Forest Overnight! A Peaceful Night!

Qing Zhengyue glanced at him and nodded slightly.

"The wind attribute of the Wind Wood Dragon, paired with its wood attribute, is perfect for providing flight capabilities. Furthermore, the Wind Wood Dragon possesses high flight speed and strong maneuverability."

Qing Hongyuan paused, then added, "More importantly, we just fought a Wind Wood Dragon, so we have firsthand knowledge of its attack patterns, defensive methods, and behavioral habits."

He looked at his son, his gaze filled with a hint of appreciation.

"The 5,900-year Wind Wood Dragon on Mufeng's end allowed us to grasp the fundamentals of this soul beast. If we encounter one with a higher age, we won't be starting from scratch; we will be well-prepared."

Qing Mufeng nodded slightly upon hearing his father's words.

His father was right. Although his grandfather had been the main force in the recent battle, he had participated throughout the entire process, and his understanding of the Wind Wood Dragon was far deeper than anything he could have learned from books.

"How should we choose the age of the Wind Wood Dragon?" Qing Zhengyue asked.

"Between twenty thousand and thirty thousand years," Qing Hongyuan said. "I am currently at level fifty, and my physique has far surpassed its previous state under the tempering of the Azure Dragon Method. I should be able to withstand a soul ring of around thirty thousand years."

Qing Zhengyue pondered for a moment.

Wind Wood Dragons between twenty and thirty thousand years old should be distributed throughout the northern and southern regions of the Star Dou Forest and deep within the Hurricane Wood Mountain Range.

When he was hunting for Mufeng's third soul ring, he had taken note of the surrounding terrain.

The terrain deep within the Hurricane Wood Mountain Range is more treacherous and the vegetation denser, making it the habitat for older Wind Wood Dragons.

And that recent battle had given them an intuitive understanding of the Wind Wood Dragon's habits.

This was not experience that could be learned from books; it was valuable information gained through actual combat.

"Very well."

The old man nodded. "But the principle remains unchanged: safety first. If we cannot find a suitable Wind Wood Dragon, we will substitute it with another flying wood-attribute dragon-type beast. The age can be lowered appropriately, with twenty thousand years as the baseline."

"Thank you, Father," Qing Hongyuan nodded solemnly.

Liu Yunlan looked at her son's earnest face and suddenly smiled.

"When you were little, you always wanted to fly."

The old woman said, "Back then, you were only five or six years old, climbing trees every day and saying you wanted to fly up into the sky to take a look. Once, you climbed onto the roof and jumped off, breaking your arm. Your father nearly beat you to death."

Qing Hongyuan felt a bit embarrassed as his mother brought up the past, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

"That was just because I was young and ignorant," he muttered.

Qing Mufeng sat to the side, listening to his grandmother recount his father's embarrassing childhood stories, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He looked at his father and suddenly felt that this man, who was usually reticent, actually had a childlike side.

Dragon Transformation.

Flight.

This was his father's dream.

It was also the dream of everyone in the Qing Clan.

The night grew deeper.

Liu Yunlan added a few dry branches to the campfire, the flames licking the wood and making a crackling sound.

The firelight illuminated a small area around the camp, casting long shadows of the five people.

Qing Mufeng felt no sleepiness; he leaned against a rock and looked up at the night sky.

The stars were exceptionally bright in the Star Dou Forest at night.

Without the light pollution of the city or the obstruction of smog, the stars across the sky looked like crushed diamonds scattered on black cloth, dense and flickering.

He thought back to the battle earlier.

The scales, claws, fangs, wind blades, and tail swipes of the Wind Wood Dragon... every detail was etched into his mind.

If a 5,900-year Wind Wood Dragon had that kind of strength, how powerful would one of twenty to thirty thousand years be?

He did not know.

But he knew that his father's choice was correct.

Choosing the Wind Wood Dragon was not just because its attributes were a perfect fit, but because—

They had just fought one.

They were familiar with every one of its moves and techniques.

This experience was more precious than any knowledge found in books.

Qing Mufeng closed his eyes and began to circulate the Azure Dragon Method.

Soul power flowed through his meridians, with all four paths fully open. His newly acquired third soul ring.

A deep purple soul ring.

It rotated slowly in his dantian, echoing the other two soul rings.

The power of his third divine ability, Azure Dragon Wind Control, flowed continuously through his body.

His thoughts stirred, and his body grew slightly lighter, as if an invisible force were buoying him up.

He did not take flight, however; he merely felt that power, familiarizing himself with it, mastering it.

Flight was an instinct.

Yet even instinct required practice to be pushed to its absolute limit.

The next day, just as the sky began to pale with the dawn.

Five figures departed from the camp, continuing their trek into the depths of the forest.

Qing Zhengyue walked at the very front, his long blade unsheathed by three inches, his gaze sweeping through the woods ahead like a hawk.

The deeper they ventured, the denser the trees became, the dimmer the light grew, and the more pungent the scent of decay hung in the air.

Qing Hongyuan followed closely behind, his gaze resolute and his steps steady.

His right hand gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist, then released it, repeating the motion several times as if adjusting his state of mind.

He knew that this hunt was not for his son, but for himself.

He was the head of the Qing Clan for this generation, and he was the father of Qing Mufeng.

He could not hide behind his father and his son forever.

He, too, had to become stronger.

Not to prove anything, but to be worthy of the words "Dragon Transformation."

Furthermore, they possessed experience.

They knew how the Wind Wood Dragon fought.

This experience would strip away a measure of the unknown from this hunt and grant them a greater chance of success.

The night passed in silence.

The campfire burned for most of the night; Liu Yunlan rose twice to add firewood, the flames licking at the logs with a faint crackling sound, dispelling the chill and dampness of the night.

In the camp, the five figures slept soundly, their breathing steady and long.

Qing Zhengyue sat leaning against the outermost rock, his long blade resting across his knees, his eyes closed in a light slumber.

His spiritual power remained like an invisible net, covering an area of a hundred zhang in every direction.

Any creature that entered this range would be captured by his perception, regardless of its size.

Throughout the night, a few low-level soul beasts had approached.

A Shadow Cat of about a century in age peered from the bushes for a moment, only to be intimidated by the pressure of Qing Zhengyue's spiritual power, turning and vanishing into the darkness.

A three-hundred-year-old Black-Striped Snake poked its head out from a crevice in the rocks, but upon sensing that aura of a Soul Emperor, it retreated into its hole in terror and never emerged again.

There was also a group of unknown small soul beasts that made rustling sounds in the distance, never daring to draw near.

Beyond that, there was nothing else.

With a peak Soul Emperor holding the line and two Soul Kings as support, such a configuration was already at the top of the food chain in the outer reaches of the Star Dou Forest.

Those ten-year and hundred-year low-level soul beasts fled in all directions the moment they caught a whiff of this aura.

Millennium-level soul beasts would steer clear from afar, never daring to provoke them.

Unless they were truly tired of living.

Although soul beasts of this level had not yet developed human intelligence like ten-thousand-year soul beasts, their instinct for danger told them that approaching this place meant death.

Naturally, they would not come near.

Thus, the night passed in peace.