might devour the herbs at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
The Demon Eye Demon Tree under Di Tian had once devoured an Immortal Herb of the same plant-type Soul Beast variety. The Immortal Herb it devoured must have been one of those herbs.
So if those self-aware Immortal Herbs saw the soulless ones at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, there was no telling if they might devour them.
"Hahaha..."
"Good, good..."
Seeing so many Immortal Herbs, Lin Yue burst into laughter.
Without those Immortal Herbs, the Shrek Seven Devils were as good as finished.
Even Tang San and Oscar, two prodigies who already had peerless talent, wouldn't shine as brightly as they had in the original story.
Hum—!
As Lin Yue laughed wildly, the Blue Silver Grass cocoon in front of him began radiating a powerful surge of Soul Power.
Lin Yue opened his eyes and saw the Blue Silver Grass vines peeling away one by one, revealing the fully revived Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin!
Ah Yin had revived in human form, not as a Soul Beast.
She wasn't wearing a thing. Her long blue hair fell over either side of her body, just barely concealing her most private parts.
But that tantalizing glimpse of what lay beneath only made her more alluring.