Huo Yuhao hurriedly opened the door and ushered Bei Bei into the dormitory, his excitement plain to see. "Senior Brother, let me tell you, so many things happened when I went to the Far North! The senior took me..."
He stopped halfway through, suddenly noticing Bei Bei's face, which looked more bitter than a bitter melon. Huo Yuhao immediately fell silent and cautiously ventured, "Senior Brother, what's wrong? You don't look too happy."
Bei Bei took a deep breath and forced a smile more painful than a grimace. He reached out and patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder, speaking earnestly. "Yuhao, I'm really happy you had so many adventures. Truly, I am."
"It's just..." Bei Bei paused, resentment nearly solidifying in his voice. "Why did it have to be today? I'd arranged to go gather herbs on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest with Xiao Ya today. She's been waiting for ages, but then Brother Che gave an order, and I had to come running over to take you to handle the paperwork."
As Huo Yuhao listened to Bei Bei, he suddenly felt a chill run down his back. He hunched his shoulders and looked at Bei Bei innocently. "Senior Brother, I... I didn't know either. The senior said someone would notify me today."
"I know, I know." Bei Bei waved a hand and sighed helplessly. "Don't I know Brother Che? Once he's made up his mind, who'd dare say a word against him?"
"Uh... How about you just tell me how to do it, Senior Brother? I can go by myself..."
"Enough, enough." Bei Bei interrupted before Huo Yuhao could finish. The resentment vanished from his face, and his usual refined warmth returned. "Since I'm here anyway, let's go. I'll take you to submit the application. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we're finished. Maybe I can still make it in time to have dinner with Xiao Ya."
With that, Bei Bei led Huo Yuhao away. They crossed the Outer Court's main thoroughfare and arrived at the small building that housed the Academic Affairs Office.
Bei Bei pushed open the office door with practiced ease and led Huo Yuhao to the desk responsible for approving leave applications. A middle-aged female teacher in her forties sat behind it, wearing round glasses. Her expression wasn't exactly stern, but it certainly wasn't friendly either.
"Teacher Zhou, I've brought my junior here to apply for leave," Bei Bei greeted her with a smile, his tone familiar.
Teacher Zhou looked up at Bei Bei, then at Huo Yuhao standing behind him, and pushed up her glasses. "Where are you applying to go?"
"The Star Dou Great Forest," Bei Bei replied.
Teacher Zhou nodded, took a form from her drawer, and handed it to Huo Yuhao. "Fill this out. Make sure you clearly state your name, class, reason for leaving, and the age of the Soul Beast you expect to hunt."
Huo Yuhao took the form, leaned over the table beside them, and carefully filled it out.
Once everything was taken care of, Bei Bei hurried off, leaving Huo Yuhao standing there alone.
The next day, Jiang Che emerged from Ma Xiaotao's room again. They were at the point where they couldn't get enough of one another, so the previous night Jiang Che had sneaked over again to discuss how Nuwa had created humanity.
In the end, Ma Xiaotao had been argued into a flush by Jiang Che's silver tongue. She couldn't find a way to retort, and in her anger, she had hit him several times.
When Jiang Che returned to the small building, he found Ice Empress sitting by the stone table again, reading.
"Morning, Bing'er," Jiang Che greeted her casually, then headed back to his room to sleep some more.
"Morning," Ice Empress replied. Seeing that he seemed intent on catching up on sleep, she kindly reminded him, "Did you forget that you promised Huo Yuhao you'd take him to the Star Dou Great Forest today?"
Ice Empress's words reminded Jiang Che. He really had forgotten. For the past two days, he'd been thinking about eating peaches; how could he remember anything else? On the day he'd returned, he'd happened to run into Bei Bei, so he'd simply asked him to take Huo Yuhao to apply for leave.
"Uh..." Jiang Che stood awkwardly in place, as if being punished. Then, after a quick think, he explained, "No, how could I have forgotten? I just wanted to go back and grab a few things. We'll set off right away."
Jiang Che hurried back into his room and made a quick circuit. There wasn't really anything he needed to bring; the Ring of the Overseer was already stocked with all kinds of supplies. He just didn't want Ice Empress to realize he really had forgotten.
When he came back out, Ice Empress had already closed the soul tool book. She looked at him with an amused smile. "Got everything?"
"Got it," Jiang Che replied without batting an eye. "Let's go."
The two left Sea God Island and followed the road reserved for Shrek Academy toward the east gate. They encountered few students along the way. Most had gone home for the holidays, and only a handful who had stayed at the academy to train were still wandering around campus.
Huo Yuhao had already been waiting for a while in the plaza outside the east gate.
He carried a small pack and had changed into a clean blue outfit. His hair was neatly combed, and he looked much more spirited.
When he saw Jiang Che and Ice Empress approaching, Huo Yuhao hurried to greet them. "Senior, Bing... Sister Bingbing, good morning!"
He was clearly nervous when he called her "Sister Bingbing." After all, he knew that this young girl, who looked twelve or thirteen, was actually a Ferocious Beast from the Far North who had lived for four hundred thousand years. Anyone would be nervous.
Ice Empress gave a faint "Mm" in reply.
Jiang Che looked Huo Yuhao up and down. "Have you been waiting long?"
"No, not at all!" Huo Yuhao waved both hands repeatedly. "I only just got here."
Jiang Che smiled and gave a slight shake of his head, but didn't call him out. There were already a few beads of sweat on Huo Yuhao's forehead; he'd been waiting so long that the sun had made him sweat.
"Let's go." Jiang Che strode toward the city gates. "There aren't many spirit-type Soul Beasts suited to you on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. It might take a while to find one."
Huo Yuhao hurried after him, his steps light and his face full of anticipation and excitement.
The three left Shrek City and headed southeast.
The Star Dou Great Forest lay southeast of Shrek City. It was the largest habitat for Soul Beasts on the Douluo Continent, stretching across the territories of both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire. It extended for thousands of miles, and tens of thousands of Soul Beasts lived within it, ranging from ten years old to a million.
There was a saying on the continent: no one truly understood the Star Dou Great Forest, because most of those who had entered its core region had never come back out.
Jiang Che wasn't unfamiliar with the Star Dou Great Forest. Over the years, he'd entered it more than a dozen times. From his early days accompanying senior members of the Supervision Group to hunt down Evil Soul Masters, to later venturing in alone to hunt Soul Beasts for Soul Rings, he'd become quite familiar with the terrain and Soul Beast distribution on the outskirts.
At a normal travel pace, the journey from Shrek City to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest took about two days.
Jiang Che had originally planned to fly there directly, but when he considered what Huo Yuhao could handle, he chose to go on foot instead.
There was no need to hurry. Huo Yuhao only needed a second Soul Ring of around a thousand years, and his current Second Martial Soul was already enough to make him stand out among the new students.
Along the way, Huo Yuhao was noticeably more lively than he'd been on the trip to the Far North.
Perhaps he was remembering how he'd first met the Heaven Dream Iceworm, who had changed his fate, when he'd gone to the Star Dou Great Forest. Or perhaps the successful fusion of his Second Martial Soul had given him a boost of confidence. Every so often, he asked this or that: one moment he wanted to know what powerful Soul Beasts lived in the Star Dou Great Forest, and the next he was asking what a thousand-year spirit-type Soul Beast looked like.
Jiang Che answered him now and then, while Ice Empress walked silently on the other side.
Two days later, the three finally reached the small town on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The town was called Soul Hunting Town. It catered specifically to Soul Masters who came to hunt Soul Beasts, providing supplies and a place to rest. It was bustling all year round, and even during the holidays, plenty of people were about.
Jiang Che found the largest inn in town and booked three rooms, planning to enter the forest early the next morning.
That night, Jiang Che sat alone by his room's window, looking toward the night sky above the Star Dou Great Forest. It was dark as pitch over there, with not a light in sight.
He remembered that in the original story, Huo Yuhao's second Soul Ring had come from a thousand-year Ice Silkworm and granted him the Simulation skill. But the Star Dou Great Forest probably wouldn't have anything like that. Besides, Huo Yuhao's Second Martial Soul could now serve as proof in its own right, so the Simulation skill wasn't that important anymore.
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