Sunset Forest, Thousand-Year Soul Bone

A month later.

On the broad official road twenty li outside Heaven Dou Imperial City, an extremely luxurious carriage rolled steadily along.

It was Su Mo and his group. After leaving Spirit City, they had not hurried on their way. They made brief stops in every town they passed, taking in the local customs, sampling regional delicacies, and resting along the way.

After more than a month of traveling and stopping, they were finally about to reach Heaven Dou Imperial City.

Inside the carriage, everything was arranged comfortably and pleasantly.

"What?! Junior Brother, you broke through again?!"

Bibi Dong stared at Su Mo with wide, beautiful eyes, unable to believe it.

Su Mo's lips curled slightly. "Just luck."

"Luck?" Bibi Dong puffed out her cheeks in frustration. "You're almost a Soul Ancestor already, while I've worked so hard at cultivation and am only a level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster..."

By the end, her voice had grown softer, carrying a trace of grievance and frustration.

"Senior Sister, don't rush things. You have Twin Martial Souls. Once you add Spirit Rings to your Second Martial Soul in the future, your strength will soar. You'll catch up to me very quickly then."

At those words, Bibi Dong's dimmed eyes instantly lit up.

That was right! She had Twin Martial Souls! No matter how formidable Su Mo was, he only had one Martial Soul.

With that thought, Bibi Dong immediately regained her fighting spirit. She gave a light snort and proudly raised her chin.

"That's right! Stupid Junior Brother, just wait. I'll cultivate diligently and catch up to you soon!"

"Alright, I'll wait." Su Mo replied with a smile.

Just then, Golden Crocodile Douluo's voice came from outside the carriage.

"Xiao Mo, since you've broken through, the closest Soul Hunting Forest is Sunset Forest. How about we go hunt a Spirit Ring for you first, then head to Heaven Dou City?"

"Alright, Grandpa Golden Crocodile." Su Mo called back.

The reason he had chosen to break through at this time was precisely so he could search for the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well in Sunset Forest.

Even if Golden Crocodile Douluo had not mentioned it, he would have brought it up himself.

The carriage immediately changed direction and headed toward Sunset Forest.

Inside the carriage, Su Mo chatted and teased Bibi Dong while quietly pondering to himself.

He did not know whether he would be able to find the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well smoothly this time.

The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well had existed for who knew how many years. Countless Spirit Masters entered and left Sunset Forest every day, yet no one had ever discovered that precious place all these years.

In the original story, even Dugu Bo had only found it by accident through a fortunate coincidence.

That alone showed just how hidden the place was.

However, with the memories of his previous life, he knew some of its general terrain features.

I hope I can find it smoothly...

Half an hour later.

At the outskirts of Sunset Forest.

The carriage stopped before a sparse stretch of woodland, and Su Mo's group of three stepped down.

"Grandpa Golden Crocodile, you and Teacher helped me hunt my Spirit Rings before. This time, I want to obtain my Fourth Spirit Ring myself.

"I've never truly fought a Soul Beast to the death before. This can count as a form of training."

Su Mo spoke with a serious expression.

His words were half true and half false.

His main goal now was to find the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and pick the Immortal Herbs within it.

As for hunting a Spirit Ring, he wanted to do that after absorbing the Immortal Herbs, allowing him to obtain one with a higher cultivation age.

Golden Crocodile Douluo nodded. "No problem. I'll conceal myself in the shadows. Go ahead and look for a suitable Soul Beast. If there is danger, I will act."

"Thank you, Grandpa Golden Crocodile."

Soon, Su Mo and Bibi Dong walked side by side into Sunset Forest.

Golden Crocodile Douluo flashed away and vanished from where he stood.

"Junior Brother, what age Spirit Ring are you planning to absorb this time?" Bibi Dong asked curiously as she vigilantly observed their surroundings.

She knew that Su Mo's third Spirit Ring was over five thousand years old, so his fourth one had to be at least seven or eight thousand years old, right?

As for a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, she had never even considered it.

She knew how terrifying a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring was. Beyond the immense impact of Soul Power, there was also the horrifying spiritual shock, something that required at least the mental strength of a Soul King to endure.

She did not believe Su Mo could accomplish that yet.

And Su Mo truly could not do so at present, because he did not possess a spiritual cultivation method like God King Tang's, nor did he have a Mental Skull.

His current spiritual power was still a little short of the mental strength of a Soul King.

"I don't know yet. Let's look around first." Su Mo shook his head and said no more.

The two continued deeper into the forest.

As he walked, Su Mo carefully observed the terrain around them.

They encountered several Thousand-Year Soul Beasts along the way, but Su Mo avoided them all without getting entangled.

Half an hour later, they had already entered the depths of Sunset Forest.

The trees around them grew increasingly dense, and the light became dim.

"Junior Brother, we're getting fairly deep in already. It'll be easy to run into Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts." Bibi Dong lowered her voice and warned him with a solemn expression.

Just as Su Mo was about to reply, his expression shifted and his steps halted.

A burst of noisy voices came from not far ahead, mixed with arrogant, unrestrained laughter.

"Hahaha! I didn't expect my luck to be this good. This Left Arm Soul Bone is mine! Hand it over now if you know what's good for you!"

Su Mo and Bibi Dong exchanged a glance, nodded in tacit understanding, and quietly approached the source of the voices.

Through the layers of trees, they saw a messy clearing ahead.

At the center of the clearing lay the dissected corpse of a Soul Beast.

The Soul Beast was nearly three meters long and covered in pitch-black fur.

It was a Shadow Leopard, a speed-type Soul Beast with a dark attribute. Judging by its size and the lingering aura, it was at least six thousand years old.

Around the Shadow Leopard's corpse, two groups of people faced off against one another, their swords drawn.

One group had five people. Their leader was a burly man with a face full of flesh, holding an axe. His Soul Power fluctuations were around level forty-four.

Four subordinates stood behind him, all Soul Elders with Soul Power below level thirty-five.

The other group had four people. Their leader was a tall, thin middle-aged man with a weathered face and Soul Power at level forty-one. Behind him stood three Soul Elders, each with Soul Power around level thirty-five.

At that moment, all of them wore livid expressions, their eyes filled with unwillingness and rage.

Clearly, they had hunted the Shadow Leopard and obtained the rare Soul Bone, only for the other group to discover them at the very last moment.

The burly man was now casually tossing his axe in hand as he stood there with an imposing stance, arrogant to the extreme.

His subordinates also wore mocking expressions, clearly not taking the four people opposite them seriously.

"Don't go too far!" One of the Soul Elder men behind the tall, thin middle-aged man stepped forward and roared through gritted teeth. "Our brothers risked our lives to kill that Shadow Leopard!"

"Too far?" The burly man smiled disdainfully and glanced sideways at him. "What, you don't accept it? If you don't, then kill me."

"You—!"

"Don't act rashly!" The tall, thin middle-aged man grabbed him and lowered his voice. "Calm down."

How could he not be angry? But anger would not solve anything.

They had already used up more than half their Soul Power while hunting the Shadow Leopard, and all of them had injuries to varying degrees.

The other five, however, were at full strength.

If they fought, defeat would be inevitable. They might even be wiped out entirely.

Seeing that the other side's leader had backed down, the burly man smiled even more smugly, the flesh on his face trembling along with it.

"I'm in a good mood today, so I don't feel like killing anyone. Hand over the Soul Bone if you know what's good for you."

He held up three fingers and slowly waved them. "I'll count to three. If you still don't hand it over, don't blame my axe for having no eyes!"

In this perilous Sunset Forest, avoiding injury was naturally best.

The other side did have a Soul Ancestor, after all. If they launched a desperate final counterattack, his group could win, but they might still pay a price. If they were injured, they would be in danger deep in these mountains.

Therefore, the burly man did not particularly want to fight. It would be best if he could obtain the Soul Bone without lifting a finger.

Just then, the smile on the burly man's face suddenly vanished. He sharply turned toward the nearby woods and shouted, "Get out here!"