Ten Thousand Year Kan-Water Profound Turtle

Douluo Continent, Star Dou Forest.

The jolting of the carriage gradually faded as it slowed to a crawl.

After a day of trekking, the carriage had traveled from Xiao Family Village to the northern edge of the Star Dou Forest in the south of the empire.

As the region with the highest density of soul beasts on the entire Douluo Continent, this was undoubtedly the most suitable place to hunt soul beasts and obtain soul rings.

Of course, only the outer perimeter.

The soul beasts on the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Forest were not particularly strong; finding a beast around the century-level suitable for their first soul ring was relatively simple.

The group disembarked. The terrain within the forest was complex, and with the uneven ground, the carriage was more of a hindrance than a help here.

"Ugh, what a pain. We were only supposed to escort Young Master Xiao Yulü to get a century-level soul ring, just a quick trip around the perimeter. Now, we have to drag along a dead weight. If he's arrogant but incompetent and insists on risking a trip deeper inside, our risks will increase for nothing."

"You said it. According to the captain's original plan, we were supposed to make it a quick strike on the perimeter. I heard him say the Star Dou Forest hasn't been peaceful lately."

The speaker was the short-haired youth who had been eyeing Xiao Yan askance back in the carriage. He couldn't help but complain to his companions. Though his voice was low, who among those present wasn't a soul master with keen senses? Xiao Yan, naturally, heard every word clearly.

However, Xiao Yan couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind. As the protagonist, being looked down upon was perfectly normal. If he had to slap the face of every person who looked down on him, wouldn't that be exhausting?

The team marched forward for several more miles, the surrounding environment gradually shedding its traces of civilization and becoming increasingly primitive.

Xiao Yan looked at his surroundings, his brows knitting together. Although this place was still on the outer perimeter of the forest, it gave him a sense of oppression that... didn't belong in this area.

The team leader noticed this as well. He raised a hand, signaling the others, who immediately dispersed into a defensive formation.

Seeing everyone ready to engage, the leader crouched down, concealed his presence, and moved forward a few steps before carefully parting a massive fern in front of him.

In an instant, the scene before them opened up. It was no longer a dense, tangled forest, but a vast lake with clear water that carried a deep, violet hue.

And in the very center of the lake, there was an island, shaped like a mountain, that seemed to be constantly rising and falling.

Xiao Yan frowned as he looked at the sight. Strange. It's just a very ordinary lake island. Why would Little Fire Dragon convey such an intense sense of oppression to me?

Even without summoning his martial soul, Little Fire Dragon still felt this pressure and transmitted it to Xiao Yan without the slightest deviation.

"Something is wrong. Everyone, be careful."

After careful consideration, Xiao Yan whispered a warning to the group, yet the short-haired youth who had been complaining earlier was dismissive.

"Do we really have to be so jumpy? As long as it's safe after a scout, it's fine. It's not like we don't have a scouting-type soul master in the team."

"Hunting Falcon! Possession!"

He had no intention of concealing his movements, cleanly and decisively releasing his martial soul. A pair of wings unfolded from his back, and with a flap, a gust of wind swept up as he took to the air to scout ahead.

What a majestic pair of wings!

Xiao Yan watched this scene, his eyes widening.

Who among humans didn't yearn to touch the sky? After transmigrating to the Douluo Continent, Xiao Yan had also thought about how great it would be if he had awakened a bird-type martial soul, allowing him to fly into the sky and soar freely.

Even after awakening his egg martial soul, Xiao Yan had hoped it would hatch into a bird, like a phoenix or some divine avian.

Of course, that wasn't to say Little Fire Dragon was inferior. In fact, if the patterns held true, once his Little Fire Dragon evolved into a Charizard and he performed Martial Soul Possession, he would also be able to sprout dragon wings and soar through the clouds.

A moment later, the bird-man—I mean, the short-haired youth—flew a circle over the lake and returned, shaking his head at the leader.

"Didn't see any danger at all, no soul beasts either. We can head down directly."

"Hmm."

The leader was still a bit skeptical, but since the scout had already made a round and nothing happened, he figured there couldn't be any danger.

"Let's go. Young Master Xiao Yulü and Xiao Yan are both fire-attribute. Most of the soul beasts inhabiting this lake are water or ice-type, so we need to keep looking further ahead."

The team moved out again, but Xiao Yan could still feel that sense of oppression.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the mountain-like island in the lake, feeling as if it were even more magnificent and massive than it had appeared from above.

"Splash—splash."

The lake water slapped against the shore, the waves surging as if a violent storm were about to descend.

"What a spectacular sight..."

Xiao Yan couldn't help but marvel at the scenery of this other world once more. In his previous life, waves of this scale only existed on the boundless ocean. On the Douluo Continent, a mere lake could produce such a scale of waves; it was truly something to behold.

Xiao Yulü noticed Xiao Yan was distracted. He turned back, intending to pat Xiao Yan, but was similarly shocked by the scene before them.

"Indeed, waves of this scale are truly rare. I almost thought we were at the seaside."

"Wait, what do you mean 'rare'?"

Xiao Yan was stunned, suddenly realizing something.

"Are you saying that waves of this scale shouldn't appear in a lake of this size?"

"Right... wait, what?"

Splash—splash—

The sound of water grew deafening. Wave after wave of the surge gradually rose, crashing toward them.

And at the origin of those waves, at the mountain in the center of the lake... no, it wasn't a mountain. That "mountain" was gradually rising higher!

It was a giant turtle of terrifying proportions! Its shell was the deep blue of the lake, covered in profound and complex patterns, and the mountain they had seen earlier was merely a corner of the creature's back!

Only at this moment did Xiao Yan finally understand the source of that oppressive feeling, but as the creature rose, an even more powerful pressure surged toward them!

"Heavens... heavens, this must be a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast..."

The leader's voice was parched; the surrounding crowd was pressed so hard by this aura that they could barely breathe, and those with weaker cultivation had already begun to tremble uncontrollably.

Having watched the anime in his past life, Xiao Yan knew that a beast of this magnitude was at least a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, so he had no intention of challenging it; he scooped up Xiao Yulü beside him and bolted.

"Why are you running! Form the battle array! Protect Young Master Xiao Yulü!"

Seeing Xiao Yan retreat, the short-haired youth roared in anger. With someone giving orders, the other guards snapped out of their stupor and moved quickly, their soul power glowing as they rapidly linked together to form a thick barrier of light.

"ROAR!!!"

The Black Tortoise let out a deafening bellow, the sound waves whipping up a gale that made everyone's clothes snap violently in the wind!

"Damn it, run! A bunch of people who haven't even reached the Soul Douluo realm actually think they can challenge a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Are you idiots!"

Xiao Yan saw them overestimating themselves and wanted to warn them, but he watched as blue light surged around the Black Tortoise, which manipulated wave after wave of water, sending a violent torrent crashing toward the group!