Three days later.
Before dawn, while the sky was still dark.
At the rear gate of Qing Family Manor, three figures silently disappeared into the mountains.
Qing Zhengyue walked in front, dressed in fitted gray clothes, his white hair tied up, a narrow-bladed saber hanging at his waist.
His usually amiable old face was now taut as stone. There was not a trace of age in his eyes, only an eagle-like sharpness.
Liu Yunlan followed closely behind. She had changed into a dark teal short outfit, her silver hair coiled atop her head and her cuffs tightly bound.
The cloth bag at the old woman's waist clinked and rattled. It held the bottles and jars she had carried with her for years; only she knew what they contained.
Qing Mufeng walked at the rear, his steps light and his breathing steady.
A six-year-old child had been dragged from bed in the dead of night and made to walk mountain paths for half a shichen, yet he had not complained of being tired once.
Qing Zhengyue saw this and nodded inwardly.
At the manor gates, Qing Hongyuan and Shen Wanqing stood side by side, watching the three figures vanish into the morning mist.
"Can Father and Mother... really handle this?" Shen Wanqing asked softly, unable to conceal the worry in her voice.
Qing Hongyuan fell silent for a moment, then gently took his wife's hand.
"Father killed enemies in the border army when he was young. What kind of situation has he not seen? Mother once poisoned a Soul Sage to death on the battlefield."
His voice was soft, as if he were comforting his wife, yet also trying to convince himself.
"They are far stronger than we imagine."
Shen Wanqing said nothing more. She merely stared at the mountain road where the figures had long since disappeared, her gaze lingering there for a long time.
Star Dou Forest.
The continent's most renowned gathering place for soul beasts stretched across the border between Heaven Dou and Star Luo, vast in area and extending thousands of li into its depths.
The outer regions were home to soul beasts ranging from ten years to a thousand years old. Further in lay the territory of ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
Qing Zhengyue's target was deep within the outer region.
He had not chosen Soul Hunting Forest, the closest forest to Nuoding City. There were only hundred-year soul beasts there, and it was impossible to find an eight-hundred-year Vine Dragon.
The three hired an inconspicuous carriage outside Nuoding City and traveled east for two full days before reaching the edge of Star Dou Forest.
When they dismounted, Qing Zhengyue tossed the driver a Gold Soul Coin.
"Wait here. If we don't come out in three days, go back on your own."
The driver caught the Gold Soul Coin, his eyes going wide as he nodded repeatedly.
Before entering the forest, Qing Zhengyue stopped and turned to look at his grandson.
"Mu Feng, remember this." His voice was low and stern.
"Once we're in the forest, stay close to your grandmother. Your grandfather will clear the way ahead. No matter what happens, don't make a sound and don't run off."
Qing Mufeng nodded.
Liu Yunlan crouched down, took out a small porcelain bottle from her cloth bag, poured out a jade-green pill, and placed it in her grandson's mouth.
"Keep it in your mouth. Don't swallow it," the old woman said softly.
"This is a Poison-Avoiding Pill. The forest's miasma and poisonous insects won't come near you."
Qing Mufeng held the pill in his mouth as a cool fragrance of grass and wood spread across his tongue.
Qing Zhengyue checked their equipment one last time and drew the saber at his waist.
The blade gleamed like snow, reflecting his eyes, calm as an ancient well.
"Move."
The outer region of Star Dou Forest was nowhere near as romantic as its name suggested.
Towering trees blocked out the sky and sun. The ground was carpeted with rotting leaves, soft beneath their feet, hiding who knew what underneath.
The air was thick with a damp, decaying smell. Every so often, the cries of unknown soul beasts echoed from the depths of the forest.
Qing Zhengyue cleared the way ahead, his saber cutting through the vines blocking their path, his steps as steady as if he were walking on level ground.
Liu Yunlan led her grandson through the middle. Those hands that usually held needle and thread now gripped a short dagger, its edge shining with a faint blue gleam—it had been coated in poison.
Qing Mufeng stayed beside his grandmother, observing the surrounding environment as he walked.
He had read about Star Dou Forest in books in his previous life and knew it was one of the most dangerous places on Douluo Continent.
But only after entering it did he understand that the sense of oppression was beyond what words could describe.
Every tree, every thicket, even beneath every fallen leaf, could conceal deadly danger.
Yet he was not afraid.
Not because he felt no fear, but because he knew fear was useless.
After they had traveled roughly two shichen deeper into the forest, Qing Zhengyue suddenly stopped.
He raised his left hand, signaling those behind him to halt.
Qing Mufeng held his breath and listened closely.
Thirty paces ahead, at the roots of a massive ancient tree, a large green creature lay coiled.
It was as thick as an adult's arm and over two meters long. Its scales glimmered with a faint green light beneath the mottled sunlight filtering through the canopy.
A Vine Dragon.
A wood-attributed dragon-type soul beast, vicious by nature and skilled in binding and life-based attacks.
Qing Zhengyue observed it carefully for a moment, disappointment flashing through his eyes.
"Too young," he said quietly. "At most three hundred years. Let's go."
The three bypassed the Vine Dragon and continued deeper.
They found their first target during the second shichen after entering the forest.
It was a Vine Dragon around seven hundred years old, larger than the previous one by a full size, coiled inside the hollow of a dead tree with only its dragon head exposed.
Qing Zhengyue looked at it for several moments, then shook his head.
"Not enough. Keep going."
Liu Yunlan had no objections. She led her grandson after him.
Qing Mufeng said nothing either.
He knew his grandfather's standard was eight hundred years. Seven hundred years was short by a hundred; his grandfather would not settle for it.
They found their second target at noon.
It was a true behemoth.
Its body was as thick as a water barrel and over five meters long. It was coiled at the edge of a wetland, devouring an unknown wild beast.
Its scales were dark green, each as large as a baby's palm, gleaming with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.
Qing Zhengyue's eyes lit up.
He carefully studied the great dragon's size, the color of its scales, and the fluctuations of Soul Power emanating from it.
"About eight hundred and fifty years," he said quietly. "This is the one."
Liu Yunlan released her grandson's hand and tightened her grip on the short dagger.
"How do we fight it?"
Qing Zhengyue did not answer immediately, instead surveying the surrounding terrain.
The Vine Dragon was coiled at the edge of the wetland. The surrounding area was open, with little cover.
Its body was too large. A frontal clash was possible, but it could make too much noise and draw other soul beasts here.
"I'll draw its attention from the front," Qing Zhengyue quickly decided.
"You circle around from the side and find an opening to stab it. Use the poison."
"Alright."
Liu Yunlan asked no further questions. She bent low and slipped into the nearby brush, vanishing silently into the greenery like an experienced leopard.
Saber in hand, Qing Zhengyue strode toward the Vine Dragon.
He made no attempt to conceal himself.
The aura of a Soul Emperor erupted from him, bearing down upon the great dragon like a mountain.
The Vine Dragon instantly became alert. Its head shot high into the air, golden dragon eyes fixed tightly on the human who had suddenly appeared.
It sensed danger. The pressure from a high-level soul master made it instinctively want to flee.
But it was already too late.
Qing Zhengyue flashed forward, his saber cutting through the air as it slashed toward the dragon's body.
The Vine Dragon violently whipped its tail at Qing Zhengyue.
A flash of blade light left a deep, bloody gash across its tail.
The great dragon shrieked in pain, opening its bloody maw and lunging to bite Qing Zhengyue.
At that moment, Liu Yunlan burst from the brush at its side.
Her short dagger pierced precisely into the Vine Dragon's vital point, and the faint blue poison was injected instantly.
The great dragon's body suddenly stiffened.
Qing Zhengyue gave his opponent no chance to catch its breath. His saber swept sideways and severed its neck.
The Vine Dragon's head rolled to the ground. Its body twitched several times before finally falling still.
Less than thirty breaths had passed from the first strike to the end.
Qing Zhengyue sheathed his saber, his expression unchanged and his breathing not even disturbed.
Liu Yunlan rose from beside the dragon's corpse, wiped the blood from her dagger, and looked at her grandson.
"Feng'er, come here."
Qing Mufeng took a deep breath and walked over.
This was the first time he had witnessed a soul beast being killed with his own eyes.
It would be a lie to say he was not nervous.
But he did not retreat.
Qing Zhengyue stood beside the dragon's corpse, looking at his grandson with a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.
"Mu Feng." His voice was calm. "Before you absorb the soul ring, your grandfather will ask you one more time."
"Are you afraid?"
Qing Mufeng raised his head and met his grandfather's eyes.
There was no hesitation in his gaze, no retreat.
"I'm not afraid."
Qing Zhengyue stared at him for two breaths, then nodded.
"Good. Sit down and focus. Your grandfather will guard you."
Qing Mufeng sat cross-legged beside the dragon's corpse and closed his eyes.
A deep yellow soul ring slowly rose from the Vine Dragon's body and drifted toward him.
The instant the soul ring entered his body, it felt as though a venomous dragon had drilled into his meridians and was tearing at them madly.
Intense pain surged from every limb and bone, as though his entire body were about to be ripped apart.
But his Azure Dragon Martial Soul awakened at that moment.
The phantom of his Martial Soul appeared behind him. Golden dragon eyes stared coldly at the soul ring, as if declaring: Submit, or perish.
Under the pressure of the Azure Dragon, the soul ring's violent resistance quickly subsided, obediently merging into Qing Mufeng's body.
Qing Zhengyue watched it all, his eyes filled with shock.
An eight-hundred-year soul ring.
He absorbed it more easily than Qing Zhengyue had absorbed his own four-hundred-year soul ring back then.
The old man took a deep breath, suppressing the storm raging within his heart as he silently tightened his grip on the saber in his hand.
This was only the first ring.
There was still the second ring.
And a much longer road ahead.
Before you continue