Encountering Beibei and Tang Ya!

The most important thing was that they protected their own.

Extremely so.

According to the original description, as long as you were a member of the Body Sect, even if you killed the emperor's son, the sect master would lead the entire sect to stand behind you, fighting to the death.

"The Mangekyō Sharingan... belongs to the eye Martial Soul." Dai Tu's eyes lit up.

"Eyes are part of the body. So my Mangekyō should also fall within the category of a Body Martial Soul."

This deduction was perfectly reasonable.

Moreover, the Body Sect was located within the Heaven Dou Empire. Although it was far from the Star Dou Great Forest, separated by more than half the continent, it was at least a clear destination.

"That's it."

Dai Tu made his decision.

But the next question immediately surfaced: how would he get there?

From the Star Dou Great Forest in the south of the Heaven Dou Empire to the Body Sect's headquarters in the north of the Heaven Dou Empire, the straight-line distance exceeded three thousand li.

He would have to cross the northern border of the Star Luo Empire, the southern border of the Heaven Dou Empire, and traverse the Mingdou Mountain Range that stretched between the two empires.

With his current strength, traveling such a great distance alone was practically suicide.

He might encounter bandits, rogues, or Evil Soul Masters along the way. He might be attacked by soul beasts or intercepted and killed by pursuers sent by the White Tiger Duke Mansion.

Even if he was lucky and traveled safely, with only level-twenty Soul Power, the journey alone would take several months.

"Strength... I'm still not strong enough."

Dai Tu took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Meals had to be eaten one bite at a time, and roads had to be walked one step at a time. His top priority was to obtain his second soul ring and break through to the Soul Grandmaster realm.

Only by becoming stronger would he have the means to survive in the forest and the confidence to undertake a long journey.

Both of his Martial Souls currently had only one soul ring.

He had obtained them six years ago, when he reached level ten. With the old village chief's help, he had hunted two hundred-year soul beasts in the outermost region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

The one added to his Mangekyō Sharingan had come from a one-hundred-and-thirty-year-old Insight Owl. Its soul skill was Dynamic Vision Enhancement, a very basic support skill that increased his dynamic vision by thirty percent for fifteen minutes.

The one added to his Sapling Martial Soul had come from a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old Magic Wood Beast. Its soul skill was Wooden Branch Combo, which used branches to attack.

It was weak—so weak that Dai Tu had once been embarrassed to use it in front of others.

But things were different now.

His Martial Souls had evolved.

The Mangekyō Sharingan had awakened, and the sapling had evolved into the Tree of Life. These two soul skills seemed to have undergone some kind of change as well.

Dai Tu could feel that they were no longer the useless skills they had once been. They had... evolved.

"I'll test them first."

Dai Tu stood and walked to a relatively open clearing in the woods. He took a deep breath, and a thought stirred in his mind.

A crimson glow lit up in the depths of his left eye. The shuriken-like pattern of the Mangekyō quietly emerged and slowly rotated.

At the same time, a faint yellow ring rose from beneath his feet—it was his only soul ring, the hundred-year soul ring from the Insight Owl.

Yet at that moment, the ring's color seemed deeper. Originally pale yellow, it had now become a dim, almost orange-yellow shade. Fine black patterns even seemed to flow faintly across its surface.

"First soul skill..."

Dai Tu murmured, channeling Soul Power into his eye.

"Kamui: Intangibility!"

There was no sound, no flash of light or shadow. Nothing appeared to happen.

But Dai Tu could feel the space around his body beginning to turn "blurred."

It was not visual blurriness, but a deeper kind of "separation" on the level of laws. He reached out and tried to touch the nearby tree trunk.

His fingers passed through it.

It was like passing through an illusory shadow. There was no sensation, no resistance. His hand went directly through the trunk.

After experimenting for quite some time, Dai Tu roughly understood the effects of this Kamui. They were divided between his left and right eyes.

The left eye leaned toward defense, while the right eye leaned toward offense.

Left-eye Intangibility: Transfer parts of his body into another dimension, rendering him immune to all physical attacks for approximately five minutes.

Penetrating Absorption: Upon touching a target, absorb its entire body into another dimension. He had to become tangible to activate it.

Mid-to-long-range teleportation: He could directly distort space from afar to attack an enemy.

The right eye focused on precise killing strikes and close-range bursts.

Close-range Distortion: A vortex-like distortion formed at the focal point of his vision, directly tearing apart the target. The consumption was enormous.

Teleportation ability: He could only teleport objects he touched, or himself.

"As expected, after evolving into the Mangekyō, my soul skills evolved too." Dai Tu dismissed the soul skill and panted lightly.

"It changed from a basic support skill like Dynamic Vision Enhancement into a law-based skill like Kamui: Intangibility. Although it consumes a lot and doesn't last long, it can save my life at a critical moment."

"It seems Martial Soul Evolution really can drive soul skill evolution. Then if I add a second soul ring to the Mangekyō, what soul skill will I gain?"

He needed an offensive soul skill.

Kamui: Intangibility was powerful, but it leaned toward defense and evasion.

"Target: a thousand-year soul ring."

Determination flashed in Dai Tu's eyes.

The Tree of Life had greatly improved his physique. His meridians' toughness, bone strength, and internal organs' endurance now far surpassed those of Soul Masters at the same level.

Absorbing a thousand-year soul ring carried risks, but his chances of success were at least seventy percent.

He acted as soon as he decided.

After getting his bearings, Dai Tu headed deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.

The farther in he went, the older and more dangerous the soul beasts became. Hundred-year soul beasts were everywhere, and thousand-year soul beasts had begun appearing sporadically.

Dai Tu remained cautious, keeping the Mangekyō Sharingan's basic insight ability active at all times and avoiding those with powerful auras.

But suitable soul beasts were not easy to find.

He needed a soul beast suited to the Mangekyō Sharingan. According to Douluo Continent theory, eye-type Martial Souls were best paired with soul beasts possessing powerful vision or spiritual attributes.

But such soul beasts were often rare and skilled at hiding, making them extremely difficult to find.

Dai Tu arrived beside a stream.

The water was clear enough to reveal the pebbles at the bottom and the small fish swimming through it. He crouched down, scooped up some water, and washed his face. The cool stream water refreshed him.

Just then, a disturbance came from the distance.

"Xiao Ya, stop it! Don't let it get into the bushes!"

A clear male voice rang out, urgent in tone.

"I know! Blue Silver Grass—Bind!"

A crisp female voice responded, followed by the rustling sounds of plants growing.

Dai Tu raised his head, narrowed his eyes, and looked toward the source of the voices.

About two hundred paces away, two figures were darting swiftly through the forest. Running in front was a teenage boy in a fitted pink-and-blue outfit. He looked fifteen or sixteen, with handsome features.

He had an elegant temperament. Behind him followed a girl of about the same age, dressed in a light green gown. She was pretty, with a ponytail that made her seem especially lively.

The two were pursuing a soul beast.

No, rather than "pursuing" it, they were surrounding and capturing it.

The soul beast was not large, only about three feet long. Its entire body was black, save for its four snow-white paws.

It resembled a house cat, but a cluster of dark black flames burned at the end of its tail. The flames burned silently, exuding a cold and eerie aura.

Most eye-catching were its eyes—one gold and one silver—glimmering with sinister light in the dim forest.

"Nether Flame Cat..." Dai Tu quietly spoke the soul beast's name.

It was a very rare mutated soul beast, born when a Nether Cat mutated under special circumstances. It usually possessed tremendous speed and mental resistance, while the Nether flames on its tail could burn the soul, making it extremely troublesome.

Judging from its aura, this Nether Flame Cat had a cultivation of around fifteen hundred years.

"Beibei, it's heading toward the stream!"

Tang Ya, the girl in green, shouted as she continuously released Blue Silver Grass vines from her hands, trying to Bind the Nether Flame Cat.

"Don't let it enter the water! A Nether Flame Cat's speed surges when it encounters water!" Beibei shouted urgently. His feet moved even faster, and faint lightning flickered around his body.

Dai Tu stood by the stream, directly blocking the Nether Flame Cat's escape route.