At dawn the next day,
Dampness blanketed every corner of the Star Dou Great Forest. Dewdrops clung to the blades of grass, refracting the morning light with a crystalline shimmer.
Everyone packed their belongings,
and set off.
The planned route started at the outskirts, passed through the Mixed Zone, then continued back to the outskirts, cutting diagonally across the Star Dou Great Forest before returning to Shrek Academy through the safer outer region.
After seven days that felt both long and fleeting,
all the students had found Soul Beasts suited to their Martial Souls and absorbed their Soul Rings,
including Jiang Nannan.
She had absorbed a 1,900-year-old Lightning Rabbit Soul Ring and obtained the Teleport Soul Skill.
It was incredibly useful for both attacking and escaping.
The distance she could teleport depended entirely on her Soul Power.
She could even expend all her Soul Power to teleport an extremely long distance.
If she'd had this Soul Skill back then, the Nether Wolf pack would never have been able to catch her.
Lu Ran had also reaped quite a harvest over those seven days.
Along the way, he had come across plenty of Plant-type Soul Beasts and Spirit Fruit plants,
and had secretly stashed them all in his Small World.
His heart brimmed with the joy of a bountiful harvest.
At the edge of a precipitous cliff, a sheer drop of over a hundred meters suddenly yawned before them, as if the land had been cleaved apart. Plants clung to the steep cliff face, and fierce winds howled past from afar, whipping the hem of Yan Shaozhe's white robe.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Yan Shaozhe stood at the cliff's edge, looking every inch a transcendent master.
"This is the habitat of the Jade Azure Bird."
His voice was gentle.
Strangely, his hair and beard didn't move at all,
remaining perfectly still no matter how fiercely the wind blew.
Lu Ran looked into the distance. A streak of jade flashed across the sky, moving so fast it seemed to blend into the heavens. Without careful observation, it would have been impossible to spot.
"Dean Yan, if its age is suitable, I'll take that one."
Yan Shaozhe's lips curled into a smile.
"Two thousand years. Just right for you."
Before his words had even faded,
his figure vanished in an instant.
A few breaths later,
the streak of jade in the sky abruptly disappeared, and a huge green bird with a four-meter wingspan appeared out of thin air beside Lu Ran.
Its talons dug into the soil.
Pinned to the ground by an invisible pressure, it couldn't move,
nor could it make the slightest sound.
Its body crushed a patch of lush green grass beneath it.
Yan Shaozhe had somehow reappeared as well, still as calm and composed as before. His plain, well-fitted white robe didn't have a single wrinkle.
"It's this big?"
Lu Ran raised an eyebrow and bent down to examine it closely.
The Jade Azure Bird's beak was extremely sharp. It felt unusual to the touch—not stone, not metal, yet incredibly hard.
Its pupils weren't black, but a deep green, like finely carved gemstones.
Its body was long but not slender, brimming with strength. Pale jade-green feathers covered it from head to toe, gleaming with a distinctive, dewy sheen. They felt as smooth and soft as silk, yet were incredibly tough.
Its sickle-shaped talons were covered in tiny grooves, making escape impossible for any prey, no matter how fiercely it struggled.
This Jade Azure Bird was the third Soul Beast Lu Ran had chosen.
Among the many wind-attribute Soul Beasts, it was merely rare. Though fast, it couldn't compare to powerful beasts like the Wind Fox Overlord.
Still, Lu Ran had chosen the Jade Azure Bird
because he knew
that it wasn't the Jade Azure Bird's final form. If its bloodline returned to its ancestral origins, it could evolve into another extraordinarily powerful wind-attribute Soul Beast—
the Jade Green Luan.
It could completely crush the Wind Fox Overlord in every regard, making it a top-tier wind-attribute Soul Beast.
As for how to restore its ancestral bloodline, that required an Immortal Herb called the Luan-Condensing Flower. It was incredibly rare, growing in the region of Douluo Continent where Immortal Herbs were most densely concentrated...
The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
No one had set foot there in ten thousand years.
Immortal-grade treasures of heaven and earth could grow ten times faster there. What seemed like ten thousand years was, in truth, a hundred thousand.
Lu Ran had coveted the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well for a long time. Besides the Luan-Condensing Flower, it also held Immortal Herbs like the Earth Dragon Golden Melon and Ink Jade Divine Bamboo.
The Rock Crystal Dragon happened to need the Earth Dragon Golden Melon, and he needed quite a few Immortal Herbs himself.
He just had no way to break through the Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flower Poison Array on the outskirts.
But he wasn't in a hurry.
He could simply build up his strength, little by little.
Coming back to himself,
Lu Ran reached out and gently touched the Jade Azure Bird's wing. A soft glow rose from his palm, enveloping the bird. As the light grew brighter, its body gradually turned translucent, then finally became a stream of green light and flowed into the Small World.
At the same time,
Lu Ran's Soul Power began to climb: level thirty, level thirty-one, level thirty-two...
Wind-attribute energy took shape in the Small World, becoming gusts of wind that swept through every corner.
The fruit trees rustled, and countless Blue Silver Grass blades swayed gently.
Everything brimmed with life.
A few breaths later,
Lu Ran slowly opened his eyes and breathed out a mouthful of stale air.
His Soul Power finally settled at level thirty-three. A new source of wind-attribute energy had also appeared in his body, one he could control. It seemed his control had grown stronger as well.
He loosely clenched his hand.
"Done."
Yan Shaozhe let out a sigh of relief, too.
With their goal accomplished,
the two returned to the group, fifty meters away.
They hadn't gone far.
Yan Shaozhe was still aware of everything happening with the group. For a Super Douluo, this distance could be covered in an instant.
Besides, there weren't even any Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts nearby.
Jiang Nannan, who had been looking around, spotted Lu Ran and immediately hurried over, her face full of worry.
"Where did you go?"
Even though she knew Lu Ran might be very strong, she still couldn't help worrying about him.
Lu Ran froze and instinctively glanced behind him. Yan Shaozhe was nowhere to be seen; only the quiet forest, thick with plants, stretched behind him.
"Uh..."
After a brief hesitation, he turned and pointed at the towering tree above them. "I was up there, enjoying the view."
Jiang Nannan followed his finger and looked up.
The Star Dou Great Forest was thick with vegetation, and the view from the ground was blocked. A towering ancient tree really was a good place to admire the scenery.
But from Lu Ran's hesitation, his explanation sounded just a little unconvincing.
She was still unsure, just about to speak,
when Yan Shaozhe's steady voice came from among the group.
"Recover your Soul Power. We'll set off for the academy in fifteen minutes."
"Okay!"
"We're finally going back!"
The students cheered, joy written all over their faces.
At last, it was over!
The Star Dou Great Forest was mysterious and dangerous. The students outside wanted to come in, while those inside wanted to leave.
Before you continue