Departure!

Qing Hongyuan rose to his feet, walked into the courtyard, and looked up at the night sky.

Moonlight spilled over the flagstones like water, while the autumn wind rustled through the bamboo leaves.

The Azure Snake Dragon Wing on his back spread slightly, its azure feathers glimmering faintly beneath the moonlight.

This trip to the Star Dou Forest had clear objectives.

His grandmother's sixth soul ring—a forty-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon.

His grandfather's seventh soul ring—a hundred-thousand-year plant.

Two objectives, one after the other.

The difficulty had also leaped straight from "fairly high" to "extremely high."

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was an existence at the level of a Titled Douluo.

Although the Life Ancient Tree had extremely weak offensive power, its hundred-thousand-year vitality alone would make its defenses a nightmare to break through.

Qing Hongyuan took a deep breath and suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart.

There was no point thinking so much.

They would deal with it when they got there.

After Shen Wanqing finished cleaning the kitchen, she returned to the accounting room and began tallying the family's available funds.

They had no idea how long this trip would take, so the household needed enough money left behind for expenses.

She checked every entry in the accounts one by one. Once she confirmed there were no errors, she closed the ledger and rubbed her slightly sore eyes.

Qing Mufeng returned to his room, sat cross-legged on his bed, and began circulating the Azure Dragon Method.

Three soul rings rose beneath his feet—yellow, purple, purple.

His Soul Power had stabilized at level thirty-four, just one step short of level thirty-five. The Whale Rubber enhancement had made his physique far superior to others his age, but there were no shortcuts to accumulating Soul Power. He could only cultivate day after day.

He was not in a hurry.

There was no use rushing anyway.

The days passed one by one.

After being stuck at the peak of level fifty-nine for nearly ten days, Liu Yunlan finally broke through one morning.

That morning, the entire family was having breakfast. Liu Yunlan held her bowl of porridge when she suddenly froze.

The old woman closed her eyes. Soul Power surged within her like a tide, and the bottleneck shattered instantly like a thin sheet of paper.

Level sixty.

A prospective Soul Emperor.

Liu Yunlan opened her eyes, looked at the bowl of porridge in her hands, fell silent for a moment, then smiled.

It was neither a hearty laugh nor a faint smile, but a smile of relief—the bottleneck that had trapped her for years had finally been crossed.

"Congratulations, Grandma," Qing Mufeng was the first to speak.

"Congratulations, Mother," Qing Hongyuan and Shen Wanqing said at the same time.

Qing Zhengyue said nothing. He merely looked at his wife, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

The old woman shot him a glare, lifted her bowl, and continued drinking her porridge as though nothing had happened, though her hand trembled slightly.

The joy of reaching level sixty did not last long.

That very day, Liu Yunlan shut herself in the herb room and began preparing the medicine they would bring on this trip—Beast Repellent Powder, Detoxification Pills, Hemostatic Powder, Golden Sore Medicine, Calming Pills... Bottle after bottle was packed away, jar after jar stuffed in, gradually filling the space in her storage ring.

Qing Zhengyue also went to find Liu Yunlan.

"Here is the list of medicinal ingredients you wanted." The old man handed her a sheet of paper. "I compared it against the Whale Rubber medicinal bath formula Feng'er wrote down and added several more ingredients. Starting today, add these herbs to your medicinal baths to strengthen your physique."

Liu Yunlan accepted the list, scanned it, then looked up at her husband with surprise filling her eyes.

"So many?"

"Your target for your sixth soul ring is forty thousand years," Qing Zhengyue said. "That is even higher than Hongyuan's thirty thousand years. Your physique is weaker than Hongyuan's. If you do not push yourself harder, how will you endure it?"

Liu Yunlan gritted her teeth and nodded.

"Fine."

She turned and walked into the herb room, beginning to gather medicine according to the prescription. For a forty-thousand-year soul ring, she was willing to try anything.

Qing Mufeng had also been training extra during this period.

Every morning, before dawn had even broken, he went into the bamboo forest to practice Azure Dragon Wind Control.

Wingless flight, hovering, acceleration, turning, diving, climbing—he practiced every movement over and over.

He trained Wind Control at the same time—Wind Wall, Wind Blade, wind vortexes, Wind Binding—progressing from clumsy to proficient, from proficient to instinctive.

The target for his fourth soul ring was ten thousand years. Although he had the support of the Azure Dragon bloodline, the gap between ten thousand years and five thousand nine hundred years was enormous. He could not afford for anything to go wrong with his physique.

During this time, Qing Hongyuan practiced the Azure Snake Dragon Wing.

His style of flight differed from Qing Mufeng's.

Qing Mufeng flew without wings, relying on a divine ability.

He, on the other hand, relied on a soul skill to condense wings, which consumed Soul Power and required more practice to improve efficiency.

He circled above the manor again and again, flying from dawn until dusk. When he grew tired, he landed to rest; once he had rested enough, he continued flying.

Shen Wanqing practiced the casting speed of her support soul skills.

The casting speed of the Jade Orchid had already improved considerably with the help of Whale Rubber, but it was still not enough.

She practiced repeatedly, starting from the limits of a level forty-six Soul Ancestor's Soul Power and challenging her own limits again and again.

Finally, a month later, all preparations were complete.

Before dawn, five figures filed out through the back gate of Qing Family Manor, silently vanishing into the mountains and forests.

Zhao the Coachman had long been waiting outside the back gate with that inconspicuous carriage.

Qing Zhengyue walked at the front, dressed in a dark gray fitted outfit. His white hair was tied up, and a narrow-bladed saber that had accompanied him for decades hung at his waist.

Liu Yunlan followed closely behind, dressed in dark green short attire. Her silver hair was coiled atop her head, her sleeves tightly bound, and the cloth pouch at her waist jingled softly.

Qing Hongyuan walked in the middle, clad in black fitted clothing with a sword at his waist. The Azure Snake Dragon Wing behind him opened and closed halfway, ready to spread at any moment.

Shen Wanqing walked beside her husband. Her jade-green long dress had been replaced by neat brown travel clothes, and her hair was tied into a long braid that hung down her back.

Qing Mufeng walked last, dressed in an azure robe and wearing thick-soled cloth shoes. His hair was tied behind his head with a strip of blue cloth, revealing his smooth forehead.

The childishness had not entirely faded from the six-year-old's face, but his gaze was steadier than one would expect for his age.

The entire family of five was setting out.

Their destination—the Star Dou Forest.

Zhao the Coachman flicked the reins. The black horse broke into motion, and the carriage silently entered the darkness before dawn.

The carriage sped along the official road for two full days.

On the morning of the third day, that familiar inn came into view—Forest Post, the place where soul hunters entering and leaving the Star Dou Forest most often stopped to rest.

Zhao the Coachman drove the carriage into the inn's rear courtyard, fed the horse, added fodder, then squatted by the wall, lit a pipe of dry tobacco, and casually chatted with several other coachmen.

His accent had already changed into the local dialect of this region, and his demeanor was natural and relaxed. No one gave him a second look.

The five members of the Qing Clan left through the inn's back door and silently disappeared into the edge of the forest.

Before entering the forest, Qing Zhengyue stopped and turned to look at his family.

"The usual rules." The old man's voice was low and clear. "Hongyuan leads the way, Wanqing stays in the middle, Yunlan brings up the rear, and Mufeng stays close to your grandmother. I will keep watch. If you spot a soul beast, do not act rashly. Observe first."

The other four nodded.

Qing Zhengyue gave his grandson one final look. "Keep your Azure Dragon Pupil active the entire time. Report anything unusual immediately."

"Understood."

Qing Zhengyue drew his long saber, its blade flashing coldly in the morning light.

"Move."

Five figures vanished into the shadows of the dense forest.